1888 Wake Forest Baptists football team

1888 Wake Forest Baptists football
Conference	Independent
Record	2–1
Head coach	W. C. Dowd (1st season)
Captain	W. C. Dowd

1888 Southern college football independents records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Georgetown			–					4	–	2	–	0
Trinity (NC)			–					2	–	1	–	0
Virginia			–					2	–	1	–	0
Wake Forest			–					2	–	1	–	0
Johns Hopkins			–					6	–	5	–	0
Richmond			–					1	–	2	–	0
North Carolina			–					1	–	3	–	0
Navy			–					1	–	4	–	0
Gallaudet			–							–
Randolph–Macon			–							–
St. John's (MD)			–							–

The 1888 Wake Forest Baptists football team was an American football team that represented Wake Forest College during the 1888 college football season. In its first year of intercollegiate football, the team defeated North Carolina by a 6–4 score in a game played on October 18, 1888, at the State Fair Grounds in Raleigh, North Carolina.^[1] After the game, The News & Observer wrote:

"Decidedly one of the most interesting features of the whole fair was the game of foot ball yesterday between Wake Forest and Chapel Hill, resulting in a victory for Wake Forest. The game was exciting and was played by excellent teams on both sides. It was witnessed by a tremendous crowd. The players were uniformed and were a skilled and active set of boys."^[2]

W. C. Dowd was the coach of the Wake Forest team. The game was the first intercollegiate football game played in the state of North Carolina.^[3] The game was also the first in the history of the North Carolina Tar Heels football program.^[4]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 18	3:00 p.m.	vs. North Carolina	State Fairgrounds Raleigh, NC (rivalry)	W 6–4		[5]
March 1, 1889	4:00 p.m.	vs. North Carolina	Athletic Grounds Raleigh, NC	L 0–33	500	[6]
March 29, 1889	3:30 p.m.	vs. Trinity (NC)	Athletic Grounds Raleigh, NC	W 32–0		[7][8]

^[9][10][11]

References

1. "Red Letter Dates in Wake Forest Athletic History" (PDF). Wake Forest University. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 5, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
2. "Senator Vance and an Overwhelming Crowd Yesterday". The News & Observer. October 19, 1888. p. 4.
3. Andrea Adelson (January 26, 2015). "UNC, Wake Forest deserve credit for schedule choice". ESPN.com.
4. Lawrence Giffin (October 18, 2012). "One Hundred and Twenty-Four Years of Tar Heel Football". UNC University Library.
5. "Beats the Records – The Attendance at the Fair Yesterday". The News and Observer. October 18, 1888. p. 4. Retrieved October 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "An Exciting Game of Foot Ball Between Chapel Hill and Wake Forest". The News and Observer. March 2, 1889. p. 4. Retrieved October 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Notes About Town". The News & Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. March 29, 1889. p. 4. Retrieved November 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
8. "Wake Forest Victorious". The News & Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. March 30, 1889. p. 4. Retrieved November 18, 2024 – via Newspapers.com .
9. "1888 Football Schedule". Wake Forest University. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
10. "1889 Football Schedule". Wake Forest University. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
11. "2024 Football Guide And Record Book" (PDF). Wake Forest University. p. 142. Retrieved November 18, 2024.