1893 Penn Quakers football team

The 1893 Penn Quakers football team represented the University of Pennsylvania in the 1893 college football season. The Quakers finished with a 12–3 record in their second year under head coach and College Football Hall of Fame inductee, George Washington Woodruff. Significant games included victories over Navy (34–0), Penn State (18–6), Lafayette (82–0), and Cornell (50–0), and losses to national champion Princeton (4–0), Yale (14–6), and Harvard (26–4). The 1893 Penn team outscored its opponents by a combined total of 484 to 62.[1][2] No Penn players were honored on the 1893 College Football All-America Team, as all such honors went to players on the Princeton, Harvard and Yale teams.

1893 Penn Quakers football
ConferenceIndependent
Record12–3
Head coach
CaptainHarry Arista Mackey
Seasons
← 1892
1894 →
1893 Eastern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Princeton     11 0 0
Fordham     4 0 0
Harvard     12 1 0
Yale     10 1 0
Colgate     3 0 2
Penn     12 3 0
Penn State     4 1 0
Wesleyan     4 1 0
Holy Ghost     6 2 0
Swarthmore     6 2 1
Lehigh     7 3 0
Brown     6 3 0
Carlisle     2 1 0
Delaware     2 1 0
Frankin & Marshall     4 2 1
Navy     5 3 0
Washington & Jefferson     5 3 0
Drexel     3 2 0
Bucknell     4 3 0
Amherst     7 6 1
Boston College     3 3 0
Geneva     2 2 1
Army     4 5 0
Williams     2 3 1
Tufts     4 7 0
Cornell     3 6 1
Worcester Tech     2 4 1
Boston University     1 2 0
Lafayette     3 6 0
Syracuse     4 9 1
Western Penn     1 4 0
MIT     1 5 0
Massachusetts     1 9 0
New Hampshire     0 1 0
Rutgers     0 4 0
Maine     0 5 0

Football in 1893

edit

American football in 1893 was a variant of rugby football, played with a rugby ball and making use of rules closely derived from the original sport. The field of play was 110 yards long and 53-1/3 yards wide, with chalk lines every five yards to help the referee determine necessary distances.[3] Forward passing was prohibited; only lateral passing or running with the ball was allowed.[4] Teams of eleven were divided into seven "rushers or forwards" positioned at the line of scrimmage, with four backs behind the line — a quarterback just behind the line, two halfbacks located about two yards behind him, and a fullback or "goal-tend," who stood about a dozen yards behind the halfbacks.[5]

Kickoffs were generally executed by kicking the ball forward slightly for a self-recovery and quick lateral pass to a teammate who carried the ball in the middle of a V-shaped blocking wedge of his teammates.[6] When the ball was brought to a standstill, the runner would cry "down" and a line of scrimmage formed, with the "center-rusher" (also called the "snap-back") hiking the ball to the quarterback.[6] The quarterback would generally pitch the ball to one of the three backs behind him to attempt to run forward, while the defenders would "endeavor by all lawful means to retard that advance."[7]

The offense would retain the ball if it was able to gain 5 yards in three downs — or by retreating 20 yards towards their own goal line.[8] The ball would generally be punted away after two downs "if the prospects of completing the 5-yard gain appear small."[8]

A touchdown counted as 4 points and allowed the scoring team the opportunity to add two more points by kicking the ball over the crossbar and through the goal posts, which were planted at the goal line.[9] After a touchdown, the scoring team had the option of bringing out the ball as far as desired at a right angle from the point at which the ball crossed the goal line (as in modern rugby) and attempting a place kick, or by executing a "punt out" from the end zone to a teammate making a fair catch, from which spot a drop-kick for the extra points could be attempted.[10]

A drop kick through the goal posts from the field counted as 5 points.[9] As with the contemporary game, safties counted for 2 points.[11]

The game consisted of two 45-minute halves with an intermission of 10 minutes, although duration of the game could be shortened by mutual consent.[11] No coaching was allowed from the sidelines, all game decisions had to be made by the players on the field.[12] Once removed from the game for a substitute, a player could not return to the game (as in modern soccer).[13]

Schedule

edit
DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 30 Franklin & Marshall
W 48–02,000[14]
October 4 Gettysburg
  • University Athletic Grounds
  • Philadelphia, PA
W 74–0 [15]
October 7 Columbia Athletic Club Philadelphia, PAW 30–02,200[16]
October 9at Columbia Athletic Club Washington, DCW 20–6 [17]
October 10at GeorgetownW 12–0 [18]
October 11at NavyW 34–0 [19]
October 14 Volunteer Athletic Club
  • University grounds
  • Philadelphia, PA
W 34–02,000[20]
October 18at Lehigh Bethlehem, PAW 32–62,000[21]
October 21at Crescent Athletic ClubW 40–02,000[22]
October 25 Penn State
  • University Athletic Grounds
  • Philadelphia
W 18–63,000[23]
October 28 Lafayette
  • University grounds
  • Philadelphia, PA
W 82–0 [24]
November 4 Princeton L 0–418,000[25]
November 11vs. YaleL 6–1415,000[26]
November 18 Cornell
  • Manheim grounds
  • Philadelphia, PA (rivalry)
W 50–06,000[27]
November 30at Harvard L 4–2615,000[28]

References

edit
  1. ^ "1893 Pennsylvania Quakers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  2. ^ "Pennsylvania Yearly Results (1890-1894)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  3. ^ Walter Camp, "An Introductory Chapter for Beginners," in Camp (ed.), Foot-ball Rules and Referee's Book for the Season of 1893–94. New York: A.G. Spalding & Bros., 1893; pp. 3–4.
  4. ^ Walter Camp (ed.), "Foot-ball Rules of the American Intercollegiate Association," in Camp (ed.), Foot-ball Rules and Referee's Book for the Season of 1893–94. New York: A.G. Spalding & Bros., 1893; p. 23.
  5. ^ Camp, "An Introductory Chapter for Beginners," p. 5.
  6. ^ a b Camp, "An Introductory Chapter for Beginners," p. 6.
  7. ^ Camp, "An Introductory Chapter for Beginners," pp. 6–7.
  8. ^ a b Camp, "An Introductory Chapter for Beginners," p. 7.
  9. ^ a b Camp, "An Introductory Chapter for Beginners," p. 9.
  10. ^ Camp (ed.), "Foot-ball Rules of the American Intercollegiate Association," p. 27.
  11. ^ a b Camp, "An Introductory Chapter for Beginners," p. 11.
  12. ^ Camp (ed.), "Foot-ball Rules of the American Intercollegiate Association," p. 19.
  13. ^ Camp (ed.), "Foot-ball Rules of the American Intercollegiate Association," p. 17.
  14. ^ "Foot-Ball Season Open: Pennsylvania Wins from Franklin and Marshall". The Times (Philadelphia). October 1, 1893. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Gettysburg Bows To Pennsylvania". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 5, 1893. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Football: Pennsylvania Makes a Big Score Against Columbia A.C." The Times (Philadelphia). October 8, 1893. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Columbia Scores on Pennsylvania". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 10, 1893. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Our Boys Given Plenty of Work: Pennsylvania's Football Team Defeats Georgetown University by a Narrow Margin". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 11, 1893. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Another Victory for Pennsylvania". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 12, 1893. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Football: The Volunteers, of New York, Defeated by Pennsylvania". The Times (Philadelphia). October 15, 1893. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "The Day's Sporting: Princeton and Pennsylvania's Foot-Ball Teams Scored Against". The Times (Philadelphia). October 19, 1893. p. 6.
  22. ^ "Quakers at Foot Ball: They Play Sharp, Offensive Game Against Crescent". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 22, 1893. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Pennsylvania's Small Total: The State College Scores Against the University". The Times (Philadelphia). October 26, 1893. p. 6.
  24. ^ "Lafayette Could Not Score". The Times (Philadelphia). October 29, 1893. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "The Tigers' Triumph: Princeton Wins the Great Game at Manheim". The Times (Philadelphia). November 5, 1893 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Scored Against Yale: Pennsylvania Didn't Win, But Got Some Points". The Times (Philadelphia). November 12, 1893. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Cornell Outclassed: Pennsylvania Defeats Her by a Score of 50 to 0". The Times (Philadelphia). November 19, 1893. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "Harvard, 26; U. of P., 4". The Boston Post. December 1, 1893. pp. 1, 3 – via Newspapers.com.