Davidson football, 1896–1899

The Davidson football team (later known as the Davidson Wildcats) represented Davidson College in American football. The football program started in 1896 with a game against the Charlotte YMCA. After not fielding a team in 1897, the program played two games in 1898 and a six-game schedule in 1899. The team did not hire a coach until 1900 when John A. Brewin began his four-year tenure as head coach. This article covers the program's early years prior to the hiring of Brewin as the school's first head football coach.

1896

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1896 Davidson football
ConferenceIndependent
Record0–1
Head coach
  • None
Home stadiumLatta Park Baseball Field
Seasons
1898 →
1896 Southern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Centre     6 0 1
Texas A&M     2 0 1
Oklahoma     2 0 0
North Carolina A&M     1 0 0
Virginia     7 2 2
VPI     5 2 1
Navy     5 3 0
Arkansas     2 1 0
Clemson     2 1 0
Columbian     2 1 0
Georgia Tech     2 2 1
Add-Ran     1 1 1
Centenary     1 1 0
VMI     3 4 0
North Carolina     3 4 1
Furman     2 3 0
Ole Miss     1 2 0
West Virginia     3 7 2
South Carolina     1 3 0
Erskine     0 1 0
William & Mary     0 2 0
Davidson     0 1 0
Delaware     0 6 0

The 1896 Davidson football team was an American football team represented Davidson College as an independent during the 1896 college football season. The team compiled a 0–1 record and played just one match against the Charlotte YMCA on their own campus.

DateOpponentSiteResultSource
October 19Charlotte YMCADavidson, NCL 4–12[1]

1898

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1898 Davidson football
ConferenceIndependent
Record1–1
Head coach
  • None
Home stadiumLatta Park Baseball Field
Seasons
← 1896
1899 →
1898 Southern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
North Carolina     9 0 0
Central (KY)     3 0 1
Oklahoma     2 0 0
Navy     7 1 0
West Virginia     6 1 0
Marshall     4 1 0
Georgetown     7 3 0
Texas A&M     4 2 0
VMI     4 2 0
Arkansas Industrial     2 1 0
Centre     2 1 2
VPI     3 2 0
Virginia     6 5 0
Richmond     3 3 1
Davidson     1 1 0
William & Mary     1 1 0
South Carolina     1 2 0
Delaware     2 5 2
Columbian     3 6 0
North Carolina A&M     1 2 0
Add-Ran     1 3 1
Maryland     2 6 1
Guilford     0 3 0

The 1898 Davidson football team was an American football team represented Davidson College as an independent during the 1898 college football season. The team compiled a 1–1 record and played both games at Charlotte, North Carolina. After a loss to North Carolina, Davidson secured their first win in program history against South Carolina by a score of 5–0.

DateOpponentSiteResultSource
November 5vs. North CarolinaL 0–11[2]
November 24vs. South Carolina
  • Latta Park Baseball Field
  • Charlotte, NC
W 5–0[3]

1899

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1899 Davidson football
ConferenceIndependent
Record1–3–1
Head coach
  • None
Home stadiumLatta Park Baseball Field
Seasons
← 1898
1900 →
1899 Southern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
VMI     1 0 0
VPI     4 1 0
Delaware     6 2 0
Arkansas     3 1 1
Georgetown     5 2 1
Texas A&M     4 2 0
Oklahoma     2 1 0
Baylor     2 1 1
Guilford     2 1 1
Navy     5 3 0
Virginia     4 3 2
Add-Ran     0 0 1
Richmond     2 2 0
South Carolina     2 3 0
West Virginia     2 3 0
William & Mary     2 3 0
North Carolina A&M     1 2 2
Davidson     1 3 1
Maryland     1 4 0
Marshall     0 0 1

The 1899 Davidson football team was an American football team represented Davidson College as an independent during the 1899 college football season, and the team compiled a 1–3–1. After they opened the season with three consecutive losses, Davidson had their first all time tie in program history with a scoreless game against North Carolina A&M.

DateOpponentSiteResultSource
October 14vs. ClemsonRock Hill, SCL 0–10[4]
October 21vs. North Carolina
L 0–10[5]
November 11Oak Ridge InstituteDavidson, NCL 2–6[6]
November 17vs. North Carolina A&M
  • Latta Park Baseball Field
  • Charlotte, NC
T 0–0[7][8]
November 30vs. South Carolina
  • Latta Park Baseball Field
  • Charlotte, NC
W 5–0[9][10]

References

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  1. ^ "Charlotte Was Victorious". Charlotte Daily Observer. October 20, 1896. Retrieved September 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "The contest on the gridiron, University won over Davidson". Charlotte Daily Observer. November 6, 1898. Retrieved September 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Davidson 5, South Carolina 0". Winston-Salem Journal. November 25, 1898. Retrieved September 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "The score was 10 to 0 in Clemson's favor". The State. October 15, 1899. Retrieved September 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "University defeats Davidson College by a close score". The Morning Post. October 22, 1899. Retrieved September 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Two happy teams". Greensboro Telegram. November 13, 1899. Retrieved September 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Neither side scored, A. and M. and Davidson College eleven played to a standstill in Charlotte". The Morning Post. November 18, 1899. Retrieved September 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Score: nothing to nothing". Charlotte Daily Observer. November 18, 1899. Retrieved September 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Football To-Day". Charlotte Daily Observer. November 30, 1899. p. 4. Retrieved September 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com  .
  10. ^ "Davidson Wins The Game". Charlotte Daily Observer. December 1, 1899. p. 6. Retrieved September 5, 2022 – via Newspapers.com  .