The 1883 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

during the 1883 college football season. The season was the only season under head coach Thomas Peebles, the first coach in the history of the program. He came to the university to teach

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and since he had played football with distinction at

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, he was recruited to coach the football team. He was described as "having a twinkling eye, a moustache, winged collars and the bearing of a scholar so that even on the field of play he looked as though he were en route to the court of St. James." Upon arrival in

Northfield, Minnesota Northfield is a city in Dakota and Rice counties in the State of Minnesota. It is mostly in Rice County, with a small portion in Dakota County. The population was 20,790 at the 2020 census. History Northfield was platted in 1856 by John W. N ...

for the first game of the year, there was a dispute between the arriving players from

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and the team representing

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. Carleton insisted that a member of the faculty be allowed to play, and they also insisted on playing rugby style football. Coach Peebles preferred the

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style of play, but agreed to the conditions as long as he could act as the referee. Carleton won the game 4–2. Team of 1883: J.W. Adams (captain), Don Davidson, Mitchell, Blanding, Niles, Winchell, Graham, McNair, Bassett, Smith, Hammond, Crafts."

Schedule

References

{{Minnesota Golden Gophers football navbox

Minnesota Golden Gophers football seasons

Minnesota Golden Gophers football The Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represents the University of Minnesota in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Founded in 1882, Minnesota has been a member of the Big Ten Conference since its ince ...