The 1908 Penn Quakers football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that represented the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

as an independent during the

1908 college football season The 1908 college football season ran from Saturday, September 19, to November 28. The Penn Quakers and the Harvard Crimson each finished the season unbeaten but with one tied. The LSU Tigers went unbeaten and untied against a weaker opposition. ...

. In their first season under head coach

Sol Metzger Sol or SOL may refer to: Astronomy * The Sun Currency * SOL Project, a currency project in France * French sol, or sou * Argentine sol * Bolivian sol, the currency of Bolivia from 1827 to 1864 * Peruvian sol, introduced in 1991 * Peruvian sol ( ...

, the Quakers compiled an 11–0–1 record, shut out seven of twelve opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 215 to 28. There was no contemporaneous system in 1908 for determining a national champion. However, Penn was retroactively named as the national champion by the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his ownership ...

Houlgate System The Houlgate System, also known as the Deke Houlgate collegiate football rating system, was a mathematical rating system for determining annual college football national championships. The ratings, which rated teams according to the strength of thei ...

, and

Parke H. Davis Parke Hill Davis (July 15, 1871 – June 5, 1934)"PARKE H. DAVIS BURIED.; Many Prominent Men at Funeral of Football Authority", special to ''The New York Times'', June 9, 1934 was an American football player, coach, and historian. Shortly befo ...

, and as a co-national champion by the

National Championship Foundation The National Championship Foundation (NCF) was established by Mike Riter of Hudson, New York. The NCF retroactively selected college football national champions for each year from 1869 to 1979, and its selections are among the historic national ch ...

. Two Penn players, halfback

Bill Hollenback William Marshall "Big Bill" Hollenback (February 22, 1886 – March 12, 1968) was an American football player and coach. He played football at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was selected as an All-American fullback three straight year ...

and end

Hunter Scarlett Hunter Watt Scarlett (October 16, 1885 – December 23, 1954) was a notable ophthalmologist, and is best known for his college football career for the Penn Quakers from 1904 to 1908. During World War I, he worked in both French and American ...

, were consensus picks on the 1908 All-America college football team. Both were later inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

, Hollenback in 1951 and Scarlett in 1970. Other notable players included quarterback Allie Miller and tackle

Dexter Draper Dexter Wright Draper (May 23, 1881 – August 22, 1961) was an American football player and coach, as well as a pediatrician. He was an All-American tackle at the University of Pennsylvania from 1905 to 1907. Draper became head football coach at ...

Schedule

References

{{College Football National Champion pre-AP Poll navbox Penn Penn Quakers football seasons College football national champions College football undefeated seasons

Penn Quakers football The Penn Quakers football program is the college football team at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The Penn Quakers have competed in the Ivy League since its inaugural season of 1956, and are a Division I Football Championship ...