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The 1925 college football season ended with no clear national champion. At the close of the season, noted sports writer
Billy Evans William George Evans (February 10, 1884 – January 23, 1956), nicknamed "The Boy Umpire", was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1906 to 1927. He became, at age 22, the youngest umpire in majo ...
described the championship contest as "a dead heat" among Dartmouth,
Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...
,
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
,
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, and
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
. Dartmouth, led by halfback
Andy Oberlander Andrew James "Swede" Oberlander (February 17, 1905 – January 1, 1968) was an American football player and coach. He was an All-American halfback for Dartmouth College's Indians undefeated and national championship football team in 1925. Oberla ...
, compiled an 8–0 record and outscored its opponents by a total of 340 to 29. Having defeated Harvard, Cornell, and Chicago, Dartmouth was retroactively declared the national champion by the
Dickinson System The Dickinson System was a mathematical point formula that awarded national championships in college football. Devised by University of Illinois economics professor Frank G. Dickinson, the system crowned national champions from 1925 to 1940. Dicki ...
and Parke H. Davis. Alabama compiled a 10–0 record and has been recognized as national champion by the
Billingsley Report The Billingsley Report is a college football rating system developed in the late 1960s to determine a national champion. Billingsley has actively rated college football teams on a current basis since 1970. Beginning in 1999, Billingsley's ratings ...
, Boand System,
College Football Researchers Association The College Football Researchers Association (CFRA) was founded in 1982 by Anthony Cusher of Reeder, North Dakota, and Robert Kirlin of Spokane, Washington. The CFRA took a vote of its members from 1982 to 1992 to select an annual college football n ...
,
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 ...
, and others. In an intersectional game between undefeated teams, Alabama defeated Pacific Coast Conference champion Washington by a 20–19 score in the
1926 Rose Bowl The 1926 Rose Bowl Game was held on January 1, 1926, in Pasadena, California. The game is commonly referred to as "The Game That Changed The South." The game featured the Alabama Crimson Tide, making their first bowl appearance, and the Washington ...
; that game has been called "the game that changed the South." Michigan shut out seven of eight opponents, outscored all opponents by a total of 227 to 3, and was retroactively named a co-national champion by
Jeff Sagarin Jeff Sagarin is an American sports statistician known for his development of a method for ranking and rating sports teams in a variety of sports. His ratings have been a regular feature in the ''USA Today'' sports section since 1985, have been us ...
. The team featured two consensus All-Americans in quarterback Benny Friedman and end
Bennie Oosterbaan Benjamin Oosterbaan ( ; February 24, 1906 – October 25, 1990) was a three-time first team College Football All-America Team, All-American American football, football End (gridiron football), end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-tim ...
, a passing combination that became known as the "Benny to Bennie Show". Michigan coach
Fielding H. Yost Fielding Harris Yost (; April 30, 1871 – August 20, 1946) was an American football player, coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at: Ohio Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska, the University ...
called his 1925 squad "the greatest football team I ever saw in action." Tulane also went undefeated at 9–0–1. Tulane halfback Peggy Flournoy led the nation in scoring with 128 points. Colgate,
Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...
, Michigan State Normal,
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
,
Nebraska Wesleyan Nebraska Wesleyan University (NWU) is a private Methodist-affiliated university in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was founded in 1887 by Nebraska Methodists. As of 2017, it has approximately 2,100 students including 1,500 full-time students and 300 ...
, and Oberlin also had undefeated teams in 1925.


Conference and program changes


Conference changes

*Two conferences began play in 1925: **''
Far Western Conference The Northern California Athletic Conference (NCAC) was an NCAA Division II college athletic association that sponsored American football that was founded in 1925. It disbanded in 1998 after the majority of its member schools were forced to drop fo ...
'' – active through the 1998 season; later known as the ''
Northern California Athletic Conference The Northern California Athletic Conference (NCAC) was an NCAA Division II college athletic association that sponsored American football that was founded in 1925. It disbanded in 1998 after the majority of its member schools were forced to drop fo ...
'' **''
New York State Conference The New York State Conference was an intercollegiate athletic conference that existed from 1926 to 1934. The league had members in Upstate New York.Louisiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Louisiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association (LIAA) was an intercollegiate athletic conference that existed from 1912 to 1925. The conference's members were located in the state of Louisiana.Southwest Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...
shortened its official name to just the
Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...
, the name it would retain until its dissolution in 1996.


Membership changes


September

* On September 26, Washington opened its season with a 108–0 win over , Dartmouth defeated , 59–0, and Notre Dame beat Baylor, 41–0.


October

* On October 3, Washington played a double-header and defeated both teams by scores of 59–0 and 56–0. Southern Conference co-champion Tulane and Missouri Valley champion
Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
played to a 3–3 tie in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
. Michigan beat its rivel
Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...
, 39–0. Alabama defeated Birmingham–Southern, 50–7 in a Friday game. Dartmouth beat , 34–0. * On October 10, Michigan beat Indiana 63–0, Alabama won at LSU, 42–0, and Tulane beat Ole Miss, 26–7. Missouri beat Nebraska, 9–6. Washington defeated visiting Montana 30–10. Dartmouth defeated Vermont, 50–0. * On October 17 at Yankee Stadium, Army beat Notre Dame, 27–0. Washington and Nebraska played to a 6–6 tie at Lincoln. In Birmingham, Alabama beat Sewanee 42–0, while in New Orleans, Tulane beat Mississippi State, 25–3. Michigan won at Wisconsin 21–0. Colgate met Lafayette at Philadelphia, and the two played to a 7–7 tie. Dartmouth beat Maine 56–0. *On October 24, Michigan narrowly won at Illinois, but recorded another shutout, 3–0. In Chicago, Tulane beat Northwestern, 18–7. In Atlanta, Alabama beat Georgia Tech, 7–0. Missouri beat Kansas State, 3–0. Washington beat Whitman College, 64–2, while Stanford beat Oregon State 26–10. Notre Dame won at Minnesota. 19–7. Colgate beat Princeton, 9–0, and Dartmouth won at Harvard, 32–9, its best victory to date over the Crimson. Penn beat visiting Chicago, 7–0. * On October 31, Michigan stayed unbeaten, untied, and unscored upon, defeating visiting Navy, 54–0. In its first five games, Michigan had outscored the opposition 180–0. Syracuse also remained unscored upon with a 7–0 win over Penn State, having outscored its foes 160–0 in six games. Dartmouth stayed unbeaten with a 14–0 win at Brown. Penn dropped from the unbeaten ranks with a 24–2 loss to Illinois. Yale handed visiting Army its first loss, 28–7. Texas A&M won at Baylor, 13–0. Missouri beat Iowa State, 23–8. Washington won at Washington State, 23–0. Stanford beat Oregon 35–13 and Colgate won at Michigan State 14–0. In Atlanta, Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech, 13–0, while in Montgomery, Tulane beat Auburn by the same score. Alabama beat Mississippi State, 6–0.


November

*On November 7, Michigan (5–0–0) was upset by Northwestern, which won 3–2. The field goal represented the only score against Michigan in an otherwise perfect season. A steady downpour with 40–mile-per-hour winds and five inches of mud hindered Michigan's passing game. Dartmouth (6–0–0) hosted Cornell (5–0–0) in a meeting of unbeatens, winning 62–13. Andy Oberlander had 477 yards in total offense, including six touchdown passes, a Dartmouth record which still stands. Cornell coach
Gil Dobie Robert Gilmour "Gloomy Gil" Dobie (January 21, 1878 – December 23, 1948) was an American football player and coach. Over a period of 33 years, he served as the head football coach at North Dakota Agricultural College (now North Dakota State ...
responded, "We won the game 13–0, passing is not football." Syracuse, which had not been scored upon in six games, was tied 3–3 by Ohio Wesleyan College. At Penn State, Notre Dame and the Nittany Lions played to a 0–0 tie. At St. Louis, Missouri beat Washington 14–0. Colgate beat Providence 19–7, Penn beat Haverford 66–0, and Army beat Davis & Elkins, 14–6. Texas A & M (5–0–1) and Texas Christian (4–1–1) met, with TCU handing the Aggies their first defeat, 3–0. Washington (6–0–1) hosted Stanford (5–1–0) and won 13–0. In Birmingham, Alabama beat Kentucky 31–0 and in New Orleans, Tulane beat Louisiana Tech 37–9. Georgia Tech beat Vanderbilt 7–0. Star back
Doug Wycoff Stephen Douglas Wycoff (September 16, 1903 – October 27, 1981) was an American football running back for the New York Giants, Staten Island Stapletons, and Boston Redskins in the National Football League (NFL), the Newark Bears in the fi ...
was hurt, such that he had to use his substitute Dick Wright. On a muddy field, Wright ran off tackle and dodged Vanderbilt's
safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...
Gil Reese David Argillus "Gil" Reese (January 14, 1901 – May 30, 1993) nicknamed "The Tupelo Flash" was an American football, basketball, and baseball player for the Vanderbilt Commodores of Vanderbilt University. He was captain of all three his senior ...
, "usually a sure tackler," to get the touchdown to give Georgia Tech a 7–0 victory. Coach William Alexander called it the most spectacular play he ever saw. *On November 14, Syracuse hosted Colgate in a matchup of unbeatens (both 6–0–1); Colgate won 19–6. In New York, Columbia handed Army its first defeat, 21–7. Dartmouth won at Chicago, 33–7, to close with a perfect 8–0–0 record. Oberlander threw three touchdowns. At Montgomery, Alabama (8–0–0) met Florida (6–1–0) and won 34–0. Tulane shut out Sewanee, 14–0. In Houston, Texas A & M beat Rice 17–0, while TCU beat visiting Arkansas, 3–0. Missouri stayed unbeaten with a 16–14 win over Oklahoma, and Washington stayed unbeaten with a 7–0 win at California. Stanford beat visiting UCLA, 82–0. Michigan beat Ohio State 10–0. Cornell beat Canisius 33–0, Pittsburgh defeated Penn 14–0, and Notre Dame beat visiting Carnegie Tech 26–0. In the Georgia-Georgia Tech game, Tech quarterback Ike Williams thought the game clock read five seconds remaining in the game, when in actuality it was five minutes. Williams set up his offense for a field goal and kicked it to put Tech up 3–0 on first down. Luckily for Williams, Tech won 3–0. *On November 21, previously unbeaten Missouri lost at Kansas, 10–7, Michigan beat Minnesota 35–0, Tulane won at LSU, 16–0, TCU defeated Austin College, 21–0, Washington beat Puget Sound 80–7, and Stanford closed its season with a 27–14 win over California. Syracuse beat Niagara 17–0, Notre Dame defeated Northwestern, 13–10, and
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
beat Ursinus 44–0. *On Thanksgiving Day, November 26, Syracuse and Columbia met at the Polo Grounds in New York, with Syracuse winning 16–5. Penn handed Cornell its second loss, 7–0. Notre Dame lost at Nebraska, 17–0, in the Four Horsemen's first collegiate loss. Texas A&M and Texas, both 6–1–1, met, with A&M winning 28–0. Alabama beat Georgia 27–0 in Birmingham to close the regular season with nine wins, and no losses or ties. In those nine games, the Crimson Tide had outscored its opponents 277–7. Tulane closed its season with a 14–0 at Centenary College and finished unbeaten, with one tie (9–0–1). *On November 28, Washington closed its season unbeaten with a 15–14 win over Oregon, and elected to meet Alabama in the Rose Bowl. At Providence, Colgate and Brown played to a 14–14 tie. In the
Army–Navy Game The Army–Navy Game is an American college football rivalry game between the Army Black Knights of the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, and the Navy Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy (USNA) at Annapo ...
, Army closed its season with a 10–3 win.


Rose Bowl

The 1926 Rose Bowl pairing of Alabama and Washington later became the subject of a television documentary, ''Roses of Crimson'', and hailed as "the football game that changed the South". Alabama was the first Southern football team to be invited to play in the Rose Bowl, and proved that the Southern teams could compete with those from the East, the Midwest, and the West Coast. George Wilson helped the Huskies take a 12–0 lead at halftime, but both extra point attempts failed, and Wilson was injured. In the third quarter, Alabama exploded for three touchdowns, starting with quarterback
Pooley Hubert Allison Thomas Stanislaus "Pooley" Hubert (April 6, 1901 – February 26, 1978) was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. Regarded as one of the South's greatest college football stars, he played quarterback for coach ...
's run to make the score 12–7. Washington lost the ball on its 35-yard line, and
Johnny Mack Brown John Brown (September 1, 1904 – November 14, 1974) was an American college football player and film actor billed as John Mack Brown at the height of his screen career. He acted and starred mainly in Western (genre), Western films. Early lif ...
carried the ball over to make the score 14–12 in favor of Alabama. A 61-yard pass from Hubert to Brown set up Alabama's third score for a 20–12 lead. George Wilson returned in the fourth quarter, and the Huskies scored a touchdown and the point after to close the score to 20–19, but the missed conversion attempts from the first half cost them the game. The victory for Coach
Wallace Wade William Wallace Wade (June 15, 1892 – October 7, 1986) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Alabama fro ...
established Alabama as a football powerhouse."Alabama Passes Way to Victory Over Huskies," ''Oakland Tribune'', Jan. 2, 1926, p8


Conference standings


Major conference standings


Independents


Minor conferences


Minor conference standings


Awards and honors


All-Americans

The consensus
All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
team included:


Statistical leaders

*Player scoring most points: Peggy Flournoy,
Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...
, 128 *Player scoring most touchdowns: Peggy Flournoy, Tulane and
Mort Kaer Morton Armour Kaer (September 7, 1903 – January 11, 1992), nicknamed "Devil May," was an athlete in track and an All-American collegiate and professional American football player. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska and died in Mount Shasta, Cali ...
,
USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...
, 19 *Total offense leader: Andy Oberlander, Dartmouth, 1147+ *Passing yards leader: Benny Friedman, Michigan, 760 *Passing touchdowns leader: Andy Oberlander, Dartmouth, 14 *Receiving touchdowns leader:
Myles Lane Myles Stanley Joseph Lane (October 2, 1903 – August 6, 1987) was an American professional ice hockey player, college football player and coach, and New York Supreme Court justice. He played in the National Hockey League with the New York Ra ...
, Dartmouth, 7


References

{{NCAA football season navbox