The 1926 Army Cadets football team represented the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

in the

1926 college football season The 1926 college football season was the first in which an attempt was made to recognize a national champion after the season. Stanford, coached by Pop Warner, was the top team in the U.S. under the new Dickinson System and was awarded the Riss ...

. In their first season under head coach

Biff Jones Lawrence McCeney "Biff" Jones (October 8, 1895 – February 12, 1980) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as a head coach at the United States Military Academy, Louisiana State University (LSU), ...

, the Cadets compiled a record, shut out four of their nine opponents, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 240 to 71. In the annual

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 ...

, the Cadets tied the

Midshipmen A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

at 21. The team's only loss came to Notre Dame by a 7 to 0 score. The team was ranked No. 11 in the nation in 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 ...

ratings released in December 1926. Four Army players were recognized on the

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. Tackle

Bud Sprague Mortimer "Bud" Sprague (September 8, 1904 – April 25, 1973) was an American football player. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1970. He was one of the eight children born to Minna and George Sprague, of the Oak Cliff ne ...

was a consensus first-team honoree with first-team designations from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

(AP) and the

Central Press Association The Central Press Association was American newspaper syndication company based in Cleveland, Ohio. It was in business from 1910 to 1971. Originally independent, it was a subsidiary of King Features Syndicate from 1930 onwards. At its peak, the ...

(CP). Sprague was 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 ...

. Halfback Harry Wilson was selected as a first-team honoree by

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the system ...

, the All-America Board, ''

Collier's Weekly ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...

'', the

International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.

, and the

Newspaper Enterprise Association The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary news ...

. Guard Ernest Schmidt was selected as a first-team player by the ''

New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New York ...

''. Center Maurice Daly was selected as a second-team honoree by the ''New York Sun''.

Schedule

Players

* Charles Born - end * Samuel Brentnall - end * Red Cagle - halfback (College Football Hall of Fame) * Clyde A. Dahl * Maurice F. Daly * Garrison H. Davidson * Louis A. Hammack * Norris B. Harbold * Neil B. Harding *

Orville Hewitt Orville Melville "Tiny" Hewitt (September 5, 1901 – October 29, 1955) was a college football player and coach. He played for both the Pittsburgh Panthers and Army Cadets as a 200-pound fullback. Hewitt coached for the Alabama Crimson Tide. ...

- fullback * Thomas R. Lynch * Arthur W. Meehan * John H. Murrell * George W. Perry * LaVerne G. Saunders * Ernest G. Schmidt * Lyle Seeman *

- tackle (College Football Hall of Fame) *

Thomas J. H. Trapnell Thomas John Hall "Trap" Trapnell (November 23, 1902 – February 13, 2002) was a United States Army lieutenant general. He was a career officer who served in World War II and the Korean War. Trapnell survived the Bataan Death March and the sinkin ...

* Harry Wilson - captain (College Football Hall of Fame)

Coaches

* Head coach:

* Assistant coaches: Major Sasse, Lt. Bryan, Lt. Farwick, Lt. Wood, Lt. Wicks, Lt. Myers, Lt. Johnson * Trainer: Wandle

References

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 ...

Army Black Knights football seasons Army Cadets football {{collegefootball-1926-season-stub