The 1888 Yale Bulldogs football team represented

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in the

1888 college football season The 1888 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the ''Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book'' listing Yale as having been selected national champions. October 18 saw the first intercollegiate game in the state of North C ...

. In its first season under head coach

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 team compiled a 13–0 record, did not allow a single point, and outscored opponents by a total of 694 to 0. The team has been retrospectively named as the 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 ...

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 th ...

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 ...

, and Parke H. Davis. Yale's point total was the largest ever made by a Yale team. The team scored 126 touchdowns and kicked 69 goals from touchdown and eight goals from the field. Its scoring leaders included

William Wurtenburg William Charles Wurtenburg (December 24, 1863 – March 26, 1957) was an American college football player and coach. Born and raised in Western New York to German parents, Wurtenburg attended the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy, where ...

with 20 touchdowns,

Lee McClung Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

with 16, Charles O. Gill with 14, Frederic W. "Kid" Wallace with eight,

William Herbert Corbin William Herbert "Pa" Corbin (July 20, 1864 – April 14, 1945) was an American college football player for the Yale Bulldogs football team for Yale University from 1886 to 1888, during which time the team posted a 31–0–1 record. He ...

with six, and

John A. Hartwell John Augustus "Josh" Hartwell (September 27, 1869 – November 30, 1940) was an American football player and coach, military officer, and physician. Hartwell attended Yale University, where he played end for Walter Camp's Bulldogs footba ...

and Ashbel Barney Newell with five each. Head coach Walter Camp and five players (Corbin,

Pudge Heffelfinger William Walter "Pudge" Heffelfinger (December 20, 1867 – April 2, 1954), also spelled Hafelfinger, was an American football player and coach. He is considered the first athlete to play American football professionally, having been paid to pl ...

, McClung,

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...

, and

George Washington Woodruff George Washington Woodruff (February 22, 1864 – March 24, 1934) was an American football player, rower, coach, teacher, lawyer and politician. He served as the head football coach at the University of Pennsylvania (1892–1901), the University ...

) have been 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 ...

Schedule

Game summaries

Wesleyan (first game)

On September 29, 1888, Yale opened its season with a 76–0 victory over on the Yale field in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

. The starters for Yale were

(centre and captain), Brooks (right guard),

(left guard), William Rhodes (right tackle), Charles O. Gill (left tackle),

(quarterback), Samuel B. Morison (back), B. Morrison (back), Robinson (right end), Townsend (left end), and Herbert McBride (fullback).

Rutgers

On October 6, 1888, Yale defeated

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

, 65–0, on Yale Field in New Haven. Due to rain, only 50 spectators attended the game. The game consisted of 35 minutes of playing time. Team captain

had his knee "thrown out of joint" during the game. Yale's starters were Robinson, William Rhodes, Bert Hanson, Corbin (centre),

, Charles O. Gill, Townsend,

(quarterback), Samuel B. Morison (halfback), B. Morrison (halfback), Herbert McBride (fullback).

Penn (first game)

On October 13, 1888, starting at 3:05 p.m., Yale defeated Penn, 34–0, before a crowd of less than 1,000 at the 37th and Spruce Street grounds in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Yale's starting lineup in the game consisted of Frederic W. "Kid" Wallace (rusher), Charles O. Gill (rusher),

(rusher),

(rusher), Gordon B. Pike (rusher), William Rhodes (rusher), Samuel B. Morison (rusher), Clifford B. Twombly (quarterback), William P. Graves (halfback),

(halfback), and Herbert McBride (fullback).

Wesleyan (second game)

On Tuesday, October 16, 1888, Yale played its second game against Wesleyan, prevailing by a 46–0 at Wesleyan's home field in

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...

. Yale's starting lineup was Frederic W. "Kid" Wallace (rusher), Bert Hanson (rusher),

(rusher),

(centre and captain), Gordon S. Pike (rusher), William Rhodes (rusher), McClintock (rusher), Clifford B. Twombly (quarterback),

(halfback),

(halfback), Herbert McBride (fullback).

Amherst (first game)

On Friday, October 19, 1888, starting at 3:20 p.m., Yale defeated Amherst, 39–0, on Amherst's home grounds in

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,263, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County (althoug ...

Williams

On October 20, 1888, Yale defeated Williams, 30–0, on Williams' home field in

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

. Yale's 30 points was the lowest score by a Yale team against any opponent other than a Harvard or Princeton team. Yale's starting lineup was Frederic W. "Kid" Wallace (rush line), Bert Hanson (rush line),

(rush line),

(rush line), Gordon Pike (centre), William Rhodes, Morrison,

(quarterback), William P. Graves (halfback), Herbert McBride (halfback), and

William T. Bull William Tinninghast Bull (November 10, 1865 – November 8, 1924) was an American college football player and coach, who later became a physician. Football career Bull attended William S. Rogers High School in his native Newport, Rhode Island, N ...

(fullback).

Stevens

On October 27, 1888, Yale defeated , 69–0. The game was played in drizzling rain at Yale Field in New Haven. Yale scored 44 of its points in the last inning.

Crescent Athletic Club

On Tuesday, November 6, 1888, in a game starting at 11:15 a.m., Yale defeated the

Crescent Athletic Club The Crescent Athletic Club was an athletic club in Brooklyn. Founded by a group of Yale University alumni in 1884 as an American football club, it later expanded to include other sports, including baseball, lacrosse, ice hockey and basketball. The ...

, 28–0, before a crowd of nearly 1,600 at Washington Park in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Yale's starting lineup was Frederic W. "Kid" Wallace (rusher), Charles O. Gill (rusher), Ashbel Barney Newell (rusher),

(rusher), Brewster (rusher),

(rusher),

(quarterback),

(halfback), Perry W. Harvey (halfback), and Herbert McBride (fullback).

Wesleyan (third game)

On November 17, 1888, Yale defeated , 105–0, at Yale Field in

. Yale's tally of 105 points was its highest of the season and was the total of eight touchdowns (32 points), 11 goals (66 points), one goal from field (five points), and one safety (two points). Charles O. Gill was credited with the best play of the game, running three quarters of the field with

acting "as a sort of bodyguard in the race for six points." Yale's starting lineup was Stagg (rusher),

(rusher),

(rusher), Ashbel Barney Newell (center rush),

(rusher), Gill (rusher), Frederic W. "Kid" Wallace (rusher),

(quarterback),

(halfback), Herbert McBride (halfback), and

(fullback).

Princeton

On November 24, 1888, Yale defeated

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

, 10–0, at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Both teams were undefeated prior to the game which was billed as a contest for the intercollegiate football championship. The attendance was variously placed at 10,000 to 20,000 with ''The New York Times'' estimated the crowd at a little less than 15,000, evenly split between Princeton and Yale partisans. Yale's 10 points were scored on two goals kicked from the field by Yale's fullback

. As the game ended, a "mob" of Yale supporters ran onto the field and carried the victorious players off on their shoulders. The starting lineup for Yale consisted of Frederic W. "Kid" Wallace (rusher), Charles O. Gill (rusher),

(centre rush),

(rusher), William Rhodes (rusher),

(rusher), and

(rusher),

(quarterback),

(halfback), William P. Graves (halfback), and Bull (fullback).

Roster

The 1888 season was a transitional season where linemen were still generally referred to generically as "rushers" or the "rush line", but were at other times referred to by reference to specific positions in the line. Where available from game accounts, both designations are included below. * Brooks - right guard *

- fullback *

- rusher/centre and captain * Charles O. Gill - rusher/left tackle * William P. Graves - halfback *

- rusher * Bert Hanson - rusher * Perry W. Harvey - halfback *

- rusher/left guard * Herbert McBride - halfback/fullback * McClintock - rusher *

- halfback * Samuel B. Morison - rusher/back * B. Morrison - back * Ashbel Barney Newell - centre rush * Gordon B. Pike - rusher/centre * William Rhodes - rusher/right tackle * Robinson - right end *

- rusher * Townsend - left end * Clifford Twombly - quarterback * Frederic W. "Kid" Wallace - rusher *

- rusher *

- quarterback/halfback

References

{{College Football National Champion pre-AP Poll navbox

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

Yale Bulldogs football seasons College football national champions College football undefeated seasons

Yale Bulldogs football The Yale Bulldogs football program represents Yale University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). Yale's football program is one of the oldest in the world, having begun competing ...