The George Washington Colonials football team represented
George Washington University
The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...
of
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
in
college football competition from 1881 to 1966.
The team's home field in the final six seasons was
District of Columbia Stadium, shared with the
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
.
The
Colonials were most successful between the 1930s and 1950s, when they regularly played top-level competition. George Washington made one
bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...
appearance, at the end of the
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...
season at the
Sun Bowl in
El Paso, Texas
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...
; the Colonials shut out host
Texas Western
The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...
(now UTEP) 13–0 on
New Year's Day.
The football program was discontinued after the 1966 season due to a number of factors, including the team's lack of an on-campus stadium and football support facilities.
[
]
History
The earliest recorded football games at Columbian University (as the school was known until 1904) were five contests against Gallaudet and Episcopal High School between 1881 and 1883. On November 8, 1890, football resumed when Columbian defeated a Washington-based club, Kalorama AC, 10–0. The team played off and on until 1920. That season was not a successful one for George Washington, which finished 1–6–1, including a defeat at the hands of West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
, 81–0, and , 101–7. H. Watson "Maud" Crum became the head football and basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
coach in 1924. He was the first to remain in that position with the "Hatchetites" for more than four years.[When we played football: the GW boys of fall, 1890-1966](_blank)
, ''The GW Hatchet
''The GW Hatchet'' is the student newspaper of the George Washington University. Founded in 1904, The Hatchet is the second-oldest continuously-running newspaper in Washington, DC, only behind ''The Washington Post''. The Hatchet is often ranked ...
'', August 30, 1999.
In 1928, the school's athletic teams were renamed the "Colonials". That year they were routed by Penn State, 50–0. Head coach James "Possum Jim" Pixlee took over the following season and led GW to a 0–8 record. Pixlee, however, later became George Washington's winningest coach in terms of number of wins (42). In 1930, GW routed the New York Aggies, 86–0.[
In the 1930s and 1940s, GW gained nationwide media attention and scheduled top competition, starting with ]Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...
in 1932. The Colonials lost, 28–6, but that same year they beat Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
, 21–6, and tied Oklahoma, 7–7. From 1933 to 1935, back
The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column runs ...
Alphonse "Tuffy" Leemans set school records with 1,054 single-season rushing yards, 2,382 career rushing yards, 207 single-season carries, and 490 career carries. After college, he became a two-time All- NFL player for the New York Giants and was eventually inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...
. From 1938 to 1941, William Reinhart, the Colonials' winningest baseball and basketball coach, also coached football. The football team, however, was mediocre under him, and, from 1943 to 1945, was discontinued due to World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Andy Davis played as GW quarterback from 1948 to 1951, and recorded 3,587 passing yards and 1,416 rushing yards. In 1952, the Colonials defeated Bucknell, 21–7, with the help of a block punt, an interception, and a fumble recovery. The loss was Bucknell's second in their past 20 games.
George Washington was a member of the Southern Conference
The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly k ...
for many years. In 1953, head coach Eugene "Bo" Sherman was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year and center
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...
Steve Korcheck was named Southern Conference Player of the Year. In 1956, GW ended the regular season 7–1–1. The lone defeat came against West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
, when reserve quarterback Alex Szuch's passing led the Mountaineers to victory, 14–0. They held Boston U to a tie, 20–20. The season's performance resulted in the team being invited to play in the 1957 Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX to face the host school, Texas Western
The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...
(now known as UTEP). The Miners possessed a 9–1 record and were favored by a two-touchdown margin. The 17th-ranked Colonials, however, won, 13–0, to finish their most successful season with an 8–1 record.
Over the next three years, the Colonials compiled a 6–20 record. Bill Elias served as head coach in 1961 and improved the Colonials to a 5–3 mark from 1–8 the year prior. After the season, however, he left to take over at Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, a team that had a 28-game losing streak. From 1962 to 1966, James V. Camp served as head coach, and his teams posted a 22–35 record.George Washington Coaching Records
, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved March 17, 2009. Between 1961 and 1963, Dick Drummond rushed for 1,814 yards and was twice named All-Southern Conference. Garry Lyle, one of the last GW players to go on to an NFL career, did not consider the last Colonial teams to have been terrible. He recalled, however, that, "When I was a freshman, we played 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 ...
and I remember the varsity coming home and half of them wore casts."[Huddling Again At GW; Football Memories Revived at Reunion](_blank)
''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', p. C08, April 9, 1989.
The final George Washington football game to date came on Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...
, November 24, 1966, when the team lost to , 16–7.[Denlinger, Kenneth.]
Villanova Claws GW In Final, 16-7
. ''The Washington Post''. November 25, 1966. p. D1. It was GW's third loss in a row.[ GW ended the season with a 4–6 record (conference: 4–3) and Coach Camp was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year.] GW President Dr. Lloyd H. Elliott reevaluated GW's football program; he said that GW had lost $254,000 on the football program during the 1966 season.[Denlinger, Kenneth.]
GW Decides On Football Path Today
. ''The Washington Post''. January 19, 1967. p. G1. Coach Camp resigned on December 19, 1966, because of the uncertainty of whether GW would retain its football program the following year.[
On January 19, 1967, the Board of Trustees voted to end the football program.][Denlinger, Kenneth.]
Within Reach GW Will Put Emphasis on Basketball Recruiters Abound Transfer Rules Waived
. ''The Washington Post''. January 20, 1967. p. E1. GW decided to use the football program's funding to build a new field house for the basketball team.[ Poor game attendance and the expense of the program contributed to the decision. A former GW player, Harry Ledford, believed that most people were unwilling to commute into ]Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, which did not have metrorail
METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the 12th ...
at the time, on Friday nights to D.C. Stadium (later RFK), was perceived as an unsafe area. Additionally, Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
and Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
were nationally competitive teams that drew potential suburban spectators away from GW.
Bowl games
References
{{GWU
American football teams established in 1881
American football teams disestablished in 1966
1881 establishments in Washington, D.C.
1966 disestablishments in Washington, D.C.