The 1892 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 w ...

in the

1892 college football season The 1892 college football season was the season of American football played among colleges and universities in the United States during the 1892–93 academic year. The 1892 Yale Bulldogs football team, led by head coach Walter Camp, compiled ...

. In its fifth and final season under head coach Walter Camp, the team finished with a 13–0 record and outscored opponents by a total of 429 to 0.

Mike Murphy Michael James Murphy (born 20 October 1941) is an Irish broadcaster, actor and property developer. He is best known for his long broadcasting career with RTÉ, presenting many TV shows such as ''The Live Mike'', '' Winning Streak'' and '' The Bi ...

was the team's trainer. The team is regarded as the 1892 national champion, having been selected retrospectively as such 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 owners ...

, Houlgate System,

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 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 ...

. Yale's 1892 season was part of a 37-game winning streak that began with the final game of the 1890 season and stopped at the end of the 1893 season. After Yale's final game against Princeton, Walter Camp traveled to California where he assumed duty as the head coach of the 1892 Stanford football team.

Schedule

Game summaries

Wesleyan

On Wednesday, October 5, 1892, Yale opened its season with a 6–0 victory over at

Yale Field George H.W. Bush Field (commonly known as Bush Field, originally Yale Field) is a stadium in West Haven, Connecticut, just across the city line with New Haven, Connecticut. It is primarily used for the Yale University baseball team, the Bulldogs, ...

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 ...

. The game was played in 20-minute halves with strong wind that made kicking difficult.

Crescent Athletic Club

On October 8, 1892, 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. ...

eleven by a 28–0 score before a crowd of 3,000 at

Eastern Park Eastern Park was a baseball park in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York in the 1890s. It was bounded by Eastern Parkway—later renamed Pitkin Avenue when Eastern Parkway was diverted—to the north (home plate); the Long I ...

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 ...

. The Bliss brothers, C. D. and Laurie, scored two touchdowns each, and

Wallace Winter Wallace Charles Winter Sr. (August 8, 1872 – May 10, 1947) was an American college football player and coach. He played tackle at Yale University from 1890 to 1892 and was selected to the 1891 College Football All-America Team. After graduat ...

scored one.

Frank Butterworth Frank Seiler Butterworth Sr. (September 21, 1870 – August 21, 1950) was an American football player and coach. Butterworth attended Yale University, where he was a fullback on Yale's football teams and a member of the Skull and Bones soci ...

and

Henry S. Graves Henry ("Harry") Solon Graves (May 3, 1871 – March 7, 1951) was a forester, forest administrator in the United States. He co-founded the Yale Forest School (now the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies) in 1900, the oldest continuous ...

kicked two goals from touchdown each.

Williams

On Wednesday, October 12, 1892, Yale defeated , 32–0, at Yale Field in New Haven. Yale scored 10 points in the first half and 22 in the second half.

led the way with four touchdowns, while C. D. Bliss and James McCrea scored one each. Fullback

made three goals after touchdown and also missed three.

Manhattan Athletic Club

On October 15, 1892, Yale defeated the

Manhattan Athletic Club The Manhattan Athletic Club was an athletic club in Manhattan, New York City. The club was founded on November 7, 1877, and legally incorporated on April 1, 1878. Its emblem was a "cherry diamond". It established an athletic cinder ash track at ...

eleven by a 22–0 score before a crowd of 1,500 at Manhattan Field in New York City. Yale's star halfback Laurie Bliss was unable to play due to an ankle injury. With Bliss out of the lineup, Yale did not run around the ends. Instead, Yale ran the tackles and backs through the line. ''The New York Times'' concluded that the Yale team "is a weak one at best for Yale, and will have to depend more on a superior knowledge of the game than anything else to win."

Amherst

On Wednesday, October 19, 1892, Yale defeated , 29–0, at Yale Field in New Haven. Graves scored Yale's first touchdown (valued at four points) on a 65-yard run, but the goal (valued at two points) was missed. On Yale's second possession,

kicked a goal from field (valued at five points). C. D. Bliss scored a touchdown on Yale's third possession, and the goal was again missed. Yale led, 13-0, at halftime. In the second half, Graves scored on another long run, and Butterworth kicked the goal to extend the lead to 19-0. Bliss scored two additional touchdowns to conclude the scoring.

Orange Athletic Club

On October 22, 1892, Yale defeated the

Orange Athletic Club The Orange Tornadoes and Newark Tornadoes were two manifestations of a long-lived professional American football franchise that existed in some form from 1887 to 1941 and from 1958 to 1970, having played in the American Amateur Football Union from ...

by a 58–0 score before a crowd of almost 3,000 at the Orange Oval in

Orange, New Jersey The City of Orange is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 30,134, reflecting a decline of 2,734 (−8.3%) from the 32,868 counted in 2000. Orange was original ...

. Harmon S. Graves scored four touchdowns, one on an 80-yard run, and

scored three.

YMCA Training School

On Wednesday, October 26, 1892, Yale defeated , 50–0, before a crowd of about 400 at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, th ...

Vance C. McCormick Vance Criswell McCormick (June 19, 1872 – June 16, 1946) was an American politician and prominent businessman from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He served as mayor of Harrisburg from 1902 to 1905 and as United States Democratic National Committee ...

, Laurie Bliss, and

spent the afternoon scouting the Harvard team in Cambridge.

assumed McCormick's duties in managing the team's play on the field.

missed five of 10 goals after touchdown. Halfback Herbert W. Hamlin, a substitute, scored three touchdowns in the second half.

Tufts

On October 29, 1892, Yale defeated , 44–0, before a crowd of 3,000 at Yale Field in New Haven. Yale played its substitutes, and Herbert W. Hamlin was the star of the game with four touchdowns and runs of 50, 25, 30, and 10 yards around the end.

scored three touchdowns and kicked four goals.

Wesleyan

On November 5, 1892, Yale defeated , 72–0, before a crowd of 8,500 at

New York Athletic Club

On Tuesday, November 8, 1892, Yale defeated the New York Athletic Club by a 48–0 score 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 ...

in New York City. Every member of the Princeton football team, and half of the Penn team, were in attendance to scout Yale. Clifford Bliss scored five touchdowns (valued at four points each), and single touchdowns were scored by Laurence Bliss, Armstrong, Norton, Thorne, and

Alexander Hamilton Wallis Alexander Hamilton Wallis (March 28, 1872 – July 25, 1959) was an American college football player. He played tackle for the Yale Bulldogs football The Yale Bulldogs football program represents Yale University in college football at ...

and Norton kicked two goals from touchdown (valued at two points each).

Penn

On November 12, 1892, Yale defeated Penn, 28–0, before a crowd estimated at between 12,000 and 14,000 at Manhattan Field in New York City. Yale scored 22 points in the first half and began "playing foxy" in the second. ''The New York Times'' wrote that the most innovative aspect of Yale's game plan was in its innovative use of " interference" to pave the way for the ball carrier: "A new wrinkle came out yesterday. When a half back started ahead with the ball the first man who took him along would fall in front of the Pennsylvania man about to tackle and this would upset half a dozen men, while another Yale player had jumped quick as a flash ahead of the runner to continue the interference. If another Pennsylvania man tried to tackle the runner the interferer would knock him off while the runner would dodge inside, another Yale man would appear to carry on the runner, and so on until there was a clear field."

Harvard

On November 19, 1892, Yale defeated

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, 6–0, before a crowd of over 20,000 at Hampden Park in

. The game was scoreless until late in the game. With the ball at Harvard's 40-yard line, Yale used "a whirling wedge" to run the ball around the left end to the five-yard line. From that point, Clifford Bliss scored the touchdown, and

kicked the goal after touchdown. ''The New York Times'' declared "Laurie" Bliss as the "hero of the day", making "about all of his side's long runs and half the short ones."

Princeton

On Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1892, 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 nin ...

, 12–0, before a crowd of 35,000 on a cold day at Manhattan Field in New York City. The large crowd overwhelmed the capabilities of the city's elevated railway. At least 3,000 additional spectators watched the game from "Dead-Head Hill," a bluff (also known as

Coogan's Bluff Coogan's Bluff is a promontory near the western shore of the Harlem River in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. Its boundaries extend approximately from 155th Street and the Macombs Dam Bridge viaduct to ...

) overlooking the field which the owner allowed the crowd to enter at 50 cents per person. Early in the first half, Laurence Bliss ran 40 yards around the left end for a touchdown, and

kicked goal to give Yale a 6–0 lead. In the second half, Yale center Phillip Stillman blocked a punt by Princeton fullback

Sheppard Homans Jr. Sheppard "Shep" Homans Jr. (September 24, 1871 – March 30, 1952) was an All-American football player and insurance executive. He was selected as an All-American at the fullback position while playing for Princeton University in both 1890 and ...

, and the ball was butted beyond the goal line where Stillman fell on it for Yale's second touchdown. Butterworth again kicked goal.

Awards

Three Yale players were selected by both

Caspar Whitney Caspar William Whitney (September 2, 1864 – January 18, 1929) was an American author, editor, explorer, outdoorsman and war correspondent. He originated the concept of the All-American team in college football in 1889 when he worked for '' Harp ...

and Walter Camp to the 1892 All-America college football team: end

Frank Hinkey Frank Augustus Hinkey (December 23, 1870 – December 30, 1925) was an American college football player and coach. He was notable for being one of only three college football players in history to be named a four-time consensus All-American. He ...

, tackle

, and quarterback

. McCormick was also the team captain. Camp also selected the following Yale players to his second team: halfbacks (and brothers) C. D. Bliss and Laurie Bliss, fullback

; end John Campbell Greenway; guard James McCrea; and center Phillip Stillman.

Financial results

In March 1893, the team's manager, William Maffit, released the Yale Foot Ball Association's financial report for the 1892 season. The team's expenditures totaled $14,550.82, including $3,174.29 for "hotels and meals"; $2,311.16 for trainer's table and help; $1,505.09 for "railroad fares"; $1,050.45 for "sporting goods"; $1,004.88 for "racks and busses"; $892.48 for "coaching expenses"; $620.34 for "trophies"; $444.05 for "shoes and repairs same"; $312.35 for "fruit and confectionery"; $318.50 for "rubbing team"; $285.00 for "referees and umpires"; and $261.00 for "medical services". The team's receipts totaled $28,732.64, including $12,388.18 from the Princeton game; $10,553.65 from the Harvard game; $2,588.71 for the Penn game; and $541.85 for the N.Y.A.C. game.

Roster

Letter winners

George Adee George Townsend Adee (January 4, 1874 – July 31, 1948) was an American football player and tennis official. Biography Born in Stonington, Connecticut, Adee attended Yale University, where he was the quarterback of the school's football team. In ...

, '95 * Bill Armstrong, '95 * Anson M. Beard, '95 * C. D. Bliss, '93 * Laurie Bliss, '93 *

, '95 * Thomas Cochran, '94 * Edward V. Cox, '94 * Thomas Dyer, '95 * Harmon S. Graves, '94 * John Campbell Greenway, '95 *

, '92 * Bill Hickok, '95 * David B. Lyman, 95 *

, 95 * William Maffit, '93, manager *

, '92 * James A. McCrea, '95 * Eugene Messler, '94 * Charles S. Morris, '96 * William H. Norton, '92 * William M. Richards, '95 * George Sanford, '95 * Phillip Stillman, '95 *

, '93 *

, '93

Substitutes

* Herbert W. Hamlin

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 compe ...