The 1914 Army Cadets football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that 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 ...

as an independent during the

1914 college football season The 1914 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the ''Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book'' listing Army, Illinois, and Texas as having been selected national champions. Only Illinois claims a national championship fo ...

. In their second season under head coach

Charles Dudley Daly Charles Dudley Daly (October 31, 1880 – February 12, 1959) was an American football player and coach, an author, and served in the United States Army during World War I. He played college football as a quarterback at Harvard University and the ...

, the Cadets compiled a 9–0 record, shut out six of their nine opponents, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 219 to 20 – an average of 24.3 points scored and 2.2 points allowed. 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 defeated the Midshipmen, 20 to 0. The Cadets also defeated Notre Dame The team was recognized as the national champion by the

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 ...

, the

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 ...

, and the

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 a co-national champion by Parke H. Davis. Three Army players were recognized as first-team players 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: end Louis A. Merrilat; center

John McEwan John James "Cap" McEwan (February 18, 1893 – August 9, 1970) was an American football player and coach. He played from 1913 to 1916 as a center at the United States Military Academy, where he was a three-time All-American and captain of the ...

; and quarterback

Vernon Prichard Major General Vernon Edwin "Prich" Prichard (January 25, 1892 − July 10, 1949) was an American football quarterback and United States Army officer. He played college football with Army and was selected as a first-team All-American in 1914. He b ...

. Tackle

Alex Weyand Alexander Mathias "Babe" Weyand (January 10, 1892 – May 10, 1982) was an American football player, Olympic Games, Olympian, United States Army, Army Officer (armed forces), officer and sports historian. He was elected to the College Football H ...

was selected as a third-team All-American 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 ...

. Four players from the 1914 team were 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 ...

: McEwan; Weyand;

Robert Neyland Robert Reese Neyland (; February 17, 1892 – March 28, 1962) was an American football player and coach and officer in the United States Army, reaching the rank of brigadier general. He served three stints as the head football coach at the Univ ...

(later coach at Tennessee); and

Elmer Oliphant Elmer Quillen "Catchy" or "Ollie" Oliphant (July 9, 1892 – July 3, 1975) was an American football, basketball and track player and coach. He is one of the great scorers in college football history, credited with a total of 435 points in his coll ...

Schedule

Players

* Charles Benedict, fullback *

Omar Bradley Omar Nelson Bradley (February 12, 1893April 8, 1981) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, rising to the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. Bradley ...

(later Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army) * William Butler, left tackle * William Coffin, fullback * John F. Goodman, center * Charles Herrick, left guard * Paul A. Hodgson, left halfback * William M. Hoge, right halfback and fullback * James P. Kelly, right end *

, center (College Football Hall of Fame) * Laurence Meacham, left guard and right guard * Louis A. Merrilat, left end and right end *

, left end (College Football Hall of Fame) * Joseph O'Hare, right guard *

, halfback (College Football Hall of Fame) *

, quarterback *

James Van Fleet General James Alward Van Fleet (March 19, 1892 – September 23, 1992) was a United States Army officer who saw service during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Van Fleet was a native of New Jersey, who was raised in Florida and gradu ...

, right halfback *

, right tackle (College Football Hall of Fame)

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 College football national champions College football undefeated seasons

Army Cadets football The Army Black Knights football team, previously known as the Army Cadets, represents the United States Military Academy in college football. Army is a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) member of the NCAA. The Black Knights play home ga ...

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