The 1927 Yale Bulldogs 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 wi ...

team that represented

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

as an independent during the 1927 college football season. The team finished with a 7–1 record, shut out four opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 157 to 32. The team was rated as one of the greatest to ever represent Yale. The team included two consensus All-Americans ( John Charlesworth and

Bill Webster Bill Webster is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, ''Coronation Street'', played by Peter Armitage. The character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 6 February 1984 and remained in the show until 1985 when ...

) and was retroactively recognized by the

College Football Researchers Association The College Football Researchers Association (CFRA) was founded in 1982 by Anthony Cusher of Reeder, North Dakota, and Robert Kirlin of Spokane, Washington. The CFRA took a vote of its members from 1982 to 1992 to select an annual college football n ...

as the national champion for 1927. The team was ranked No. 5 in the nation in the

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ratings released in December 1927.

National championship debate

After the season ended, sports writers debated over which college football team should be recognized as the national champion. The leading contenders were Yale,

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, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Among selectors who have sought to name a retroactive national champion, most have chosen Illinois or Georgia, though Yale was chosen by the

. In the second game of the season, Yale lost to Georgia in head-to-head competition. A Yale fumble at its own nine-yard line set up an early Georgia touchdown, and the Bulldogs led by a 14-to-10 score at halftime. Neither team was able to score in the second half. Later in the game, Yale drove toward a potential game-winning touchdown, but Yale halfback Bruce Caldwell fumbled as he was about to cross the goal line. Georgia was later shut out in the final game of the season in its

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game against

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. Both teams ended the season with one loss.

Key players

Halfback Bruce Caldwell was the team's leader on offense. After Caldwell had scored 47 points in early games, Princeton challenged Caldwell's eligibility on grounds that he had played in two games while a freshman at

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. As a result, Caldwell was not permitted to play in the final two games against Princeton and Harvard. The line included two players who were consensus first-team picks on the 1927 All-America team: center John Charlesworth and guard

. Charlesworth received first-team honors from, among others, ''

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'' as selected by

Grantland Rice Henry Grantland "Granny" Rice (November 1, 1880July 13, 1954) was an early 20th-century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio. Early years Rice wa ...

, the

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(NEA), and the

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. Webster received the same honors from the All America Board,

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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.

selected by Davis Walsh, North American Newspaper Alliance, and NEA.

Schedule

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

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 competi ...