The 1903 Princeton Tigers football team was an American football team that represented Princeton University as an independent during the 1903 college football season . In their first season under head coach Art Hillebrand , the Tigers compiled a perfect 11–0 record, shut out 10 of 11 opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 259 to 6.[ 1] John DeWitt was the team captain.
There was no contemporaneous system in 1903 for determining a national champion . However, Princeton was retroactively named as the national champion by the Billingsley Report , Helms Athletic Foundation , Houlgate System , and Parke H. Davis , and as a co-national champion by the National Championship Foundation (NCF).[ 2] Michigan was co-champion by the NCF.
Three Princeton players were selected as consensus first-team players on the 1903 All-America team : halfback Dana Kafer ; end Howard Henry ; and guard John DeWitt .[ 3] DeWitt was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame .[ 4] Other notable players included end Ralph Tipton Davis .
Schedule
Date Opponent Site Result Attendance Source September 30 Swarthmore W 34–0[ 5]
October 3 Georgetown University Field Princeton, NJ W 5–0[ 6]
October 7 Gettysburg University Field Princeton, NJ W 68–0[ 7]
October 10 at Brown Providence, RI W 29–0[ 8]
October 14 Lehigh University Field Princeton, NJ W 12–0[ 9]
October 17 Carlisle University Field Princeton, NJ W 11–0[ 10]
October 21 Bucknell University Field Princeton, NJ W 17–0[ 11]
October 24 Dartmouth University Field Princeton, NJ W 17–0[ 12]
October 31 Cornell University Field Princeton, NJ W 44–0[ 13]
November 7 Lafayette University Field Princeton, NJ W 11–0[ 14]
November 14 at Yale W 11–630,000 [ 15] [ 16]
[ 1]
References
↑ 1.0 1.1 "1903 Princeton Tigers Schedule and Results" . SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 27, 2017 .
↑ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2015). "National Poll Rankings" (PDF) . NCAA Division I Football Records . NCAA. p. 108. Retrieved January 4, 2016 .
↑ "Football Award Winners" (PDF) . National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 6. Retrieved October 21, 2017 .
↑ "John DeWitt" . National Football Foundation. Retrieved March 24, 2022 .
↑ "Princeton, 34; Swarthmore, 0" . The New York Times . October 1, 1903. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com .
↑ "Princeton, 5; Georgetown, 0" . The New York Times . October 4, 1903. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com .
↑ "Princeton, 68; Gettysburg, 0" . The New York Times . October 8, 1903. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com .
↑ "Princeton 29, Brown 0: Superior Playing of the Jerseymen Was Apparent at Every Point - Great Work by the Backs" . The Boston Globe . October 11, 1903. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com .
↑ "Orange And Black" . The Scranton Republican . Scranton, Pennsylvania . October 15, 1903. p. 1. Retrieved November 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon .
↑ "Princeton, 11; Carlisle, 0" . The New York Times . October 18, 1903. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com .
↑ "Princeton, 17; Bucknell, 0" . The New York Times . October 22, 1903. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com .
↑ "Princeton, 17; Dartmouth, 0" . The New York Times . October 25, 1903. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com .
↑ "Crushing Defeat Dealt Out to Cornell by Princeton. The Score Being 44 to 0" . The Philadelphia Inquirer . November 1, 1903. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com .
↑ "Princeton, 11; Lafayette, 0" . The New York Times . November 8, 1903. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com .
↑ "Princeton Wins Big Football Game: Yale Beaten at New Haven in Grand Contest by 11 to 6" . The New York Times . November 15, 1903. pp. 1, 2 – via Newspapers.com .
↑ "Princeton, Rah! Yale Swallows An 11-6 Defeat On Home Ground Before Ancient Rival" . The Sun . New York, N.Y. November 15, 1903. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com .
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