1897 Yale Bulldogs football team

1897 Yale Bulldogs football
Co-national champion (The Sun, Davis)
ConferenceIndependent
Record9–0–2
Head coach
CaptainJames O. Rodgers
Home stadiumYale Field
1897 Eastern college football independents records
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Penn   –   15 – 0 – 0
Princeton   –   10 – 1 – 0
Washington & Jefferson   –   10 – 1 – 0
  –   9 – 0 – 2
Buffalo   –   9 – 1 – 0
Harvard   –   10 – 1 – 1
Army   –   6 – 1 – 1
Vermont   –   3 – 0 – 2
Lafayette   –   9 – 2 – 1
Drexel   –   6 – 2 – 1
Colgate   –   5 – 2 – 1
Dickinson   –   7 – 3 – 2
Swarthmore   –   7 – 3 – 2
Fordham   –   2 – 1 – 1
Cornell   –   5 – 3 – 1
Syracuse   –   5 – 3 – 1
Brown   –   7 – 4 – 0
Carlisle   –   6 – 4 – 0
Boston College   –   4 – 3 – 0
Holy Cross   –   4 – 3 – 1
Wesleyan   –   8 – 7 – 0
Bucknell   –   3 – 3 – 1
NYU   –   3 – 3 – 0
Temple   –   3 – 3 – 0
Trinity (CT)   –   4 – 4 – 1
Tufts   –   6 – 7 – 0
Geneva   –   3 – 4 – 1
Pittsburgh College   –   3 – 5 – 2
Villanova   –   3 – 5 – 1
Penn State   –   3 – 6 – 0
Amherst   –   2 – 6 – 2
Frankin & Marshall   –   2 – 6 – 2
Lehigh   –   3 – 7 – 0
New Hampshire   –   2 – 5 – 0
Rutgers   –   2 – 5 – 0
Western Univ. Penn.   –   1 – 3 – 0

The 1897 Yale Bulldogs football team was an American football team that represented Yale University as an independent during the 1897 college football season. The team finished with a 9–0–2 record, shut out seven of eleven opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 170 to 35.[1] Frank Butterworth was the head coach.

New York newspaper The Sun ranked Pennsylvania and Yale tied for first in the nation in November 1897.[2] The teams were named as co-national champions in a list published by Parke H. Davis in 1934.[3] Other later selectors designated 15–0 Pennsylvania alone as the national champion for 1897; Yale and Penn did not play during the 1897 season.

Four Yale players were selected as consensus first-team players on the 1897 All-America team. The team's consensus All-Americans were: quarterback Charles de Saulles; end John A. Hall; guard Gordon Brown; and tackle Burr Chamberlain.[4] Other notable players included halfback Charles T. Dudley, fullback Malcolm McBride, center George Cadwalader, guard Charles Chadwick, and tackle James O. Rodgers.

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 29at Trinity (CT)
W 10–0800[5]
October 2WesleyanW 30–02,000–3,000[6][7][8]
October 6Amherst
  • Yale Field
  • New Haven, CT
W 18–0[9]
October 9Williams
  • Yale Field
  • New Haven, CT
W 32–0[10]
October 16at Newton Athletic AssociationNewton, MAW 10–0[11]
October 20Brown
  • Yale Field
  • New Haven, CT
W 18–142,000[12]
October 23vs. CarlisleW 24–99,000–13,000[13][14]
October 30at ArmyT 6–6[15]
November 6Chicago Athletic Association
  • Yale Field
  • New Haven, CT
W 16–6[16]
November 13at HarvardT 0–025,000[17]
November 20Princeton
W 6–018,000[18]

[1]

Roster

[19]

References

  1. ^ a b "1897 Yale Bulldogs Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  2. ^ "Summary of Football — How the Big College Elevens Compare in Strength". The Sun. November 28, 1897. Pennsylvania and Yale as Even Match — Princeton, Harvard, Cornell, and West Point Next in Order
  3. ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2015). "National Poll Rankings" (PDF). NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA. p. 107. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  4. ^ "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 6. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  5. ^ ""Not So Warm" Just Yet: Yale Scores Only 10 Against Trinity and U. of P. is Scored on at Home". The boston Globe. September 30, 1897. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Yale, 30; Wesleyan, 0". The Sun. New York, New York. October 3, 1897. p. 8. Retrieved July 26, 2025 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  7. ^ "Yale Crushes Wesleyan". The New York Times. New York, New York. October 3, 1897. p. 6. Retrieved July 26, 2025 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  8. ^ "Yale 30, Wesleyan 0". The Boston Globe. October 3, 1897. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Yale Is Encouraged". The Boston Globe. October 7, 1897. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Yale 32, Williams 0". The Boston Globe. October 10, 1897. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Yale Defeats Newton A.A." The Boston Globe. October 17, 1897. pp. 1, 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "On The Football Field". The Meridien Daily Journal. Meriden, Connecticut. October 21, 1897. p. 7. Retrieved March 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  13. ^ "Nine Points Scored Against Old Eli". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. October 24, 1897. p. 8. Retrieved March 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  14. ^ "Yale Beats the Indians". The New York Times. October 24, 1897. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Yale Humiliated BY: Yale Is Outplayed at Every Point". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 31, 1897. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Score Against Yale: C.A.A. Eleven Plays a Plucky Game at New Haven". Chicago Tribune. November 7, 1897. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Langdon Smith (November 14, 1897). "Harvard and Yale Tie: Neither Side Able to Score a Point During 70 Minutes of Fierce Play". The Boston Globe. p. 1 – via NewspaperARCHIVE.
  18. ^ "Great Victory for Yale: She Plays a Brilliant Game, Defeating Princeton with a Score of 6 to 0". The New York Times. November 21, 1897. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "All-Time Lettermen (DOC)". Yale University Athletics. Retrieved January 29, 2025.