1890 college football season 1890 Harvard Crimson
Champion(s) Harvard
← 1889 ·
football seasons
· 1891 →
The 1890 college football season was the season of American football played among colleges and universities in the United States during the 1890–91 academic year.
The 1890 Harvard Crimson football team compiled a perfect 11–0 record, outscored opponents by a total of 555 to 12, and was recognized as the national champion by the Billingsley Report , Helms Athletic Foundation , Houlgate System , National Championship Foundation , and Parke H. Davis .[1]
In the Midwest, the Baker Methodists defeated the Kansas Jayhawks by a score of 22–9 in the first college football game played in Kansas.[2] In the South, Vanderbilt Commodores defeated Nashville (Peabody), 40–0, in the first college football game played in Tennessee.[3]
As the popularity of the sport increased, several notable programs were established in 1890, including Colorado , Illinois , Kansas , Missouri , Nebraska , and Vanderbilt .
All eleven players selected by Caspar Whitney for the 1890 All-America college football team came from the Big Three (Harvard Princeton , and Yale ). Three of the honorees have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame : Harvard's great tackle Marshall "Ma" Newell , Yale's guard Pudge Heffelfinger , and Yale's halfback Thomas "Bum" McClung .
Conference and program changes [ ]
School
1889 Conference
1890 Conference
Butler Bulldogs
Independent
IIAA
Colorado Silver and Gold
Program established
Independent
DePauw Tigers
Independent
IIAA
Earlham Hustlin' Quakers
Independent
IIAA
Hanover Panthers
Independent
IIAA
Illinois Illini
Program Established
Independent
Indiana State Normal Sycamores
Independent
IIAA
Indiana Hoosiers
Independent
IIAA
Kansas Jayhawks
Program Established
Independent
Missouri Tigers
Program Established
Independent
Nashville
Program Established
Independent
Nebraska Old Gold Knights
Program Established
Independent
Purdue Boilermakers
Independent
IIAA
Rose Polytechnic Engineers
Independent
IIAA
Vanderbilt football
Program Established
Independent
Wabash Little Giants
Independent
IIAA
Western Reserve football
Program established
Independent
Awards and honors [ ]
All-Americans [ ]
The consensus All-America team included:
Position
Name
Height
Weight (lbs.)
Class
Hometown
Team
QB
Dudley Dean
Sr.
Lake Village, New Hampshire
Harvard
HB
Bum McClung
5'10"
165
Jr.
Knoxville, Tennessee
Yale
HB
John J. Corbett
Fr.
Boston, Massachusetts
Harvard
FB
Sheppard Homans, Jr.
Jr.
Englewood, New Jersey
Princeton
E
Frank Hallowell
So.
Medford, Massachusetts
Harvard
T
Marshall Newell
5'7"
168
Fr.
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Harvard
G
Pudge Heffelfinger
6'4"
178
Jr.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Yale
C
John Cranston
Sr.
Sheridan, New York
Harvard
G
Jesse Riggs
Jr.
Baltimore, Maryland
Princeton
T
William Rhodes
Sr.
Cleveland, Ohio
Yale
E
Ralph Warren
Jr.
Montclair, New Jersey
Princeton
Statistical leaders [ ]
Player scoring most points: Philip King , Princeton, 145
Conference standings [ ]
The following is a potentially incomplete list of conference standings:
1890 Colorado Football Association standings
Conf
Overall
Team
W
L
T
W
L
T
Colorado Mines $
3
–
0
–
0
6
–
0
–
0
Denver
2
–
1
–
0
3
–
2
–
0
Colorado College
1
–
2
–
0
2
–
3
–
0
Colorado
0
–
3
–
0
1
–
6
–
0
1890 Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf
Overall
Team
W
L
T
W
L
T
Butler $
3
–
0
–
1
3
–
0
–
1
Purdue
2
–
1
–
0
3
–
3
–
0
Wabash
0
–
3
–
0
0
–
3
–
0
Independents [ ]
1890 Eastern college football independents records
Conf
Overall
Team
W
L
T
W
L
T
Harvard
–
11
–
0
–
0
Yale
–
13
–
1
–
0
Princeton
–
11
–
1
–
1
Franklin & Marshall
–
8
–
2
–
0
Navy
–
5
–
1
–
1
Penn
–
11
–
3
–
0
Cornell
–
8
–
4
–
0
Washington & Jefferson
–
2
–
1
–
0
Syracuse
–
7
–
4
–
0
Lehigh
–
6
–
4
–
0
Delaware
–
3
–
2
–
0
Amherst
–
6
–
5
–
1
Rutgers
–
5
–
5
–
1
Dartmouth
–
4
–
4
–
0
Penn State
–
2
–
2
–
0
Colgate
–
1
–
1
–
0
Wesleyan
–
5
–
6
–
0
Tufts
–
2
–
3
–
0
Brown
–
2
–
4
–
1
Western Univ. Penn
–
1
–
2
–
0
Lafayette
–
2
–
5
–
1
Bucknell
–
1
–
4
–
1
Fordham
–
1
–
3
–
1
Massachusetts
–
1
–
4
–
0
Columbia
–
1
–
5
–
1
Army
–
0
–
1
–
0
Geneva
–
0
–
1
–
0
1890 Midwestern college football independents records
Conf
Overall
Team
W
L
T
W
L
T
Nebraska
–
2
–
0
–
0
Washington University
–
2
–
0
–
0
Minnesota
–
5
–
1
–
1
Michigan
–
4
–
1
–
0
Northwestern
–
4
–
1
–
1
Missouri
–
2
–
1
–
0
Cincinnati
–
2
–
1
–
1
Lake Forest
–
5
–
3
–
0
Baker
–
1
–
1
–
0
Iowa
–
1
–
1
–
0
Illinois
–
1
–
2
–
0
Kansas
–
1
–
2
–
0
Ohio Wesleyan
–
1
–
3
–
0
Wisconsin
–
1
–
3
–
0
Ohio State
–
1
–
4
–
0
Doane
–
0
–
1
–
0
Washburn
–
0
–
1
–
0
1890 Southern college football independents records
Conf
Overall
Team
W
L
T
W
L
T
Furman
–
2
–
0
–
0
Vanderbilt
–
1
–
0
–
0
Virginia
–
5
–
2
–
0
Navy
–
5
–
1
–
1
Delaware
–
3
–
2
–
0
Georgetown
–
3
–
3
–
1
Columbian
–
2
–
3
–
0
Johns Hopkins
–
0
–
1
–
0
Nashville
–
0
–
1
–
0
Trinity (NC)
–
0
–
1
–
0
Richmond
–
0
–
3
–
0
1890 Midwestern college football independents records
Conf
Overall
Team
W
L
T
W
L
T
Nebraska
–
2
–
0
–
0
Washington University
–
2
–
0
–
0
Minnesota
–
5
–
1
–
1
Michigan
–
4
–
1
–
0
Northwestern
–
4
–
1
–
1
Missouri
–
2
–
1
–
0
Cincinnati
–
2
–
1
–
1
Lake Forest
–
5
–
3
–
0
Baker
–
1
–
1
–
0
Iowa
–
1
–
1
–
0
Illinois
–
1
–
2
–
0
Kansas
–
1
–
2
–
0
Ohio Wesleyan
–
1
–
3
–
0
Wisconsin
–
1
–
3
–
0
Ohio State
–
1
–
4
–
0
Doane
–
0
–
1
–
0
Washburn
–
0
–
1
–
0
References [ ]
^ "National Poll Champions" (PDF) . NCAA Division I Football Records . National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2017. p. 110. Retrieved January 2, 2018 .
^ Evans, Harold (August 1940). "College Football in Kansas" . Kansas Historical Quarterly. pp. 285–311. Retrieved September 11, 2012 .
^ John Majors. "College Football" . Tennessee Historical Society. Retrieved 2006-11-29 .
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