American college football season
The 1910 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listing Harvard and Pittsburgh as having been retrospectively selected national champions, by four "major selectors" in about 1927, 1947, 1970 and 1980.[1] Harvard claims a national championship for the 1910 season.
Rules
Rule changes were made prior to the 1910 season to permit more use of the forward pass, with complicated limitations:[2]
- The only eligible receivers were the two ends, who could catch a pass no more than 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, and could not be interfered with until the ball was caught.
- A legal pass could not be thrown unless the quarterback was at least 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage and the rest of the players, except the two ends, were at least 1 yard behind the scrimmage line.
- On kickoffs and punts, the kicking team's players could not be touched until they had advanced 20 yards
- Flying tackles were outlawed, and "the man making a tackle must have at least one foot on the ground".
- The ballcarrier could no longer be aided in any way by his teammates.
Other rules in 1910 were:
- Field 110 yards in length
- Kickoff made from midfield
- Three downs to gain ten yards
- Touchdown worth 5 points
- Field goal worth 3 points
- Game time based on agreement of the teams, not to exceed two 45 minute halves.[3]
The season ran from September 24 until Thanksgiving Day (November 24).[4] Prior to Thanksgiving, the season's death toll was 22; the previous season's was thirty.[5]
Conference standings
Major conference standings
For this article, major conferences defined as those including multiple state flagship public universities.
Independents
Minor conferences
Minor conference standings
Awards and honors
All-Americans
The consensus All-America team included Walter Camp's selections: