1877 Princeton Tigers football
National champion (Billingsley)
Co-national champion (Davis)
ConferenceIndependent
Record2–0–1
Head coach
  • None
CaptainW. Earl Dodge
Seasons
← 1876
1878 →
1877 college football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Yale   –   3 – 0 – 1
Princeton   –   2 – 0 – 1
Amherst   –   1 – 0 – 0
Harvard   –   3 – 1 – 0
Columbia   –   2 – 2 – 0
Rutgers   –   1 – 2 – 0
Stevens   –   1 – 3 – 0
Tufts   –   0 – 3 – 0

The 1877 Princeton Tigers football team represented the College of New Jersey, then more commonly known as Princeton College, in the 1877 college football season. The team finished with a 2–0–1 record and was retroactively named national champion by the Billingsley Report and as co-national champion by Parke H. Davis.[1] This season was Princeton's seventh national championship and one of 11 in a 13-year period between 1869 and 1881.[2] Princeton played Harvard for the second time, earning its first victory over the Crimson.[3] The captain of the team was W. Earl Dodge.[4]

Sophomore Woodrow Wilson was elected as Princeton's football director in 1877. Football historian Parke H. Davis credited Wilson with helping to coach the 1877 team.[5]

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
November 32:30 p.m.Harvard
W 1–01,000[6][7]
November 172:40 p.m.ColumbiaPrinceton, NJW 4–0[8]
December 8vs. Yale
  • St. George's Cricket Club grounds
  • Hoboken, NJ (rivalry)
T 0–02,000–3,000[9][10]

References

  1. ^ "National Poll Champions" (PDF). NCAA Division I Football Records. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2017. p. 110. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  2. ^ "Championships - Tigers Football". princetontigersfootball.com. Princeton University. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  3. ^ "1877 Princeton Tigers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  4. ^ "All-Time Princeton Results" (PDF). goprincetontigers.com. Princeton University. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  5. ^ "Woodrow Wilson Coached Princeton's First Football Team, Historian Says". The Harvard Crimson. November 8, 1924.
  6. ^ "The Princeton Boys Win". The New York Times. New York, New York. November 4, 1877. p. 2. Retrieved March 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  7. ^ "Princeton Boys Winning". The Sun. New York, New York. November 4, 1877. p. 1. Retrieved March 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  8. ^ "Princeton Boys Ahead". The Sun. New York, New York. November 18, 1877. p. 1. Retrieved April 29, 2020 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  9. ^ "Great Football Game.—Yale and Princeton Teams Playing for the Championship". New York Herald. New York, New York. December 9, 1877. p. 12. Retrieved March 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  10. ^ "The Sporting World—Football Match between Yale and Princeton". The Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. December 9, 1877. p. 8. Retrieved March 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.


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