1881 Princeton Tigers football
National champion (Billingsley)
Co-national champion (Parke H. Davis)
ConferenceIndependent
Record7–0–2
Head coach
  • None
CaptainP. T. Bryan
Seasons
← 1880
1882 →
1881 college football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Richmond   –   2 – 0 – 0
Georgetown   –   1 – 0 – 0
Yale   –   5 – 0 – 1
Princeton   –   7 – 0 – 2
Penn State   –   1 – 0 – 0
Columbian University   –   1 – 0 – 1
Dartmouth   –   1 – 0 – 1
Harvard   –   6 – 1 – 1
Massachusetts   –   2 – 1 – 1
Kentucky University   –   2 – 1 – 0
Columbia   –   3 – 3 – 1
Rutgers   –   2 – 4 – 1
Stevens   –   1 – 2 – 1
Kentucky State College   –   1 – 2 – 0
CCNY   –   1 – 1 – 1
Amherst   –   0 – 3 – 2
Lewisburg   –   0 – 1 – 0
MIT   –   0 – 1 – 0
Wesleyan   –   0 – 1 – 0
Randolph–Macon   –   0 – 2 – 0
Michigan   –   0 – 3 – 0
Penn   –   0 – 5 – 0

The 1881 Princeton Tigers football team represented the College of New Jersey, then more commonly known as Princeton College, in the 1881 college football season. The team finished with a 7–0–2 record and was retroactively named national champion by the Billingsley Report and as co-national champion by Parke H. Davis.[1][2] This season marked Princeton's 11th national championship in a 13-year period between 1869 and 1881.[3] P. T. Bryan was the captain of the team.[4]

No goals were scored against the Tigers in 1881 and the season ended as it had for the fourth time in five years; a 0–0 tie against Yale in or near New York.[5]

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 15RutgersPrinceton, NJ (rivalry)W 3–0[6]
October 22StevensPrinceton, NJW 7–0
October 29at PennPhiladelphia, PA (rivalry)W 7–0
November 4MichiganPrinceton, NJW 1–0
November 5PennPrinceton, NJW 4–0
November 102:15 p.m.at RutgersNew Brunswick, NJW 1–0[7]
November 122:38 p.m.Columbia
W 1–0[8][9]
November 192:30 p.m.vs. Harvard
T 0–02,500[10]
November 24vs. Yale
T 0–010,000[11]

Game summaries

November 4: Princeton 1, Michigan 0

The Michigan Wolverines toured the east in 1881, playing the first games between western and eastern teams.[12] Michigan played at Harvard on October 31 and at Yale on November 2, 1881, losing both games.[13] The trip was planned to end after the Yale game, however a Princeton representative attended the game in New Haven and challenged Michigan to a game in two days. Michigan's captain and quarterback Walter S. Horton did not want to accept, but the team over-ruled him. Horton then refused to play, and substitute Henry S. Mahon had to fill in for him.[14]

Michigan forward Fred Townsend wrote about the game in 1901, reporting that Princeton scored a goal in the first half on a long kick aided by the wind. Michigan could not score any goals or touchdowns throughout the contest, while late in the second half Princeton scored two touchdowns.[14] A New Jersey newspaper reported: "The Princeton College team were victorious Thursday [sic] in a football match with the team of the University of Michigan after an exciting struggle."[15] The Daily State Gazette wrote: "A finely contested game of football at the University grounds Friday, between Princeton and University of Michigan resulted in a victory for the home team, Princeton 1 goal, 2 touchdowns; University of Michigan 0."[16]

References

  1. ^ "National Poll Champions" (PDF). NCAA Division I Football Records. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2017. p. 110. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  2. ^ "1881 Princeton Tigers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  3. ^ "Championships - Tigers Football". princetontigersfootball.com. Princeton University. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  4. ^ "All Time Captains". www.princetontigersfootball.com. Princeton University. September 24, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  5. ^ "All-Time Princeton Results" (PDF). goprincetontigers.com. Princeton University. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  6. ^ "Princeton Beats Rutgers At Football". Harrisburg Telegraph. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. October 18, 1881. p. 1. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  7. ^ "Collegians At Foot-Ball". The New York Times. New York, NY. November 11, 1881. p. 1. Retrieved May 1, 2020 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  8. ^ "College Men At Football". New-York Tribune. New York, NY. November 13, 1881. p. 2. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  9. ^ "Columbia's Boys Beaten". The New York Times. New York, New York. November 13, 1881. p. 7. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  10. ^ "Fine Foot-ball Playing". The New York Times. New York, New York. November 20, 1881. p. 16. Retrieved September 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  11. ^ "Princeton Faces Yale: Playing Foot-Ball in a Freezing Wind". The New York Times. November 25, 1881. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Football - A Timeline of Tradition". Harvard University. Archived from the original on January 8, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  13. ^ "1881 Michigan Football Team". University of Michigan. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  14. ^ a b Townsend, Fred (1901). "The First Eastern Trip" (PDF). Inlander. University of Michigan.
  15. ^ "Foot Ball". The Daily Times. New Brunswick, NJ. November 5, 1881.
  16. ^ "Princeton Items". Daily State Gazette. New Jersey. November 7, 1881.
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