1903 Princeton Tigers football
National champion
(Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, Davis)
Co-national champion (NCF)
ConferenceIndependent
Record11–0
Head coach
CaptainJohn DeWitt
Home stadiumUniversity Field
Seasons
← 1902
1904 →
1903 Eastern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Princeton   –   11 – 0 – 0
Yale   –   11 – 1 – 0
Columbia   –   9 – 1 – 0
Dartmouth   –   9 – 1 – 0
Geneva   –   9 – 1 – 0
Holy Cross   –   8 – 2 – 0
Temple   –   4 – 1 – 0
Washington & Jefferson   –   8 – 2 – 0
Lehigh   –   9 – 2 – 1
Harvard   –   9 – 3 – 0
Penn   –   9 – 3 – 0
Army   –   6 – 2 – 1
Carlisle   –   6 – 2 – 1
Amherst   –   7 – 3 – 0
Lafayette   –   7 – 3 – 0
Cornell   –   6 – 3 – 1
Colgate   –   4 – 2 – 1
Penn State   –   5 – 3 – 0
Swarthmore   –   6 – 4 – 0
Brown   –   5 – 4 – 1
Syracuse   –   5 – 4 – 0
Fordham   –   1 – 1 – 0
Frankin & Marshall   –   5 – 5 – 1
Buffalo   –   4 – 4 – 0
Rutgers   –   4 – 4 – 1
Delaware   –   4 – 4 – 0
Villanova   –   2 – 2 – 0
Bucknell   –   4 – 5 – 0
Vermont   –   4 – 5 – 0
Tufts   –   5 – 8 – 0
Wesleyan   –   3 – 6 – 1
Springfield Training School   –   1 – 3 – 1
NYU   –   2 – 5 – 0
New Hampshire   –   2 – 6 – 1
Pittsburgh College   –   1 – 5 – 1
Western U. Penn.   –   1 – 8 – 1

The 1903 Princeton Tigers football team was an American football team that represented Princeton University as an independent during the 1903 college football season. In their first season under head coach Art Hillebrand, the Tigers compiled a perfect 11–0 record, shut out 10 of 11 opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 259 to 6.[1] John DeWitt was the team captain.

There was no contemporaneous system in 1903 for determining a national champion. However, Princeton was retroactively named as the national champion by the Billingsley Report, Helms Athletic Foundation, Houlgate System, and Parke H. Davis, and as a co-national champion by the National Championship Foundation (NCF).[2] Michigan was co-champion by the NCF.

Three Princeton players were selected as consensus first-team players on the 1903 All-America team: halfback Dana Kafer; end Howard Henry; and guard John DeWitt.[3] DeWitt was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.[4] Other notable players included end Ralph Tipton Davis.

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 30Swarthmore
W 34–0[5]
October 3Georgetown
  • University Field
  • Princeton, NJ
W 5–0[6]
October 7Gettysburg
  • University Field
  • Princeton, NJ
W 68–0[7]
October 10at BrownProvidence, RIW 29–0[8]
October 14Lehigh
  • University Field
  • Princeton, NJ
W 12–0[9]
October 17Carlisle
  • University Field
  • Princeton, NJ
W 11–0[10]
October 21Bucknell
  • University Field
  • Princeton, NJ
W 17–0[11]
October 24Dartmouth
  • University Field
  • Princeton, NJ
W 17–0[12]
October 31Cornell
  • University Field
  • Princeton, NJ
W 44–0[13]
November 7Lafayette
  • University Field
  • Princeton, NJ
W 11–0[14]
November 14at Yale
W 11–630,000[15][16]

[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "1903 Princeton Tigers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  2. ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2015). "National Poll Rankings" (PDF). NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA. p. 108. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  3. ^ "Football Award Winners" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2016. p. 6. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  4. ^ "John DeWitt". National Football Foundation. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  5. ^ "Princeton, 34; Swarthmore, 0". The New York Times. October 1, 1903. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Princeton, 5; Georgetown, 0". The New York Times. October 4, 1903. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Princeton, 68; Gettysburg, 0". The New York Times. October 8, 1903. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Princeton 29, Brown 0: Superior Playing of the Jerseymen Was Apparent at Every Point - Great Work by the Backs". The Boston Globe. October 11, 1903. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Orange And Black". The Scranton Republican. Scranton, Pennsylvania. October 15, 1903. p. 1. Retrieved November 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  10. ^ "Princeton, 11; Carlisle, 0". The New York Times. October 18, 1903. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Princeton, 17; Bucknell, 0". The New York Times. October 22, 1903. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Princeton, 17; Dartmouth, 0". The New York Times. October 25, 1903. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Crushing Defeat Dealt Out to Cornell by Princeton. The Score Being 44 to 0". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 1, 1903. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Princeton, 11; Lafayette, 0". The New York Times. November 8, 1903. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Princeton Wins Big Football Game: Yale Beaten at New Haven in Grand Contest by 11 to 6". The New York Times. November 15, 1903. pp. 1, 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Princeton, Rah! Yale Swallows An 11-6 Defeat On Home Ground Before Ancient Rival". The Sun. New York, N.Y. November 15, 1903. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

1903 Princeton Tigers football—national champions
Princeton Tigers football
College football national champions (pre-AP Poll)
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