Spacer Image The History of College Football

Football History

Modern day football grew out of a combination of a sport resembling rugby, played at the time in Canada, and an earlier version of soccer. As colleges formed teams and had to come up with a standard of rules everyone could follow, American football was born.

The first meeting to establish these rules occurred on October 18th, 1873 in New York City when members of Yale, Columbia, Rutgers and Princeton met. But the evolution of the game of football as we understand it today grew out of a competition between Harvard University and McGill University where the two styles of sport each team had been playing were fused. Harvard adopted these rules and spread them in America.

Also it is important to note that Walter Camp, often referred to as the “Father of American Football” was responsible for declaring many of the specific rules of football. He also selected the earliest College Football All-American Team.

First College Football Games

The first technical game of college football was played in New Brunswick, New Jersey on November 6, 1869. The game was played between Rutgers University and the College of New Jersey, now known as Princeton University. This game was much closer to soccer than modern day football, however. The first game of college football played the way it is recognized today was played between Harvard and Yale in 1875 following the Harvard, McGill game.

Popularity of Early College Football

During the early days of college football the game became popular with athletes as well as spectators. The games were reported on in local and national papers and rivalries began to spring up. Some of the earliest rivalries include Army – Navy, which began in 1890, Pittsburgh and West Virginia, which began in 1895, Boston College and Holy Cross, beginning in 1896, Harvard and Yale (the oldest) dating from 1875, and Auburn and Alabama, beginning in 1893 and remaining the fiercest of rivalries in college football history.

History of Bowl Games

Championship college football history began when the Tournament of Roses Association sponsored a game between Michigan and Stanford in 1902. The outcome of that game was 49-0 Michigan. The association began holding a contest every year based on that game, and eventually the contest was played in the newly completed Rose Bowl Stadium, where the name came from. By 1940 five other bowl games had been created: the Rose Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Sun Bowl and the Cotton Bowl.