Historical Game of the Week - Bye Week

[KRC]

During the bye week, I thought I would go back a little ways and talk about the first independent football team in Central New York: The Syracuse Athletic Association. They played from 1890 through 1900 and won three championships. This will give you a little insight into how the game was played in the early days.

 

Archives

 

Game Summary (PDF)

[Typical TBD Guy]

During the bye week, I thought I would go back a little ways and talk about the first independent football team in Central New York: The Syracuse Athletic Association. They played from 1890 through 1900 and won three championships. This will give you a little insight into how the game was played in the early days.

 

Archives

 

Game Summary (PDF)

 

Awesome stuff, KRC! Keep it up

[Chandler#81]

"Syracuse regained possession at the center of the field. A few plays later, Archie Hughes fumbled the ball out of bounds, where it was recovered by Hanson. This is where things got a little confusing. The inexperienced Hanson asked Captain Johanson what he should do with the recovery. Johanson answered, “Bring it in fifteen yards.” Instead of doing this, Hanson touched the ball down (putting it in play) and ran down the field, crossing the Syracuse goal. The referee initially awarded the touchdown, which incensed the S.A.A. squad. After heated arguments, Referee Mills reversed his decision and disallowed the points."

 

Classic!

 

Rumor has it, referee Mills is the grandfather of Ed Hocholi -

[Beerball]

Thanks Ken!

 

Anyone notice that SU wasn't so formidible in 1892 either? They were 0-4 against SAA, scoring a grand total of 4 points. Wonder if Robinson's great great great grand pappy was the coach?

[nobody]

So, 4 pts for a TD and 2 pts for the PAT. Interesting stuff.

[SouthernMan]

During the bye week, I thought I would go back a little ways and talk about the first independent football team in Central New York: The Syracuse Athletic Association. They played from 1890 through 1900 and won three championships. This will give you a little insight into how the game was played in the early days.

 

Archives

 

Game Summary (PDF)

 

My grandfather was born only 2 weeks after the Syracuse game. He later played halfback for Navy.

 

Geez, the McKinley assasination was still 9 years in the future.

Sometimes it's hard to imagine people even existed that long ago.

[The Dean]

What, no video clips?

 

Great job, Ken. Very interesting stuff.

[l< j]

I argued during training camp that year that Downey was better suited at QB than Jacobson, who should be moved to HB. And look what happened after they made the switch.

 

Downey/Jacobson > Flutie/RJ.

 

Seriously, this is an interesting read. Thanks for your time. One question: what is a 'wedge rush', or what distinguishes that rushing play from, say, 'Downey run' or 'Jacobson run' in the PBP?

 

kj

[KRC]

What, no video clips?

 

They should be on YouTube.

 

 

 

Great job, Ken. Very interesting stuff.

 

Thank you.

[KRC]

Seriously, this is an interesting read. Thanks for your time. One question: what is a 'wedge rush', or what distinguishes that rushing play from, say, 'Downey run' or 'Jacobson run' in the PBP?

 

kj

 

You might also see it called the flying wedge, but it is when the linemen form a V or wedge shape to block for the runner. It was pretty effective, but caused a lot of injuries. As a result, it was banned in the mid 1890s.

 

As far as the PBP, I just provided the information I was able to obtain. If I did not know the type of running play, I listed it as "Run." If I was able to find the type of running play (wedge, off-tackle, center rush, etc), I would list it as such.

[Steely Dan]

What, no video clips?

 

Great job, Ken. Very interesting stuff.

 

Thanks Ken. Always great.

 

They actually have daguerreotypes of the games. This required each player to freeze for an hour after each step. When finished they could put the photos on a mutoscope so people could watch the full game. Games took 7 days to play, including commercials, back in the day.

 

 

I argued during training camp that year that Downey was better suited at QB than Jacobson, who should be moved to HB. And look what happened after they made the switch.

 

Downey/Jacobson > Flutie/RJ.

 

Seriously, this is an interesting read. Thanks for your time. One question: what is a 'wedge rush', or what distinguishes that rushing play from, say, 'Downey run' or 'Jacobson run' in the PBP?

 

kj

 

The first forward pass.

 

They called it the "projectile pass" back then.

 

On Sept. 5, 1906, Saint Louis University's Bradbury Robinson tossed a pigskin to teammate Jack Schneider. It was a remarkably creative play for the era, one that ultimately became known as the forward pass.

 

The game was scoreless. According to SLU archives, head coach Eddie Cochems was frustrated with the team's inability to move the ball. For weeks, they had been secretly practicing this new art of tossing the ball forward from a starting position behind the ear.

 

And so football's first air attack began.