1877 Princeton Tigers football team

1877 Princeton Tigers football
National champion (Billingsley) Co-national champion (Davis)
Conference	Independent
Record	2–0–1
Head coach	None
Captain	W. Earl Dodge

1877 college football records

v t e	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

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
November 3	2:30 p.m.	Harvard	St. George's Cricket Club grounds Hoboken, NJ (rivalry)	W 1–0	1,000	[6][7]
November 17	2:40 p.m.	Columbia	Princeton, NJ	W 4–0		[8]
December 8		vs. Yale	St. George's Cricket Club grounds Hoboken, NJ (rivalry)	T 0–0	2,000–3,000	[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 .
7. "Princeton Boys Winning". The Sun. New York, New York. November 4, 1877. p. 1. Retrieved March 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
8. "Princeton Boys Ahead". The Sun. New York, New York. November 18, 1877. p. 1. Retrieved April 29, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .
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 .
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 .