1885 Princeton Tigers football team

The 1885 Princeton Tigers football team represented the College of New Jersey, then more commonly known as Princeton College, in the 1885 college football season. The team finished with a 9–0 record and was retroactively named as national champions by the Billingsley Report, Helms Athletic Foundation, Houlgate System, National Championship Foundation, and Parke H. Davis.[1][2] This season marked Princeton's 13th football national championship.[3]

1885 Princeton Tigers football
National champion
ConferenceIndependent
Record9–0
Head coach
  • None
CaptainC. M. DeCamp
Seasons
← 1884
1886 →
1885 college football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Princeton     9 0 0
Michigan     3 0 0
Colorado College     1 0 0
Yale     7 1 0
Cincinnati     1 0 1
Penn     8 5 0
Lafayette     3 2 1
Massachusetts     3 2 1
Johns Hopkins     2 2 0
Richmond     1 1 0
Wesleyan     3 4 0
Navy     1 2 0
Lehigh     1 5 1
Rutgers     0 1 0
Fordham     0 3 0

The season was notable for one of the most celebrated football plays of the 19th century—a 90-yard punt return by Henry "Tillie" Lamar in the closing minutes of the game to beat Yale, 6–5, a team Princeton had not defeated since 1878.[4][5]

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 3at StevensHoboken, NJW 94–0
October 14StevensPrinceton, NJW 76–0
October 24at PennPhiladelphia, PA (rivalry)W 57–0
October 31PennPrinceton, NJW 80–10
November 7at Columbia Law SchoolNew York, NYW 64–0
November 11Johns HopkinsPrinceton, NJW 10–0
November 14WesleyanPrinceton, NJW 76–0
November 212:30 p.m.at YaleW 6–55,000[6][7]
November 26at PennPhiladelphia, PAW 76–10

References

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  1. ^ "National Poll Champions" (PDF). NCAA Division I Football Records. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2017. p. 110. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  2. ^ "1885 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 Princeton Results" (PDF). goprincetontigers.com. Princeton University. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  5. ^ "Sporting Comment" (PDF). The Auburn Citizen. November 21, 1911.
  6. ^ "Yale Bites The Dust". The Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. November 22, 1885. p. 1. Retrieved March 23, 2022 – via Newspapers.com  .
  7. ^ "Princeton Is Champion". The New York Times. New York, New York. November 22, 1885. p. 1. Retrieved March 23, 2022 – via Newspapers.com  .