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1897 Harvard Crimson football
File:Harvard Crimson logo.svg
Conference Independent
1897 record 10–1–1
Head coach William Cameron Forbes (1st year)
Captain Norman Cabot
Home stadium Soldiers' Field
Seasons
« 1896 1898 »

The 1897 Harvard Crimson football team represented Harvard University in the 1897 college football season. The Crimson finished with a 10–1–1 record and shut out 10 of 12 opponents under first-year head coach William Cameron Forbes, who later served as Governor-General of the Philippines (1908–13) and Ambassador of the United States to Japan (1930–32). The 1897 team won its first ten games by a combined 227-5 score. It then closed the season playing to a scoreless tie with Yale and losing by a 15-6 score against Penn.[1][2]

Two Harvard players received consensus honors on the 1897 College Football All-America Team: center Allan Doucette and halfback Benjamin Dibblee. Other notable players on Harvard's 1897 team included end Norman Cabot and tackle Malcolm Donald.

Schedule[]

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 2 Williams
  • Soldiers' Field
  • Cambridge, MA
W 20–02,000[3]
October 6 Bowdoin
  • Soldiers' Field
  • Cambridge, MA
W 24–0 [4]
October 9 Dartmouth
  • Soldiers' Field
  • Cambridge, MA (rivalry)
W 13–05,000[5]
October 13 Amherst
  • Soldiers' Field
  • Cambridge, MA
W 38–0 [6]
October 16at Army
  • The Green
  • West Point, NY
W 10–02,000[7]
October 20 Newton Athletic Ass'n
  • Soldiers' Field
  • Cambridge, MA
W 24–0 [8]
October 23 Brown
  • Soldiers' Field
  • Cambridge, MA
W 18–08,000[9][10]
October 26 Newtowne Athletic Club
  • Soldiers' Field
  • Cambridge, MA
W 22–01,500[11]
October 30 Cornell
  • Soldiers' Field
  • Cambridge, MA
W 24–56,000[12]
November 3 Wesleyan
  • Soldiers' Field
  • Cambridge, MA
W 34–01,200[13][14]
November 13 Yale
  • Soldiers' Field
  • Cambridge, MA (rivalry)
T 0–025,000[15]
November 20at Penn L 6–1525,000[16]

References[]

  1. "1897 Harvard Crimson Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/harvard/1897-schedule.html. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  2. "Harvard Football Yearly Records". GoCrimson.com. Harvard University. http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/fball/history/Media_Center_Football_Yearly_Results. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  3. "Harvard 20, Williams 0: Regular Football Season Opened on Soldiers Field". The Boston Globe: p. 1. October 3, 1897. https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-sunday-globe-oct-03-1897-p-61/.
  4. "Harvard Wins Easily: Play Against Bowdoin Hardly Up to Expected Standard". The Boston Globe: p. 9. October 7, 1897. https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-oct-07-1897-p-21/.
  5. "Harvard Wins Easily: Dartmouth Is Outgeneraled and Beaten By Score of 13 to 0". The Boston Globe: p. 1. October 10, 1897. https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-sunday-globe-oct-10-1897-p-69/.
  6. "Harvard Scores Well: Amherst Gets Near Crimson's Line Only Once in the Game". The Boston Globe: pp. 1, 4. October 15, 1897. https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-oct-14-1897-p-1/.
  7. "Hot Work on the Gridiron: Harvard Defeats West Point 10-0 After a Stubborn Contest". The Boston Globe: p. 1. October 17, 1897. https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-sunday-globe-oct-17-1897-p-77/.
  8. "Surpasses Yale: Harvard Team Piles Up 24 Points Against Newton". Boston Post: p. 3. October 21, 1897. https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-post-oct-21-1897-p-3/.
  9. "Fierce Onslaughts: Brown's Line Was Unable to Withstand Harvard's Determined Rushes". The Boston Globe: p. 1. October 24, 1897. https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-sunday-globe-oct-24-1897-p-1/.(attendance 8,000 at Soldiers Field)
  10. "Harvard's Football Giants Keep Brown From Scoring: Crimson's Men Piled Up 18 Points, and Their Line Was Impenetrable". Boston Post: pp. 1, 3. October 24, 1897. https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-sunday-post-oct-24-1897-p-1/.
  11. "Weak Showing: Harvard's Play Against Newtowne a Discouraging Exhibition; Final Score Was 22 to 0". Boston Post: p. 3. October 27, 1897. https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-post-oct-28-1897-p-3/.
  12. "Harvard Wins: Crimson Football Team Defeats Cornell's Brave Warriors, 24 to 5". Boston Post: pp. 1, 3. October 31, 1897. https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-sunday-post-oct-31-1897-p-1/.
  13. "Easy Victory: Harvard Eleven Defeats Wesleyan 34 to 0". Boston Post: p. 3. October 4, 1897.(1,200 attendance)
  14. "Harvard Plays Well: Some Encouragement From The Game With Wesleyan Which Ends 34-0". The Boston Globe: p. 1. November 4, 1897. https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-nov-04-1897-p-1/.
  15. Langdon Smith (November 14, 1897). "Harvard and Yale Tie: Neither Side Able to Score a Point During 70 Minutes of Fierce Play". The Boston Globe: p. 1. https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-sunday-globe-nov-14-1897-p-1/.
  16. "Pennsylvania Lowered Fair Harvard's Colors: In a Pretty Contest Witnessed by a Crowd of Twenty-Five Thousand People". The Times (Philadelphia): p. 1. November 21, 1897. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16451820/pennsylvania_lowered_fair_harvards/.
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