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1893 Army Cadets football team

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1893 Army Cadets football
ConferenceIndependent
Record4–5
Head coach
CaptainThomas Gillespie Carson
Home stadiumThe Plain
Seasons
← 1892
1894 →
1893 Eastern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Princeton   –   11 – 0 – 0
Fordham   –   4 – 0 – 0
Harvard   –   12 – 1 – 0
Yale   –   10 – 1 – 0
Colgate   –   3 – 0 – 2
Penn   –   12 – 3 – 0
Penn State   –   4 – 1 – 0
Wesleyan   –   4 – 1 – 0
Holy Ghost   –   6 – 2 – 0
Swarthmore   –   6 – 2 – 1
Lehigh   –   7 – 3 – 0
Brown   –   6 – 3 – 0
Carlisle   –   2 – 1 – 0
Delaware   –   2 – 1 – 0
Frankin & Marshall   –   4 – 2 – 1
Navy   –   5 – 3 – 0
Washington & Jefferson   –   5 – 3 – 0
Drexel   –   3 – 2 – 0
Bucknell   –   4 – 3 – 0
Amherst   –   7 – 6 – 1
Boston College   –   3 – 3 – 0
Geneva   –   2 – 2 – 1
Army   –   4 – 5 – 0
Williams   –   2 – 3 – 1
Tufts   –   4 – 7 – 0
Cornell   –   3 – 6 – 1
Worcester Tech   –   2 – 4 – 1
Boston University   –   1 – 2 – 0
Lafayette   –   3 – 6 – 0
Syracuse   –   4 – 9 – 1
Western Penn   –   1 – 4 – 0
MIT   –   1 – 5 – 0
Massachusetts   –   1 – 9 – 0
New Hampshire   –   0 – 1 – 0
Rutgers   –   0 – 4 – 0
Maine   –   0 – 5 – 0

The 1893 Army Cadets football team represented the United States Military Academy in the 1893 college football season. In their first and only season under head coach Laurie Bliss, the Cadets compiled a 4–5 record and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 109 to 84.[1][2] In the annual Army–Navy Game, the Cadets lost to the Midshipmen by a 6 to 4 score.[3]

No Army Cadets were honored on the 1893 College Football All-America Team.

Football in 1893[edit]

American football in 1893 was a variant of rugby football, played with a rugby ball and making use of rules closely derived from the original sport. The field of play was 110 yards long and 53-1/3 yards wide, with chalk lines every five yards to help the referee determine necessary distances.[4] Forward passing was prohibited; only lateral passing or running with the ball was allowed.[5] Teams of eleven were divided into seven "rushers or forwards" positioned at the line of scrimmage, with four backs behind the line — a quarterback just behind the line, two halfbacks located about two yards behind him, and a fullback or "goal-tend," who stood about a dozen yards behind the halfbacks.[6]

Kickoffs were generally executed by kicking the ball forward slightly for a self-recovery and quick lateral pass to a teammate who carried the ball in the middle of a V-shaped blocking wedge of his teammates.[7] When the ball was brought to a standstill, the runner would cry "down" and a line of scrimmage formed, with the "center-rusher" (also called the "snap-back") hiking the ball to the quarterback.[7] The quarterback would generally pitch the ball to one of the three backs behind him to attempt to run forward, while the defenders would "endeavor by all lawful means to retard that advance."[8]

The offense would retain the ball if it was able to gain 5 yards in three downs — or by retreating 20 yards towards their own goal line.[9] The ball would generally be punted away after two downs "if the prospects of completing the 5-yard gain appear small."[9]

A touchdown counted as 4 points and allowed the scoring team the opportunity to add 2 more points by kicking the ball over the crossbar and through the goal posts, which were planted at the goal line.[10] After a touchdown, the scoring team had the option of bringing out the ball as far as desired at a right angle from the point at which the ball crossed the goal line (as in modern rugby) and attempting a place kick, or by executing a "punt out" from the end zone to a teammate making a fair catch, from which spot a drop-kick for the extra points could be attempted.[11]

A drop kick through the goal posts from the field counted as 5 points.[10] As with the contemporary game, safties counted for 2 points.[12]

The game consisted of two 45-minute halves with an intermission of 10 minutes, although duration of the game could be shortened by mutual consent.[12] No coaching was allowed from the sidelines, all game decisions had to be made by the players on the field.[13] Once removed from the game for a substitute, a player could not return to the game (as in modern soccer).[14]

Schedule[edit]

DateTimeOpponentSiteResultSource
September 30Volunteer AC
L 4–6
October 73:30 p.m.Lafayette
  • The Plain
  • West Point, NY
W 36–0[15]
October 14Lehigh
  • The Plain
  • West Point, NY
L 0–18
October 21Amherst
  • The Plain
  • West Point, NY
W 12–4
October 28Yale
  • The Plain
  • West Point, NY
L 0–28
November 4Union (NY)
  • The Plain
  • West Point, NY
W 6–0
November 11Trinity (CT)
  • The Plain
  • West Point, NY
W 18–11
November 18Princeton
  • The Plain
  • West Point, NY
L 4–36
December 2Navy
L 4–6

Players[edit]

The following Cadets were members of the 1893 Army football team.[3]

  • Thales Lucius Ames, Wisconsin - center
  • Dwight Edward Aultman, Pennsylvania - right tackle (USS General D. E. Aultman (AP-156) named in his honor)
  • John Somerville Battle, North Carolina - left tackle
  • A. P. Berry
  • W. J. Borden
  • Jens Bugge, Jr., Minnesota
  • Reynolds Johnson Burt, Ohio
  • Thomas Gillespie Carson, Illinois - fullback
  • William Durward Connor, Iowa
  • Samuel George Creden, Massachusetts - backup quarterback
  • Samuel Field Dallam, Pennsylvania
  • Chase Doster, Kansas
  • Ralph Willard Drury, Massachusetts
  • Daniel Duncan, Kentucky - backup left halfback
  • James Paxton Harbeson, Kentucky - right end
  • James Villard Heidt, Georgia
  • James William Hinkley, Jr., New York - quarterback
  • Franklin Swart Hutton, New York
  • Edward Leonard King, Massachusetts
  • Abraham Grant Lott, Kansas - left guard
  • Willard Herman McCornack, Illinois
  • Dennis E. Nolan, New York - left end
  • Paul Reisinger, Pennsylvania
  • Otho B. Rosenbaum, Virginia
  • George Henry Shelton, Connecticut - left halfback
  • Fine Wilson Smith, Kentucky - right guard
  • Lucian Stacey, Maine - right halfback
  • David Sheridan Stanley
  • Harry Howard Stout, Pennsylvania
  • W. A. White
  • Clarence Charles Williams, Georgia

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Army Yearly Results (1890-1894)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  2. ^ "1893 Army Black Knights Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Middies Again Triumphant: West Point Cadets Whipped at Football by Two Points" (PDF). The New York Times. December 3, 1893.
  4. ^ Walter Camp, "An Introductory Chapter for Beginners," in Camp (ed.), Foot-ball Rules and Referee's Book for the Season of 1893–94. New York: A.G. Spalding & Bros., 1893; pp. 3–4.
  5. ^ Walter Camp (ed.), "Foot-ball Rules of the American Intercollegiate Association," in Camp (ed.), Foot-ball Rules and Referee's Book for the Season of 1893–94. New York: A.G. Spalding & Bros., 1893; p. 23.
  6. ^ Camp, "An Introductory Chapter for Beginners," p. 5.
  7. ^ a b Camp, "An Introductory Chapter for Beginners," p. 6.
  8. ^ Camp, "An Introductory Chapter for Beginners," pp. 6–7.
  9. ^ a b Camp, "An Introductory Chapter for Beginners," p. 7.
  10. ^ a b Camp, "An Introductory Chapter for Beginners," p. 9.
  11. ^ Camp (ed.), "Foot-ball Rules of the American Intercollegiate Association," p. 27.
  12. ^ a b Camp, "An Introductory Chapter for Beginners," p. 11.
  13. ^ Camp (ed.), "Foot-ball Rules of the American Intercollegiate Association," p. 19.
  14. ^ Camp (ed.), "Foot-ball Rules of the American Intercollegiate Association," p. 17.
  15. ^ "West Point, 36; Lafayette, 0". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. October 8, 1893. p. 3. Retrieved September 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
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