List of historically significant college football games

The following is a list of historically significant college football games. Games included on this list are single college football games that have historical impact to the sport of college football.

Inclusion on this list requires games of significant historical "firsts" and/or otherwise significant impact to the sport itself, such as significant rules changes or initiation of long-standing ceremony. Historically significant games should be prominently discussed in major historical accounts of college football. Games that may be significant only to a particular team's fan base should not be listed here.

Games are listed in chronological order.

List of historically significant college football games

Note: this list is incomplete. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Game Home Visitor Location final score Notes
1869 New Jersey vs. Rutgers football game Rutgers New Jersey (now Princeton) New Brunswick, New Jersey 6–4[1] Considered the first American football game ever played.
1872 Rutgers vs. Columbia football game Columbia Rutgers New York, New York 0–0 First football game to end with a tie score.[2]
1875 Tufts vs. Harvard football game Harvard Tufts Cambridge, Massachusetts 1–0 Considered the first modern style American football game ever played—each side had 11 men on the field at any given time, and tackles stopped play.
1880 Michigan vs. Toronto football game Michigan Toronto Toronto, Ontario 1–0 Possibly the first college football game played outside the United States.[3]
1884 Dartmouth vs. Yale football game Yale Dartmouth Hanover, New Hampshire 113–0 First game where one team scored over 100 points; also the first time one team scored over 100 points and the opposing team was shut out.[4] The next week, Princeton outscored Lafayette by 140 to 0.[5]
1890 Navy vs. Army football game Army Navy West Point, New York 24-0 First Army-Navy Game
1892 Wyoming Seminary vs. Mansfield State Normal football game Wyoming Seminary (high school) Mansfield State Normal Mansfield, Pennsylvania 0–0 (tie) First nighttime football game played under lights. Game ended at halftime.[6]
1893 Army vs. Navy football game Navy Army Annapolis, Maryland 6-4 First documented use of a football helmet by a player in a game. Midshipman Joseph M. Reeves had a crude leather helmet made by a local shoemaker/blacksmith and wore it in this game after being warned by doctors that he risked death if he continued to play football after suffering a kick to the head in an earlier game.
1895 Swarthmore vs. Penn football game Penn Swarthmore Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 40-0 First college football game played at Franklin Field, the oldest stadium still in use as a college football venue.
1896 Purdue vs. Minnesota football game Minnesota Purdue Minneapolis, Minnesota 14-0 First conference game of the newly formed Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives, the oldest college athletic conference still in existence. More popularly known as the "Western Conference", at the time, and as the "Big Ten", currently.
1896 Michigan vs. Chicago football game Chicago Michigan Chicago, Illinois 7-6 First football game played indoors (Chicago Coliseum, Thanksgiving Day).
1897 Lehigh vs. Lafayette game Lafayette Lehigh Easton, Pennsylvania 34–0 The first game in the oldest uninterrupted college rivalry series: the schools have played at least once in every year since. The Princeton-Yale rivalry (1873) and Harvard–Yale football rivalry (1875) predate this one as continuing rivalries, but both series have gaps in play. Lehigh and Lafayette actually first played in 1884 and in every year through 1895, but there was no game in 1896 and so the uninterrupted rivalry begins in 1897.
1902 Tournament East-West football game Stanford Michigan Pasadena, California 0–49 First bowl game[7] The name of the game was changed to the Rose Bowl Game starting with the 1923 Rose Bowl when it moved to the newly constructed Rose Bowl Stadium.
1905 Washburn vs. Fairmount football game Fairmount Washburn Wichita, Kansas 0–0 (tie) Game using several "experimental rules" that were tested before implementing major nationwide rules changes and the formation of the NCAA.[8]
1906 Saint Louis vs. Carroll football game Carroll (Wisconsin) Saint Louis Waukesha, Wisconsin First regular season game with the first legal forward pass.[9]
1907 Chicago vs. Illinois football game Illinois Chicago Champaign, Illinois 42–6 First game to have a halftime show featuring a marching band.[10]
1907 Bacardi Bowl Havana LSU Havana, Cuba 56–0 First college football bowl game played outside the United States.
1911 Kansas vs. Missouri football game Missouri Kansas Columbia, Missouri 3–3 (tie) First homecoming football game.[11] Game was "broadcasted" play-by-play over telegraph to at least 1,000 fans in Lawrence, Kansas.[12]
1916 Cumberland vs. Georgia Tech football game Georgia Tech Cumberland Atlanta, Georgia 222–0 Most lopsided victory in college football history.[13]
1921 West Virginia vs. Pittsburgh football game Pittsburgh West Virginia Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 21–13 First live radio broadcast of a college football game when Harold W. Arlin announced that year's Backyard Brawl played at Forbes Field on KDKA on October 8, 1921.[14]
1921 Centre vs. Harvard football game Harvard Centre Boston, Massachusetts 0–6 Widely considered one of the greatest upsets in college football history.[15]
1935 Notre Dame vs. Ohio State football game Ohio State Notre Dame Columbus, Ohio 13–18 The first generally accepted "Game of the Century" in college football. These were probably the top ranked teams in the nation, but there were no generally recognized polls at the time (AP began publishing its poll in 1936).
1937 Bacardi Bowl Villanova Auburn Havana, Cuba 7–7 First college football game played outside of the US where both contestants were US college football teams. The only Bacardi Bowl game in the series with this distinction.
1939 Waynesburg vs. Fordham football game Fordham Waynesburg New York, New York 34–7 First televised football game.[16]
1939 Nebraska vs. Kansas State football game Kansas State Nebraska Manhattan, Kansas 25–9 Second televised college football game, first televised homecoming game.[17][18]
1940 Cornell vs. Dartmouth football game Dartmouth Cornell Hanover, New Hampshire 3–0 (3–7) Game is known for an officiating error that resulted in a rare postgame reversal of the outcome. Cornell threw an incomplete pass on 4th and goal in the game's final seconds, seemingly ensuring a 3-0 shutout victory by Dartmouth. However, the referees inadvertently allowed Cornell to attempt a "fifth down" play on which Cornell scored an apparent game-winning touchdown. After the error was discovered during postgame film review, Cornell offered to forfeit the game. Dartmouth accepted, marking the only time that the outcome of a college football game was decided off the field.
1941 Oklahoma City vs. Youngstown State football game Youngstown State Oklahoma City Youngstown, Ohio 48–7 First use of the penalty flag by game officials.
1942 Rose Bowl Oregon State Duke Durham, North Carolina 20-16 The "Tobacco Rose Bowl", relocated to Duke Stadium due to security concerns about large public events on the Pacific Coast following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States declaration of war upon Japan just a few weeks prior to the game. Duke was the designated visiting team even though the game was played in their home stadium. It remains the only Rose Bowl game not played at either Tournament Park or Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California.
1943 Notre Dame vs. Michigan football game Michigan Notre Dame Ann Arbor, Michigan 12–35 First college football game between the #1 (Notre Dame) and #2 (Michigan) teams in the nation, as determined by the AP Poll (since its inception in 1936).[19]
1952 Rose Bowl Illinois Stanford Pasadena, California 40–7 The first nationally televised college football game.
1952 TCU vs. Kansas football game Kansas TCU Lawrence, Kansas 13–0 The first nationally televised regular-season college football game.
1956 Sugar Bowl Georgia Tech Pittsburgh New Orleans, Louisiana 7–0 First African American player, Pitt's Bobby Grier, to break the color barrier in the segregated Deep South.[20]
1956 NAIA National Championship Montana State St. Joseph Little Rock, Arkansas 0–0 (tie) The NAIA organizes the first "national championship" college football game. The NCAA waited until 1973 for its Division II and III championship games and until 1978 for Division I-AA (FCS) championships. To this day, it has never sanctioned an official national championship in Division I-A/FBS football; the Bowl Championship Series, launched in 1999, is not an official NCAA event.
1958 Tangerine Bowl (December) East Texas State Missouri Valley Orlando, Florida 28–7 The University at Buffalo Bulls decline the invitation to play in the game by a unanimous team vote after being informed that the two black players on the roster would not be allowed on the field. This was Buffalo's first bowl invitation and would prove to be their only bowl invitation for a half-century.
1962 Rose Bowl Minnesota UCLA Pasadena, California 21–3 First nationally televised college football game in color.[21]
1963 Rose Bowl USC Wisconsin Pasadena, California 42–37 First college football bowl game between the #1 (USC) and #2 (Wisconsin) teams in the nation, as determined by the AP[19] and UPI polls.
1963 Army vs. Navy football game Army Navy Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 11–8 First time any sports broadcast used instant replay.[22]
1969 Ole Miss vs. Alabama football game Alabama Ole Miss Birmingham, Alabama 33–32 First regular-season college football game nationally televised in prime time.[23]
1978 Gator Bowl Clemson Ohio State Jacksonville, Florida 17-15 Ohio State coach Woody Hayes punches Clemson nose guard Charlie Bauman on the sideline following an interception, inciting a bench-clearing brawl. Hayes is ejected from the game and fired the next day, ending his 33 year Hall of Fame coaching career.
1981 Texas A&I vs. UTEP football game UTEP Texas A&I El Paso, Texas 15–37 First ever win of a NCAA Division II team over a Division I-A opponent. The feat would only be replicated five more times (last occurring in 1997).
1982 California vs. Stanford football game California Stanford Berkeley, California 25–20 Game is well known for its final play, known simply as "The Play" - a kickoff return in which California used a series of laterals to score the game-winning touchdown as time expired. Thinking that the game was over, Stanford's marching band had come out onto the field before the play had concluded. The picture of California's Kevin Moen spiking the ball on the head of an oblivious Stanford trombone player upon scoring the game-winning touchdown remains one of the most iconic images in college football. "The Play" is recognized as one of the most memorable plays in college football history.[24] Stanford and California fans continue to dispute the results.
1984 Boston College vs. Miami (FL) football game Miami (FL) Boston College Miami, Florida 47–45 Game is known for a last-second Hail Mary pass from quarterback Doug Flutie to wide receiver Gerard Phelan to give Boston College the win.
1990 Colorado vs. Missouri football game Missouri Colorado Columbia, Missouri 33–31 Game is known for an officiating error that had far-reaching implications. On the game's final drive, the referees inadvertently allowed Colorado to attempt a "fifth down" play on which the Buffaloes scored the game-winning touchdown as time expired. Aided in part by the controversial victory, Colorado completed a 10-win season and was awarded the AP National Championship.
1992 SEC Championship Game Florida Alabama Birmingham, Alabama 28–21 First conference championship game in NCAA history.
1995 Illinois vs. Wisconsin football game Illinois Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin 3–3 The last game to ever end in a tie in NCAA Division I-A Football. The NCAA would begin overtime rules starting with the 1995 Bowl Season and 1996 Regular Season.
1995 Las Vegas Bowl Toledo Nevada Whitney, Nevada 40–37 First overtime game in NCAA Division I-A.[25]
1997 Linfield vs. Willamette football game Willamette Linfield Salem, Oregon 27–0 Kicker Liz Heaston becomes the first woman to play and score points in a college football game[26]
1998 Southern vs. Prairie View A&M football game Prairie View A&M Southern (LA) Beaumont, Texas 37–7[27] This was the final loss of the worst losing streak in college football (80 games). However, it also gained infamy from a fight between the two schools' marching bands during the halftime show that resulted in the suspension of both bands by the conference for two games.[28]
1998 Big 12 Championship Game Texas A&M Kansas State St. Louis, Missouri 36–33 Kansas State entered the game ranked #1 in several polls. After the loss, Texas A&M received an automatic bid to the BCS bowl and Kansas State, although ranked #3 in the BCS, was sent to the Alamo Bowl. The game resulted in the BCS creating what it calls the "Kansas State Rule" to prevent highly ranked teams from not earning a BCS bowl game if they fail to win a conference championship.
1999 Fiesta Bowl Tennessee Florida State Tempe, Arizona 23–16 First Bowl Championship Series national championship game.
2001 Cumberland vs. Jacksonville State football game Jacksonville State Cumberland Jacksonville, Alabama 72–10 Ashley Martin becomes the first woman to play and score in a NCAA football game and the second woman to play and score in a college game in any division.[29]
2003 Stillman vs. West Alabama football game West Alabama Stillman Livingston, Alabama 24–17 Tonya Butler becomes the first woman to kick a field goal in a NCAA football game.[30][31]
2005 Fiesta Bowl Utah Pittsburgh Tempe, Arizona 35–7 First BCS bowl to feature a team from a conference without an automatic bid for its champion – a "non-Automatic Qualifying conference", or "non-AQ" (Utah, then in the Mountain West Conference), and the only BCS bowl to feature a non-AQ team prior to the relaxation of BCS selection rules in 2006 season.
2007 Appalachian State vs. Michigan football game Michigan Appalachian State Ann Arbor, Michigan 32–34 First ever win of a NCAA Division I-AA/FCS team over a ranked Division I-A/FBS opponent.[32]
2007 Navy vs. North Texas football game[33] North Texas Navy Denton, Texas 62–74 Most points scored in a game involving D-IA/FBS opponents during the regulation four quarters of play since the NCAA began keeping records in 1937.[34]
2007 Trinity vs. Millsaps football game Millsaps Trinity Jackson, Mississippi 24–28 Commonly called "Lateralpalooza" - Trinity threw 15 lateral passes and scored a 60-yard touchdown to win a game against the Millsaps Majors as time expired in the game, producing "the longest play in college football history."[35]
2008 Sugar Bowl Georgia Hawaii New Orleans, Louisiana 41-10 The first (and still, only) win by an AQ team over a non-AQ team in a BCS-bowl.
2011 Notre Dame vs. Michigan football game Michigan Notre Dame Ann Arbor, Michigan 35–31 Largest regular-season single-game attendance in NCAA history, with 114,804. This game also happened to be the first night game ever played at Michigan Stadium.[36]

See also

References

  1. ^ DeLassus, David. "Princeton Yearly Results (1869)". College Football Data Warehouse. http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_iaa/ivyleague/princeton/yearly_results.php?year=1869. Retrieved April 4, 2011. 
  2. ^ "1872 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Schedule and Results". Sports Reference.com. http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/rutgers/1872-schedule.html. Retrieved April 12, 2011. 
  3. ^ DeLassus, David. "Michigan Yearly Results (1880)". College Football Data Warehouse. http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/bigten/michigan/yearly_results.php?year=1880. Retrieved November 27, 2011. 
  4. ^ DeLassus, David. "Yale Yearly Results (1880-1884)". College Football Data Warehouse. http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_iaa/ivyleague/yale/yearly_results.php?year=1880. Retrieved April 4, 2011. 
  5. ^ DeLassus, David. "Princeton Yearly Results (1880-1884)". College Football Data Warehouse. http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_iaa/ivyleague/princeton/yearly_results.php?year=1880. Retrieved April 4, 2011. 
  6. ^ "Good Night". Washington Post. November 18, 2006. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111701688.html. Retrieved April 4, 2011. 
  7. ^ O'Sullivan, Dan (December 13, 2002). "Bowl Championship Series - 1902 - Michigan 49, Stanford 0". ESPN.com/BCSfootball.com. http://espn.go.com/abcsports/bcs/rose/s/1902.html. Retrieved April 4, 2011. 
  8. ^ "Ten Yard Rule a Failure". New York Times. December 26, 1905. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F60816FB3A5E12738DDDAF0A94DA415B858CF1D3. 
  9. ^ Boyles, Bob and Guido, Paul, 50 Years of College Football, page 23, 2007
  10. ^ "Marching Band History". University of Illinois. http://bands.illinois.edu/history. Retrieved April 6, 2011. 
  11. ^ http://www.active.com/football/Articles/The_History_of_Homecoming.htm
  12. ^ "100 years ago: Football fans enjoy mechanized reproduction of KU-MU game". Lawrence Journal-World. November 27, 2011. http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/nov/27/100-years-ago-football-fans-enjoy-mechanized-repro/?print. Retrieved December 27, 2011. 
  13. ^ Davis, Parke H. (1916-10-15). "Yellow Jackets-Cumberland Score Was Record One; Tops the List According to Statistics Compiled Showing All Scores Past the Century Mark". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. pp. A3. 
  14. ^ Sciullo Jr, Sam, ed (1991). 1991 Pitt Football: University of Pittsburgh Football Media Guide. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Sports Information Office. p. 116 
  15. ^ "ESPN ranks 1921 Centre-Harvard game among college football's greatest upsets". http://www.amnews.com/public_html/?module=displaystory&story_id=22929&format=html. 
  16. ^ Beachler, Eddie (October 3, 1939). "Tech, Pitt, Dukes in Good Condition for Next Test". The Pittsburgh Press. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WzQbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SEwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1658,2909223&dq=fordham+football+waynesburg&hl=en. Retrieved February 12, 2011. 
  17. ^ "Televised Game". Morning Chronicle (Manhattan, Kansas). October 28, 1939. 
  18. ^ Janssen, Mark (October 7, 2010). "Purple Pride vs. Big Red - 4-0 vs. 4-0". Kansas State Wildcats. http://www.kstatesports.com/blog/2010/10/purple-pride-vs-big-red---4-0-vs-4-0.html. Retrieved February 11, 2011. 
  19. ^ a b "Games Where #1 Faced #2". http://www.kiko13.com/cflrankings/aponevstwo.htm. 
  20. ^ Thamel, Pete (2006-01-01). "Grier Integrated a Game and Earned the World's Respect". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/01/sports/ncaafootball/01grier.html. Retrieved 2011-04-10 
  21. ^ Historic Facts about the Rose Bowl Stadium
  22. ^ Gelston, Dan (undated). "Army-Navy, Instant Replay, Tony Verna, 45 Years Later ...". The Associated Press (via blog (dated December 5, 2009) by Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News. http://www.insidesocal.com/tomhoffarth/archives/2008/12/army-navy-insta.html. Retrieved December 24, 2009. 
  23. ^ Maisel, Ivan (October 14, 2011). "Ole Miss-Alabama game still legendary". ESPN.com. http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7099289/college-football-first-televised-primetime-game-stands-out. Retrieved October 15, 2011. 
  24. ^ Schlabach, Mark (2007-08-21). "Michigan seniors ready to erase some dubious zeros". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/preview07/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=2983191. Retrieved 2007-09-01. 
  25. ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. Archived from the original on November 24, 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/5lWmbTL3G. Retrieved September 25, 2009. 
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  28. ^ "SWAC Suspends PVAMU and SU Marching Bands". Onnidan.com. September 21, 1998. http://www.onnidan.com/98-99/news/swac0921.htm. Retrieved April 11, 2011. 
  29. ^ "Martin first female to play, score in Division I". ESPN.com. August 31, 2001. http://static.espn.go.com/ncf/news/2001/0830/1246153.html. Retrieved May 15, 2011. 
  30. ^ Carroll, Andrew (September 14, 2000). "UWA's Tonya Butler aims for NCAA history". The Tuscaloosa News: p. C1. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IyAfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tKcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2049%2C2812065. Retrieved November 25, 2011. 
  31. ^ Rosen, Karen (October 17, 2003). "Pioneer still gets her football kicks". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: p. 8D. 
  32. ^ Wetzel, Dan (2007-09-01). "Hail to the victors". Yahoo! Sports. http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=dw-appstate090107&prov=yhoo&type=lgns. Retrieved 2007-09-01. 
  33. ^ "Notre Dame's NCAA-record 43-game win streak over Navy ends". ESPN.com. 2007-11-03. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=273070087. Retrieved 2007-11-03. 
  34. ^ Associated Press (2007-11-10). "Navy, N. Texas score most combined points in regulation FBS game". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=273140249. Retrieved 2007-11-10. 
  35. ^ "Video of the play". ESPN.com (The Disney Company). Archived from the original on 2007-10-29. http://web.archive.org/web/20071029030250/http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3083220&categoryId=2564308. Retrieved 2007-10-30. 
  36. ^ Associated Press (September 10, 2011). "Michigan scores with 2 seconds left, stuns Irish". ESPN.com. http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=312530130. Retrieved September 29, 2011.