The 1907 college football season saw the increased use of the forward pass, which had been legalized the year before. Football remained a dangerous game, despite the "debrutalization" reforms, and an unprecedented eleven players were killed (9 high school and 2 college), while 98 others were seriously injured. However, there were no serious injuries reported among the major colleges. The Yale Bulldogs, unbeaten with a record of 9âÂÂ0âÂÂ1, had the best record. The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, declared retroactively that Yale had been the best college football team of 1907. Yale and Penn both claim 1907 as a national championship season. Although Yale was named as champion by 6 different entities, Penn was not named champion by any. Penn's claim to the championship is only by the university itself.
The rules for American football in 1907 were significantly different from those a century later, as many of the present rules (100 yard field, four downs to gain ten yards, 6-point touchdown, and 3-point field goal) were adopted in 1912. The rules in 1907 were:
More passes were thrown than in 1906, when the new play was still experimental. However, because of problems with the rules at that time, which penalized the offense for an incomplete pass, there were predictions that the forward pass would be scrapped. Attempting a pass in 1907 was still a risky business, because an incomplete attempt would result in stiff penaltiesâÂÂ15 yards back from the spot from which the pass was thrown on first or second down. If the defense committed a foul, the 15 yard penalty didn't apply to the offense, but the defending team was not penalized either. In addition, a pass could not be caught in the end zone, nor more than 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
The Princeton Tigers and Yale Bulldogs had both been unbeaten in 1906, and played to a 0âÂÂ0 tie at season's end, giving both teams a 9âÂÂ0âÂÂ1 record. Among other schools that would later be described as the Ivy League, the Harvard Crimson and Pennsylvania (Penn) Quakers were expected to do well. Elsewhere in the East, the United States Naval Academy Midshipmen(referred to in the press as Annapolis) and the Carlisle Indian School (coached by Glenn Scobey "Pop" Warner and with Jim Thorpe as its star back) were expected to do well. In the South, the Vanderbilt Commodores and the of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) were considered contenders, along with Georgia Tech (coached by John Heisman). The University of Chicago Maroons, members of the Western Conference (later the Big Ten), and coached by Amos Alonzo Stagg), and the (then) independent Michigan Wolverines, coached by Fielding "Hurry Up" Yost, were considered to be among the stronger teams in the Midwest.
Carlisle opened its season early with a 40âÂÂ0 win over Lebanon Valley on September 21, and Brown beat New Hampshire, 16âÂÂ0. Colgate, which would later be a contender, lost to Niagara, 11âÂÂ6, and Bucknell beat Mansfield, 15âÂÂ2.
On September 28, Pennsylvania beat North Carolina in a driving rain at Philadelphia, 27âÂÂ0. Carlisle defeated Villanova 10âÂÂ0. Princeton crushed Stevens Tech 47âÂÂ0, while Harvard was held to a touchdown (then worth five points) in a 5âÂÂ0 win over Bowdoin. Brown beat Massachusetts 5âÂÂ0, and Fordham and Rutgers played to a 5âÂÂ5 tie.
Yale opened its season on Wednesday afternoon, October 2, with a 25âÂÂ0 win over Wesleyan. The same day, Harvard beat Maine, 30âÂÂ0, Navy tuned up with a 26âÂÂ0 win over St. John's College of Maryland, Pennsylvania beat Villanova 16âÂÂ0 and Carlisle rolled over Susquehanna, 91âÂÂ0. Three days later, on Saturday October 5, the schools played again, with Yale beating Syracuse 11âÂÂ0, Harvard over Bates 33âÂÂ4, Navy handing a 15âÂÂ0 loss on Dickinson, Pennsylvania beating Bucknell 29âÂÂ2, and Carlisle beating Penn State 18âÂÂ5 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. At West Point, the United States Military Academy (Army) opened its season with a 23âÂÂ0 win over Franklin & Marshall. Brown won over Norwich 24âÂÂ0.
After an 18âÂÂ0 win over Springfield on Wednesday, October 9, Yale won its fourth game in 12 days on October 12, crushing Holy Cross 52âÂÂ0 to stay unbeaten and unscored upon. Playing the same Wednesday and Saturday schedule, Pennsylvania had beaten Franklin & Marshall 57âÂÂ0 and Swarthmore 16âÂÂ8, to go 5âÂÂ0âÂÂ0. With a 40âÂÂ0 win over Maine, Brown University remained unscored upon as well. In Buffalo, New York, Carlisle beat Syracuse 14âÂÂ6 to stay unbeaten. Cornell beat Colgate 18âÂÂ0 and Princeton beat Villanova, 45âÂÂ5. Vanderbilt and Navy played to a 6âÂÂ6 tie.
October 19, Pennsylvania increased its record to 7âÂÂ0âÂÂ0 with an 11âÂÂ0 win over Brown. In the four weeks since its September 28 opener, Penn had played four Saturdays and three Wednesdays. Carlisle beat Bucknell 15âÂÂ0 and Harvard beat Navy at Annapolis, 6âÂÂ0, as both stayed unbeaten. Yale remained unscored upon, but not untied, as it played Army to a 0âÂÂ0 tie at West Point to "fall" to 4âÂÂ0âÂÂ1. Elsewhere, Michigan stayed unscored upon with a 22âÂÂ0 win in Indianapolis over Wabash. In the South, Sewanee beat Auburn 12âÂÂ6 in Birmingham, then beat Alabama two days later, 54âÂÂ4, in Tuscaloosa.
October 26 in Philadelphia, the Carlisle Indians (6âÂÂ0âÂÂ0) and the Pennsylvania Quakers (7âÂÂ0âÂÂ0) met in a battle of the unbeatens. Carlisle won 26âÂÂ6 before a crowd of 20,000. Yale registered its sixth shutout with a 45âÂÂ0 win over Villanova. Harvard stayed unbeaten, but was surprised by a touchdown from the visitors in its 9âÂÂ5 win over Springfield. Sewanee played Mississippi in Memphis, winning 65âÂÂ0, to stay unbeaten in the south. Michigan remained unscored upon in the midwest with a 22âÂÂ0 win at home over Ohio State. Princeton suffered its first defeat, a 6âÂÂ5 loss at Cornell.
In a highly anticipated game, the Carlisle Indians (7âÂÂ0âÂÂ0) met the Princeton Tigers (5âÂÂ1âÂÂ0) at the Polo Grounds in New York City on November 2 before a crowd of thousands. In an upset, Princeton scored three touchdowns and a point after in a pouring rain, to win 16âÂÂ0. Yale recorded another shutout, beating Washington & Jefferson 11âÂÂ0 to increase its record to 6âÂÂ0âÂÂ1, while Harvard got past Brown, 6âÂÂ5, to stay unbeaten at 7âÂÂ0âÂÂ0. Army and Michigan stayed unscored upon; Army beat Colgate 6âÂÂ0, to improve its record to 4âÂÂ0âÂÂ1, while the Wolverines travelled south to Nashville to face Vanderbilt, winning 8âÂÂ0. Sewanee defeated the University of Virginia in Norfolk, 12âÂÂ0, and Pennsylvania hosted Lafayette in Philadelphia, winning 15âÂÂ0 and extending its record to 8âÂÂ1âÂÂ0.
On November 9, the Harvard Crimson (7âÂÂ0âÂÂ0) hosted the Carlisle Indians (7âÂÂ1âÂÂ0) before a record crowd of 20,000. After holding a 12âÂÂ9 lead at halftime, Carlisle broke the game open when its quarterback, Frank Mount Pleasant, ran 85 yards for a touchdown in the second half as Carlisle won, 23âÂÂ15. Navy suffered its second loss, an 18âÂÂ0 drubbing by Swarthmore, and Army had its first defeat, falling 14âÂÂ10 to Cornell. Yale recorded its 8th straight shutout, a 22âÂÂ0 win over Brown, as Ted Jones returned a punt 90 yards for the first of three touchdowns in the second half. Sewanee beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta, 18âÂÂ0, then defeated Georgia in Athens two days later, 16âÂÂ0, to extend its record to 8âÂÂ0âÂÂ0. Pennsylvania hosted Penn State and won 28âÂÂ0 to reach the 9âÂÂ1âÂÂ0 mark, while Princeton beat Amherst, 14âÂÂ0.
November 16 Yale (7âÂÂ0âÂÂ1) hosted Princeton (7âÂÂ1âÂÂ0) as a crowd of 35,000 watched in New Haven. The Bulldogs appeared to be headed toward their first defeat. Yale yielded its first points of the season after the Tigers blocked a punt and Princeton's Booth returned the ball for a touchdown. A field goalâÂÂat that time, worth four pointsâÂÂput Princeton up 10âÂÂ0 at the half. In the second half, Ted Coy scored two touchdowns for Yale for a 12âÂÂ10 win. In the day's other big game, Pennsylvania (9âÂÂ1âÂÂ0) traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to face the unbeaten (5âÂÂ0âÂÂ0), and unscored upon, Michigan Wolverines, before a crowd of 18,000 at Ferry Field. Both teams had touchdowns called back by penalties, but Penn scored on an onside kick to hand Michigan its first ever home defeat, 6âÂÂ0.
Harvard lost its second straight game, falling to Dartmouth, 22âÂÂ0. In another "intersectional" game, Carlisle improved its record to 9âÂÂ1âÂÂ0 with a 12âÂÂ10 win at Minnesota. Navy trailed Penn State at home, 4âÂÂ0, until a State player fumbled a punt and the Midshipmen recovered for a touchdown to win 6âÂÂ4. At West Point, Army defeated visiting Tufts, 21âÂÂ0. In the South, Texas A&M â which had tied Texas, and beaten LSU and Oklahoma â improved its record to 6âÂÂ0âÂÂ1 with an 18âÂÂ6 win over Tulane in New Orleans. One year after University Trustees banned football, The University of South Carolina team ended with an undefeated record of 3âÂÂ0âÂÂ0.
November 23 marked the close of the season, as unbeaten Yale (8âÂÂ0âÂÂ1) traveled to Cambridge to play its annual game against Harvard. Although stung by two consecutive losses, Harvard (7âÂÂ2âÂÂ0) had been unbeaten and untied three weeks earlier. Harvard missed two field goal attempts in the first half after failing to get by Yale's goal line defense, while Yale's Ted Coy scored late in the first half to give the Bulldogs a 6âÂÂ0 lead. Coy scored again in the second half, and Yale won 12âÂÂ0 and completed its season unbeaten at 9âÂÂ0âÂÂ1. Sewanee, which took a record of 8âÂÂ0âÂÂ0 into its final game (against 4âÂÂ1âÂÂ1 Vanderbilt), lost in Nashville, 17âÂÂ12. The other unbeaten team, Texas A & M (6âÂÂ0âÂÂ1), was scheduled to play a Thanksgiving Day game at the University of Texas (5âÂÂ1âÂÂ1). Carlisle closed its season at the University of Chicago, which had won the title of the Western Conference (later the Big Ten, with a 4âÂÂ0âÂÂ0 record. Playing before a crowd of 27,000 the Indians beat the Maroons 18âÂÂ4.
The catch by Vanderbilt center Stein Stone, on a double pass play then thrown near the end zone by Bob Blake to set up the Honus Craig touchdown that beat Sewanee at the very end, for the SIAA championship was cited by Grantland Rice as the greatest thrill he ever witnessed in his years of watching sports. McGugin in Spalding's Football Guides summation of the season in the SIAA wrote "The standing. First, Vanderbilt; second, Sewanee, a might good second;" and that Aubrey Lanier "came near winning the Vanderbilt game by his brilliant dashes after receiving punts."
Thanksgiving Day, November 28, saw St. Louis University stun the University of Nebraska 34âÂÂ0 before 20,000 at Sportsman's Park.
The consensus All-America team included: