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The 1925 NCAA football season ended with the University of Alabama's arrival as a football powerhouse. The Rose Bowl was closer to a national championship game than had been seen previously, providing an intersectional matchup between two unbeaten teams, the Washington Huskies (10-0-1) and the Alabama Crimson Tide (9-0). In a thriller, Alabama won by a point, 20-19.

Conference and program changes[edit]

School 1924 Conference 1925 Conference
Colorado State Teachers Bears Independent Rocky Mountain
Oklahoma A&M Cowboys Southwest MVIAA
Western State (CO) Mountaineers Independent Rocky Mountain

September[edit]

Most colleges did not open their seasons until later, but on September 19, in Seattle, the University of Washington Huskies opened their season with a 108-0 win over Willamette College.

On September 26 Texas Christian (TCU) won 31-0 over Texas A&I, Penn beat Ursinus 32-0 and Syracuse beat Hobart by the same score; Notre Dame beat Baylor 41-0, Alabama opened with a win over Tennessee's Union College, 53-0, Dartmouth beat Norwich 59-0, Tulane defeated Louisiana College, 77-0 and Cornell beat Susquehanna 80-0. Texas A & M beat Trinity College 20-10. Stanford lost to San Francisco's amateur team, the Olympic Club, 9-0.

October[edit]

October 3 At New Orleans, Missouri and Tulane played to a 3-3 tie. Michigan beat Michigan State 39-0 and Stanford beat Santa Clara 20-3. Army beat Detroit's Mercy College 31-6 and Notre Dame beat visiting Lombard College 69-0. Texas A & M beat Southwestern Teachers 23-6 and TCU beat Daniel Baker College, 12-0. Alabama allowed some points, but beat Birmingham Southern College 50-7 in a Friday game. Syracuse beat Vermont 26-0, Dartmouth beat Hobart 34-0, Cornell defeated Niagara 26-0, and Penn beat Swarthmore 26-12

October 10 Michigan beat Indiana 63-0 Alabama won at LSU, 42-0 and Tulane beat Ole Miss, 26-7. At Dallas, Texas A & M and Sewanee played to a 6-6 tie, while TCU and Baylor played to a 7-7 tie. Missouri beat Nebraska, 9-6. Washington, which had registered wins against non-college foes like the crew of the U.S.S. Oklahoma (59-0) and the West Seattle Athletic Club (56-0), defeated visiting Montana 30-10. Stanford defeated Occidental 28-0 Syracuse beat William & Mary 33-0 Dartmouth defeated Vermont 50-0 Cornell defeated Williams 48-0 Penn defeated Brown 9-0 Notre Dame defeated Beloit College, 19-3 Army beat Knox College, 26-7

Texas A & M beat SMU 7-0 on Friday, October 16. On October 17, at Yankee Stadium, Army beat Notre Dame 27-0.[2] Washington and Nebraska played to a 6-6 tie at Lincoln. TCU defeated Hardin Simmons 28-16 and Missouri beat the Missouri School of Mines (now Missouri S & T, at Rolla), 32-0. In Los Angeles, Stanford beat USC 13-9. In Birmingham, Alabama beat Sewanee 42-0 while in New Orleans, Tulane beat Mississippi State, 25-3. Michigan won at Wisconsin 21-0, while Syracuse won at Indiana 14-0. After wins against Canisius (28-0), Clarkson (60-0) and St. Bonaventure (49-0), Colgate met Lafayette at Philadelphia, and the two played to a 7-7 tie. Dartmouth beat Maine 56-0, Cornell beat Rutgers 41-0, and Penn won at Yale 16-13

October 24 Michigan narrowly won at Illinois, but recorded another shutout, 3-0. Syracuse rang up its fifth straight shutout with a 48-0 win over Providence. In Chicago, Tulane beat Northwestern 18-7. In Atlanta, Alabama beat Georgia Tech 7-0. Texas A & M beat visiting Sam Houston State, 77-0 and Missouri beat Kansas State 3-0. Washington beat Whitman College 64-2, while Stanford beat Oregon State 26-10. Notre Dame won at Minnesota 19-7. Colgate beat Princeton 9-0, Dartmouth won at Harvard, 32-9, and Pennsylvania beat visiting Chicago, 7-0. Army defeated St. Louis 19-0. Oklahoma State beat visiting TCU, 22-7

October 31 Michigan stayed unbeaten, untied and unscored upon, beating visiting Navy 54-0. In its first five games, Michigan had outscored the opposition 180-0. Syracuse also remained unscored upon with a 7-0 win over Penn State, having outpointed its foes 160-0 in six games. Dartmouth stayed unbeaten with a 14-0 win at Brown. Pennsylvania had a record of 5-0-0 when it hosted Illinois, which had a record of 1-3-0. The Illini upset the Penn Quakers in Philadelphia, 24-2. Yale handed visiting Army its first loss 28-7. Texas A & M won at Baylor 13-0 and TCU beat Abilene Christian 21-9. Missouri beat Iowa State 23-8. Washington won at Washington State, 23-0 Stanford beat Oregon 35-13 and Colgate won at Michigan State 14-0. In Atlanta, Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech, 13-0, while in Montgomery, Tulane beat Auburn by the same score. Alabama beat Mississippi State 6-0.

November[edit]

November 7 Michigan (5-0-0) was upset by Northwestern, which won 3-2. The field goal represented the only score against Michigan in an otherwise perfect season. Syracuse, which hadn't been scored upon in six games, was tied 3-3 by Ohio Wesleyan College. Dartmouth (6-0-0) hosted Cornell (5-0-0) in a meeting of unbeatens, winning 62-13. Texas A & M (5-0-1) and Texas Christian (4-1-1) met with TCU handing the Aggies their first defeat, 3-0. Washington (6-0-1) hosted Stanford (5-1-0) and won 13-0. At Penn State, Notre Dame and the Nittany Lions played to a 0-0 tie. At St. Louis, Missouri beat Washington U. 14-0. Colgate beat Providence 19-7, Penn beat Haverford 66-0, and Army beat Davis & Elkins, 14-6. In Birmingham, Alabama beat Kentucky 31-0 and in New Orleans, Tulane beat Louisiana Tech 37-9.

November 14 Syracuse hosted Colgate in a matchup of unbeatens (both 6-0-1). Colgate won 19-6. In New York, Columbia handed Army its first defeat, 21-7. Dartmouth won at Chicago, 33-7, to close with a perfect 8-0-0 record. At Montgomery, Alabama (8-0-0) met Florida (6-1-0) and won 34-0. Tulane shut out Sewanee, 14-0. In Houston, Texas A & M beat Rice 17-0, while TCU beat visiting Arkansas, 3-0. Missouri stayed unbeaten with a 16-14 win over Oklahoma, and Washington stayed unbeaten with a 7-0 win at California. Stanford beat visiting UCLA, 82-0. Michigan beat Ohio State 10-0. Cornell beat Cansisius 33-0, Pittsburgh defeated Penn, 14-0, and Notre Dame beat visiting Carnegie Tech 26-0.

November 21 Previously unbeaten Missouri lost at Kansas, 10-7. Michigan beat Minnesota 35-0. Tulane won at LSU, 16-0. TCU defeated Austin College, 21-0. Washington beat Puget Sound 80-7. Stanford closed its season with a 27-14 win over California. Syracuse beat Niagara 17-0, Notre Dame defeated Northwestern, 13-10, and Army beat Ursinus 44-0

On Thanksgiving Day, November 26, Syracuse and Columbia met at the Polo Grounds in New York, with Syracuse winning 16-5. Penn handed Cornell its second loss, 7-0. Notre Dame lost at Nebraska, 17-0, in the four horsemen's first collegiate loss. Texas A & M and Texas, both 6-1-1, met, with A&M winning 28-0. Alabama beat Georgia 27-0 in Birmingham to close the regular season with 9 wins, and no losses or ties. In those nine games, the Crimson Tide had outscored its opponents 277-7. Tulane closed its season with a 14-0 at Centenary College and finished unbeaten, with one tie (9-0-1).

On November 28 Texas A & M beat Texas 28-0. Washington closed its season unbeaten with a 15-14 win over Oregon, and elected to meet Alabama in the Rose Bowl. At Providence, Colgate and Brown played to a 14-14 tie. In the Army–Navy Game, Army closed its season with a 10-3 win

Rose Bowl[edit]

Main article: 1926 Rose Bowl

The 1926 Rose Bowl pairing Alabama and Washington would later be the subject of a television documentary, Roses of Crimson, and hailed as "the football game that changed the South".[3] Alabama was the first Southern football team to be invited to play in the Rose Bowl, and proved that the Southern teams could compete with those from the East, the Midwest and the West coast. George Wilson helped the Huskies take a 12-0 lead at halftime, but both extra point attempts failed, and Wilson was injured. In the third quarter, Alabama exploded for three touchdowns, starting with Quarterback Pooley Hubert's run to make the score 12-7. Washington lost the ball on its 35 yard line, and Johnny Mack Brown carried the ball over to make the score 14-12 in favor of Alabama. A 61 yard pass from Hubert to Brown set up Alabama's third score for a 20-12 lead. George Wilson returned in the fourth quarter, and the Huskies scored a touchdown and the point after to close the score to 20-19, but the missed conversion attempts from the first half cost them the game. The victory for Coach Wallace Wade established Alabama as a football powerhouse [4]

Conference standings[edit]

The following is a potentially incomplete list of conference standings:

1925 Big Ten football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Michigan $ 5 1 0     7 1 0
Northwestern 3 1 0     5 3 0
Wisconsin 3 1 1     6 1 1
Chicago 2 2 1     3 4 1
Illinois 2 2 0     5 3 0
Iowa 2 2 0     5 3 0
Minnesota 1 1 1     5 2 1
Ohio State 1 3 1     4 3 1
Indiana 0 3 1     3 4 1
Purdue 0 3 1     3 4 1
  • $ – Conference champion
1925 Missouri Valley football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Missouri $ 5 1 0     6 1 1
Drake 5 2 0     5 3 0
Kansas State 3 2 1     5 2 1
Iowa State 3 2 1     4 3 1
Nebraska 2 2 1     4 2 2
Oklahoma 3 3 1     4 3 1
Grinnell 2 2 1     3 3 2
Kansas 2 5 1     2 5 1
Washington (MO) 1 4 1     2 5 1
Oklahoma A&M 0 3 1     2 5 1
  • $ – Conference champion
1925 New England Conference football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
New Hampshire $ 2 0 1     4 1 2
Maine 1 0 1     5 2 1
Rhode Island 0 1 1     2 5 1
Connecticut 0 2 1     3 5 1
  • $ – Conference champion
1925 PCC football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Washington $ 5 0 0     10 1 1
Stanford 4 1 0     7 2 0
USC 3 2 0     11 2 0
Oregon Agricultural 3 2 0     7 2 0
California 2 2 0     6 3 0
Idaho 2 3 0     3 5 0
Washington State 2 3 0     3 4 1
Montana 1 4 0     3 4 1
Oregon 0 5 0     1 5 1
  • $ – Conference champion
1925 Southern Conference football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Alabama + 7 0 0     10 0 0
Tulane + 5 0 0     9 0 1
North Carolina 4 0 1     7 1 1
Washington and Lee 5 1 0     5 5 0
Virginia 4 1 1     7 1 1
Georgia Tech 4 1 1     6 2 1
Kentucky 4 2 0     6 3 0
Florida 3 2 0     8 2 0
Auburn 3 2 1     5 3 1
Virginia Tech 3 3 1     5 3 2
Vanderbilt 3 3 0     6 3 0
Tennessee 2 2 1     5 2 1
South Carolina 2 2 0     7 3 0
Georgia 2 4 0     4 5 0
VMI 2 4 0     6 4 0
Sewanee 1 4 0     4 4 1
Mississippi State 1 4 0     3 4 1
LSU 0 2 1     5 3 1
NC State 0 4 1     3 5 1
Ole Miss 0 4 0     5 5 0
Clemson 0 4 0     1 7 0
Maryland 0 4 0     2 5 1
  • + – Conference co-champions
1925 Southwest Conference football standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   T     W   L   T
Texas A&M $ 4 1 0     7 1 1
Texas 2 1 1     6 2 1
TCU 2 1 1     7 1 1
SMU 1 1 2     5 2 2
Arkansas 2 2 1     4 4 1
Rice 1 2 1     4 4 1
Baylor 0 3 2     3 5 2
  • $ – Conference champion

Awards and honors[edit]

All-Americans[edit]

The consensus All-America team included:

Position Name Height Weight (lbs.) Class Hometown Team
QB Benny Friedman 5'8" 172 Jr. Cleveland, Ohio Michigan
HB Andy Oberlander 6'0" 197 Sr. Chelsea, Massachusetts Dartmouth
HB Red Grange 5'11" 175 Sr. Wheaton, Illinois Illinois
HB Wildcat Wilson 5'11" 185 Sr. Everett, Washington Washington
FB Ernie Nevers 6'0" 200 Sr. Superior, Wisconsin Stanford
E Bennie Oosterbaan 6'0" 180 So. Muskegon, Michigan Michigan
T Ed Weir 6'0" 190 Sr. Superior, Nebraska Nebraska
G Carl Diehl 6'1" 205 Sr. Chicago, Illinois Dartmouth
C Ed McMillan 6'0" 208 Sr. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Princeton
G Ed Hess 6'1" 190 Jr. Chardon, Ohio Ohio State
T Ralph Chase 6'3" 202 Sr. Easton, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh
E George Tully 5'10" 180 Sr. Orange, New Jersey Dartmouth

Statistical leaders[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ http://www.jhowell.net/cf/cf1925.htm
  2. ^ "Army Mule Tramples Notre Dame 27 to 0 in Greatest Upset," Syracuse Herald, Oct. 18, 1925
  3. ^ The Football Game That Changed the South
  4. ^ "Alabama Passes Way to Victory Over Huskies," Oakland Tribune, Jan. 2, 1926, p8

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