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1903 Columbia Blue and White football team

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1903 Columbia Blue and White football
ConferenceIndependent
Record9–1
Head coach
CaptainRichard Shore Smith
Home stadiumPolo Grounds
Seasons
← 1902
1904 ⊟
1903 Eastern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Princeton     11 0 0
Yale     11 1 0
Columbia     9 1 0
Dartmouth     9 1 0
Geneva     9 1 0
Holy Cross     8 2 0
Temple     4 1 0
Washington & Jefferson     8 2 0
Lehigh     9 2 1
Harvard     9 3 0
Penn     9 3 0
Army     6 2 1
Carlisle     6 2 1
Amherst     7 3 0
Lafayette     7 3 0
Cornell     6 3 1
Colgate     4 2 1
Penn State     5 3 0
Swarthmore     6 4 0
Brown     5 4 1
Syracuse     5 4 0
Fordham     1 1 0
Frankin & Marshall     5 5 1
Buffalo     4 4 0
Rutgers     4 4 1
Delaware     4 4 0
Villanova     2 2 0
Bucknell     4 5 0
Vermont     4 5 0
Tufts     5 8 0
Wesleyan     3 6 1
Springfield Training School     1 3 1
NYU     2 5 0
New Hampshire     2 6 1
Pittsburgh College     1 5 1
Western U. Penn.     1 8 1

The 1903 Columbia Blue and White football team was an American football team that represented Columbia University as an independent during the 1903 college football season. In its second season under head coach Bill Morley, the team compiled a 9–1 record, shut out its first seven opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 148 to 43.[1][2]

Fullback Richard Shore Smith was the team captain.[2] Smith and tackle Tom Thorp received first-team honors on the 1903 All-America team. W. E. Metzenthin also starred in the backfield for Columbia. The team's sole loss was to the 1903 Yale team that featured seven first-team All-Americans, including Foster Rockwell and Tom Shevlin.

Columbia's sports teams were commonly called the "Blue and White" in this era, but had no official nickname. The name "Lions" would not be adopted until 1910.[3]

The team played its home games at the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan.

Schedule

[edit]
DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 26WesleyanW 10–0[4]
September 30vs. Columbia alumni
  • Polo Grounds
  • New York, NY
W 16–0[5]
October 3Union (NY)
  • Polo Grounds
  • New York, NY
W 36–0[6]
October 7Hamilton
  • Polo Grounds
  • New York, NY
W 29–0[7]
October 10Williams
  • Polo Grounds
  • New York, NY
W 5–02,000[8]
October 14Swarthmore
  • Polo Grounds
  • New York, NY
W 5–0[9]
October 17Amherst
  • Polo Grounds
  • New York, NY
W 12–04,000[10]
October 24Penn
  • Polo Grounds
  • New York, NY
W 18–615,000[11][12]
October 31Yale
  • Polo Grounds
  • New York, NY
L 0–2532,000[13]
November 14at Cornell
W 17–12[14]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "1903 Columbia Lions Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Columbia Football 2018 Record Book" (PDF). Columbia University. 2018. p. 197.
  3. ^ "How Columbia Became the Lions". Columbia Football 2019 Record Book. New York, N.Y.: Columbia University. p. 238. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  4. ^ "Columbia, 10; Wesleyan, 0". The New York Times. September 27, 1903. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Columbia, 16; Alumni, 0". The New York Times. October 1, 1903. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Columbia, 36; Union, 0". The New York Times. October 4, 1903. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Columbia, 29; Hamilton, 0". The New York Times. October 8, 1903. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Columbia, 5; Williams, 0". The New York Times. October 11, 1903. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Columbia, 5; Swarthmore, 0". The New York Times. October 15, 1903. p. 10.
  10. ^ "Columbia, 12; Amherst, 0". The New York Times. October 18, 1903. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Columbia Trounces Quakers: Wins Football Game With 18 Points To Rival's 6". The Sun. October 25, 1903. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Columbia Wins From Penn: Morningside Players Defeat Quakers, 18 to 6". New York Tribune. October 25, 1903. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Yale's Football Victory". The New York Times. November 1, 1903. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Football Teams in Close Contests: Columbia Triumphs Over Cornell by 17 to 12". The New York Times. November 15, 1903. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.