The 1910 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listing Harvard and Pittsburgh as having been retrospectively selected national champions, by four "major selectors" in about 1927, 1947, 1970 and 1980.[1] Harvard claims a national championship for the 1910 season.
Rules
Rule changes were made prior to the 1910 season to permit more use of the forward pass, with complicated limitations:[2]
- The only eligible receivers were the two ends, who could catch a pass no more than 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, and could not be interfered with until the ball was caught.
- A legal pass could not be thrown unless the quarterback was at least 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage and the rest of the players, except the two ends, were at least 1 yard behind the scrimmage line.
- On kickoffs and punts, the kicking team's players could not be touched until they had advanced 20 yards
- Flying tackles were outlawed, and "the man making a tackle must have at least one foot on the ground".
- The ballcarrier could no longer be aided in any way by his teammates.
- Games were now played as four quarters, each 15 minutes long, rather than two halves of 35 minutes each[3]
Other rules in 1910 were:[4]
- Field 110 yards in length
- Kickoff made from midfield
- Three downs to gain ten yards
- Touchdown worth 5 points
- Field goal worth 3 points
The season ran from September 24 until Thanksgiving Day (November 24).[5] Prior to Thanksgiving, the season's death toll was 22; the previous season's was 30.[6]
Conference and program changes
Conference changes
Program changes
- Arkansas changed its nickname from the Cardinals to the current Razorbacks.
Conference standings
Major conference standings
Independents
Minor conferences
Minor conference standings
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|
1910 Missouri Valley Conference for Black Schools football standings
|
Conf. |
|
|
Overall
|
Team |
W |
|
L |
|
T |
|
|
W |
|
L |
|
T
|
Lincoln (MO) $
|
1
|
– |
0
|
– |
0 |
|
|
2
|
– |
0
|
– |
0
|
Western University
|
1
|
– |
2
|
– |
0 |
|
|
2
|
– |
2
|
– |
0
|
Lawrence Athletics
|
1
|
– |
1
|
– |
0 |
|
|
1
|
– |
1
|
– |
0
|
George R. Smith
|
|
|
– |
|
|
|
|
0
|
– |
0
|
– |
0
|
Topeka Industrial Institute
|
|
|
– |
|
|
|
|
0
|
– |
0
|
– |
0
|
|
|
|
|
Awards and honors
All-Americans
The consensus All-America team included Walter Camp's selections:
References
- ^ Official 2009 NCAA Division I Football Records Book (PDF). Indianapolis, IN: The National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2009. p. 70. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
- ^ "New Football As Walter Camp Sees It", New York Times, September 15, 1910
- ^ "Features of New Football Rules". Davenport Daily Times. Davenport, Iowa. September 21, 1910. p. 8. Retrieved November 29, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Danzig, Allison (1956). The History of American Football: Its Great Teams, Players, and Coaches. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. pp. 70–71.
- ^ "Football Under New Rules Starts To-Day", New York Times, September 24, 1910
- ^ "Death toll of football season". Eugene Daily Guard. (Oregon). November 23, 1910. p. 6.