A Forgotten First National Championship: The 1914 Army Football Team

A Forgotten First National Championship: The 1914 Army Football Team

By Mike Belter

Published by Mike Belter

Copyright 2016 Mike Belter

Minor Updates in 2024 by Mike Belter

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Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to three members of the 1914 Army Football Team. The first is Charles Schlitz Calvert Benedict, who lost his first wife and step-son to a tragic automobile accident less than two years after marrying, and then lost his own life in an aviation accident eight years later, leaving his second wife with three children. His two sons grew up without a father, and both graduated from West Point, and one was killed in World War II.

The second was Frank Maggie D. McGee, the only 1914 football man killed in action. He was the first of the football men to be under fire along the Mexican border and he fought with Pershing. He was severely wounded in World War I, fought for four years to stay in the Army, then when retired for disability took his two horses and rode from Georgia to South Dakota. He then made his way to the Philippines, where he bought a plantation and lived there for almost twenty years until the Japanese invaded. Rather than surrender, he took to the hills, and operated as a guerrilla leader for 42 months, loved and respected by his Philippine troops, until killed by a sniper eight days before the cease fire. His story struck a nerve with me. And I never found out what his middle name was.

And finally, Alexander Mathias Weyand, an All-American at football and member of the College Football Hall of Fame, team captain of the 1915 Army football squad, and noted sports historian, author of six books, including ones on lacrosse, basketball, and the Olympics. I read all three of his football books before I went to research files at West Point, and then I got to explore his scrapbooks, large collections of his five years at West Point. Yes, he was a fellow turned back Cadet, so he and I are kindred spirits. And his spirit pushed me to write and finish this book about his friends.

Introduction

I saw my first Army football game in person on September 22, 1973 when the University of Tennessee came to Michie Stadium. I was a newly minted plebe at the time, and my Cadet Company A-2 was assigned to be Stadium Guards at the game, all decked out in a white over gray, a short-sleeved white shirt with gray trousers, and a white parade belt around our waists. I was assigned a section in the East Stands with the visiting fans. Army played hard, with Jim Barclay kicking a 25-yard field goal early in the first quarter to take the lead (I do not recall if us plebes had to run down to the end zone and do pushups after a score), and moved inside the visitors’ thirty-yard line three or four times during the first half. The tenth-ranked Volunteers then scored 13 straight points to take a 13-3 halftime lead.

Early in the third quarter, Barclay kicked a longer field goal, but this just seemed to make our visitors angry with us being only down, 13-6. After the Volunteers scored a touchdown and field goal, I saw my first Army touchdown as Bob Simons went over from the one to make it 23-12 (two accounts of the game says it was Simmons, while another account said it was Fink). Tennessee threw a touchdown pass, but our quarterback, Kingsley Fink, threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Barry Armstrong to make it 30-18. The Vols scored on a long touchdown pass to end the game 37-18. It was an exciting game, and Fink set an Army passing record of 316-yards. I was hooked on Army football.

I do remember that afternoon that the Tennessee fans were cheering whenever their team did well as one would expect, but they also were cheering the Army players too. I remember vaguely one fan telling me that some West Point General had been Tennessee’s head football coach for many years, leading them to undefeated seasons and national championships. I had never head of guy, as it seemed to me at the time that all Army Football history had started with Davis and Blanchard winning three national championships during World War II. We never saw any film prior to head coach Red Blaik’s time on Army Football, though there were plaques in the Cadet Gym speaking of much earlier accomplishments.

The University of California came to Michie the next weekend, and that game was not much fun to this young Cadet, losing in a rout 51-6. During the next week, I found out that I had earned too many demerits and had to walk the area on Friday and Saturday afternoon, the only time I was an area bird until my senior year at West Point. That weekend, Army had an away game against Georgia Tech, and the radio broadcast boomed through Central Area as we walked that Saturday afternoon.

Army was leading 3-0 at halftime and we were dominating the game, including a fumble recovery by A-2’s own Jim Cisek in the second quarter, and the Cadet Guards told us area birds that we would get off the area early if Army won. The Yellow Jackets scored after a long drive in the third quarter, but then Jim Ward caught a pass from Fink for a 10-7 lead. It was unbearable listening and marching as Georgia Tech moved slowly down the field, 75-yards in twelve plays, early in the fourth quarter. Army got the ball back three times, but two interceptions broke our hearts as Georgia Tech won, 14-10.

The next weekend was another away game, this time to Happy Valley against #7 Penn State University, in which Army was soundly defeated, 54-3. The next game was against #8 and eventual national champion, the University of Notre Dame. I did not know that at the time, but it was and still is the only time Notre Dame had played at Michie Stadium. From 1913 through 1922, Notre Dame had come to West Point and played on The Plain. After that, most games were at neutral sites, with four at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

Army went up 3-0 in our traditional opening field goal, and that was it, as the Fighting Irish scored 62 straight points. The only thing I recall about that game was that our Cadet Company was again assigned to be Stadium Guards, this time in Dress Gray with parade belts. I was in a section with a lot of older fans, who I quickly figured out were graduates of West Point with the youngest being in their sixties. They asked me a couple questions about what it was like being a plebe, and I heard a number of shouts that the Corps has. A few of them claimed that they had played in the first games against Notre Dame on The Plain. I just thought they were pulling my leg or making up stories. And I turned down their offers of a drink from one of their thermos bottles, just because I did not want to go back to walking the area. It was a lost opportunity to hear first-hand accounts about football when they played.

Well the 1973 Army Football season was one for the record books, as we lost all ten games, including 51-0 against Navy, the first multi-game season where Army failed to win a game. Not a great year to be a plebe at West Point. They fired our head coach, and we ran the wishbone the next season. I finally saw my first Army victory, a 14-7 win over Lafayette. I went to away games at Duke and Notre Dame, and we lost again to Navy. We did beat Air Force 17-16 on a last minute field goal. Army scored 98 points in winning its first games in 1975, but then won no others, including losses to Air Force and Navy. Up to that point, I had seen five wins in 32 games, but did get to go to Stanford and Air Force away games. I got turned back in January 1976 and then went home for five months.

The 1976 season was much better, with a 5-6 record. We almost pulled out a home game against North Carolina, losing 34-32, as my classmate Leamon Hall threw 55 passes for 385-yards in that game. A high school classmate of mine from Appomattox was a starting lineman for the Tar Heels. We beat Air Force again, but lost to the Midshipmen for the fourth straight time.

The 1977 season was much better, seven wins including clipping the Falcons 31-6 in Colorado Springs, and beating Navy 17-14 in freezing temperatures. I went crazy and bet five bathrobes for that final game during my senior year. We had hoped that Army would be selected for the new Independence Bowl, but nothing came of that. I gave four bathrobes to friends as Christmas presents, but I still have that Navy bathrobe, and our class welcomed back the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. It was there when I came to West Point, and it was there when I left.

Yes I was an Army fan for life, and attend anytime they play away games in any sport near where I live. Even showed up outside the ROTC Building early one morning when Army Rifle competed. My family and I got to really enjoy the first bowl game, the Cherry Bowl, in the old Pontiac Silverdome in 1984, surrounded by all those Michigan State fans, with the Cadets winning 10-6. I was unable to attend the 1985 and 1988 Army bowl games, but was in Shreveport for the 1996 Independence Bowl, that Army almost tied in the final minutes against Auburn after being down 32-7. And my daughter and I drove down to Dallas for the 2010 Armed Forces Bowl as Army upset SMU 16-14.

In the 1980s, I would go to the city library to read newspaper box scores of the last weekend’s Army football game and began collecting these accounts. With the advent of the internet, I was able to search old newspapers. I was able to find a newspaper account for almost every Army Football game, many with box scores. I also began writing short stories about Army football history in 2006 for an Army Football website.

In researching a story around 2010, I found the Official 2007 NCAA Division I Football Records Book, and on page 73 there was a section on National Poll Rankings and Champions over the years, going back to 1869. I discovered that some folks felt that the 1914 Army Football team was considered one out of three teams named retroactive national champions. This perked my interest, as I recalled sitting in Michie Stadium a few years before and seeing only the three years (1944, 1945, and 1946) marked as national champions. A few years before, Navy began to publicize their national championship in 1926, a year that Army and Navy battled to a 21-21 tie at Soldier Field in Chicago. I began to wonder why Army itself did not recognize its own national championship in 1914, as well as in 1916.

This led to me writing two short articles, one describing the 1914 season, game by game, and the other discussing how various polls had retroactively selected Army, Illinois, and Texas as national champions in that year. These articles did not attract much attention, but the idea did stay with me.

In 2011, I bought Carlisle vs. Army: Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, Pop Warner, and the Forgotten Story of Football’s Greatest Battle by Lars Anderson and loved the story, especially his description of the football game during the 1912 season. Later in the year, I read cover to cover over a long weekend When Saturday Mattered Most: The Last Golden Season of Army Football by Mark Beech, on the 1958 season. In early 2012, I picked up The Big Scrum: How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football by John J. Miller, about the events leading up to the 1905 football crisis. These three books made me think again about the 1914 team. But I was busy with other things.

The 2012 Army-Navy game, where Army came so close in beating the Midshipmen for the first time since 2001, gave me high hopes that Army was starting to turn the corner, and the 2013 team would get over the hump and win. Unfortunately, the 2013 season ended in a 34-7 decisive defeat by Navy. To me, it was almost a final straw, after forty years of following the highs and mostly lows of Army Football. How it would be so nice to live in one of the alternate universes where Army never lost its football fortunes. Army fired its 2013 head coach, and the new coach created hope.

So sometime in the late spring, I pulled out those old articles about the 1914 season, revised them a little, and tried to get them published on an Army sports website, but there again was little interest – as everyone seemed focused on the new coach, how he would change Army Football, what new players would come in, and the prospects for the new season. I watched the upcoming promotions for the 2014 home football season at Michie Stadium, expecting that West Point would put on a celebration of its first undefeated and untied football season. I saw nothing, and was disappointed. By this time, I had begun anew researching this team. And looking at their Cullum records of their career, I became more and more impressed by the players and coaches of the 1914 team. So during the 2014 season, I began researching them more thoroughly, and this continued on throughout 2015, and began writing their story late in the year.

So hopefully what you have in your hands is a book about these 83 men, some great, most very good men, and a few who fell a little short, who served their country with about 2,190 years in the Army or Air Force in three major wars, who led civilian companies and colleges, and were contributors to college football as coaches. As leaders in military, civilian, and athletic pursuits, they influenced thousands of young men of the next generation. And hopefully, they will shortly be recognized in Michie Stadium as Army’s first college football national championship.

Prologue: Who was on the 1914 Team?

One of the most perplexing issues I dealt with was determining who played on the 1914 Army Football team. For a modern team, all one would have to do is go to the college’s athletic website and find the team roster. For most teams since the 1950’s, you could obtain a copy of their football season guide to find who played on the team. Finding which of about 600 Cadets in the autumn of 1914 who were members of the football team has proven to be challenging.

It was much easier to determine who was on the coaching staff. In those days, football coaches and assistants were active duty Army Officers. Army football records record Charlie Daly as the head coach, and his long-time assistant for all but one season was Ernest Graves. We know due to the Cullum records of each USMA graduate that both of these men were assigned to military units away from West Point and were placed on a detached duty status to coach the football team each season. Daly arrived during the first week of September while Graves joined the staff on the 29th.

The USMA Register for 1915 records that Thomas Hammond, Phillip Hayes, Daniel Pullen, Cuthbert Stearns, Joseph Stilwell, and Daniel Sultan were members of the USMA staff and faculty, and their names appear as members of the 1914 football coaching staff in a season ending article by The New York Times on December 1st. Hammond had recently transferred to West Point in late August from the Mexican border. In addition, Sultan was a member of college football’s Rules Committee as well as the academy’s official Football Representative and member of the Army Athletic Council. Two other officers, Herman Glade and Rodney Smith, were also on the USMA staff and faculty; and other information tells us that they assisted the coaching staffs.

The New York Times announced on September 3rd that Harry Tuthill, trainer for the Detroit Tigers baseball team, had again arrived for another season to be the physical director for the football team. The New York Times article for November 2nd announced the arrival of Charles Thompson in a detached duty status to assist Graves, Sultan, and Pullen in coaching the linesmen.

I have included Clyde Selleck, an Instructor in the Department of Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology, who was head coach for the Cullum Hall team, and Cadet Eisenhower, his assistant. In future years, the Cullum Hall team would be all plebes, because they were ineligible to play intercollegiate football from the mid-1930s until 1973, with exceptions granted during World War II and the Korean War.

The 1914 Cullum Hall team consisted of an unknown number of Cadets from all four classes who did not make the Army Football team. They played area college freshmen squads and preparatory schools. Some Cullum Hall squad members would eventually make the Army Football team. Graduate biographies in each year’s Howitzer reflect that at least 29 members of the 1914 Army Football team played in 1914 or prior seasons on the Cullum Hall team. The Cullum Hall players also served as a scrimmage opponents for Daly’s team during the season.

Cadet Dwight Eisenhower was an Army football team player, but was not on the 1914 team in his senior or First Classman season. Eisenhower played halfback in five games during the 1912 season, but injured his knee in the game against Tufts, and did not play in the final two games against Syracuse or Navy. He did play in enough games to letter, and he was recognized as one of the best running backs in the East. He attempted to make the 1913 team, but it was clear to the coaching staff his playing days were over. During both the 1913 and 1914 seasons, he was a valuable assistant to Selleck for the Cullum Hall team. It should be noted that Eisenhower in his Howitzer biography and in other sources was also a Cheer Leader during the 1914 season. For these reasons, I include Lieutenant Selleck and Cadet Eisenhower as members of the 1914 coaching staff.

Back to my research in determining which Cadets were members of the 1914 Army Football team. The 1915 Howitzer describes how over 200 Cadets turned out for the season’s first practice, and the best sixty were selected for the team. Due to season-ending injuries, academics, and/or disciplinary tours, several members of the Cullum Hall team were likely promoted during the season. The 1915 Howitzer also has a picture of the team, showing 28 Cadets, including two who were the Cadet Manager and his Assistant.

Army football records list 24 Cadets as having lettered in football, while the 1915 Howitzer lists 25 Cadets, with three names being different on the two lists. A review of The New York Times articles of each of the nine games provides a listing of 41 Cadets who actually played in one or more games that season. A request was then made to the USMA Directorate of Intercollegiate Athletics for a roster of the team. They were unable to find a roster, and the best information they had was a description of each game contained in James S. Edson’s The Black Knights of West Point, which lists every participant in every Army Football game from 1890 through the 1953 season. There was a picture of the 1914 team, identical to the 1915 Howitzer picture, but with each player identified. Edson also has a listing of lettermen, but it was by class and not season. From these sources, I now had a listing of 43 players plus the two Cadet Managers.

I next turned to the 1915 and 1916 Howitzers (courtesy of the online digital collections of the USMA Library), as each graduate of the USMA Classes of 1915 and 1916 would list under his picture which sports and other activities, including being area birds (more on that later) in his graduate biography. Seven more Cadets listed themselves as members of the 1914 Army Football team, though there are no records of them having played in a single game that season and they were not on my listing of 43 Cadets. In this review, only one Cadet (Thomas Larkin) did not list himself as a member of the 1914 team, but since there are records that he played in seven games, he remained on the roster.

The online USMA digital collections did not contain a copy of the 1917 Howitzer. Since the Classes of 1917 and 1918 had graduated early in April and August 1917, respectively, due to the wartime needs of the Army, I really did not know if they had produced a Howitzer or not. I did send an email inquiry to the USMA Library seeing if there was one, and received a reply that they did not have one. I did review the graduates of the Classes of June and November 1918 in their respective Howitzers, just in case there were any other Cadets turned back into these classes like Elmer Oliphant, but found no additional members of the football team.

Since I was well short of the sixty Cadets described as initially being on the football team, I felt that those missing came from the yearlings (sophomores) and plebes of the two classes without a Howitzer graduate biography to research. I then reviewed both newspaper articles and Edson’s book for Cadets who played either on the 1913, 1915, or 1916 teams. From this research, I identified eight more Cadets who were likely members of the 1914 squad, primarily because they started or played lots of games in 1915 or 1916. This brought the roster to 58 Cadets on the 1914 Army Football team, plus the two Cadet Managers.

After reviewing Tim Cohane’s Gridiron Grenadiers, I found that Head Coach Daly was not satisfied with the performance of his quarterbacks on the 1915 Army Football team, and he went to the head baseball coach, Sammy Strang, to find someone who could fulfill the quarterback role. Strang recommended Charlie Gerhardt for the football team. Gerhardt substituted at quarterback for two games before starting against Springfield and Navy, leading Army to a win in both games. Based upon that information, Gerhardt probably was not a member of the 1914 Army Football team. At about the same time, I found two separate references to a 1917 Howitzer in graduate obituaries. So I did a Google search, and a 2007 sale on EBay popped up.

A little more searching found a 1917-1918 Howitzer in the University of Michigan online archives that contained graduate biographies of both the April and August 1917 classes. I reviewed all 290 graduates, and identified ten additional Cadets who claimed membership on the 1914 Army Football team, though there was no record of them playing in a single game that season. I also found five Cadets I had already listed on the team’s roster as not claiming to be on the 1914 team (John Cole, Charles Gerhardt, Ernest Harmon, George Hirsch, and Edwin House). Since there was no record in either newspaper articles or Edson’s book of them playing during the season, I dropped them from the roster.

In my research of USMA Library archives in June 2015, I found in Alexander Weyand’s scrapbook a picture showing 50 players on the 1914 team, and this identified three more yearlings or plebes who never graduated. Another non-graduate was identified when I read descriptions of Army practices from newspaper accounts.

I did find in Weyand’s scrapbook a couple examples of what we called the Corps Squad Rosters while I attended West Point in the 1970s. These are listing of the official roster for each athletic team – so I suspect that USMA kept careful records of who was on the 1914 football team, especially as Cadets lost eligibility due to poor academics or conduct during the season, and these rosters told tactical officers who was released to football practice and who remained for military drill in the afternoons. Unfortunately, I could not find any of these records in my visit to the USMA Library.

The roster stands at 67 players, two Cadet Managers, and fourteen coaches. Information on these 83 individuals is included in detail in the Appendices and described elsewhere in this book.

One graduate missing from this roster is Matthew Ridgway, who was Cadet Manager for the 1916 Army Football team and was the Assistant Cadet Manager during the 1915 season. During my time as a Cadet, each year the Cadet Manager had a large staff of assistant Cadet Managers from all four classes. I do not know what the practice was during the 1914 season. Ridgway himself is quoted in a 1985 Assembly article that I only had one assistant during the 1916 season. So I concluded that Ridgway should not be listed on the 1914 roster. By the way, I do list Charles Mahoney as a player on the 1914 team, though he would have been Cadet Manager for the 1917 season, had he not graduated early in August 1917 (and was likely Ridgway’s assistant in 1916).

There are a number of graduates who played for the Cullum Hall team in 1914, but may never have made it on any Army Football team. The varsity team scrimmaged scrubs at least once a week during the season. Some of those scrubs likely included Cullum Hall players, so these Cadets deserve some recognition for their efforts that partly contributed to the 1914 team being undefeated. So let me list them based upon them self-reporting in their graduate biography or newspaper accounts of their games:

First Classmen (seniors): Edwin Lyon, Metcalf Reed, Jo Reaney, Samuel Smith, and John Wogan.

Second Classmen (juniors): Benjamin Beverley, Latham Brundred, Charles Duncan, Pettus Hemphill, Harrison Herman, Paul Kane, Craigie Krayenbuhl, Robert McBride, Spencer Merrell, Maurice Miller, George Newgarden, Thomas Peyton, Royland Shugg, Robert Walsh, William Woodward, Ludson Worsham, and Benjamin Yancey.

Yearlings (sophomores): Milton Halsey, Ernest Harmon, and John Stewart.

Plebes (freshmen): unable to identify anyone.

I do believe I may missing a few individuals who served on the scrubs or were brought up from Cullum Hall, who failed to list this accomplishment in their Howitzer graduate biography, or did not graduate from West Point. Anyone missing from the team roster is unintentional.

Chapter 1: Kickoff versus Stevens - October 3, 1914

The Head Linesman, George Beavers, signaled to the Referee that it was now three o’clock and time to start the game. The Stevens’ eleven was lined up on its forty-yard line, and its captain, C.C. Stretch, signaled they were ready to kick-off. Walter Okeson, the Referee from Lehigh, received a ready signal from West Point’s captain, Vernon Vern Prichard, and gave the football to the kicker. Stevens kicked the ball off, and thus began Army’s twenty-fifth football season on The Plain at West Point.

West Point was lined up with most of the men between their thirty and midfield, with Vern Prichard the farthest back around the ten-yard line ready to receive. He fielded the ball at the twenty, and ran it back straight down the middle, eluding his first man, for fifteen-yards, but plebe (freshman) Edward Tim Timberlake missed blocking the second man, and Prichard was stopped at the Army forty.

First Classman (senior) Prichard was starting his eighth game at quarterback, while his halfbacks were classmates Charles Schlitz Benedict on his left and Paul P.A. Hodgson to the right, and behind Prichard was plebe Elmer Ollie Oliphant at fullback, a three-year letterman while playing for Purdue. Vern barked out the first signal, which caused Second Classman (junior) and four year starter at right guard, Alexander Babe Weyand, to shift to the left side between tackle William Bruce Butler and end William Dizie Britton, moving Army into an unbalanced line left. Vern called the next number, telling everyone what play was being called. At right end was senior All-American Louis Louie Merillat, ready to sprint down the field, knowing it was not a pass play, but hoping he would bait two or three Stevens’ defenders into chasing him.

Prichard hollered the next number over the crowd noise, and center yearling (sophomore) John Cap McEwan knew on what count to snap the ball. He was one of the few centers in the East who hiked the ball in a spiral pass back to the quarterback, taught to him by his line coach, Ernest Pot Graves. There was a two second pause, and the snap was safely in Vern’s hands before the defenders on the line even reacted. Weyand, Butler, and left guard Timberlake got low and provided interference for the left side of Stevens’ line. McEwan stepped back, and moved quickly left, going around end, with right guard Laurence Cowboy Meacham trying to tie up three linemen. Britton, looking for someone to block, eyed the end but missed seeing the Stevens’s defensive quarterback and halfback cutting back, though McEwan blocked one but missed the other. Oliphant moved quickly right in a decoy move, hoping his reputation would cause defenders to follow. Benedict was moving left to provide blocking to his fellow halfback, and Vern flipped the ball to Hodgson going left around end. Hodgson made it three-yards short of the fifty before he was stopped. Second down.

West Point lined up quickly, so quick that two defenders were still on the ground. Vern shouted out the number, and Hodgson shifted behind his classmate about seven-yards behind the scrimmage line. Prichard shouted two numbers, and moved to his right. McEwan immediately hiked the ball directly to P.A., who surprised the crowd and most of the Stevens defenders by immediately punting the ball.

Sitting on the bench, because no one was allowed in 1914 to walk and coach from the sidelines, was head coach Charlie Daly and he briefly smiled. He always wanted to capitalize on his opponent’s mistakes, and he hoped the surprise kick on second down might be recovered deep near the goal line. Hodgson’s punt landed near the fifteen, and the ball rolled towards its target. Merillat slowed down around the thirty to gage where the ball was going to go and looked like he was going to catch up to the ball, but the Stevens’ halfback Hersloff pushed Louie in the back and he fell to the field. Hersloff landed on the ball at the Stevens four-yard line.

It took about a minute before all the players got to line of scrimmage, there being no play clock. Stevens hiked the ball with the center turning and lobbing it directly to Hersloff. He went left off-tackle for a yard. A second play went into the line for no gain. Todd, Stevens’ left halfback took the next pitch off tackle to the right, but Timberlake tackled him and Butler finished the job for no gain. Stevens took about a minute to figure out what they were going to do, and then called a quick shift into a punt formation. Ollie and Vern were flying backwards at the shift and the punt went over their heads to land around the center line and roll back towards them. Oliphant decided to land on the ball and was tackled immediately by the fast Stevens’ tackle Stretch.

Army started in an unbalanced line left, and Prichard pitched the ball again to Hodgson. P.A. saw a hole open between Butler and Timberlake, and dove for four-yards. Prichard lined them up initially in a balanced line, then shifted to unbalanced left. His two numbers caused Louie to smile, and McEwan to almost immediately hike it to Vern. Merillat sped down the field along the sideline, with Cap McEwan almost ahead of him. Daly knew what the play was before the call by his field general, as he taught his quarterbacks to always take a shot at goal when near their end zone. Prichard’s lob was deep, and just missed Merillat’s outstretched hands. The ball hit the ground and rolled out of bounds near the ten.

Back in 1914, the rules said that an incomplete pass that went out of bounds, whether or not touched by attacker or defender, was a turnover. Walter Camp led the Rules Committee, and he inserted several rules that paid a high price for failure to complete forward passes, in order to discourage passing. The actual ball weighed the same as a modern one used in college, but was almost a quarter of an inch wider and less pointed at the ends. The 1914 ball was just slightly smaller than a modern size 5 rugby ball.

Stevens got the ball at the ten. Stevens had no gain on back to back left and right line plunges. Hersloff made a yard on a right tackle rush. Again, Stevens shifted to punt formation, but this time Babe Weyand was ready, beating his man and partly blocking the kick. The ball bounced around, and Weyand followed and recovered the ball on the Stevens twelve-yard line.

Army could smell blood. Vern pitched to Hodgson who made four years through the left tackle. Schlitz Benedict got his first carry for three-yards through the right guard. P.A. ran left again through tackle and a first down to the Stevens three-yard line. The yearling Butler jumped the count and the Head Linesman’s horn blew (no penalty flags in 1914) as the play went to Ollie running off tackle to the right into the end zone. Army was offside and penalized five-yards, the referee placing the ball on the eight-yard line. Prichard pitched it to Hodgson, who ran off-tackle for six-yards. On the next play, Schlitz went through the right guard across the goal line, and downed it for a touchdown.

While Stevens’ defenders stood on the goal line in the end zone, Prichard squatted about ten-yards back in front of the goal line from at the spot where Schlitz downed the ball for the touchdown, paralleling the sidelines, much like modern day Rugby does for a goal after try. Vern held the bottom of the ball in his one palm, about six inches above the field, and with his other hand he put two fingers on the upper point. Schlitz Benedict lined up to kick the football over the cross bar between the uprights. In 1914, the goal post sat on the goal line in the middle of the field. The Stevens players could not move until it was kicked. The angle was not bad, and Benedict’s goal from touchdown went over the cross bar. Army 7, Stevens 0.

Cap McEwan kicked off from Army’s forty, and Merillat’s deadly tackle caused Stevens’ player to immediately fumble at his twenty. The ball was in and out of several players, and Timberlake recovered it at the thirty five. Prichard had told Merillat after the prior incompletion pass that he would get the ball to him for another pass attempt, much like they had done against the Navy in 1913, first an incomplete pass and then a completed forward pass ran in by Merillat for a touchdown.

Vern signaled for a medium pass, which he zipped to Louie who was standing at the 15-yard line, and he ran it in across the goal lined and was about to run towards the middle of the field when he was tackled, downing the ball for a touchdown about ten-yards from the sideline. So the ball was placed about twenty-yards back from the spot parallel with the sidelines, a terrible angle for the goal from touchdown.

But in 1914, the rules allowed for the scoring team to do what was called a punt-out, so Hodgson picked up the ball and punted to Benedict, who called a fair catch and caught it almost in front of the goal post. The Stevens defenders could only stand there on the goal line and watch until the ball was kicked. The ball was held above the ground by Vern, and Schlitz kicked his second goal from touchdown. Army 14, Stevens 0.

Another thing different in 1914 was, after scoring a touchdown or field goal, the team scored upon could choose which team kicked off. Stevens decided to kick off to Army, hoping that the Cadets would make a mistake deep in their end zone. Their man kicked off from their forty, and this time the wind caused the ball to sail over Oliphant’s and Prichard’s heads. It went into the end zone, a live ball. Ollie got to it five-yards deep, and ran straight down the center of the field for 25-yards before he was stopped.

Now Daly always counseled his players do not hold onto the ball too long near your own goal line, kick on first or second down, thereby gaining the maximum protection for your kicker. Following this guideline to the letter, Prichard called a quick punt, and Hodgson boomed it down the field. Stevens recovered it on their twenty-yard line. They tried an off tackle rush for no gain as the whistle blew ending the first quarter, with Army leading, 14-0. The 1914 rules had four quarters of fifteen minutes apiece, but the team captains could agree on a shorter length before the game. Stevens and Army had agreed to play only eight minute quarters.

***

Daly decided to substitute the entire first team, allowing his coaches to provide guidance on the bench to the first string. As said before, no one was allowed to walk up and down the sidelines, and coaches did not provide plays or other instructions to the players on the field during the game in 1914. The first string linemen sat together in the middle of the bench, and Pot Graves, plus assistant coaches Daniel Dan Sultan and Daniel Red Pullen talked with their players. Prichard likely sat down next to Daly to his left, with the backfield standing or sitting within hearing distance, as Daly was always coaching and watching every detail of play. Assistant coaches Thomas Tom Hammond and Cuthbert Tups Sterns were coaching the ends.

Leland Romeo Hobbs was now the Army quarterback, a First Classman but a rookie field general, as he started at halfback and fullback most games over the last two seasons. But he could pass, and Daly felt his play calling was adequate to be Prichard’s backup. Senior James Jimmy Van Fleet and Second Classman (junior) Hugh Mike Mitchell were now in at halfback, both playing in their first football game, but having impressed the coaches in the pre-season. Elbert Louie Ford, who lettered as a plebe in 1913, would be behind Hobbs at fullback. Plebe James Ham Kelly was at left end, while junior Robert Bob Neyland on the right end, both also playing in their first game for Army. A rather untested attack force, but Daly saw a lot of promise in them during the September practices.

What comforted Daly was that Pot felt that any of the second string linemen could start for the first team. Senior Omar Brad Bradley was at left guard, with veterans Joseph Red O’Hare at tackle and John Snoop Goodman at center. Plebe Karl Engeldinger was at right tackle and senior and veteran Thomas Tom Larkin at guard. None had started in 1913, but Tom and Red had played in seven games while Snoop had six.

But before they could go on offense, the second string had to first prove it could continue to stop Stevens. On second down, Stevens went right tackle again for no gain. Pot Graves smiled from the bench. Expecting a plunge to the left, the line overplayed but did stop the line plunge to the right after four-yards. Fourth down, and West Point expected a punt. Stevens did not surprise, and lined the punt to past midfield. Ford tried to pick up the bouncing ball, fumbled it, but then fell on it around the Army 45.

In an unbalanced right, Van Fleet went two-yards through right tackle. Staying in unbalance right, Hobbs faked a pitch to Jimmy and gave the ball to Ford, and Louie went four-yards off of right tackle. Hobbs called a pass play, and threw it past a streaking Bob Neyland. Ford punted to the twenty, and Neyland immediately dropped the man in his tracks with a clean tackle. Stevens lost two-yards, then gained it back. Stopped dead for no gain on third down, Stevens punted to Romeo standing on the fifty, who made a beautiful run down the field to the Stevens 15.

Ford ran right for four-yards, then left for two-yards. Goodman was shaken, and yearling George Daddy Weems came in at center. Louie went left again, but failed to gain any more yardage. Sitting at the nine-yard line, Hobbs called a quick pass to Ham Kelly that went incomplete in the end zone, and Stevens got the ball on a touchback at its twenty. Stevens gained one-yard to the right, no gain on an end around, faked a punt for no gain, and then punted. Mike Mitchell fell on the ball at the Army forty five.

Louie Ford gained five-yards around right end. Mitchell went right for two more. Hobbs threw a pass towards Kelly that Stevens’ Hrinkus almost intercepted. Ford punted and Stevens recovered on its ten. Stevens went right tackle and then left tackle for no gains. A left end rush was snuffed for no gain. The center Hill snapped it over Anderson’s head, but the quarterback was tackled in the end zone for a safety. Merillat was credited with the tackle in newspaper and Edson’s accounts, but since Neyland had substituted for him in the second quarter, it was probably Bob who made the tackle for a safety. Army 16, Stevens 0. Army kicked off, with Stevens returning it to their twenty. Two rushes to the right went for no gain, and the whistle blew for halftime.

***

Daly decided to put the first string back in at the beginning of the third quarter, with Goodman returning to the game at center to work with Prichard, and resting McEwan. I am sure the second string backfield and ends got an earful from their position coaches. Pot was probably happy with his line on defense, but also felt they could do more in opening holes.

Schlitz Benedict kicked off to the 15-yard line, and Stevens returned it to their 32. They ran to the right trying to get to the end, losing a yard. Another end around to the right was stopped with no gain. On third down, Stevens punted to the Army 20, with Prichard receiving it and using his blockers to run along the right sidelines for 80-yards for a touchdown under the goal post. It would be the fifth longest punt return for a touchdown in college football during the 1914 season. Benedict kicked the goal from touchdown. Army 23, Stevens 0.

Stevens kicked off, and Ollie fielded it at the 17 and ran to the Army 43. Oliphant ran left for no gain. Hodgson quick punted on second down and Stevens recovered it on their seven. Senior Hubert Doodle Harmon was then substituted for Prichard. Stevens lost two-yards around left end, then lost three-yards on a fake kick. On third down, Stevens punted barely over the line of scrimmage to Hodgson, who signaled fair catch, but fumbled it. West Point recovered the fumble at the Stevens twenty.

Harmon who was now the field general and quarterback, handed the ball off to Hodgson for a four-yard gain off of left tackle. Oliphant gained four through the left guard, then another eight at left guard for a first down. Sensing a weak spot at the goal line defense, Ollie again went off left guard to the three-yard line. He plunged for the touchdown by going through the right guard. Benedict’s goal kick was no good. Army 29, Stevens 0.

Daly substituted junior William Bill Hoge for end Merillat, junior halfback William Bill Coffin for Hodgson, and plebe Lawrence Biff Jones in for yearling Cowboy Meacham at right guard. Stevens elected to kick off. Doodle received it at the Army 25, and returned it ten-yards. Schlitz gained a yard to the left, and Ollie rushed left for eight-yards. Bill Coffin quick punted out of bounds at Stevens’ 35-yard line.

Stevens rushed twice for no gain. They completed a forward pass to the left end for no gain. On fourth down, Stevens punted to Harmon on the Army 35, who ran it back to the Stevens 21. John Tubby Confer came in for tackle Butler. Doodle, called Army’s quarterback mite by Hodgson, passed over center incomplete. Bill Coffin then busted through left tackle for twelve-yards and a first down. Ollie gained two to the right. Coffin made the final eight-yards off right tackle for the touchdown. Benedict failed on another goal from touchdown. Army 35, Stevens 0 at the end of the third period. Army was ahead of its 34-0 result in 1913’s game.

***

The second string again was substituted in at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Hobbs received the kickoff at the Army 25, and returned it to the Stevens’ 47-yard line. Mitchell gained two-yards to the left. Ford made a wide run around left end to the 22. Army was penalized 15-yards for improper use of hands in the line. In 1914, offensive players could not extend their arms or hands to block, though defensive players could use their hands, and even hit the faces of offensive players. Players were taught to keep their arms and hands close to their chest and techniques to protect their faces and necks.

From the 37-yard line, Hobbs lobbed a forward pass to Van Fleet, and Jimmy ran it to the 27 for a first down. Stevens knocked down the next forward pass at their 15. Hobbs found Neyland at the three-yard line and Bob made a beautiful catch and scored. Ford kicked the goal from touchdown. Army 42, Stevens 0.

Stevens kicked off to Kelly on the Army 40, who returned it to midfield. Ralph Sasse substituted in for Kelly. Ford carried the ball around left end for twenty-yards for a first down. Mitchell gained five-yards off of left tackle. A rush to the right was fumbled by Army, and Stevens recovered it around their thirty. On the next play, Bob Neyland blocked an attempted forward pass, recovered it, and ran it twenty-yards into the end zone for a touchdown. Ford kicked the goal from touchdown. Army 49, Stevens 0.

Stevens kicked off to Red O’Hare who was tackled on the Army 35. Plebe Dave Schlenker substituted in for Red at guard and junior Fay Prickett came in for Neyland. Neyland was known for his bruising tackles and blocks on kickoffs, but often paid a high price. It was said that Bob rarely left an Army game conscious.

Ford gained five-yards around right end. Mitchell ran two-yards to the right. Ford gained another five-yards around right end to midfield for a first down. The whistle blew ending the game. Stevens was unable to make any headway with their line-bucking tactics, and in the end did not have a single first down. C.C. Stretch at left tackle and halfbacks Todd and Sigurd Hersloff were Stephens’ best players.

***

Army used the forward pass frequently and effectively. The first string made huge gains and stopped the Stevens attack short. Army played 31 men during the contest. Benedict was a bulwark on defense. Hodgson’s punting was better than ever. Oliphant and Van Fleet were new to the fans, and filled them with expectations of great things to come. Substitutes went in and played as fast and furious as the first string, adding fuel to the cheers and shouts of the battalion of Cadets who watched the game.

The teams shook hands after the game, and Captain Prichard got with his counterpart to explain that opponents were invited to supper at 6:30 and to a hop, Cadet slang for a dance, that evening. I suspect that Stevens, being from New Jersey, went over to Cullum Hall, got dressed, and headed for the southbound ferry or train. The West Pointers headed to the gym to clean up, with the coaches walking around talking to all that had played. The coaches then departed for the Officers’ Mess, to discuss the game in detail.

***

Stevens would play the Hoboken Stevens High School the next Wednesday, winning 18-6, before losing a close game on the following Saturday at Johns Hopkins, 13-16. They hosted Union College the next weekend and lost 6-13. They would then be blown out in the next four out of five games, obtaining only a scoreless tie with Delaware, before ending their season losing 83-0 to Rutgers, finishing 1-7-1 in the third and last season for head coach Myron Fuller.

Chapter 2: Preparation: 1890 - 1910

The idea of a football team playing other colleges was just a dream in early 1890 among a handful of Cadets. Alexander Weyand identified in the October 1955 edition of the Assembly that football may have been played at West Point since its founding, as the first graduate, Joseph Swift, wrote in his memoirs the afternoons of the day were various occupied in some brief military exercises but more in field sports.

Weyand discovered that another graduate, Samuel Heintzelman, wrote in his diary on November 5, 1825, the Cadets played foot-ball today and that Superintendent Rene DeRussy issued an order in January 1838 that included the Superintendent has no objection to Cadets playing at football. While the game of football at that time was a crude form of kicking game, it eventually evolved to the American version by 1880, with colleges, high schools, and other groups organizing and playing each other in weekly games. But not West Point.

***

Captain Michael Reagor, Class of 1982, identified in a January 1993 Assembly article that West Point lagged behind Yale, Harvard, Amherst, and other institutions of higher education in physical education until 1885, when West Point hired its first professional physical education instructor, Herman Koehler. Prior to Koehler’s hiring, physical training only occurred in military training and manual labor, though during Superintendent Alden Partridge’s brief tenure, Cadets received physical training in fencing, swimming, skating, hiking, marching, and rowing, as Partridge was one of the early American administrators and educators who recognized and advocated the concept of a sound mind in a sound body. These efforts regressed with Superintendent Sylvanus Thayer’s emphasis on academics.

Over the next six years, the United States Military Academy (USMA) would devote more resources and attention to physical training than any other leading university in America, thanks to Koehler’s efforts, and this would continue during the 38-year tenure of the tenth Master of the Sword. He quickly introduced turnverein gymnastics, a style of mass calisthenics and exercises appropriate to USMA, plus height/weight measurements and strength tests. Fencing and swimming courses were added to the academy’s courses. In 1892, the War Department published its first manual on physical training. And a world class gymnasium was completed in August 1892.

***

Interest in organized athletics grew during the 1880s. Several Cadets, including future Chief of Staff Peyton March and future Chief of Infantry Charles Farnsworth may have been factors. March had played football and been an outstanding player at Lafayette College. Farnsworth, Class of 1887, would become the first graduate to become a head football coach at North Dakota in 1895. While Koehler emphasized the need for competitiveness in physical training and proposed to expand athletics with intramural sports and to the intercollegiate level, he met resistance from the Academic Board. Koehler did get permission for the Cadets to organize and play baseball against three clubs in the spring of 1890 at West Point.

***

It took tactical and tactful planning on the part of a junior named Dennis Michie; first persuading his father, who was the senior academic department head and de facto leader of the faculty at West Point; and a strategic challenge to the United States Naval Academy, to achieve the first game against Navy. On November 29, 1890, at the southeast corner of The Plain at West Point, Army played its first intercollegiate football game against Navy, and a competitive and respectful rivalry was born.

What many have forgotten was that game sprang from yearlings in the Class of 1891 forming a football team in 1888, though they could not get the senior or junior classes interested, and it was not considered proper to engage the plebes in competitive sports. The one man on post who had previously played football, Michie, was only a lowly plebe. But the next year, he organized his class into a football team. And with two class teams, it was inevitable that they would meet. On Thanksgiving Day 1889, the two teams played to a scoreless tie.

Michie convinced the Midshipman manager of the Navy football team, William McGrann, to make the challenge to West Point, and in a close vote by the Academic Board, USMA accepted it. There were only three Cadets who knew anything about football, and the faculty and staff provided little support in allowing any time to prepare for the Navy game. One of about sixteen Cadets who made up the team was yearling Edward J. Timberlake, a running back whose son Tim would start the 1914 game against Stevens as a plebe. The elder Timberlake was one of Army’s stars in the 1890 game, but Navy, having played intercollegiate football since 1879, was more experienced and better prepared than Army, and won 24-0, even though they had arrived at West Point late Friday night at almost midnight.

***

After the game, Naval Officers stationed in New York City were so elated in the Navy’s victory that they subjected their Army Officer friends to a lot of kidding. This led to the local Army Officers to form their own football team and challenge the Navy. On December 6, 1890, these Army Officers beat the Navy Officers, 4-0. Since this was considered by many a continuation of the undergraduate game, a rubber game was played on December 20th, with the Army Officers winning again, 12-0. It was too cold to continue playing outside, so the Navy Officers suggested renting Madison Square Garden and staging an indoor game. The Army Officers were quite happy to rest on their laurels, according to John Palmer, Class of 1892, in an article in the January 1943 edition of the Assembly.

The game sparked the rivalry with Navy, not just in football, but in baseball too, starting