1909 college football season The 1909 college football season was the first for the 3 - point field goal , which had previously been worth 4 points . The season ran from Saturday , September 25 , until Thanksgiving Day , November 25 , although a few games were played on the week before . The 1909 season was also one of the most dangerous in the history of college football . The third annual survey by the " Chicago Tribune " at season ' s end showed that 10 college players had been killed , and 38 seriously injured in 1909 , up from 6 fatalities and 14 maimings in 1908 . The Quakers of the University of Pennsylvania and the Crimson of Harvard University had finished 1908 unbeaten and once - tied , but both teams had lost several of their ' 08 starters . . In the South , the Tigers of Louisiana State University ( LSU ) had been the nation ' s other major team to finish the season unbeaten and untied . Schools in the Midwest competed in the Western Conference , now called the Big Ten , consisting of Illinois , Indiana , Iowa , Minnesota , Northwestern , Purdue and Wisconsin and Chicago . Iowa was also a member of the Missouri Valley Conference , which included future Big 12 teams Iowa State , Kansas , Missouri , and Nebraska , as well as Drake and Washington University in St . Louis . In California , intercollegiate football programs ( such as those of Stanford University and the University of California ) had been discontinued after the 1905 season , and rugby was the autumn intercollegiate sport . Although there was no provision for a national championship , major teams played their regular schedules before facing their most difficult matches late in the season . The most eagerly anticipated games were the November 10 matchups , with Princeton at Yale , Dartmouth at Harvard , Michigan vs . Pennsylvania ( in Philadelphia ) , and Cornell at Chicago . Rules . The rules for American football in 1909 were significantly different than the ones of a century later , as many of the present conventions ( 100 yard field , four downs to gain ten yards , and the 6 - point touchdown ) would not be adopted until 1912 . . Beginning in 1909 , the worth of a field goal dropped from 4 points to 3 points . Touchdowns remained at 5 points . " This has come about gradually , " noted one report , " owing to the feeling of players and spectators that two field kick goals should not be reckoned of greater value that a touchdown from which a goal is scored . As it is now , a touchdown if a goal results , counts six points , and two field goals count but six in the aggregate . " For the first time , ineligible receivers were identified . The rules in 1909 were : September . The Carlisle Indians played a Wednesday afternoon game on September 22 at home gainst Lebanon Valley , winning 30 - 0 . The previous Saturday , they had beaten a non - college team from Steelton , Pennsylvania , 35 - 0 . On September 25 , defending champion Pennsylvania beat Gettysburg College 20 - 0 on two touchdowns , and a field goal by Edmund Thayer . Carlisle beat visiting Villanova 9 - 0 . Washington and Jefferson defeated Denison College 13 - 2 . Lehigh beat Lebanon Valley 24 - 0 . To the west , Ohio State defeated Otterbein 14 - 0 , Minnesota beat Lawrence 26 - 0 , and Kansas crushed Kansas Normal ( now Emporia State ) 55 - 0 . St . Louis edged Shurtleff College 12 - 11 . In the South , Virginia defeated William and Mary 30 - 0 in a short ( two 15 minute halves ) game at home and Vanderbilt defeated Southwestern Presbyterian ( now Rhodes College ) 52 - 0 . Defending co - champion Harvard opened its season in a Wednesday afternoon game , beating Bates College 11 - 0 on September 29 . In other home openers , Brown beat Rhode Island 6 - 0 , Yale beat Wesleyan 11 - 0 , and Dartmouth beat Massachusetts 22 - 0 . Pennsylvania moved to 2 - 0 - 0 with a 22 - 0 win over Ursinus . October . On October 2 , Brown beat Colgate 12 - 0 , Yale defeated Syracuse 15 - 0 and Harvard won against Bowdoin 17 - 0 . Army opened its season with a 22 - 0 win over Tufts . Pennsylvania earned its third win , over Dickinson , 28 - 0 . Elsewhere , Auburn won 11 - 0 over Howard College ( now Samford University ) , Pitt defeated Ohio Northern 16 - 0 , North Carolina beat Wake Forest 18 - 0 , Arkansas won 24 - 0 over Henderson State , and Kansas beat little St . Mary ' s College of Kansas 29 - 0 . State College of Pennsylvania rolled over Grove City , 31 - 0 , North Carolina A & M ( now N . C . State ) trampled Maryville ( Tennessee ) College 39 - 0 . In Western Conference play , Chicago overwhelmed Purdue 40 - 0 , and Minnesota crushed Iowa 41 - 0 . Carlisle yielded a score in a 48 - 6 win over Bucknell , and Princeton surrendered two touchdowns in a 47 - 12 win over Stevens . Dartmouth was unable to score in a 0 - 0 tie with Vermont . Lehigh lost at home to Franklin and Marshall , 10 - 0 . In a game the day before , Virginia held off Davidson , 11 - 0 . In four midweek games on October 6 , Navy opened its season with a 16 - 6 win over the other Annapolis school , St . John ' s College , and Princeton defeated Villanova , 12 - 0 . Yale , in a 12 - 0 win over Holy Cross , and Brown ( which beat Bates , 17 - 0 ) , both stayed unscored upon and upped their records to 3 - 0 - 0 . October 9 : Fewer teams stayed unscored upon . Yale won 33 - 0 over the Springfield Training School college team , Penn defeated West Virginia 12 - 0 , and Brown won 10 - 0 over Amherst College . Further south , Virginia beat St . John ' s of Maryland , 12 - 0 . All four winners were 4 - 0 - 0 . Harvard was surprised by Williams College , which led in the first half before the Crimson eked out an 8 - 6 win , and Princeton struggled against Fordham , averting defeat with a last minute field goal , 3 - 0 . Pitt beat Marietta College , 12 - 0 , and Lafayette rolled 50 - 0 over Hobart College . Opening their seasons were defending southern champion LSU with a 10 - 0 triumph over visiting Ole Miss , Kansas ( 11 - 0 over Oklahoma ) , Texas ( 12 - 0 over Southwestern ) , Texas A & M ( 17 - 0 over Austin ) , Wisconsin opened with a 22 - 0 win over Lawrence College . and Michigan , which struggled in a 3 - 0 win over Case . Alabama defeated Howard College 14 - 0 , and Arkansas allowed at TD in beating Drury , 12 - 6 . Western Conference games saw Chicago beat Indiana 12 - 0 and Minnesota defeat Iowa State , 18 - 0 , but Illinois was surprised by visiting Kentucky State College ( later the University of Kentucky ) , 6 - 2 . When the Kentucky team was welcomed home , Philip Carbusier said that they had " fought like wildcats " , a nickname that stuck . . Navy won 12 - 3 over Rutgers and Army beat Trinity College of Connecticut , 17 - 6 . The biggest game of the week was at Wilkes - Barre , where Penn State and Carlisle met on neutral ground . Down 6 - 5 when Larry Vorhis missed the point after , State was up 8 - 6 on a Vorhis field goal . Vorhis was sacked in the end zone by Emil Wauseka during a punt return , and the game ended 8 - 8 . October 13 : In a midweek game , Princeton found itself losing 6 - 5 to visiting Virginia Tech after an interception was returned for a touchdown . The Tigers stayed unbeaten ( 4 - 0 - 0 ) on a drop kicked field goal in the last four minutes . October 16 : At Philadelphia , Pennsylvania hosted Brown . Both were unbeaten ( 4 - 0 - 0 ) , and neither had been scored upon . Penn shut down the Bears offense and won 13 - 5 . Yale , also 4 - 0 - 0 in four shutouts , earned a fifth , handing Army its first defeat , 17 - 0 . In an intersectional battle of Tigers , Princeton handed visiting its first defeat , 20 - 0 . Once - tied Carlisle faced Syracuse at New York ' s Polo Grounds and won 14 - 11 . Pitt yielded its first points in an 18 - 6 win over Bucknell , and Harvard handled Maine , 17 - 0 . Navy was upset by Villanova , 11 - 6 . In the South , Virginia , unbeaten ( 4 - 0 - 0 ) and unscored upon , was upset by a ( 1 - 1 - 1 ) Lehigh team , 11 - 7 , in a game at Norfolk . LSU beat Mississippi A & M ( now Mississippi State ) , 15 - 0 . Alabama edged Clemson , 3 - 0 , at Birmingham . Arkansas defeated Wichita State , 23 - 6 . Texas A & M and Texas Christian played a socreless tie . To the West , Chicago beat Illinois , 14 - 8 . Minnesota defeated Nebraska , 14 - 0 . Michigan handed Ohio State its 10th consecutive defeat . Kansas defeated Kansas Agricultural ( now Kansas State ) , 5 - 3 , and Missouri beat visiting Missouri School of Mines ( of Rolla , now Missouri S & T ) 13 - 0 . October 23 : In Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ( 5 - 0 - 0 ) hosted Penn State ( 2 - 0 - 1 ) in a battle of unbeatens . Penn fumbled away two chances to score in the first half , but took a 3 - 0 lead on a 35 yard field goal . Penn State came within 15 yards of a touchdown , but settled for a dropkicked field goal to tie the Quakers . . Harvard handed Brown a second straight loss , 11 - 0 . At Pittsburgh , Pitt hosted unbeaten ( 3 - 0 - 1 ) Carlisle and won 14 - 3 . Yale Bulldogs stayed unscored on and reached 6 - 0 - 0 with a 36 - 0 win over Colgate . The other major unbeaten team in the east , Princeton , was upset by visiting Lafayette , after the Leopards ' Frank Irmschler blocked a field goal in the final six seconds and returned it 92 yards for a touchdown , winning 6 - 0 in what the New York Times termed " probably the most sensational finish that has ever been seen in a football game . " Navy was defeated at home , 5 - 0 , by Virginia . In the South , Vanderbilt hosted Auburn in a meeting of 3 - 0 - 0 teams at Nashville , with Vandy winning 17 - 0 . Alabama and Ole Miss played a scoreless tie at Jackson . Arkansas defeated Oklahoma 21 - 6 . beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta , 15 - 0 . To the West , Michigan averted being tied by Marquette , 6 - 5 . Wisconsin beat Indiana 6 - 3 . Missouri was tied by Iowa State , 6 - 6 , and Kansas ( 4 - 0 - 0 ) hosted Washington of St . Louis ( 2 - 0 - 0 ) and won 23 - 0 . On October 30 , the fatal injury of Army player Eugene Byrne , at a game against visiting Harvard , overshadowed the other games of the day . With ten minutes left to play , Byrne had broken his neck in a collision with three Harvard men . The game was halted with Harvard ahead , 9 - 0 . Byrne died the next morning , and Army cancelled the remainder of its schedule , including the annual Army - Navy Game . In other contests Penn beat Carlisle , 29 - 6 . Princeton beat Navy at Annapolis , 5 - 3 . The Lafayette Leopards , who had upset Princeton the week before , tied Penn State , 6 - 6 , giving the Nittany Lions a record of 2 wins , 3 ties , and no losses . Meanwhile , the Yale Bulldogs remained unscored upon as they registered their seventh consecutive shutout , a 34 - 0 win over visiting Amherst College . Yale had an average score of 21 - 0 against its opposition , but still had to face Brown , Princeton and Harvard . In Western Conference play ( the future Big Ten ) between two unbeatens , Minnesota defeated visiting Chicago , 20 - 6 . Wisconsin won at Northwestern , 21 - 11 . Further west , Missouri edged Iowa , 13 - 12 , and Kansas won at Washburn , 17 - 0 . In a big game at New Orleans , the LSU Tigers suffered their first defeat in almost two years , losing to ' s Tigers , 15 - 6 . At Nashville , Vanderbilt beat Ole Miss , 17 - 0 , and at Atlanta , Alabama beat Georgia , 14 - 0 . Texas A & M won at Baylor , 9 - 6 . N . C . State ( North Carolina A & M ) beat visiting Maryland 31 - 0 , Virginia beat VMI 32 - 0 , and Arkansas clobbered Ouachita Baptist , 56 - 0 . TCU lost at Texas , 24 - 0 . In intersectional games , Michigan beat visiting Syracuse 44 - 0 , while Pittsburgh was upset by visiting Notre Dame , 6 - 0 . November . On November 6 Yale remained unscored upon , beating Brown , 23 - 0 . Harvard beat Cornell 18 - 0 , and Penn State beat Bucknell 33 - 0 . Penn averted a defeat by visiting Lafayette , managing a 6 - 6 tie . Other ties were between Princeton and Dartmouth ( 6 - 6 ) , Pittsburgh and West Virginia ( 0 - 0 ) , and Navy and Washington & Jefferson ( 0 - 0 ) . The " Jeffs " had a 7 - 0 - 0 record before meeting Navy , against smaller schools . To the west , previously unbeaten ( 5 - 0 - 0 ) Michigan was upset at home by unheralded Notre Dame , 11 - 3 . Michigan ' s Coach Fielding H . Yost told a reporter after the game , " I take my hat off to the Irishmen " , and a story in the " Detroit Free Press " the next day made the " Fighting Irishmen " a nickname that would ever after stick with Notre Dame . Kansas won at Nebraska 6 - 0 , to stay unbeaten , and once - tied Missouri beat Washington University of St . Louis , 5 - 0 . Minnesota and Wisconsin were both idle and preparing to meet at Madison on November 13 . In the South , Vanderbilt defeated visiting Tennessee , 23 - 0 , and North Carolina A & M ( N . C . State ) won at Washington & Lee 3 - 0 . Virginia beat visiting VMI 32 - 0 . LSU had won earlier in a Thursday game at Louisiana Tech , 23 - 0 . Further west , the University of California played a football game , beating the University of Nevada 19 - 8 , and the University of Colorado beat the University of New Mexico , 53 - 0 . . In a Monday game at Houston , Texas A & M defeated Texas 23 - 0 to stay unbeaten . November 13 saw a number of intersectional games . Previously unbeaten and untied Vanderbilt ( 5 - 0 - 0 ) traveled to Columbus , O . and lost 5 - 0 to Ohio State . On the same afternoon , unbeaten ( 5 - 0 - 2 ) Pennsylvania went to Ann Arbor to meet once - beaten ( 4 - 1 - 0 ) Michigan , and sustained their first loss , 12 - 6 . Penn State stayed unbeaten , reaching 5 - 0 - 2 after defeating visiting West Virginia 40 - 0 . Lafayette went to 5 - 0 - 1 after beating Stroudsburg , 43 - 0 . At a Western Conference game between two unbeatens at Madison , Wisconsin , Minnesota ( 5 - 0 - 0 ) faced Wisconsin ( 3 - 0 - 0 ) . The visitors won 34 - 6 . In the MVIAA , Missouri ( 5 - 0 - 1 ) hosted Drake ( 4 - 0 - 0 against smaller opponents ) , and Missouri won 22 - 6 . Arkansas ( 5 - 0 - 0 ) and LSU ( 4 - 1 - 0 ) met at Memphis , and the " Cardinals " of Arkansas won 16 - 0 . Coach Hugo Bezdek remarked that his players were like " a wild band of razorback hogs " , giving Arkansas teams a new nickname . Alabama stayed unbeaten with a 10 - 0 win at Tennessee , and Texas A & M reached 5 - 0 - 1 with a 47 - 0 win over visiting Trinity College of Dallas ( and three days later at Dallas , A & M defeated Oklahoma , 14 - 8 ) Kansas and North Carolina A & M were idle . Virginia won at Georgetown , 21 - 0 , but the Cavaliers ' halfback Christian Archer was fatally injured . In the East , unbeaten , untied and unscored on Yale ( 8 - 0 - 0 ) hosted once - beaten Princeton ( 5 - 1 - 1 ) . Yale had a ninth straight shutout , winning 17 - 0 in its last game before it would meet Harvard , which raised its record to 8 - 0 - 0 , defeating Dartmouth 12 - 3 . Yale vs . Harvard . In other games played on November 20 , unbeaten ( 6 - 0 - 0 ) Minnesota lost , at home , to once - beaten ( 5 - 1 - 0 ) Michigan , 15 - 6 . Kansas stayed unbeaten with a 20 - 7 win over visiting Iowa . In its annual game against Lehigh , Lafayette won 21 - 0 , while at New Orleans , Alabama and Tulane played to a 5 - 5 tie . Other teams closed out their seasons with games on Thanksgiving Day ( November 25 ) . At Kansas City , the MVIAA championship came down to unbeaten ( 9 - 0 - 0 ) Kansas against unbeaten and once - tied ( 6 - 0 - 1 ) Missouri . The Missouri Tigers won , 12 - 6 . Arkansas beat Washington University of St . Louis 32 - 0 to finish unbeaten and untied ( 7 - 0 - 0 ) . Colorado beat Colorado School of Mines 16 - 0 in a season with four college games , for a 6 - 0 - 0 finish . Lafayette beat Dickinson , Texas A & M won at Texas , and Penn State won at Pittsburgh ; the score was 5 - 0 in all three games , and all three winners finished unbeaten . At Norfolk , unbeaten North Carolina A & M ( the future N . C . State ) lost to once - beaten Virginia Tech , 18 - 5 , and at Birmingham , unbeaten Alabama lost to LSU , 12 - 6 . Final standings of selected teams . EAST SOUTH WEST Conference standings . The following is an incomplete list of conference standings :