From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
1920 college football season
American college football season
American college football season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| year | 1920 |
| image | Wonder_Team_Cropped.jpg |
| image_size | 250 |
| image_caption | Cal's "Wonder Team" |
| preseason_ap | |
| regular_season | |
| number_of_bowls | 2 |
| bowl_end | |
| champion | [California](1920-california-golden-bears-football-team) |
| [Princeton](1920-princeton-tigers-football-team) | |
| heisman | Not awarded until [1935](1935-college-football-season) |
Princeton The 1920 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listing California, Georgia, Harvard, Notre Dame, and Princeton as national champions. Only California and Princeton claim national championships for the 1920 season. Andy Smith's Pacific Coast Conference champion California "Wonder Team" was the first national champion from the Pacific Coast. Princeton and Harvard were undefeated and with one tie to each other. Notre Dame was led by its first Walter Camp All-American, George Gipp, who died before the year was over.
In the south, fans of either side in Georgia were happy. Georgia and Georgia Tech were both undefeated in Southern play. Georgia Tech lost to Pitt, which was undefeated with two ties. No team scored through Georgia's line, and its backfield was known as the "ten second backfield". Jimmy Leech of VMI's "Flying Squadron" led the nation in scoring. One writer claimed "he is one of the greatest broken field runners the country has ever seen."
The Southwest Conference saw an undefeated Texas team with the same 9-0 record as the champions cited above. Texas shut out six of the nine teams they faced and scored 282 points while allowing only 13. The final game of the year for Texas against Texas A&M was cited as the real beginning of the storied rivalry between the two schools, which dates back to 1894 and featured 118 contests, in which Texas won 75 and tied 5.
In the Rose Bowl, Cal defeated Ohio State 28–0. Brick Muller completed a 53-yard touchdown pass to Brodie Stephens after receiving a toss from Pesky Sprott, at the time thought impossible.
Conference and program changes
Conference establishments
- Two new conferences began play in 1920:
- Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – an active NCAA Division III conference
Membership changes
| School | 1920 Conference | 1921 Conference |
|---|---|---|
| Indiana State Normal Fightin' Teachers | *Program Re-Established* | Independent |
| Kent State Normal Silver Foxes | *Program Established* | Independent |
| Oklahoma Sooners | Southwest | Missouri Valley |
| Phillips Haymakers | Independent | Southwest |
| UCLA Bruins | Independent | SCIAC |
Bowl games
California defeated Ohio State, 28–0, in the 1921 Rose Bowl. The first and only Fort Worth Classic was held on January 1, 1921, with Centre defeating TCU.
Conference standings
Major conference standings
Independents
Minor conferences
| Conference | Champion(s) | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association | *No champion* | — |
| Inter-Normal Athletic Conference of Wisconsin | Oshkosh Normal | 4–0–1 |
| Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference | Friends (KS) | — |
| Louisiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association | *Unknown* | — |
| Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Albion | 4–0 |
| Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | Hamline | 2–1–1 |
| Nebraska Intercollegiate Conference | *Unknown* | — |
| Ohio Athletic Conference | Wooster | 7–0 |
| Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference | [Tulsa](1920-tulsa-orange-and-black-football-team) | 6–0–1 |
| Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | Pomona | 5–0 |
| Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | Morehouse | — |
Minor conference standings
Awards and honors
All-Americans
Main article: 1920 College Football All-America Team
The consensus All-America team included:
| Position | Name | Height | Weight (lbs.) | Class | Hometown | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Donold Lourie | 5'11" | 164 | Sr. | Peru, Illinois | **[Princeton](1920-princeton-tigers-football-team)** |
| HB | Gaylord Stinchcomb | 5'8" | 157 | Sr. | Sycamore, Ohio | **[Ohio State](1920-ohio-state-buckeyes-football-team)** |
| HB | Charley Way | 5'8" | 144 | Sr. | Embreeville, Pennsylvania | **[Penn State](1920-penn-state-nittany-lions-football-team)** |
| FB | George Gipp | 6'1" | 180 | Sr. | Laurium, Michigan | **[Notre Dame](1920-notre-dame-fighting-irish-football-team)** |
| E | Chuck Carney | 6'1" | 190 | Jr. | Chicago, Illinois | **Illinois** |
| E | Bill Fincher | 6'0" | 182 | Sr. | Atlanta, Georgia | **[Georgia Tech](1920-georgia-tech-yellow-jackets-football-team)** |
| T | Stan Keck | 5'11" | 206 | Jr. | Greensburg, Pennsylvania | **[Princeton](1920-princeton-tigers-football-team)** |
| G | Tim Callahan | Sr. | Lawrence, Massachusetts | **[Yale](1920-yale-bulldogs-football-team)** | ||
| G | Tom Woods | Sr. | Boston, Massachusetts | **[Harvard](1920-harvard-crimson-football-team)** | ||
| C | Herb Stein | 6'1" | 186 | Jr. | Warren, Ohio | **[Pittsburgh](1920-pittsburgh-panthers-football-team)** |
| G | Iolas Huffman | 5'11" | 228 | Jr. | Chandlersville, Ohio | **[Ohio State](1920-ohio-state-buckeyes-football-team)** |
| T | Ralph Scott | 6'2" | 235 | Sr. | Dewey, Wisconsin | **[Wisconsin](1920-wisconsin-badgers-football-team)** |
| E | Luke Urban | 5'8" | 165 | Sr. | Fall River, Massachusetts | **[Boston College](1920-boston-college-eagles-football-team)** |
Statistical leaders
- Player scoring most points: Jimmy Leech, VMI, 210
- Player scoring most touchdowns, Jimmy Leech, 26
- Total offense leader: Jimmy Leech, 1771
- Rushing yards leader: Jimmy Leech, 1723
- Rushing avg leader: Buck Flowers, Georgia Tech, 10.2
- Receptions leader: Eddie Anderson, Notre Dame, 17
- Receiving yards leader: Eddie Anderson, 293
Notes
References
References
- "Official 2013 Football Bowl Subdivision Records Book". The National Collegiate Athletic Association.
- "Football Championship History".
- "Notre Dame Archives: George Gipp".
- (2008). "About Them Dawgs!".
- (November 11, 1913). "Advent has ten-second backfield". [[The Cincinnati Post]].
- (December 14, 1920). "A Matter of Geography". The Washington Herald.
- "1920 Texas Longhorns Schedule and Results".
- "Great Games and Moments: Pre-1940s".
- "Winsipedia - Texas Longhorns vs. Texas A&M Aggies football series history games list".
- "Athlete, Officer in Law Enforcement and Administration, Governor of the Virgin Islands: Walter Gordon".
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about 1920 college football season — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report