1879 Princeton Tigers football team

The 1879 Princeton Tigers football team represented the College of New Jersey, then more commonly known as Princeton College, in the 1879 college football season. The team finished with a 4–0–1 record and was retroactively named national champion by the Billingsley Report and National Championship Foundation and as co-national champion by Parke H. Davis.^[1][2] This season was Princeton's ninth national championship, and one of 11 in a 13-year period between 1869 and 1881.^[3] The team's captain was Bland Ballard.^[4]

1879 Princeton Tigers football
National champion (Billingsley, NCF) Co-national champion (Davis)
Conference	Independent
Record	4–0–1
Head coach	None
Captain	Bland Ballard
Seasons ← 1878 1880 →

1879 college football records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Princeton			–					4	–	0	–	1
Yale			–					3	–	0	–	2
Massachusetts			–					1	–	0	–	0
Michigan			–					1	–	0	–	1
Haverford			–					1	–	0	–	1
Harvard			–					2	–	1	–	2
Penn			–					2	–	2	–	0
Amherst			–					1	–	1	–	0
Navy			–					0	–	0	–	1
McGill			–					0	–	0	–	1
Toronto			–					0	–	0	–	1
Stevens			–					1	–	2	–	5
Rutgers			–					1	–	2	–	3
Pennsylvania Military			–					0	–	1	–	1
NYU			–					0	–	2	–	1
Racine			–					0	–	1	–	0
Swarthmore			–					0	–	1	–	0
Columbia			–					0	–	3	–	2

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 18		Penn	Princeton, NJ (rivalry)	W 6–0
November 1		Columbia	Princeton Athletic Grounds Princeton, NJ	W 2–0		[5]
November 8		Stevens	Princeton Athletic Grounds Princeton, NJ	W 7–0		[6]
November 15	3:10 p.m.	vs. Harvard	St. George's Cricket Club grounds Hoboken, NJ (rivalry)	W 1–0	3,000	[7]
November 27	2:40 p.m.	vs. Yale	St. George's Cricket Club grounds Hoboken, NJ (rivalry)	T 0–0	6,000–7,000	[8][9]

References

1. "National Poll Champions" (PDF). NCAA Division I Football Records. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2017. p. 110. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
2. "1879 Princeton Tigers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
3. "Championships - Tigers Football". princetontigersfootball.com. Princeton University. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
4. "All-Time Princeton Results" (PDF). goprincetontigers.com. Princeton University. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
5. "Princeton Beats Columbia". New York Herald. New York, New York. November 2, 1879. p. 8. Retrieved March 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
6. "The Battle Of The Ball". The Sun. New York, New York. November 9, 1879. p. 6. Retrieved March 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
7. "Collegians As Kickers". The New York Times. New York, New York. November 16, 1879. p. 5. Retrieved March 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
8. "Kicking The Leather Egg". The New York Times. New York, New York. November 28, 1879. p. 8. Retrieved March 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
9. "Foot-ball.–A Hotly-Contested Game Between Yale and Princeton Ends in a Draw". The Boston Daily Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. November 28, 1879. p. 1. Retrieved March 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .