1912 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1912 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Co-national champion (NCF)
ConferenceIndependent
Record8–0
Head coach
CaptainPete Mauthe
Home stadiumNew Beaver Field
Seasons
← 1911
1913 →
1912 Eastern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Harvard   –   9 – 0 – 0
Penn State   –   8 – 0 – 0
Carlisle   –   12 – 1 – 1
Maine   –   7 – 1 – 0
Princeton   –   7 – 1 – 1
Swarthmore   –   7 – 1 – 1
Yale   –   7 – 1 – 1
Lehigh   –   9 – 2 – 0
Dartmouth   –   7 – 2 – 0
Wesleyan   –   7 – 2 – 0
Colgate   –   5 – 2 – 0
Washington & Jefferson   –   8 – 3 – 1
Rhode Island State   –   6 – 3 – 0
Bucknell   –   6 – 3 – 1
Temple   –   3 – 2 – 0
Penn   –   7 – 4 – 0
Army   –   5 – 3 – 0
Brown   –   6 – 4 – 0
Franklin & Marshall   –   6 – 4 – 0
Holy Cross   –   4 – 3 – 1
Rutgers   –   5 – 4 – 0
Tufts   –   5 – 4 – 0
Fordham   –   4 – 4 – 0
Villanova   –   3 – 3 – 0
Morris Harvey   –   2 – 2 – 0
Lafayette   –   4 – 5 – 1
Syracuse   –   4 – 5 – 0
Carnegie Tech   –   3 – 4 – 1
Geneva   –   3 – 4 – 0
Vermont   –   3 – 5 – 0
Pittsburgh   –   3 – 6 – 0
Boston College   –   2 – 4 – 1
Cornell   –   3 – 7 – 0
NYU   –   2 – 6 – 0

The 1912 Penn State Nittany Lions football team was an American football team that represented Pennsylvania State College as an independent during the 1912 college football season. In their third season under head coach Bill Hollenback, the team compiled an 8–0 record, shut out seven of eight opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 285 to 6.[1][2]

There was no contemporaneous system in 1912 for determining a national champion. However, Penn State was retroactively named as the national champion by the National Championship Foundation. Harvard was recognized as the 1912 national champion by most selectors.[3]

This team is known for playing the first of a series of games against eventual rival Ohio State, in which the Buckeyes forfeited because of the alleged rough play of the Nittany Lions once the score was 37–0.[4] The official score was 1–0, but the gameball lists the score as 37–0.

Three persons associated with the 1912 Penn State team were later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame: coach Hollenback (inducted 1951);[5] fullback Pete Mauthe (inducted 1957);[6] and quarterback Shorty Miller (inducted 1974).[7]

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 5Carnegie Tech
W 41–0[8]
October 12Washington & Jefferson
  • New Beaver Field
  • State College, PA
W 30–04,000[9]
October 19at Cornell
W 29–6[10]
October 26Gettysburg
  • New Beaver Field
  • State College, PA
W 25–0[11]
November 2at Penn
W 14–015,000[12]
November 9Villanova
  • New Beaver Field
  • State College, PA
W 71–0[13]
November 16at Ohio State
W 37–03,500[14]
November 28at Pittsburgh
W 38–015,000[15]

References

  1. ^ "1912 Penn State Nittany Lions Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  2. ^ "Penn State Yearly Results (1910-1914)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  3. ^ 2020 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records (PDF). Indianapolis: The National Collegiate Athletic Association. July 2020. pp. 112–114. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  4. ^ "Ohio State Team Guide 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 18, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  5. ^ "Bill Hollenback". National Football Foundation. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  6. ^ "Pete Mauthe". National Football Foundation. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  7. ^ "Shorty Miller". National Football Foundation. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  8. ^ "Tech Swamped by State". The Pittsburgh Press. October 6, 1912. p. 25 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Wash-Jeff Is Conquered By Penn State". The Pittsburgh Gazette Times. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. October 13, 1912. p. 19. Retrieved September 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  10. ^ "Penn State Boys Humble Cornell". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 20, 1912. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Penn State Defeats Gettysburg Eleven". Pittsburgh Daily Post. October 27, 1912. p. 46 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Penn Battles Desperately to Come Back at State's Expense, But Fails at Task: State Forced to Limit to Conquer Penn". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 3, 1912. p. 34 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "This Was Picnic for Penn State". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 10, 1912. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Ohio State Doesn't Like Penn's Ways". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 17, 1912. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Penn State Defeats Pitt But is Forced to Fight For Every Inch". The Pittsburgh Post. November 29, 1912. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.


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