1915 Syracuse Football Program

[orangepack]

This was posted on a Giants message board and thought it was pretty cool - program from a game vs Mount Union in 1915

 

[sufandu]

Can you believe those ticket prices? No wonder they had attendance problems!

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

The 1915 schedule is something.

Home game on Saturday, November 20th --> Cross country train ride to Missoula, MT for a game the following Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) --> Continue on to Portland to play what is now Oregon State the next Wednesday --> Train all the way down the West Coast to play in Los Angeles on Saturday, 3 days later.

 

[orange79]

Syracuse finished 9-1-2 that year, including a 73-0 rout of Mt. Union. The only loss of the season was a 3-0 setback at Princeton.

The season included a win at Michigan, and the long west coast trip LeMoyne mentioned above.

 

[FreakTalksAboutSU]

Imagine a game vs former alumni counting in the official W-L lol

 

[Sudano]

How long did it take to go to Montana and Oregon in 1915? A month or two?

 

[sutomcat]

The 1915 schedule is something.

Home game on Saturday, November 20th --> Cross country train ride to Missoula, MT for a game the following Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) --> Continue on to Portland to play what is now Oregon State the next Wednesday --> Train all the way down the West Coast to play in Los Angeles on Saturday, 3 days later.

That Syracuse team was the first program from the East to undertake a cross country trip to play teams in the West. It paved the way for the modern era of college football, where games between teams from different regions are commonplace.

That Syracuse team, one of the best in the country, was invited to the Rose Bowl but had to decline, as they had already traveled West earlier in the season and couldn't make the additional travel, expense and lost class time work.

It was the first great Syracuse team and deserves more recognition.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

How long did it take to go to Montana and Oregon in 1915? A month or two?

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

How long did it take to go to Montana and Oregon in 1915? A month or two?

I have things to do at work and am instead trying to answer your question because it's far more fun.

I found a Northern Pacific timetable from 1926, so it could be a little faster, but we'll use it for reference. It looks like the ride from Chicago to Missoula was 48 hours. Add another, say, 16 hours from Syracuse to Chicago. So they must have left on Saturday night or Sunday, left Chicago Monday morning at 10:30am, and pulled into Missoula around the same time on Wednesday.

I'll have to look more later to see how long it would have taken to get to Portland and then LA.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

"The men as they will oppose each other" is just excellent.

 

[FreakTalksAboutSU]

I think it would TOTALLY be worth it, in certain scenarios, to take the 2 yard penalty for calling an extra timeout

 

[sutomcat]

Good story from the Syracuse newspapers on the game in Missoula, which was played in a blizzard.

Syracuse and Montana have never played in basketball, but 98 years ago they fought to a tie in football

Attached is a picture of the Syracuse team running the ball against Michigan. This was another game played on the road, a long way from home, in an era when travelling halfway across the country was a major undertaking.

 

[CA Monk]

I think if we could put Soph.

#28 DuMoe in the S&C program for a year, you could beef him up and convert him to a DT!

 

[sutomcat]

I think if we could put Soph. View attachment 168662
#28 DuMoe in the S&C program for a year, you could beef him up and convert him to a DT!

Harold White was probably the biggest player in the country at 6'6 273 pounds. He was a first team All American and one of our greatest lineman ever.

 

[NKR1978]

I love the requirement not to make noise when EITHER TEAM is calling signals.

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

I have things to do at work and am instead trying to answer your question because it's far more fun.

I found a Northern Pacific timetable from 1926, so it could be a little faster, but we'll use it for reference. It looks like the ride from Chicago to Missoula was 48 hours. Add another, say, 16 hours from Syracuse to Chicago. So they must have left on Saturday night or Sunday, left Chicago Monday morning at 10:30am, and pulled into Missoula around the same time on Wednesday.

I'll have to look more later to see how long it would have taken to get to Portland and then LA.

Okay, so there was either a morning or night train out of Missoula. Either way, it took another 24 hours to get to Portland from Missoula. So put them in Portland on Saturday. I can't find a timetable to connect Portland with San Francisco, but it took 12 hours from SF to LA, so I'd assume it would be at least another 12 to get from Portland to SF.

All in all, quite the trip.

 

[Sudano]

I have things to do at work and am instead trying to answer your question because it's far more fun.

I found a Northern Pacific timetable from 1926, so it could be a little faster, but we'll use it for reference. It looks like the ride from Chicago to Missoula was 48 hours. Add another, say, 16 hours from Syracuse to Chicago. So they must have left on Saturday night or Sunday, left Chicago Monday morning at 10:30am, and pulled into Missoula around the same time on Wednesday.

I'll have to look more later to see how long it would have taken to get to Portland and then LA.

Sounds fun especially for train history enthusiasts. Have to take into account the infrastructure and technology increases over that 10 yr period. Layovers. They wouldn't be able to exit a train in Chicago and get on one for Missoula right away. Then Missoula to Portland then to Corvallis. Probably got there early to practice and acclimate then the return trip.

 

[Sudano]

Good story from the Syracuse newspapers on the game in Missoula, which was played in a blizzard.

Syracuse and Montana have never played in basketball, but 98 years ago they fought to a tie in football

Attached is a picture of the Syracuse team running the ball against Michigan. This was another game played on the road, a long way from home, in an era when travelling halfway across the country was a major undertaking.

Apparently Helmets and Fans were optional.
PS I still can't read our numbers on the uniforms.

 

[JDubbin]

Lots ! Of ! Exclamation Points !

 

[Eric15]

I have things to do at work and am instead trying to answer your question because it's far more fun.

I found a Northern Pacific timetable from 1926, so it could be a little faster, but we'll use it for reference. It looks like the ride from Chicago to Missoula was 48 hours. Add another, say, 16 hours from Syracuse to Chicago. So they must have left on Saturday night or Sunday, left Chicago Monday morning at 10:30am, and pulled into Missoula around the same time on Wednesday.

I'll have to look more later to see how long it would have taken to get to Portland and then LA.

Imagine the looks on this team's face if you told them that a century later, people would act like their universe was coming to an end if their 5 hour cross country flight was slightly delayed and/or they were stuck in a middle seat on a plane.

 

[MGDCuse]

There's no #44. In fact, the numbers end at 43. Kinda weird. Also, only 6ish guys over 200 pounds. Love this stuff. I'm always fascinated by the advertisements and the prices back then. There was a bank offering 4% interest on all accounts. Where do I sign?

 

[Sudano]

I have things to do at work and am instead trying to answer your question because it's far more fun.

I found a Northern Pacific timetable from 1926, so it could be a little faster, but we'll use it for reference. It looks like the ride from Chicago to Missoula was 48 hours. Add another, say, 16 hours from Syracuse to Chicago. So they must have left on Saturday night or Sunday, left Chicago Monday morning at 10:30am, and pulled into Missoula around the same time on Wednesday.

I'll have to look more later to see how long it would have taken to get to Portland and then LA.

Cross Country Travel in 1912

https://www.nypl.org/blog/2013/03/15/cross-country-travel-1912

 

[SWC75]

That Syracuse team was the first program from the East to undertake a cross country trip to play teams in the West. It paved the way for the modern era of college football, where games between teams from different regions are commonplace.

That Syracuse team, one of the best in the country, was invited to the Rose Bowl but had to decline, as they had already traveled West earlier in the season and couldn't make the additional travel, expense and lost class time work.

It was the first great Syracuse team and deserves more recognition.

That was the first of 103 consecutive Rose Bowl games. the 1902 game was a one-off deal. Hopefully, we might have done better than Brown, whom we had beaten.
1916 Rose Bowl - Wikipedia

Our 1923 team was also invited to the Rose Bowl but the faculty didn't approve that trip, either.

This excellent website has some more information about that season:

1915 College Football National Championship

www.tiptop25.com

1915 College Football Top 25

www.tiptop25.com

 

[OrangeTarheel]

That’s funny, I actually had a poster from that rose bowl in my room growing up. Wikipedia indicates the rose bowl wasn’t too focused on football prior to this game “The first game, the 1902 Tournament East-West football game, was so lopsided that for the next 13 years, the Tournament of Roses officials ran chariot races, ostrich races, and other various events instead of football.”

 

[sutomcat]

That was the first of 103 consecutive Rose Bowl games. the 1902 game was a one-off deal. Hopefully, we might have done better than Brown, whom we had beaten.
1916 Rose Bowl - Wikipedia

Our 1923 team was also invited to the Rose Bowl but the faculty didn't approve that trip, either.

This excellent website has some more information about that season:

1915 College Football National Championship

www.tiptop25.com

1915 College Football Top 25

www.tiptop25.com

I like these sites a lot but I think James makes a lot of questionable decisions and judgements here. No reasonable person would rank Notre Dame and their pathetic schedule ahead of Syracuse. He underrates difficulty of schedule greatly and doesn’t even consider who much travel that Syracuse team did, and how difficult it was in those days.

He loves to talk about All Americans and Hall of Fame coaches and players but never bothers to mention that the 1915 SU coach Buck O’Neill is a hall of famer, or that Syracuse had 3 All Americans on that team, halfback Red Wilkerson, guard Harold White and guard Chris Schlachter.

Syracuse gave up a FG to Princeton in an early game on the road. They gave up 2 FGs to Montana in that infamous game played in a blizzard where drunken miners with guns intimidated the refs and made a farce of the game. And they gave up a touchdown to Michigan in a game in Ann Arbor that they completely dominated but had a lot of fumbles.

That is it. One touchdown and 3 FGs, playing one of the toughest schedules in the country. They were a top 5 team. No question.