1896 Lafayette football team

1896 Lafayette football
Co-national champion (NCF, Davis)
Conference	Independent
Record	11–0–1
Head coach	Parke H. Davis (2nd season)
Captain	George Waldbridge
Home stadium	Lafayette Field
Seasons ←  1895 1897  →

1896 Eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Fordham			–					1	–	0	–	0
Lafayette			–					11	–	0	–	1
Princeton			–					10	–	0	–	1
Washington & Jefferson			–					8	–	0	–	1
Penn			–					14	–	1	–	0
Yale			–					13	–	1	–	0
Pittsburgh College			–					11	–	2	–	0
Buffalo			–					9	–	1	–	2
Villanova			–					10	–	4	–	0
Bucknell			–					5	–	2	–	1
Harvard			–					7	–	4	–	0
Boston College			–					5	–	3	–	0
Storrs			–					5	–	3	–	0
Cornell			–					5	–	3	–	1
Syracuse			–					5	–	3	–	2
Temple			–					3	–	2	–	0
Army			–					3	–	2	–	1
Rutgers			–					6	–	6	–	0
Carlisle			–					5	–	5	–	0
Holy Cross			–					2	–	2	–	2
Brown			–					4	–	5	–	1
Wesleyan			–					4	–	5	–	1
Dickinson			–					4	–	5	–	0
Frankin & Marshall			–					3	–	4	–	2
Geneva			–					3	–	4	–	0
Penn State			–					3	–	4	–	0
Colgate			–					3	–	4	–	1
Amherst			–					3	–	6	–	1
Western Univ. Penn.			–					3	–	6	–	0
Lehigh			–					2	–	5	–	0
Tufts			–					2	–	6	–	1
Swarthmore			–					2	–	6	–	0
New Hampshire			–					1	–	4	–	0
Drexel			–					1	–	5	–	0
Massachusetts			–					0	–	4	–	0
Rhode Island			–					0	–	4	–	0

The 1896 Lafayette football team was an American football team that represented Lafayette College of Easton, Pennsylvania, as an independent during the 1896 college football season. In their second season under head coach Parke H. Davis, Lafayette compiled an 11–0–1 record, shut out 10 of 12 opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 240 to 10. The team was retroactively selected as the co-national champion by the National Championship Foundation and the team's own head coach, Parke H. Davis, in his later role as a football historian. ^[1]

Lafayette played a scoreless tie with Princeton in the second game of the year and defeated West Virginia three times in three days by a combined score of 56–0. On October 24, Lafayette defeated Penn, 6–4, breaking the Quakers' 34-game winning streak. Lafayette closed its season with an 18–6 win over Navy.

Notable players on the team included:

• Tackle Fielding H. Yost began the season playing for West Virginia and then joined Lafayette for its game against Penn. He later served as the head football coach at Michigan from 1901 to 1926.
• Guard Charles Rinehart , 6'1", 243 pounds, was described as "the life, genius and inspiration" of the team with muscles "as strong as bands of steel". ^[2]
• Halfback George Barclay. Lehigh refused to play its annual rivalry game with Lehigh in protest over Barclay's eligibility and amateur status. Barclay allegedly played professional baseball the previous summer. ^{[3] [4]}

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 26	Volunteer Athletic Club of New York City	Lafayette Field Easton, PA	W 44–0		[5]
October 7	Princeton	Lafayette Field Easton, PA	T 0–0	5,000	[6] [7]
October 15	vs. West Virginia	Fairmont, WV	W 18–0		[8]
October 16	vs. West Virginia	Parkersburg, WV	W 6–0		[9]
October 17	vs. West Virginia	Wheeling, WV	W 34–0		[10]
October 24	at Penn	Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	W 6–4		[11]
October 31	Dickinson	Lafayette Field Easton, PA	W 18–0		[12]
November 10	at Bloomsburg Normal	Normal Field Bloomsburg, PA	W 17–0		[13]
November 11	at Wyoming Seminary	Kingston, PA	W 23–0		[2]
November 14	Franklin & Marshall	Lafayette Field Easton, PA	W 38–0		[14]
November 21	Wesleyan	Lafayette Field Easton, PA	W 18–0		[15]
November 26	at Navy	Worden Field Annapolis, MD	W 18–6	1,800	[16]

References

1. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2015). "National Poll Rankings" (PDF). NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA. p. 107. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
2. "Lafayette-Wyoming: A Clean Exhibition of Football at Kingston". Wilkes-Barre Times. November 12, 1896. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
3. March, Francis A. (1926). Athletics at Lafayette College. p. 272.
4. Lewis, S. Parnell (1982). 100 Years of Football at Lafayette College. p. 23.
5. "Lafayette Very Strong: Roll Up the Splendid Score of 44 Points Against the Volunteers". The Philadelphia Inquirer. September 27, 1896. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Princeton's Poor Showing: Lafayette Prevents Her From Scoring and Should Have Beaten Her". The Philadelphia Times. October 8, 1896. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Princeton 0, Lafayette 0". The Boston Globe. October 8, 1896. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Good for 'Varsity". Wheeling Daily Intelligencer. October 16, 1896. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "To-day's Foot Ball Game Between Teams of Lafayette College and the W. Va. University". Wheeling Register. October 17, 1896. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "W.V.U. Team Outclassed: The University Eleven Shut Out By Lafayette College". Wheeling Register. October 18, 1896. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Penn's Victorious Career Checked: Not Beaten Since 1893, the Quakers Fall Before Lafayette by the Score of 6 to 4". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 25, 1896. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Lafayette Runs 18 On Dickinson's Team". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. November 1, 1896. p. 9. Retrieved January 17, 2025– via Newspapers.com .
13. "Lafayette 17 - Normal 0". The Columbian. November 12, 1896. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "F. and M. Snowed Under: Lafayette Had a Rather Easy Time With the Lancaster Collegians". The Philadelphia Times. November 15, 1896. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Lafayette Wins From The Wesleyan Boys". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 22, 1896. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "Lafayette, 18; Middies, 6". The Baltimore Sun. November 27, 1896. p. 6 – via Newspaper.com.