1886 Harvard Crimson football team

The 1886 Harvard Crimson football team represented Harvard University in the 1886 college football season. The team finished with a 12–2 record and outscored opponents 765 to 41 under first-year head coach Frank A. Mason.^[1][2] On November 3, 1886, in a game played at Exeter, New Hampshire, the Crimson defeated the team from Phillips Exeter Academy by a score of 158-0, the highest point total ever achieved in a football game to that point.^[3] The team's two losses were against rivals Princeton (0–12) and Yale (4–29). Princeton and Yale are recognized by various selectors as the 1886 national champions.

1886 Harvard Crimson football
Conference	Independent
Record	12–2
Head coach	Frank A. Mason (1st season)
Captain	William A. Brooks
Home stadium	Jarvis Field
Seasons ← 1884 1887 →

1886 Eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Yale			–					9	–	0	–	1
Princeton			–					7	–	0	–	1
Harvard			–					12	–	2	–	0
Lafayette			–					10	–	2	–	0
Williams			–					5	–	1	–	1
Massachusetts			–					2	–	1	–	0
Penn			–					9	–	7	–	1
Lehigh			–					4	–	3	–	1
Dartmouth			–					2	–	2	–	0
Amherst			–					3	–	4	–	0
Rutgers			–					1	–	3	–	0
Wesleyan			–					2	–	6	–	0
MIT			–					2	–	6	–	1
Vermont			–					0	–	1	–	0
Stevens			–					0	–	7	–	1
Tufts			–					0	–	8	–	0
NYU			–					0	–	3	–	0
Swarthmore			–							–
Trinity (CT)			–							–

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 6		at Tufts	Medford, MA	W 82–0		^[4]
October 9		at MIT	Union Grounds Boston, MA	W 54–0		^[5]
October 13		Tufts	Jarvis Field Cambridge, MA	W 46–0		^[6]
October 16	3:00 p.m.	Stevens	Jarvis Field Cambridge, MA	W 44–0		^[7]
October 20		MIT	Jarvis Field Cambridge, MA	W 59–0		^[8]
October 23		at Andover	Andover, MA	W 86–0		^[9]
October 30	4:15 p.m.	Dartmouth	Jarvis Field Cambridge, MA (rivalry)	W 70–0	75	^[10]
November 3		at Phillips Exeter	Exeter, NH	W 158–0		^[3]
November 6		Wesleyan	Jarvis Field Cambridge, MA	W 34–0		^[11]
November 8		Harvard alumni	Jarvis Field Cambridge, MA	W 38–0
November 13	2:30 p.m.	at Princeton	Princeton, NJ (rivalry)	L 0–12		^[12]
November 17		at MIT	Union Grounds Boston, MA	W 62–0		^[13]
November 20	2:30 p.m.	Yale	Jarvis Field Cambridge, MA (rivalry)	L 4–29	> 6,000	^[14]^[15]
November 25		at Penn	University athletic grounds Philadelphia, PA (rivalry)	W 28–0	2,000–3,000	^[16]
All times are in Eastern time

References

1. "1886 Harvard Crimson Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
2. . GoCrimson.com. Harvard University. Archived from the original on August 14, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
3. "By Eighteen Points Harvard's Eleven Breaks the Record: Phillips Exeter Defeated by a Score of 158 Points to 0". The Boston Globe. November 4, 1886. p. 11 – via NewspaperARCHIVE.
4. "Foot Ball at Harvard". The Boston Globe. October 7, 1886. p. 16 – via NewspaperARCHIVE.
5. "Technology vs. Harvard: An Interesting Game of Foot Ball in Which Harvard is the Winner". The Boston Globe. October 10, 1886. p. 3 – via NewspaperARCHIVE.
6. "Fair Harvard Again: Their Foot Ball Eleven Defeat the Tuftonians, 46 to 0". The Boston Globe. October 14, 1886. p. 4 – via NewspaperARCHIVE.
7. "The Harvards Again". The Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. October 17, 1886. p. 6. Retrieved March 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com  .
8. "Harvards Defeat "Techs."". The Boston Globe. October 21, 1886. p. 3 – via NewspaperARCHIVE.
9. "Harvard's Kickers Win". The Boston Globe. October 24, 1886. p. 5 – via NewspaperARCHIVE.
10. "Football in the Mud". The Boston Daily Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. October 31, 1886. p. 6. Retrieved March 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com  .
11. "A Game That Counts: Harvard's Foot Ball Players Defeat Wesleyan". The Boston Globe. November 7, 1886. p. 3 – via NewspaperARCHIVE.
12. "Winning A Second Victory". The New York Times. November 14, 1886. p. 9.
13. "Playing in a Cold Rain: Harvard Defeats the Techs on the Union Grounds, 62 Points to 0". The Boston Globe. November 18, 1886. p. 11 – via NewspaperARCHIVE.
14. "Again Yale Wins: Harvard's Eleven Out-played by the Veterans". The Boston Globe. November 21, 1886. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
15. "Harvard Beaten By Yale". The New York Times. November 21, 1886. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "Harvard's Easy Victory". The Times (Philadelphia). November 26, 1886. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.