Hello, I'm David Funk, and welcome to this edition of FSD History Flashback for November 13. Today's FSD History Flashback talks about the very first meeting between two schools that has transcended time as well as become one of the best rivalries in the history of sports. "The Game" was first played between Harvard and Yale on November 13, 1875.
The two teams played their first ever game in New Haven, Connecticut at Hamilton Park. Yale had promised Harvard $75 to play the game, and tickets were sold for 50 cents to watch the contest between the two clubs.
The rules for the game were adopted for rugby and soccer. Both Harvard and Yale played the game with 15 players instead of 11 for each on the field. Rules stated that a team scored a point if they successfully scored a touchdown and made the kick after.
Harvard won the game convincingly by scoring four goals (touchdowns) and four tries which gave them a 4-0 win.
Yale would have preferred to play with less to take advantage of their speed, but it was Harvard with their size as well as number of players on the field that helped them prevail.
In 1874, Harvard actually played a rugby-style game against McGill University in Montreal. Harvard was impressed with this style of play, and decided to adopt their rules for the game which was used in the first meeting of "The Game."
According to some sources, this was believed to be the first game in which players used their own uniforms for the first time. However, some list Harvard's first official collegiate game against Tufts University in June 1875 as the game when uniforms were first used.
After the game, seven Harvard students were arrested for what was called "hooting and singing in public streets". They were also fined $5.29 each which would have robbed them from getting a value meal at a fast food restaurant these days.
The very next year, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia organized the Intercollegiate Football Association. The rules were adopted from the Rugby Football Union which made the scoring change of a match being decided by the majority of touchdowns and not goals. The other big change then was going to an egg-shaped ball instead of a soccer ball.
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