1885 PRINCETON TIGERS FOOTBALL TEAM

1885 Princeton Tigers football
1885 Princeton Tigers football
National champion
Conference	Independent
Record	9–0
Head coach	None;
Captain	C. M. DeCamp
	Seasons ← 1884 1886 →

1885 college football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
Princeton		–		9	–	0	–	0
Michigan		–		3	–	0	–	0
Colorado College		–		1	–	0	–	0
Yale		–		7	–	1	–	0
Cincinnati		–		1	–	0	–	1
Penn		–		8	–	5	–	0
Lafayette		–		3	–	2	–	1
Massachusetts		–		3	–	2	–	1
Johns Hopkins		–		2	–	2	–	0
Richmond		–		1	–	1	–	0
Wesleyan		–		3	–	4	–	0
Navy		–		1	–	2	–	0
Lehigh		–		1	–	5	–	1
Rutgers		–		0	–	1	–	0
Fordham		–		0	–	3	–	0

The 1885 Princeton Tigers football team represented the College of New Jersey, then more commonly known as Princeton College, in the 1885 college football season. The team finished with a 9–0 record and was retroactively named as national champions by the Billingsley Report, Helms Athletic Foundation, Houlgate System, National Championship Foundation, and Parke H. Davis.^[1]^[2] This season marked Princeton's 13th football national championship.^[3]

The season was notable for one of the most celebrated football plays of the 19th century—a 90-yard punt return by Henry "Tillie" Lamar in the closing minutes of the game to beat Yale, 6–5, a team Princeton had not defeated since 1878.^[4]^[5]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 3		at Stevens	Hoboken, NJ	W 94–0
October 14		Stevens	Princeton, NJ	W 76–0
October 24		at Penn	Philadelphia, PA ( rivalry)	W 57–0
October 31		Penn	Princeton, NJ	W 80–10
November 7		at Columbia Law School	New York, NY	W 64–0
November 11		Johns Hopkins	Princeton, NJ	W 10–0
November 14		Wesleyan	Princeton, NJ	W 76–0
November 21	2:30 p.m.	at Yale	Yale Field New Haven, CT ( rivalry)	W 6–5	5,000	^[6]^[7]
November 26		at Penn	Philadelphia, PA	W 76–10
All times are in Eastern time

References

^ "National Poll Champions" (PDF). NCAA Division I Football Records. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2017. p. 110. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
^ "1885 Princeton Tigers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
^ "Championships - Tigers Football". princetontigersfootball.com. Princeton University. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
^ "All-Time Princeton Results" (PDF). goprincetontigers.com. Princeton University. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
^ "Sporting Comment" (PDF). The Auburn Citizen. November 21, 1911.
^ "Yale Bites The Dust". The Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. November 22, 1885. p. 1. Retrieved March 23, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Princeton Is Champion". The New York Times. New York, New York. November 22, 1885. p. 1. Retrieved March 23, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .

[poll-1] "National Poll Champions" (PDF). NCAA Division I Football Records. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2017. p. 110. Retrieved January 2, 2018.

[SR-2] "1885 Princeton Tigers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 27, 2017.

[3] "Championships - Tigers Football". princetontigersfootball.com. Princeton University. Retrieved January 2, 2018.

[results-4] "All-Time Princeton Results" (PDF). goprincetontigers.com. Princeton University. Retrieved January 2, 2018.

[5] "Sporting Comment" (PDF). The Auburn Citizen. November 21, 1911.

[6] "Yale Bites The Dust". The Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. November 22, 1885. p. 1. Retrieved March 23, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .

[7] "Princeton Is Champion". The New York Times. New York, New York. November 22, 1885. p. 1. Retrieved March 23, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

v t e Princeton Tigers football
Venues	University Field (1876–1913) Palmer Stadium (1914–1996) Powers Field at Princeton Stadium (1998–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Legacy Bowl Harvard Penn Rutgers Yale
Culture & lore	First American football game ( painting) 1922 Chicago game Poe brothers The Tiger " Princeton Cannon Song" Winged football helmet
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
National championship seasons in bold

v t e College football national champions (pre-AP Poll)
1869–1879	1869: Princeton / Rutgers 1870: Princeton 1871: None 1872: Princeton 1873: Princeton 1874: Yale 1875: Harvard 1876: Yale 1877: Yale 1878: Princeton 1879: Princeton
1880s	1880: Princeton / Yale 1881: Yale 1882: Yale 1883: Yale 1884: Yale 1885: Princeton 1886: Yale 1887: Yale 1888: Yale 1889: Princeton
1890s	1890: Harvard 1891: Yale 1892: Yale 1893: Princeton 1894: Yale 1895: Penn 1896: Lafayette / Princeton 1897: Penn 1898: Harvard 1899: Harvard
1900s	1900: Yale 1901: Michigan 1902: Michigan 1903: Michigan / Princeton 1904: Michigan / Penn 1905: Chicago 1906: Princeton 1907: Yale 1908: LSU / Penn 1909: Yale
1910s	1910: Harvard / Pittsburgh 1911: Penn State / Princeton 1912: Harvard / Penn State 1913: Harvard 1914: Army 1915: Cornell 1916: Pittsburgh 1917: Georgia Tech 1918: Michigan / Pittsburgh 1919: Harvard / Illinois / Notre Dame / Texas A&M
1920s	1920: California 1921: California / Cornell 1922: California / Cornell / Princeton 1923: Illinois / Michigan 1924: Notre Dame 1925: Alabama 1926: Alabama / Stanford 1927: Illinois / Yale 1928: Georgia Tech 1929: Notre Dame
1930s	1930: Alabama / Notre Dame 1931: USC 1932: USC 1933: Michigan 1934: Minnesota 1935: Minnesota

v t e Princeton Tigers football
Venues	University Field (1876–1913) Palmer Stadium (1914–1996) Powers Field at Princeton Stadium (1998–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Legacy Bowl Harvard Penn Rutgers Yale
Culture & lore	First American football game ( painting) 1922 Chicago game Poe brothers The Tiger " Princeton Cannon Song" Winged football helmet
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
National championship seasons in bold

v t e College football national champions (pre-AP Poll)
1869–1879	1869: Princeton / Rutgers 1870: Princeton 1871: None 1872: Princeton 1873: Princeton 1874: Yale 1875: Harvard 1876: Yale 1877: Yale 1878: Princeton 1879: Princeton
1880s	1880: Princeton / Yale 1881: Yale 1882: Yale 1883: Yale 1884: Yale 1885: Princeton 1886: Yale 1887: Yale 1888: Yale 1889: Princeton
1890s	1890: Harvard 1891: Yale 1892: Yale 1893: Princeton 1894: Yale 1895: Penn 1896: Lafayette / Princeton 1897: Penn 1898: Harvard 1899: Harvard
1900s	1900: Yale 1901: Michigan 1902: Michigan 1903: Michigan / Princeton 1904: Michigan / Penn 1905: Chicago 1906: Princeton 1907: Yale 1908: LSU / Penn 1909: Yale
1910s	1910: Harvard / Pittsburgh 1911: Penn State / Princeton 1912: Harvard / Penn State 1913: Harvard 1914: Army 1915: Cornell 1916: Pittsburgh 1917: Georgia Tech 1918: Michigan / Pittsburgh 1919: Harvard / Illinois / Notre Dame / Texas A&M
1920s	1920: California 1921: California / Cornell 1922: California / Cornell / Princeton 1923: Illinois / Michigan 1924: Notre Dame 1925: Alabama 1926: Alabama / Stanford 1927: Illinois / Yale 1928: Georgia Tech 1929: Notre Dame
1930s	1930: Alabama / Notre Dame 1931: USC 1932: USC 1933: Michigan 1934: Minnesota 1935: Minnesota

Schedule

References

Schedule

References

Videos

Websites

Encyclopedia

Facebook