1890 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

The 1890 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1890 college football season. It was the only season under head coach Tom Eck and featured the historic first meeting between Minnesota and Wisconsin, the most-played rivalry at the top level of NCAA college football.[1] The two teams have played each other every year since then except for 1906. That game was canceled by President Theodore Roosevelt who had decided to "cool off heated college football rivalries because of injuries and deaths on the field."[2]:249 The game was a decisive 63-0 Minnesota win.

1890 Minnesota Golden Gophers football
ConferenceIndependent
1890 record5–1–1
Head coachTom Eck (1st season)
CaptainHorace R. Robinson
1890 Midwestern college football independents records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Nebraska   –    2 –0 –0
Washington University   –    2 –0 –0
Minnesota   –    5 –1 –1
Michigan   –    4 –1 –0
Northwestern   –    4 –1 –1
Missouri   –    2 –1 –0
Cincinnati   –    2 –1 –1
Lake Forest   –    5 –3 –0
Baker   –    1 –1 –0
Iowa   –    1 –1 –0
Illinois   –    1 –2 –0
Kansas   –    1 –2 –0
Ohio Wesleyan   –    1 –3 –0
Wisconsin   –    1 –3 –0
Ohio State   –    1 –4 –0
Doane   –    0 –1 –0
Washburn   –    0 –1 –0

Coach Eck started holding signal drills before each game and established a training table. This is considered to be the start of "scientific football" at Minnesota.[2]:311 He also acted as the team's trainer.

The week before that game, Minnesota took on Grinnell in Minneapolis, the first out-of-state opponent in Minnesota football history. The game was a hard fought 18-13 Minnesota victory.[3]:18

The Ariel declared this team to be the "champions of the northwest".[3]:19

Schedule
DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
October 27at HamlineSt. Paul, MNW 44–0
November 3at ShattuckFaribault, MNW 58–0[4]
November 5Minnesotas
T 0–0[5]
November 8GrinnellMinneapolis, MNW 18–13300[6]
November 15WisconsinMinneapolis, MN (rivalry)W 63–0[7]
November 19Ex-Collegiates
  • Athletic Park
  • Minneapolis, MN
L 11–14[8]
November 29Ex-CollegiatesMinneapolis, MNW 14–6[9]

Roster

Horace R. Robinson (captain), William C. Leary, George K. Belden, J.A. Harris, S.S. Start, Grant B. Rossman, Eugene L. Patterson, William C. Muir, George C. Sikes, Alf F. Pillsbury, Harry E. White, Charles E. Guthrie, James E. Madigan, David R. Burbank, Everhard P. Harding; Trainer Tom Eck.[3]:33

References
  1. "Official 2006 NCAA Divisions I-A and I-AA Football Records Book" (PDF). pp. 110–111. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-10. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  2. University of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics (2004). Jeff Keiser; Shane Sanderfeld (eds.). Minnesota Football 2004 Media Guide. University of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Communications.
  3. The General Alumni Association (1928). Martin Newell (ed.). The History of Minnesota Football. The General Alumni Association of the University of Minnesota.
  4. "Won By The University: Shattuck School Defeated on Their Own Ground by a One-Sided Score". The Minneapolis Tribune. November 4, 1890. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "It Was A Lraw". The Minneapolis Tribune. November 6, 1890. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.(The Minnesotas were a team "composed chiefly of veterans from Eastern colleges")
  6. "The University: After a Hard Tussle the Foot Ball Team Defeats Grinnell". The Minneapolis Tribune. November 9, 1890. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Another Victory: The "U" Football Eleven Wins From the Wisconsin Team". The Minneapolis Tribune. November 16, 1890. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ""Ski-U-Ma" Not In It: The "U" Football Team Defeated by the Ex-Collegiates". The Minneapolis Tribune. November 20, 1890. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ""U" Boys on Top". The Minneapolis Tribune. November 30, 1890. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
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