Nov 13: Harvard and Yale's First Game, Notre Dame's "Game of the Century," Dayne's Record

Host 1 Welcome to this day in college sports history on this day November 13th imagine stepping onto a football field where you know nobody actually knows the rules players are wearing like yellow hats and knee breeches and officials are just arguing right alongside the players today we're tracking the evolution of college sports from those chaotic grassroots beginnings to the modern television spectacles you know today

Host 2 yeah and we start our journey in 1875 at Hamilton Park in New Haven Connecticut Harvard and Yale met on the gridiron for the very first time.

Host 1 Right.

Host 2 And if you were sitting in the stands, well, it wouldn't look much like the sport you watch on Saturdays. At the time, colleges played these highly localized versions of the game.

Host 1 So they had to like figure out a compromise just to play each other.

Host 2 Yeah, they had to compromise on a hybrid set of modified rugby rules, with 15 men on a side.

Host 1 I mean, I was reading the accounts of this, and the rules caused so much confusion. Players, spectators, officials, they were all protesting on the field during the game.

Host 2 Oh, definitely.

Host 1 It sounds like sitting down to play a complex board game where nobody bothered to read the instructions beforehand.

Host 2 That is a great way to put it. And to make that board game even harder to set up, Yale actually had to guarantee Harvard $75 just to get them to show up to the table.

Host 3 Wow. $75. Do we know how many people actually watched it?

Host 2 Well, the crowd size is a disputed fact. The Connecticut State History site says there were about 2,000 people, but the Yale News places the number at 2,500.

Host 3 Either way, whoever was in attendance got to see a major fashion first. This matchup featured the earliest team uniforms in an American college football game.

Host 2 Oh, the outfits were great.

Host 3 Yeah. Yale showed up in dark pants blue jerseys and these yellow hats while Harvard wore crimson knee breeches shirts and stockings

Host 2 Beyond the vibrant fashion though all that confusion on the field served a purpose

Host 1 How so

Host 2 The constant arguments over how to play forced the sport to standardize. They moved toward rugby union rules the very next year which set the structural foundation for the modern American football easy today.

Host 1 It is so fascinating to think about how we got from untelevised intramural matches, you know, where rules were made up on the fly, to multi-million dollar TV events. Today, every single yard and pole ranking is scrutinized by a national audience.

Host 2 Yeah, it is a huge shift.

Host 1 And that brings us to South Bend, Indiana, in 1993.

Host 2 Right. A matchup billed as the game of the century. You had unbeaten number one Florida State visiting number two Notre Dame.

Host 3 A huge deal.

Host 2 Absolutely. This was the moment ESPN decided to take college game day on the road. They brought their desk to campus and turned the university into a live television set. That format changed sports media forever.

Host 1 And the game totally delivered on the hype. Notre Dame took a 31-24 lead late but Florida State quarterback Charlie Ward drove down to the Notre Dame 14 yard line with just three seconds left.

Host 2 So close.

Host 1 Yeah on the final play Notre Dame cornerback Sean Wooden knocked down Ward's pass to seal the win. Just unbelievable bounces all day too.

Host 2 Oh like that one touchdown?

Host 1 Yes. Earlier on that drive FSU scored when a pass bounced right off Notre Dame safety Brian McGee before Kes McCorvey caught it for a touchdown. But hold on, I have to push back on something here.

Host 2 Sure, go ahead.

Host 1 If Notre Dame won the head-to-head matchup why is there an ongoing debate over who deserved the title that year?

Host 2 Well you have to look at the mechanics of the polling system back then. The very next week Notre Dame suffered a devastating 41-39 loss to Boston College on a last second field goal.

Host 1 Ouch. So they fell in the rankings?

Host 2 Yeah dropping them to fourth in the polls. Meanwhile Florida State won out they took the Orange Bowl against Nebraska and the voters crowned them national champions the system rewarded the team that didn't stumble at the finish line

Host 1 It is interesting how we measure greatness in the sport you go from subjective poll debates to undeniable hard numbers on the field like in 1999 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison

Host 2 Right Wisconsin running back Ron Dane

Host 1 yeah he broke the NCAA career rushing record during a 41 to 3 win over Iowa he shattered Ricky Williams's mark with a 31 yard run in the second quarter

Host 2 The sheer efficiency of Dane's dominance is what makes his legacy endure. Now, yes, San Diego State's Donald Pumphrey did pass Dane's official NCAA total in 2016.

Host 1 But Pumphrey took a lot longer, right?

Host 2 Yeah. He needed 54 games to do it. Dane achieved his mark in just 43 games. Making him the ultimate benchmark for the workhorse college running back.

Host 1 The pageantry of that moment was incredible too. Dane handed the game ball straight to the assistant coach who recruited him.

Host 2 That is a nice touch.

Host 1 And right after the final whistle, the university permanently unveiled his name and number on the stadium facade. Though, college sports always seems to struggle with record keeping, don't they?

Host 2 They certainly do. Which brings to mind a couple of other events from this day. In 1982, Southern Miss beat number 15 Alabama in Bear Bryant's final home game.

Host 3 Which ended a huge streak.

Host 2 It ended a legendary home winning streak. Yeah. But depending on the source you check, that streak is disputed at 56, 57, or 59 games.

Host 1 And flashing forward to a modern stat line, we don't have to dispute. In 2021, North Florida's Allie Knights racked up 20 assists in a women's basketball win over Trinity Baptist. clear undeniable counting

Host 2 True but looking back at those historical numbers raises an important question for you to ponder.

Host 1 What is that?

Host 2 How many legendary sports records are quietly hiding in uncounted statistics? Take Ron Dane um he has over 700 rushing yards from pre-2002 bowl games that the NCAA simply didn't tally back then

Host 1 Wow

Host 2 yeah it makes you wonder whose names are missing from the record books just because of when they played

Host 1 Thanks for tuning in. See you back here tomorrow