POINT OF FACT
? Only players from Eastern colleges made the original All-America team in 1889. When was the first player selected from a) the Midwest b) the South c) the West?
•a) Fullback Clarence Herschberger of Chicago made Walter Camp's first team in 1898, b) Ashel Day of Georgia Tech was chosen as first-team center in 1918, c) Harold Muller of California was a first-team end in 1921.
? What team gained the most yards per game in a season?
•Nevada averaged 487 yards a game in 1948 while winning nine games and losing two for the major-college record, but that same year tiny Hanover College of Indiana averaged 624.1 a game (won 6, lost 2) to set the small-college record.
? What player holds the total offense record?
•Tailback Johnny Bright of Drake accounted for 2,400 yards running and passing in nine games (a record 266.7 yards average per game) in 1950. The small-college record, set by Quarterback Stan Jackson of California Poly (Pomona) in 10 games in 1958, is 2,478 yards.
? Why is the point-after-touchdown called a conversion?
•Until 1876 only kicked goals counted in the scoring. The purpose of a touchdown was merely to gain a free try for a goal. If the kick was good, the touchdown was said to be "converted" into a goal.
? Who changed the Rugby "scrum" into the modern line of scrimmage and introduced the system of downs?
•Unofficial Coach Walter Camp of Yale persuaded the old Intercollegiate Football Association to adopt these ideas in 1880 and 1882.
? Why is modern football considered to date from 1912?
•In that year, by a decision of the NCAA Rules Committee, the value of a touchdown was increased to six points (from five), the number of downs was changed from three to four, the 20-yard restriction on forward passes was abolished and the field length was standardized at 100 yards.
? Who won the first championships in these leagues: a) the Western Conference, b) the Southwest Conference, c) the Southeastern Conference, d) the Pacific Coast Conference, e) the Big Eight, f) the Ivy League?
•a) Wisconsin in 1896, b) Baylor and Oklahoma in 1915, c) Alabama in 1933, d) Washington in 1916, e) Nebraska in 1928, f) Yale in 1956 (the Ivy League was not formally organized until that year).
? What is considered to be the greatest upset in college football history?
•In 1921 Harvard, the Rose Bowl winner and national champion during a 25-game unbeaten streak, was defeated 6-0 by little Centre College of Danville, Ky. It is said that when Danville was to have dial telephones installed, the townspeople demanded that their exchange be CEntre 6.
? Football's most noted histrionic performance was Knute Rockne's celebrated appeal to underdog Notre Dame to "win this one for the Gipper," against Army in 1928. Who was the Gipper?
•He was George Gipp, an All-America fullback for Notre Dame in 1920. Gipp died of pneumonia that season, a few weeks after he insisted upon playing with a 102° fever against Northwestern.
? In 1924 "the Wheaton Iceman" almost singlehandedly destroyed Michigan in football's greatest individual performance. Who was he and what did he do?
•Red Grange, also known as Illinois' "Galloping Ghost," returned the opening kick-off 95 yards for a touchdown. The next three times Grange handled the ball, he scored touchdowns of 67, 56 and 44 yards, all within the game's first 12 minutes. Before it was over, he scored again, on a 12-yard TD run, and passed for a sixth touchdown to lead Illinois to a 39-14 victory. Michigan, which won six and lost only one other game that year, shut out five of its opponents and allowed only two other TDs all season.
ILLUSTRATION