The 1887 Yale Bulldogs football team was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

team that represented

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

as a member of the Intercollegiate Football Association (IFA) during the

1887 college football season The 1887 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the ''Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book'' listing Yale as having been selected national champions National champions are corporations which are technically private b ...

. The team compiled a perfect 9–0 record, shut out seven of nine opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 515 to 12. Quarterback Harry Beecher was the team's captain. There was no contemporaneous system in 1887 for determining a national champion. However, Yale was retroactively named as the national champion by the

Billingsley Report The Billingsley Report is a college football rating system developed in the late 1960s to determine a national champion. Billingsley has actively rated college football teams on a current basis since 1970. Beginning in 1999, Billingsley's ratings ...

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owner ...

Houlgate System The Houlgate System was a college football ranking method based on strength of schedule that was syndicated nationally in the 1930s through 1950s. The system was created by Carroll Everard "Deke" Houlgate (May 8, 1905—July 31, 1959), a Los Angeles ...

National Championship Foundation The National Championship Foundation (NCF) was established by Mike Riter of Hudson, New York. The NCF retroactively selected College_football_national_championships_in_NCAA_Division_I_FBS, college football national champions for each year from 1869 ...

, and Parke H. Davis.

Schedule

Roster

* Baker, FB * Harry Beecher, QB * William T. Bull, FB * G. R. Carter, G * William Herbert Corbin, C * S. M. Cross, T * Foster, FB * Charles O. Gill * Graves, HB-FB * Mason, HB * Morrison, HB * F. C. Pratt, E * William Rhodes, T * Robinson, E *

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...

, HB * Frederic W. Wallace, E * Williams, HB *

George Washington Woodruff George Washington Woodruff (February 22, 1864 – March 23, 1934) was an American college football player, Rowing (sport), rower, coach, teacher, lawyer and politician. He served as the head football coach at the University of Pennsylvania (1892� ...

, G * William Wurtenburg, FB

References

{{College Football National Champion pre-AP Poll navbox

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

Yale Bulldogs football seasons College football national champions College football undefeated seasons

Yale Bulldogs football The Yale Bulldogs football program represents Yale University in college football in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). Yale's football program, founded in 1872, is one of the oldest in the world. Since ...