What Year Was the First College Football Game Played?

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Brown, the Army right half back, photographed as he place-kicked a field goal in the early part of the second period of the Army-Navy game, Dec. 12, 1931, New York. An off-tackle play brought the ball into position and Brown dropped back to his 15-yard-line and booted the ball over neatly. The Army held the lead 10 to 0 at the end of the first half of the Charity game.
(AP Photo)
Chase Kiddy @chaseakiddy Jun 20, 2024, 1:48 PM

The first college football game was played between Rutgers and Princeton. The date was Nov. 6, 1869.ย 

Rutgers won 6-4, though the rules were very different from what the sport became in the 20th century.ย 

In the coming decades, many other prominent schools โ€“ particularly on the East Coast โ€“ would set up teams and begin playing the fledgling sport.ย 

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was founded on March 31, 1906, in response to the growing popularity of amateur athletics.

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About the Author

Chase Kiddy

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Chase Kiddy is a writer for BetMGM and co-host of The Lion's Edge, an NFL and college football podcast available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere else. He has also written for a number of print and online outlets, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Washington Post, Daily News-Record, and HERO Sports. His first novel, Cave Paintings, is in development.

Chase Kiddy is a writer for BetMGM and co-host of The Lion's Edge, an NFL and college football podcast available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere else. He has also written for a number of print and online outlets, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Washington Post, Daily News-Record, and HERO Sports. His first novel, Cave Paintings, is in development.