1905 Washburn vs. Fairmount football game

August 2023 1905 Washburn vs. Fairmount football game First experiment with the forward pass and with the ten-yard requirement for first downs 1905 Washburn Ichabods Fairmount Wheatshockers John H. Outland Willis Bates 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 December 25, 1905 Wichita, Kansas The 1905 Washburn vs. Fairmount football game was a college football game between Fairmount College (now called Wichita State University) and the Washburn Ichabods played on December 25, 1905, in Wichita, Kansas. It marked the first experiment with the forward pass and with the ten-yard requirement for first downs. Despite the game's Christmas Day playing date, It is unclear if the game was considered "regular season", "post season", or "exhibition" in classification. Game play Fairmount College was coached by Willis Bates. The head coach for Washburn that season was John H. Outland, but because he was officiating, it is likely that the coaching duties fell to assistant coach (and next year's head coach) Garfield Weede. The game ended in a 0–0 tie.College Football Data Warehouse https://web.archive.org/web/20121019194944/http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_game_by_game.php?coachid=119&year=1905 2012-10-19 Willis Bates 1905 results The conditions for the game were excellent, but neither side was able to approach the other team's goal except by a punt. Only seven first downs were made the entire game—four by Washburn and three by Fairmount. Most of the game was played in the middle of the field, to the disappointment of the fans.December 28, 1905 Football Reform Rules are No Good https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=egAIAAAAIBAJ&pg=3316,6040882&dq=wichita+football&hl=en November 24, 2012 St. John Daily Sun Google News New rule test Safer but not "conducive" Both teams had played a previous game that same season. What made this second game unique was that it was a test of a proposed rule of play. During the game, each team's offense was required to gain ten yards instead of five yards in three downs to earn a new first down. The experiment was considered a failure. Football legend John H. Outland officiated the game and commented, "It seems to me that the distance required in three downs would almost eliminate touchdowns, except through fakes or flukes."https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1905/12/26/101375075.pdf The New York Times Ten Yard Rule a Failure December 26, 1905 The Los Angeles Times reported that there was much kicking and that the game was considered much safer than regular play, but that the new rule was not "conducive to the sport."https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/349469012.html?dids=349469012:349469012&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Dec+26%2C+1905&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=NEW+FOOTBALL+RULES+TESTED.&pqatl=google Los Angeles Times New Football Rules Tested December 26, 1905 July 5, 2017 March 16, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130316074650/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/349469012.html?dids=349469012:349469012&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Dec+26%2C+1905&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=NEW+FOOTBALL+RULES+TESTED.&pqatl=google dead Impact Three days later, 62 schools met in New York City to discuss rule changes to make the game safer. As a result of that meeting, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States, later named the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), was formed and several other rule changes were made to improve safety for players, including the addition of the forward pass. The History of the NCAA NCAA.org National Collegiate Athletic Association https://www.ncaa.org/about/history.html 2007-05-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20070430205324/http://www.ncaa.org/about/history.html 2007-04-30 First forward pass In his history of the sport of football, David M. Nelson concluded that "the first forward passes were thrown at the end of the 1905 season in a game between Fairmount and Washburn colleges in Kansas."The Anatomy of a Game: Football, the Rules, and the Men Who Made the Game David M. Nelson University of Delaware Press 1994 0-87413-455-2 registration https://archive.org/details/anatomyofgamef00nels, p. 128 According to Nelson, Washburn completed three passes, and Fairmount completed two. Credit for the first pass goes to Fairmount's Bill Davis, who completed a pass to Art Solter.http://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-historical-quarterly-bypaths-of-kansas-history-november-1940/12839 Kansas State Historical Society ADDENDA TO "COLLEGE FOOTBALL IN KANSAS" November 11, 2012 See also History of American football Timeline of college football in Kansas References Category:1905 college football season Category:1905 in sports in Kansas vs. Washburn 1905 vs. Fairmount 1905 Category:December 1905 sports events in the United States Category:December 1905 in the United States