In 1903, former Dartmouth player Walter E. McCornack became
Northwestern's coach. He drilled his squad constantly -- in
the morning, and from the close of classes until dark -- and
introduced the charging machine and tackling dummy to the team's
regiment. The 1903 team, led by captain Harry Fleager, went
from last place in their conference to true contenders.
The season began in earnest in St. Louis, during the World's
Fair -- Northwestern defeated Washington University 23-0. Walter
Paulison, a chronicler of sports history, said this of the game
in his 1951 book The Tale of the Wildcats:
"The entire Washington line,"
Capt. Fleager recalls, "insisted our linemen were sluggers,
for we had been taught the modern use of the hands on defense." Such procedure was legal but unknown to the baffled St. Louisans.
The year ended with the team winning Northwestern's first conference
co-championship -- the team's 9-2-3 record included wins over
Illinois and Washington University, and ties with Notre Dame,
Wisconsin, and Chicago. The season was also one of the first
real money-makers for the University -- net profits from the
team came to $6,218.07. McCornack's short time as coach was
the most successful Northwestern had experienced thus far --
the 1904 team went 8-2, and the following year's squad ended
8-2-1.
Unfortunately, Northwestern had no varsity team during 1906
and 1907. Following the 1905 football season, a wave of criticism
emerged concerning the brutality and danger of football. At
the time, football rivalries ran high, the forward pass had
not been introduced, and three downs were allowed to move five
yards -- all of this combined to make football a rough and exhausting
game, during which deaths were infrequent but not impossible.
During this controversey, Northwestern and a few other schools
dismantled their football programs. Dean Thomas F. Holgate,
head of a special committee to examine the issue, reported the
following:
After full consideration of
the place accorded to athletic contests in educational institutions
at the present time, and in particular to intercollegiate football
contests, and with full knowledge of the efforts recently made
to eliminate the evils from such intercollegiate contests, your
committee is of the opinion that the wisest course for the University
to pursue at the present time, and the one most likely to secure
for our students permanent benefit, is to discontinue all intercollegiate
football contests for a considerable period of time, if not
permanently; and it accordingly recommends that from and after
Commencement Day, June 21, 1906, all intercollegiate football
contests by discontinued for a period of five years.
During the two years following, however, the Conference altered
their policies and the very rules of the game to address the
problems that were emerging. Within two years, Northwestern's
team was back on the field -- but when the team returned, it
was playing less games and not faring quite as well in them.
The University was left with a small and inexperienced squad
who hadn't trained under the conference's updated rulebook.
Northwestern didn't have another winning record until 1916,
two years into Fred Murphy's five-year tenure as head football
coach. The following year sported another winning record (5-2),
but the next five years saw the team faltering once again.
This time period did, however, produce one coach and one player
who would be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame:
halfback Paddy Driscoll (1915-16), and coach Charles Bachman
(1919).
John Leo "Paddy" Driscoll made his first appearance in 1915,
and his excellent running, kicking, and leadership qualities
quickly moved him to the top of the team. The team still fared
poorly that season, but Driscoll became the team's main scorer,
and was elected captain the following year.
The 1916 season began with a 29-point shutout of Lake Forest,
followed by an upset over Chicago. Harvey Woodruff of The
Chicago Tribune wrote the following in his somewhat patronising
account of the game:
Northwestern's defeat of Chicago
for the first time since 1901, while depressing to those adherents
of Stagg's Maroons who had hoped for a Big Nine title, will
be accepted by college men in general as a deserving reward
for Purple persistence. Year after year Northwestern has built
its hopes for a creditable eleven, only to have them dashed
in the early struggle with the Maroons ... Probably no college
in the conference averages less in material than Northwestern.
If in spite of these disadvantages, there has come a turn in
the athletic fortunes of Northwestern ... even loyal Maroon
partisans will not begrudge the victory which yesterday set
the Evanston student body afire with jubilation. Hats off to
Northwestern!
The team went into its final game, against Ohio, with the conference
championship hanging in the balance. Driscoll earned Northwestern
an early lead, but the Buckeyes finished off the game 23-3,
taking the conference title. Driscoll, however, was picked for
the first All-Conference team.
Charles Bachman became Northwestern's head coach in 1919, and
brought with him a number of former players who were returning
from military service. He moved on after one 2-5 season.
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