Comments on: Near Las Vegas, Rutgers is playing USC, but not as oldest college football team https://newtolasvegas.com/2024/10/21/near-las-vegas-rutgers-is-playing-usc-but-not-as-oldest-college-football-team/ Occasional reported observations, musings and commentary from William P. Barrett, a well-traveled journalistic newcomer Mon, 28 Oct 2024 14:55:42 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: William P. Barrett https://newtolasvegas.com/2024/10/21/near-las-vegas-rutgers-is-playing-usc-but-not-as-oldest-college-football-team/#comment-83364 Mon, 21 Oct 2024 14:36:06 +0000 https://newtolasvegas.com/?p=6061#comment-83364 In reply to Anonymous.

Rutgers-Princeton in 1869 resembled soccer as it was then played. Match had no official sanction, so calling it the first “college football game” is a stretch. I think the Rutgers administration knew that for decades.

]]> By: Anonymous https://newtolasvegas.com/2024/10/21/near-las-vegas-rutgers-is-playing-usc-but-not-as-oldest-college-football-team/#comment-83363 Mon, 21 Oct 2024 12:39:56 +0000 https://newtolasvegas.com/?p=6061#comment-83363 An interesting analysis, Bill. Historians of the game have acknowledged that the Rutgers-Princeton match of 1869 bore little resemblance to today’s games. But it appears to have resembled rugby more than soccer, don’t you think? Also, if today’s game evolved out of either soccer or rugby, would it not be fair to consider the 1869 game at least an ancestor and thus it’s not all that off-base to call it the first? See https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2017-11-06/college-football-history-heres-when-1st-game-was-played#:~:text=Rutgers%20and%20New%20Jersey%20(later,Rutgers%20won%206%2D4.

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