The 1925 Project (Part 1)

Nineteen twenty-five was a pretty memorable year in college football. Coming off a monumental 1924 season, Illinois’ Red Grange continued to run up, down and around hapless foes before he took his game to the NFL upon season’s end. Alabama upset Washington in the Rose Bowl to claim a share of its first national championship.

And with whom did mighty ‘Bama share the title? Dartmouth. Yes, that Dartmouth, granite of New Hampshire in their muscles and their brains and all that. It’s the first and only “natty” the Big Green has claimed to date.

I thought it would be fun to look back at the teams covered in this little ol’ blog (and a few that aren’t) and how they fared — and looked — a century ago. We’ll start with the six New England state schools that later made up the late, great Yankee Conference.  

As for the Big Green, I covered them in this post a while back; we’ll revisit them along with their Ivy League brethren down the road.

One major caveat: I am far from 100% positive on certain uniform elements, such as helmet colors, jersey trim colors or number fonts (or if some teams even used numbers on the back; that’s how long ago we’re talking here). Some yearbooks (like Vermont’s Ariel) give a pretty good pictorial account of the athletic teams; others, like Rhode Island’s Grist … well, I have to sort through the grist and make an educated guess. 

But if anyone out there has an old Rhode Island jersey buried in the attic … 

Connecticut

High point: The Aggies (a nickname used by UConn, UMass and other cow colleges in that era) opened the season Sept. 26 with a 7-3 win over in-state rival Wesleyan. The ‘Farmers” (hey, that’s what the Hartford Courant called them in its weekly accounts) had not defeated Wesleyan in any athletic contest since spring 1922.

Low point: Following the Wesleyan win, UConn was shut out in three straight games, all losses. 

Other trivia: Tackle Oscar Nanfeldt and quarterback “Wallie” Moreland was named to the Courant’s All-Connecticut Valley team (!).

The 1925 UConn Not-Yet-The-Huskies.

Uniforms: And the fun begins right off the bat. As noted in this post, UConn flirted with orange jerseys in the mid-1920s, and indeed, the season summary in the Courant yearbook covering the ’25 season notes the orange attire. But photos from UConn’s game against New Hampshire shows UNH’s players in white vests, presumably to differentiate themselves from the normal blue-attired Aggies. But if UConn wore orange jerseys, why would UNH bother? Like they said in those Tootise Pop commercials from the ’70s, the world may never know.

Maine

High point: A 28-14 win over hated rival Bowdoin on Nov. 7 before 7,500 fans in Orono gave the Black Bears the state title, which as hard as it is to believe now, was a huge deal back then.

Low point: It’s tempting to list the 56-0 loss at Dartmouth, but those guys probably spent the rest of their lives bragging to everyone how they shared the field with the national champs. I’ll go with the season-ending scoreless tie against New Hampshire, Maine’s most hated out-of-state rival, on Nov. 14.

Other trivia: Maine claimed a share of the New England Conference title with a 1-0-1 record, even though UNH was 3-0-1 in league play. I have the Bears down for second. … Maine end Fred Newhall and tackle “Ginger” Fraser were named to the Portland Sunday Telegram’s All-Maine team.

Uniforms: About what you would expect from this era. Many, but not all, jerseys had those “friction strips” that were popular then. Maine also wore white helmets when many teams wore brown or tan lids.

Massachusetts

High point: UMass (then known officially as Massachusetts Agricultural College, or MAC) had an annual rivalry with Tufts that lasted decades. (Strange, since another future NESCAC school, Amherst, was far closer.) On Nov. 21, the Aggies defeated the Jumbos by the baseball-like score of 6-4 for their first win in the series since 1921. The series ended in 1954 — with Tufts owning a 28-14-7 advantage. In fact, UMass beat Tufts only three more times after ’25. Strange, indeed.

Low point: The season ended with an 18-13 Thanksgiving Day loss at Springfield (just down the road from Amherst) when the hosts used a “shoestring” play, in the words of the UMass Index yearbook, to take the lead in the fourth quarter. From what I’ve gathered from multiple newspaper accounts, a Springfield receiver named Maddox lined up near the sideline, apart from his 10 teammates — almost as if he were busy tying his shoelace before joining his mates — and MAC was caught napping. Of course, Springfield threw the ball to Maddox and he took off 30 yards for the winning TD.

Massachusetts decided to wear hoodies for its team photo.
As you can tell, some schools took this exercise less seriously than others
back in the day. 

Uniforms: Classic maroon and little else. Like Maine, some shirts had friction strips and others did not. I’m not 100% on the numbers.

New Hampshire

High point: The Granite yearbook doesn’t have a season write-up, so it’s hard to determine. I’d say going 2-0-1 in New England Conference play and grabbing the league title is a pretty good accomplishment, though.

Low point: The Oct. 10 game against Colby was cancelled because of SNOW. I know Waterville can be a little chilly in October, but still.

Other trivia: This was the last season before UNH adopted the “Wildcats” nickname.

Uniforms: Largely the same as in 1924, which I wrote about here. 

Rhode Island State

High point: Going by the season summary in the Grist yearbook, it sounds like Rhody’s best game was a 12-7 win over CCNY (CCNY? Wasn’t that the school embroiled in a basketball scandal?) on Oct. 24. Kenneth Brown threw a TD pass and returned a kick 65 yards for another score.

Low point: Rhody got to play the role of loyal opposition in a season-opening 33-0 loss to Brown in which the Bears opened their new stadium, which they still use today. 

Other trivia: On Oct. 3, the Rams played Western Maryland (now McDaniel College) in Baltimore at the site of the future Memorial Stadium, the beloved old home of the NFL Colts and MLB Orioles.

A college football team, or a semipro all-star bunch?

Uniforms: Another tough one to decipher. Are the shirts pale blue or dirty white? Are the pants brown or dark blue?

The team picture above shows the Rams in a motley assortment of jerseys, some of them torn and dirty. I'm guessing this was taken after practice. From what I've been able to gather, the version with the five friction strips was the one worn during games.

Vermont

High point: Like Maine, UVM placed heavy emphasis on in-state rivals, and Vermont earned wins over Norwich (3-0) and Middlebury (7-6) to claim the state championship.

Low point: Vermont was shut out four times, including three straight to Syracuse, Dartmouth and Springfield by a combined score of 82-0. If you go by the write-up in the Ariel yearbook, UVM had to overcome insurmountable odds every Saturday because of injuries or size disadvantages.   

Even in 1925, that made for a tiny lineman.

Other trivia: This was the last season before Vermont adopted the “Catamounts” nickname. The state population of actual catamounts: Zero. … Vermont ended the season with a 7-0 loss to Saint Louis, which like UVM later dropped football and became a force on the soccer pitch. (The Billikens have won 10 NCAA titles; the Catamounts recently captured their first.)

Uniforms: As basic as you can get, which makes it easier (albeit less challenging) to figure out. The Ariel yearbook covering the ’25 season was loaded with bright photos. 

Bryant, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island (2024)

The uniforms of 2024 continue with the Colonial Coastal Crumbling Athletic Association, which is slated to lose two longtime members in '25: Delaware to FBS (Conference USA and Richmond to the Patriot League (!). With the CAA adding random schools left and right over the last few years, I'm sure the folks there will find a couple community colleges in the Midwest to fill the void left by the Blue Hens and the Spiders.

OK, onto the unis ...

We begin with league newbie Bryant, which realized quickly that the CAA, even in its declining state, ain't the Big South (where the Bulldogs had a winning record in 2023). The only change in the uniforms was the addition of the CAA jersey patch, replacing the Big South versions. (Check out the gold jersey — it appears Bryant slapped a big square bearing the CAA logo over the Big South logo patch.)

Delaware didn't change a darn thing from 2023, although I suspect the Hens will make some alterations once they move up in the world.

Maine did some odd things in 2024. In '23, the Black Bears changed their road jerseys, using a number font similar to that on their iconic hockey jersey. In '24, Maine changed the home shirt to match the road versions ... only to change the road shirt in midseason, adopting drop-shadow numbers (which slowly appear to be making a comeback, perhaps thanks to the NFL 49ers reviving their 1994 uniform). The pants also went a midseason change, as the stripes down the sides were removed. The awesome power-blue alternate shirt, which was used in publicity photos, never saw game day action.

New Hampshire dusted off an old friend this past season — the "NH" helmet logo used from 1976-99. The Wildcats had used the logo occasionally in the past (a few Homecomings and a few times on a blue alternate helmet in 2017-18). My only suggestion would be to add a stripe or two down the middle, a la the "classic" look.

Speaking of stripes, UNH's silver helmet is no slouch itself in the classic helmet department (it's been used since 2003 and has been worn by many an NCAA FCS tournament team), but in midseason it randomly lost its stripes and looked rather naked without them. 

Rhode Island made no changes this season, although like UMaine, the Rams trotted out two different sets of road uniforms, something they also did in 2023.

There was one minor but significant addition to the jerseys late in the season — the NCAA patch symbolizing participation in the NCAA FCS tourney. Rhody reached the postseason for the first time since 1985 and the glory days of Tom "Air:" Earhardt.

Iconic (or at least long-lasting) helmet logos and designs (Part 1)

Some college teams change helmet logos more frequently than they do head coaches. (Check out the histories of Columbia or UConn sometime and you'll see what I mean.) Others have designs that have endured for decades. 

Today, we're going to look at some first-year styles of popular — or at least unique — helmet logos and/or designs.

Let's lead off with a team that has never even used a helmet logo — Boston College. It may be plain, but there's no denying that the Eagles' plain gold helmet is distinctive (well, as long as they're not playing Notre Dame or Navy). After several years of plain maroon lids and one year with a Michigan-style design, BC introduced the gold helmet in 1939, Frank Leahy's first year as coach. Leahy stayed only two years before he left Notre Dame, but he left behind a "design" that remains to this day.

There were a few alterations that came and went: For a couple seasons (1958, 60), BC had numbers on the sides, and in 1991 it added a maroon stripe down the middle, which was removed in 2020. From 2011-13, the Eagles wore maroon and white helmet stripes for road games only. And in 2012, BC sported a star-spangled look as part of Under Armour's Wounded Warrior uniform.

After several seasons of helmets adorned with numbers or a block "C," Colgate took a different route in 1977. The Raiders put an abbreviated version of the school name on the sides, a cursive "'gate" that appears to have been scrawled by a middle-school student still practicing penmanship. It's weird, silly and definitely stands out. (I always thought Syracuse should have a helmet with "CUSE" on the side.) 

While Colgate briefly ditched the logo for other designs for a few years, the beloved 'gate refused to go away and returned in 1996, albeit in a more streamlined form. The logo was modified again for the 2021 spring season.

True, Cornell's "C" logo may not be considered iconic, but it's definitely exhibited some staying power since the Big Red unveiled it in 1983. While the rest of the helmet has undergone some tinkering every few years, the white "C" on the red helmet has remained fairly consistent.

The 1983 uniform shown above is a bit of a Frankenstein design. They jersey and pants still have the wide stripes and oversize numbers from Bob Blackman's time as coach, when the helmets had "CORNELL" in an arc across the side. The rest of the uniform was gradually toned down as the 1980s went on.

And speaking of Blackman. ... After he became Dartmouth coach in 1955, he outfitted the Big Green in white helmets with two green stripes down the front. But after a decade, he was looking for something different. Check out this entry from the 2001 Dartmouth media guide:

In 1965, Bob Blackman, Dartmouth's innovative Hall of Fame coach, sought a unique source of pride that would immediately identify Dartmouth's successful football team.
He found the answer in a helmet design that became as much a trademark for Dartmouth football as the famed "winged" helmet design that Fritz Crisler brought with him from Princeton to Michigan in 1938.

Unusual step No. 1: Blackman added the classic Dartmouth "D," but he placed it on the front of the helmet instead of on the sides. Unusual step No. 2: The stripes, which normally go down the front of the helmet, were situated at about a 45-degree angle down the sides. I would love to have been a fly on the wall when Blackman was sketching possible designs.

As you can see from the above graphic, Dartmouth went undefeated in 1965, so the new helmet must have worked. (What, you thought it was all talented, hard-working athletes and smart game plans? Ha!) The Big Green went on to win seven of the next nine Ivy titles. 

The cover of the December 1965 Dartmouth Alumni Magazine
shows the Big Green in action with their new helmets.
Football has been reinvented about a thousand times since then,
but the iconic Dartmouth helmets remain.

Dartmouth kept the helmet until 1987, when new coach Buddy Teevens "sought a 'fresh start' after four losing seasons," again quoting the media guide. (I also wrote a little about that here.) John Lyons, Teevens' successor, revived the classic helmet in 1999 ("with his team's unanimous endorsement," according to the media guide), and the Green has kept it ever since. (We won't talk about the tree helmet from a few years back.) 

You'll notice the media guide excerpt above mentioned Michigan's winged helmet. Dave Nelson, who took over as Delaware's coach in 1951, was a Michigan man, so it's probably no shock he outfitted his Blue Hens in uniforms that paralleled those of the Wolverines. Nelson previously had coached Maine, where he also introduced a winged helmet in 1949. The Hens have worn them without fail ever since, although the shades of blue and yellow have changed slightly.

Wartime Football (Parts I-II)

Not too long ago, I posted a photo of Cornell's 1945 roster on this site's Facebook page (and if you haven't done so yet, crush that like button like you're crushing a blocking sled during two-a-days), which got me thinking about wartime football. World War II turned the game upside down, as manpower shortages forced some programs to shut down entirely during the war and others to play on a limited basis. Some, however, kept on going like nothing was amiss.

The Northeast scene was no different. Twenty-one teams covered by this little ol' blog had football teams at the time World War II broke out. The state of the programs during the prime war years (1943-45) can be divided into four categories:

1) Shut down entirely (no team from 1943-45)

2) Partially shut down (played at least one season from 1943-45)

3) Played on limited basis (played throughout 1943-45, but with small schedules against smaller schools/military camps/etc.)

4) Full speed ahead (played full schedules).

First, we'll get category No. 1 out of the way.

Shut down entirely

Central Connecticut, Northeastern, Vermont.

Maybe it's a coincidence, but two of those three programs later dropped the sport. CCSU soldiers on, however.

OK, on to group No. 2, the main subject of this post.

Partially shut down

Six schools covered by this blog fall into this category.

Boston University shut down the program in 1943-44, but threw together a 5-game schedule in '45 upon the end of WWII that summer. Perhaps the '45 Terriers should have stuck with intrasquad games: BU lost all five game by a combined score of 235-3. When you're losing 70-0 to Tufts, that's not a good sign. The Wikipedia season summary puts it best: "The season finale against Harvard was so one-sided that head coaches Dick Harlow and Walt Holmer elected to cut 5 minutes from each of the final two quarters." (And, as we'll see later on, it's not like Harvard was operating on all eight cylinders during the war.)

The Terriers' uniforms were identical to what they wore at the start of the war: Black helmets, red jerseys and socks at home; white shirts and socks on the road. I like how the stripes on the sleeves and socks are in sync.

Connecticut took only the 1943 season off, then played full eight-game schedules in '44 and '45, unlike most smaller schools in New England. A few liberties had to be taken, however, as the Huskies played Norwich, CCNY and Brooklyn twice. (And those mighty '44 CCNY Beavers went 0-8 and were outscored 333-0. As in ZERO points. Wonder how they would have fared against BU.) The '45 team faced more traditional foes such as Maine, Lehigh and BU. UConn went 7-1 both seasons.

I think I've talked about these uniforms before, but the jerseys are distinctive; I can look at an old photo from the '40s and can immediately tell it's UConn thanks to the shoulder panels and the stripes on the wrists of the sleeves.

Depending on your source, Delaware either shut down entirely or returned in 1945 for a four-game slate. (The late, great College Football Data Warehouse lists the coach as "unknown," which should tell you how informal this team was.) The Blue Hens defeated Drexel and Haverford, tied West Chester and lost to Johns Hopkins — their only defeat from 1941-46, when the Hens went unbeaten in '41, '42 and '46.

I can't find any decent photos of Delaware's uniforms from '45, so I offer the ones from '42. Note the use of plastic helmet shells, a rarity in that era. Plastic shells took off after the war and were worn by almost everyone by the mid-50s. Ironically, one of the last holdouts was Delaware, which appears to have worn leather lids into the '60s. 

Massachusetts (State, as it was called until 1947) played a brief schedule in 1945, beating Maine twice, tying Amherst and losing to Brooklyn.

The uniforms were largely similar to what the Statesmen (yes, that was their nickname; "Redmen" came a couple years later and "Minutemen" in 1972) wore in 1942, with tan/gold helmets replacing the maroon versions. Wonder how people would react if UMass wore all-mustard yellow unis today?

New Hampshire is an interesting case, for a couple reasons: 

1) The Wildcats had no football in 1943, brought it back in '44 and dropped it again in '45;

2) For years, the Wildcats' media guides said UNH had no team in '44. (And for years, UNH and its arch-rival, Maine, listed different records for their all-time series, since they faced off twice in '44.)

But UNH indeed fielded a team, dropping two games to Middlebury and going 1-1 against Maine — the last time the rivals faced off more than once in a season until 2013, when they met in the regular season and the NCAA playoffs, which I'd rather not discuss. 😁

The Wikipedia entry on this team is remarkably detailed, and it's worth a read.

I'm unsure what the Wildcats wore on the road, but the best guess is they used the same duds as in 1942, when they went undefeated. (The home unis bear more than a passing resemblance to what Maine wore in the 1950s.) Only one member of the '42 crew played for UNH in '44.

Rhode Island (State, as it was called until 1952) punted on 1943-44 but played three games against Maine, Boston University (both wins) and Rutgers (a loss).

The few photos I've uncovered of the '45 Rams are fuzzy and hard to make out, so again I offer you the 1942 uniform, which used four different shades of blue. The helmets are light blue, but the front leather portion is painted white. The jerseys have a pair of light blue stripes down the sleeves and the numbers are the only dark blue portion of the uniform. It's not a pretty uniform, but it's an interesting one.

Next up: Teams that played on an informal basis throughout the war.

Bryant, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island (2023)

Our next look at the year in uniforms takes us to the Colonial Athletic Association Coastal Athletic Association Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference. How about "The Conference With Too Many Damn Teams"? or "Why won't the America East Conference add football already?"

Anyway, here's a look at the four CAA teams covered on this site, plus Bryant, which is leaving the Big South for the CAA next year, which will raise the conference's membership to 743.

Bryant — anyone else remember when the Patriots trained there in days of yore? — added a white shirt to more closely match the black jerseys introduced last year when the Bulldogs switched to New Balance uniforms. The gold alternate jersey worn last year was left on the bench in '23.

Delaware, which will be leaving the CAA for FBS and Conference USA in 2025, changed its blue jersey to match the white road version, and the blue pants now match the white and yellow versions with the big ol' hen on the right pant leg.

Maine made a few changes this year, which doesn't hide the fact that my Black Bears won two games for the second straight year. The helmet stripe colors were reversed and the script "Maine," last worn in 2015, returned, replacing the Maine logo with the black bear head. Only problem is that the size of the revived logo is tiny — did Maine borrow the decals from the hockey team or something?? And speaking of hockey, Maine added new road jerseys with numbers that mirror those worn by the pucksters. 

Finally, Maine changed its white pants, with a striping pattern that matches the ones on the helmet and navy blue jerseys.

New Hampshire didn't change much from last year, although the white helmets underwent a couple changes throughout the season: The Wildcats had a white wildcat logo for one game, switched to the throwback "NH" logo for homecoming and used a blue wildcat logo the rest of the way.

Rhode Island kept its multitude of jerseys and pants from 2022, and for good measure, added an alternate white uniform, giving the Rams four different shirts and FIVE different pants. But only one helmet? Yeah, I know, helmets are expensive. 😎

Rhode Island Rams (1967)

College football is less than two months away. Let's get back into the swing of things and pull a team out of the bag o' random! This time, it's the 1967 Rhody Rams.

The Team: Between 1958 and 1972, Rhode Island has but one winning team, and this was it. Among the wins was a 28-17 opening-day shocker over Delaware in which Rhody scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns. (The Hens ended the season 2-7, their last losing season for 16 years.) Wins over Maine and New Hampshire and a scoreless tie against Vermont put Rhody in third place in the Yankee Conference.

The Rams take in the action from the bench.

The Players: In an era when passing was far more risky and interceptions far more common, Rhody QB Larry Caswell threw for 11 TDs and just two picks. He finished with 1,575 passing yards, a respectable total for that era. His favorite target was future NFL draft pick Frank Geiselman, who hauled down 48 passes for eight TDs. Brent Kaufman was the leading ground-gainer with 590 yards and eight scores. 

Frank Giesleman goes airborne to 
grab a pass against Maine.

The Coach: Jack Zilly was an All-American, national-title winning end at Notre Dame who played for the NFL's Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles from 1947-52, winning an NFL title in LA in '51. At Rhody, Zilly installed a pro-style offense (which would explain the Rams' air attack), but, the '67 team was his only winner; his final record was 21-41-2 from 1963-69.

The Uniforms: I've written about these uniforms before, but they're among my favorites of the '60s. In '67, Rhody ditched the navy blue LA Rams knock-offs (here's another example) and returned to the light blue it had phased out earlier in the decade. The new unis had white helmets with light blue horns and little notches in the horns. Light blue jerseys and white pants were worn at home, and the colors were revered on the road. 

The Fallout: Rhody won only five games over the next two seasons and Zilly was let go in 69. His successor, Jack Gregory (1970-75), also had only one winning season. It would take the magic of Bob Griffin to turn the Rams into a consistent winner for the first time since the early 1950s.

Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island (2022)

 The review of 2022 uniforms rambles on with the four Colonial Athletic Association teams covered on the little ol' blog.

Delaware made some minor changes to the road jerseys and the pants, otherwise the Blue Hens stood pat. The new pants have a good-sized hen logo about halfway down the right leg. and the white jerseys continue college football's recent trend of returning to traditional stripes. Delaware (and UNH) also wore blue NCAA patches for their FCS tournament games. 

Maine (2-9? Really?) made a few minor changes, as well. The Black Bears returned their logo to both sides of the helmet after having a number on one side the last couple seasons, and they added a light blue alternate jersey — fitting, since coach Jordan Stevens played at Maine when they had a light blue alternate c. 2010. The alternate uses a different template than the navy or white jerseys, but I like it; I wouldn't mind seeing them worn with the light blue pants in 2023.

As you can see, there's a lot to unpack here with New Hampshire, which wore 11 different styles in 13 games. 

First, the Wildcats introduced a white alternate helmet with the Wildcat logo on each side. 

Second, UNH added a new white jersey and a gray alternate. I like how each shirt has a different wordmark on the front — blue, UNH; white, New Hampshire; gray, Wildcats. 

Third, the white pants now have "WILDCATS" down the side; as I said about Sacred Heart's pants, they resemble something out of pro wrestling. 

Finally, the Wildcats wore a retro uniform for Homecoming, complete with red trim and the vintage "NH" logo on the helmets. It's not exactly like what they wore in days of yore, but it's a start. UNH wore the NCAA patch for for its first-round FCS tourney game, but not the second-round game at Holy Cross.

Rhode Island didn't change anything from 2021, as the Rams continued to mix and match their three jerseys and four pants, including those gray camos. Really, nothing to complain about from this end. (Hey, it's laundry we're discussing, not world affairs, right? 😎)