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FOOTBALL AT YANKEE STADIUM
By George Macor
The New York Yankees will play in a new stadium. in 2009 and the old Yankee Stadium in the Bronx
will be demolished. Opened in 1923, it has been the venue for many college football games, some in an
era when schools like Fordham and New York University fielded strong teams. The latter played 98
games there, the most of any college, with a record of 51-41-6_
NYU and Fordham played the first college football game in Yankee Stadium on November 6, 1923 with
the NYU Violets shutting out the Rams 20-0. However, NYU's record ~gainstF9rc\ham in the "lIouse
That Ruth Built" was 5-12-2 overall. Other notable NYU opponents (and the overall records against
each) in Yankee Stadium included Carnegie Tech (7-3-0), Colgate (4-3-1), Georgetown (4-5-2), and
Rutgers (7-1-1). In the 1931 season under Coach John "Chick" Meehan, NYU played nine of its ten
games in Yankee Stadium (the lone "road" game was a 65-0 win over Hobart in New York's Polo
Grounds). The Violets fInal game in Yankee Stadium was in 1948, a 40-0 loss to Rutgers.
The most famous series of games played at Yankee Stadium. was Army vs Notre Dame, starting in 1925
and played consecutively to 1946 except for the 1930 game that was played at Solcl!er Field in Chicago.
After .rnne games at West Point, the 1923 game was scheduled for the new stadium but a schedule
conflict with the Yankee-New York Giant World Series resulted in the game being moved to Ebbets
Field in Brooklyn where the Irish won 13-0. The memorable 1924 "Four Horsemen" game was played at
. the Polo Grounds on October 18th, not conflicting with the Washington Senator-New York Giant World
Series. The two most famous Yankee Stadium games were the 1928 "Gipper" game and the 1946 0-0
tie. The last game in the series played at Yankee Stadium was in 1969 and the Irish enjoyed a 14-5-3
record against Army. Overall, Notre Dame was 15-6-3 at Yankee Stadium, with a 1949 win over North
Carolina and a 1963 loss to Syracuse.
Besides Notre Dame, Army played Navy there in 1930 and 1931, winning both games. Other Army
opponents in Yankee Stadium were Air Force (1959 tie), Columbia (1936 win), Illinois (1930 win, 1947
tie), Michigan (1945 and 1950 wins), Oklahoma (1961 loss)~ Pittsburgh (1962 loss), Princeton (1942
win), Southern Cal (1951 loss), Stanford (1928 loss, 1948 win), and ending with a 1964 loss to Syracuse
after a 1960 win over the Orange. Anny's overall record was 14-19-5 in Yankee Stadium.
The Gotham Bowl was scheduled to premiere in Yankee Stadium in 1960 but was canceled when an
opponent could not be found to play Oregon State. The 1961 game was played at the Polo Grounds,
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Baylor beating Utah State 24-9. But after only 6,166 came to Yankee Stadium in 1962 to see Nebraska
win 36-34 over Miami-Fla, the Gotham Bowl was never played again.
Starting in 1971, the Whitney M Young Urban League Classic was played at Yankee Stadium between
Coach Eddie Robinson's Grambling Tigers and other Black college opponents, except in 1914-75 when
the stadium was being renovated. Grambling's overall record there was 12-2-0 with nine wins against
Morgan State without a loss. The final college football game at Yankee Stadium was on September 12,
1987 when Grambling lost 37-21 to Central State (Ohio).
Notable coaches whose teams played at Yankee Stadium include NYU's "Chick" Meehan and Mal
Stevens, Fordham's Frank Cavanaugh and Jim Crowley (with assistant coach Frank Leahy), Army's
"Biff' Jones, Gar Davidson and Earl "Red" Blaik, Notre Dame's Knute Rockne, Elmer Layden, Frank
Leahy and Ara Parseghian, Navy's Bill Ingram and "Rip" Miller, Carnegie Tech's Walter Steffen, North
Carolina's Carl Snavely, Colgate's Andy Kerr, Rutgers' Harvey Harmen, Tennessee's Bob Neyland,
Southern Cal's Jess Hill and Syracuse's Ben Schwartzwalder.
Heisman Trophy winners Felix "Doc" Blanchard and Glenn Davis of Anny, Notre Dame's Angelo
Bertelli, Johnny Lujack and Leon Hart, and Syracuse'sErnie Davis also played in Yankee Stadium.