Michigan State Normal Normalites football, 1891–1899
American college football seasons
The Michigan State Normal Normalites football teams (later known as the Eastern Michigan Eagles) represented the Michigan State Normal School (later renamed Eastern Michigan University) in American football during the program's first decade from 1891 to 1899. Highlights of the decade include the following:
On October 24, 1891, the school played its first game, losing by a 30–4 score to Ann Arbor High School.
In 1892, the team achieved the first two victories in program history, defeating the Michigan junior laws (6–4) and Albion College (30–10).
The 1896 Michigan State Normal Normalites football team compiled a 5–1 record and won the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship. The sole loss was to the Michigan Wolverines.
The team's most common opponents of the 1890s were Ann Arbor High School (seven games), the University of Michigan (four games), Albion College (three games), Hillsdale College (three games), the Toledo YMCA (three games), Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State University, two games), the Detroit Athletic Club (two games), and Ypsilanti High School (two games).
1891
The 1891 Michigan State Normal Normalites football team represented Michigan State Normal School (later renamed Eastern Michigan University) during the 1891 college football season. In the first season of intercollegiate football at Michigan Normal, the Normalites played only two games, losing to Ann Arbor High School (30–3) and the University of Michigan literary team (30–0). James M. Swift was the team's coach.
The school's 1893 yearbook credits coach Swift with introducing "scientific football" to the school.
“Michigan State Normal Normalites football, 1891–1899” enters the record as american college football seasons. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Michigan, State and Normal can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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