1897 Michigan Agricultural Aggies football team

1897 Michigan Agricultural Aggies football
ConferenceIndependent
Record4–2–1
Head coach
CaptainWalton K. Brainard
Seasons
← 1896
1898 →
1897 Midwestern college football independents records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Butler     3 0 0
Fairmount     1 0 0
Washburn     7 1 0
Cincinnati     9 1 1
Iowa State Normal     5 1 0
Ohio Wesleyan     7 1 1
Indiana     6 1 1
Ohio     7 2 0
Carthage     3 1 0
Iowa Agricultural     3 1 0
Notre Dame     4 1 1
Michigan Agricultural     4 2 1
Central Michigan     2 1 0
Baldwin–Wallace     2 1 1
Chicago Dental Infirmary     2 2 1
Missouri     5 6 0
Lake Forest     4 5 1
Drake     2 3 0
Heidelberg     2 3 0
Detroit College     1 2 0
Indiana Normal     1 4 0
Kansas State     1 2 1
Mount Union     2 4 1
Rush Medical College     1 4 1
DePauw     2 6 0
Wittenberg     2 6 0
Haskell     1 4 0
Indiana State Normal     1 4 0
Ohio State     1 7 1
South Dakota Agricultural     0 1 0
Washington University     0 2 0
North Dakota Agricultural     0 3 0

The 1897 Michigan Agricultural Aggies football team was an American football team that represented Michigan Agricultural College (MAC), now known as Michigan State University, during the 1897 college football season. The Aggies compiled a 4–2–1 record and outscored their opponents 146 to 106.[1]

The 1897 season was the first in which the MAC football team had a coach. Henry Keep, an engineering student who had transferred from the University of Michigan, was the first coach.[2][3]

The 1897 season also featured the first installment of the Michigan State–Notre Dame football rivalry. Notre Dame won the game at South Bend, Indiana, by 34 to 6 score. Fullback Wells scored a touchdown for the Aggies.[4]

During the 1897 season, MAC also played two games each against nearby Olivet College and Alma College. The Aggies defeated Alma in both games and secured one win and one tie against Olivet.

A game against Michigan State Normal School (later Eastern Michigan University) was cancelled, because MAC accused the Normal School of fielding a team that was "not made up entirely of college men."[5]

  1. ^ "2016 Football Media Guide" (PDF). Michigan State University. p. 146. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 17, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  2. ^ Steve Grinczel. Michigan State Football: They Are Spartans. p. 11.
  3. ^ Keith Widder. Michigan Agricultural College: The Evolution of a Land-Grant Philosophy. p. 373.
  4. ^ "Notre Dame Takes the Game: Wins from Michigan Agricultural College by a Score of 34 to 6". The Daily Inter Ocean. November 26, 1897. p. 3.
  5. ^ "M.A.C. Cancelled the Game". Detroit Free Press. November 16, 1897. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.