Lehigh football, 1884–1889

The Lehigh football team (later known as the Lehigh Mountain Hawks) represented Lehigh University of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in American football. Significant points in this, the first decade of Lehigh football, included the following:

• The Lehigh football program started on October 25, 1884, with a 50–0 loss to Lafayette. The team lost all four games in 1884 by a combined score of 181 to 16.
• Lehigh won its first intercollegiate football game on November 14, 1885, defeating Rutgers by a 10–5 score.
• Lehigh's first winning season was in 1886 when the team compiled a 4–3–1 record.
• The 1888 team became one of the sport's leading teams, compiling a 10–2 record and shutting out seven oppoinents, including Bucknell (74–0), Rutgers (30–0), Penn State (30–0), and Cornell (4–0).
• On November 11, 1889, Lehigh shut out Penn State, 106–0, the worst defeat in the history of the Penn State football program.

The Lehigh football team did not have a coach during the 1880s.

1884

1884 Lehigh football
Conference	Independent
Record	0–4
Head coach	None
Seasons 1885 →

1884 college football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Princeton			–					9	–	0	–	1
Yale			–					8	–	0	–	1
Michigan			–					2	–	0	–	0
Williams			–					2	–	0	–	0
Navy			–					1	–	0	–	0
Wabash			–					1	–	0	–	0
Penn			–					5	–	1	–	1
Fordham			–					5	–	1	–	0
Harvard			–					7	–	4	–	0
Wesleyan			–					3	–	2	–	0
Butler			–					1	–	1	–	0
Columbia			–					1	–	1	–	0
Rutgers			–					3	–	4	–	0
Stevens			–					4	–	5	–	0
Dartmouth			–					1	–	2	–	1
Tufts			–					2	–	4	–	1
Massachusetts			–					1	–	2	–	0
Lafayette			–					2	–	5	–	0
Johns Hopkins			–					1	–	3	–	0
Albion			–					0	–	1	–	0
CCNY			–					0	–	1	–	0
Denver			–					0	–	1	–	0
DePauw			–					0	–	1	–	0
Olivet			–					0	–	2	–	0
Amherst			–					0	–	3	–	0
Lehigh			–					0	–	4	–	0

The 1884 Lehigh football team represented Lehigh University in the 1884 college football season. The team compiled an 0–4 record.^[1]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
October 25	at Lafayette	The Quad Easton, PA (The Rivalry)	L 0–50
November 1	at Rutgers	New Brunswick, NJ	L 0–61
November 12	Lafayette	Bethlehem, PA	L 4–34
November 15	Haverford	Bethlehem, PA	L 12–36

^[2]

1885

1885 Lehigh football
Conference	Independent
Record	1–5–1
Head coach	None
Seasons ← 1884 1886 →

1885 college football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Princeton			–					9	–	0	–	0
Michigan			–					3	–	0	–	0
Colorado College			–					1	–	0	–	0
Yale			–					7	–	1	–	0
Cincinnati			–					1	–	0	–	1
Penn			–					8	–	5	–	0
Lafayette			–					3	–	2	–	1
Massachusetts			–					3	–	2	–	1
Johns Hopkins			–					2	–	2	–	0
Richmond			–					1	–	1	–	0
Wesleyan			–					3	–	4	–	0
Navy			–					1	–	2	–	0
Lehigh			–					1	–	5	–	1
Rutgers			–					0	–	1	–	0
Fordham			–					0	–	3	–	0

The 1885 Lehigh football team represented Lehigh University in the 1885 college football season. The team compiled a 1–5–1 record.^[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Source
October 10	at Penn	Philadelphia, PA	L 0–54
October 17	at Haverford	Haverford, PA	L 8–24
October 31	Lafayette	University Athletic Grounds Bethlehem, PA (The Rivalry)	L 0–6 (forfeit)	[4]
November 7	Stevens	Bethlehem, PA	L 4–20
November 14	Rutgers	Bethlehem, PA	W 10–5
November 18	at Penn	Philadelphia, PA	L 0–35
November 21	at Lafayette	Easton, PA	T 6–6	[5]

^[6]

1886

1886 Lehigh football
Conference	Independent
Record	4–3–1
Head coach	None
Seasons ← 1885 1887 →

1886 Eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Yale			–					9	–	0	–	1
Princeton			–					7	–	0	–	1
Harvard			–					12	–	2	–	0
Lafayette			–					10	–	2	–	0
Williams			–					5	–	1	–	1
Massachusetts			–					2	–	1	–	0
Penn			–					9	–	7	–	1
Lehigh			–					4	–	3	–	1
Dartmouth			–					2	–	2	–	0
Amherst			–					3	–	4	–	0
Rutgers			–					1	–	3	–	0
Wesleyan			–					2	–	6	–	0
MIT			–					2	–	6	–	1
Vermont			–					0	–	1	–	0
Stevens			–					0	–	7	–	1
Tufts			–					0	–	8	–	0
NYU			–					0	–	3	–	0
Swarthmore			–							–
Trinity (CT)			–							–

The 1886 Lehigh football team represented Lehigh University in the 1886 college football season. The team compiled a 4–3–1 record.^[7]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Source
October 9	at Penn	Philadelphia, PA	L 4–26
October 16	at Dickinson	Carlisle, PA	W 26–0
October 30	at Stevens	Hoboken, NJ	T 0–0
November 6	at Lafayette	Easton, PA (The Rivalry)	L 0–12
November 13	Stevens	Bethlehem, PA	W 14–0	[8]
November 18	Penn	Bethlehem, PA	W 28–0
November 20	Haverford	Bethlehem, PA	W 18–4
November 24	Lafayette	Bethlehem, PA	L 0–4

^[9]

1887

1887 Lehigh football
Conference	Independent
Record	4–3
Head coach	None
Seasons ← 1886 1888 →

1887 Eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Yale			–					9	–	0	–	0
Penn State			–					2	–	0	–	0
Harvard			–					10	–	1	–	0
Lafayette			–					7	–	2	–	0
Princeton			–					7	–	2	–	0
Lehigh			–					4	–	3	–	0
Williams			–					3	–	3	–	0
Penn			–					6	–	7	–	0
Wesleyan			–					4	–	5	–	0
Tufts			–					4	–	6	–	0
Massachusetts			–					2	–	3	–	0
Rutgers			–					2	–	6	–	0
Bucknell			–					0	–	2	–	0
Cornell			–					0	–	2	–	0
Franklin & Marshall			–					0	–	2	–	0
Vermont			–					0	–	2	–	0

The 1887 Lehigh football team represented Lehigh University in the 1887 college football season. The team compiled a 4–3 record.^[10]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Source
October 8	Swarthmore	Bethlehem, PA	W 24–0	[11]
October 15	at Princeton	University Field Princeton, NJ	L 0–80	[12]
October 22	Dickinson	Bethlehem, PA	W 20–0
October 29	Lafayette	Bethlehem, PA (The Rivalry)	W 10–4
November 12	at Penn	Philadelphia, PA	L 4–6
November 23	at Lafayette	The Quad Easton, PA	L 0–6
November 26	vs. Cornell	Elmira, NY	W 38–10	[13]

^[14]

1888

1888 Lehigh football
Conference	Independent
Record	10–2
Head coach	None
Seasons ← 1887 1889 →

1888 Eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Yale			–					13	–	0	–	0
Harvard			–					12	–	1	–	0
Princeton			–					11	–	1	–	0
Lehigh			–					10	–	2	–	0
Trinity (CT)			–					5	–	1	–	1
Lafayette			–					6	–	3	–	0
Cornell			–					4	–	2	–	0
Penn			–					9	–	7	–	0
Bucknell			–					2	–	3	–	0
Fordham			–					1	–	2	–	0
Massachusetts			–					2	–	4	–	0
Wesleyan			–					2	–	7	–	0
Worcester Tech			–					1	–	4	–	0
Rutgers			–					1	–	6	–	1
Penn State			–					0	–	2	–	1
Swarthmore			–					0	–	5	–	0

The 1888 Lehigh football team represented Lehigh University in the 1888 college football season. The team compiled a 10–2 record.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Source
September 29	at Princeton	University Field Princeton, NJ	L 0–75	[15]
October 6	Swarthmore	Swarthmore, PA	W 12–8
October 11	Bucknell	Bethlehem, PA	W 74–0	[16]
October 13	Rutgers	Bethlehem, PA	W 30–0	[17]
October 17	Haverford	Bethlehem, PA	W 16–6
October 20	Swarthmore	Bethlehem, PA	W 50–0
October 27	Penn	Bethlehem, PA	L 0–36
November 3	at Penn State	Old Main State College, PA	W 30–0
November 10	at Stevens	Hoboken, NJ	W 10–0
November 17	at Lafayette	The Quad Easton, PA (The Rivalry)	W 6–4
November 27	Lafayette	Bethlehem, PA	W 16–0
December 1	at Cornell	Elmira, NY	W 4–0

^[18]

1889

1889 Lehigh football
Conference	Independent
Record	8–3–2
Head coach	None
Seasons ← 1888 1890 →

1889 Eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Princeton			–					10	–	0	–	0
Massachusetts			–					2	–	0	–	0
Yale			–					15	–	1	–	0
Harvard			–					9	–	2	–	0
Franklin & Marshall			–					5	–	1	–	1
Dickinson			–					4	–	1	–	1
Navy			–					4	–	1	–	1
Tufts			–					3	–	1	–	0
Lehigh			–					8	–	3	–	2
Cornell			–					8	–	4	–	0
Penn			–					7	–	6	–	0
Brown			–					2	–	2	–	0
Penn State			–					2	–	2	–	0
Wesleyan			–					5	–	7	–	1
Bucknell			–					2	–	3	–	1
Lafayette			–					3	–	4	–	2
Columbia			–					2	–	7	–	2
Fordham			–					1	–	3	–	0
Rutgers			–					1	–	4	–	0
NYU			–					0	–	2	–	0

The 1889 Lehigh football team represented Lehigh University as an independent during the 1889 college football season. The team compiled an 8–3–2 record.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
October 5	2:40 p.m.	at Princeton	Princeton, NJ	L 0–16		[19][20]
October 10		Princeton	Bethlehem, PA	L 4–16		[21]
October 16	3:30 p.m.	Haverford	Athletic Association's grounds South Bethlehem, PA	W 60–0		[22][23]
October 19	3:15 p.m.	at Penn	West Philadelphia grounds Philadelphia, PA	L 4–6		[24]
October 30		Lafayette	University grounds South Bethlehem, PA (The Rivalry)	W 16–10		[25]
November 2		at Columbia	Berkeley Oval New York, NY	W 51–6	1,500	[26][27]
November 11		Penn State	South Bethlehem, PA	W 106–0		[28]
November 16		at Lafayette	The Quad Easton, PA	T 6–6	2,000	[29]
November 20		Penn	Bethlehem, PA	W 8–0		[30]
November 22		vs. Wesleyan	Hampden Park Springfield, MA	T 11–11		[31]
November 28	10:45 a.m.	at Navy	Annapolis, MD	W 26–6		[32]
November 29	3:38 p.m.	vs. Johns Hopkins	Capitol Park Washington, DC	W 40–0	1,000	[33]
November 30		at Virginia	Madison Hall Field Charlottesville, VA	W 26–12		[34]

^[35]