1923 Cornell Big Red football team

The 1923 Cornell Big Red football team was an American football team that represented Cornell University as an independent during the 1923 college football season. The team finished with an 8–0 record, shut out five of eight opponents, and outscored all opponents by a total of 339 to 27.^[1][2] The 1923 season was part of 26-game winning streak that began in October 1921 and ended in October 1924 and included national championship claims for 1921, 1922, and 1923.

1923 Cornell Big Red football
Co-national champion (Sagarin)
Conference	Independent
Record	8–0
Head coach	Gil Dobie (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Single-wing
Base defense	6–3–2
Captain	George Pfann
Home stadium	Schoellkopf Field
Uniform
Seasons ← 1922 1924 →

1923 Eastern college football independents records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Cornell			–					8	–	0	–	0
Yale			–					8	–	0	–	0
St. John's			–					5	–	0	–	1
Dartmouth			–					8	–	1	–	0
Syracuse			–					8	–	1	–	0
Boston College			–					7	–	1	–	1
Rutgers			–					7	–	1	–	1
Washington & Jefferson			–					6	–	1	–	1
Holy Cross			–					8	–	2	–	0
Lafayette			–					6	–	1	–	2
Tufts			–					6	–	2	–	0
Army			–					6	–	2	–	1
Colgate			–					6	–	2	–	1
Geneva			–					6	–	2	–	1
Lehigh			–					6	–	2	–	1
NYU			–					6	–	2	–	1
Penn State			–					6	–	2	–	1
Vermont			–					6	–	3	–	1
Brown			–					6	–	4	–	0
Harvard			–					4	–	3	–	1
Carnegie Tech			–					4	–	3	–	1
Penn			–					5	–	4	–	0
Pittsburgh			–					5	–	4	–	0
Bucknell			–					4	–	4	–	1
Columbia			–					4	–	4	–	1
Duquesne			–					4	–	4	–	0
Princeton			–					3	–	3	–	1
Franklin & Marshall			–					3	–	5	–	1
Drexel			–					2	–	6	–	0
Buffalo			–					2	–	5	–	1
Fordham			–					2	–	7	–	0
Boston University			–					1	–	6	–	0
Villanova			–					0	–	7	–	1
Temple			–					0	–	5	–	0
CCNY			–					0	–	7	–	0
Springfield			–					0	–	7	–	0

There was no contemporaneous system in 1923 for determining a national champion. However, Cornell was retroactively named as the national champion by Jeff Sagarin in 1978. Illinois, Michigan, and Yale were selected as the 1923 national champion or co-champion by other selectors.^[3]

Cornell quarterback George Pfann was a consensus first-team player on the 1923 All-America college football team.^[4] Tackle Frank Sundstrom also received first-team All-America honors from Walter Camp, Lawrence Perry, and Percy Haughton.^[5][6][7]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 29	St. Bonaventure	Schoellkopf Field Ithaca, NY	W 41–6		[8]
October 6	Susquehanna	Schoellkopf Field Ithaca, NY	W 84–0		[9]
October 13	Williams	Schoellkopf Field Ithaca, NY	W 28–6		[10]
October 20	Colgate	Schoellkopf Field Ithaca, NY (rivalry)	W 34–7	15,000	[11]
November 3	at Dartmouth	Memorial Field Hanover, NH (rivalry)	W 32–7	15,000	[12][13]
November 10	at Columbia	Polo Grounds New York, NY (rivalry)	W 35–0	30,000	[14]
November 17	Johns Hopkins	Schoellkopf Field Ithaca, NY	W 52–0		[15][16]
November 29	at Penn	Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA (rivalry)	W 14–7	57,000	[17][18]

Roster

• Frank O. Affeld, C
• John H. Berean, G
• Brigden, E
• Elias F. Buckley, E
• Charles E. Cassidy, E
• Dexter, E
• Frend, HB
• Frank L. Henderson, E
• Francis Kearney, T
• Harold F. Kneen, E
• McWilliam, C
• Robert Morris, G
• Robert F. Patterson, HB
• George Pfann, QB
• Floyd Ramsey, HB
• Richard T. Raymond, E
• Henry M. Reed, C
• Rooney, HB
• Bernard E. Savage, T
• Smith, HB
• Sullivan, T
• Frank Sundstrom, T
• Benjamin E. Tilton, HB
• Trousdell, G
• Henry S. Wade, HB
• Wallendorf, G
• Webster, QB
• Walter Whitestone, QB

^[19]