College football’s 150th anniversary: The 150 best moments that stood the test of time

54. First Helmet Used in a Game (1893)

In the 21st century, it seems crazy to imagine that early college football players did not don any headgear. The helmet, complete with flashy logos and colors, has become such a ubiquitous part of the game that it is hard to imagine a time when they were not even available as an option to players.

For the first two decades of the sport’s existence, however, helmets were not even a consideration. It was not until 1893 when Joseph M. Reeves was informed by a Navy doctor after sustaining several kicks to the head on the gridiron that he risked death or insanity if he took another strike above the neck.

Instead of giving up the sport, Reeves went to a shoemaker in Annapolis and commissioned a crude leather helmet to get through his final season at the U.S. Naval Academy. The fad did not pick up for another few years, but eventually, the helmet took off as players gradually adopted measures to protect their heads. By the 1930s, helmets were no longer an option but a requirement and the game never looked back.

53. The Birth of the Postseason (1902)

The 1901 Michigan Wolverines football team was the first great outfit under legendary coach Fielding Yost. The Point-a-Minute Wolverines squad was equally strong on offense and defense, holding every one of their opponents scoreless while averaging 50 points per game. After their 50-0 win over Iowa on Thanksgiving Day in Chicago, Yost’s Michigan men accepted an invitation to head to Pasadena to face Stanford in a New Year’s Day postseason exhibition.

Only 14 players traveled west from Ann Arbor with Yost, but they proved their dominance against a Stanford squad that went 3-1-2 in the regular season. Stanford never left the Bay Area over the half-dozen games of their regular season. Under first-year head coach Charles Fickert, they won and drew in a home-and-home series against the Olympic Club — the oldest amateur athletic club in the United States — and the Reliance Club. A 12-0 win over Nevada State (now the Nevada Wolf Pack) preceded the fall against Cal in the 11th edition of the Big Game.

The first Rose Bowl in Pasadena was hardly spectacular in terms of competitiveness, as Michigan rolled to a 49-0 victory over a Stanford team that allowed 1.3 points per game in the regular season. The game itself set a precedent for postseason play that remains to this day, more than 100 years later.

52. SMU Receives Death Penalty (1987)

For the first half of the 1980s, SMU was one of the most dominant powerhouses in all of college football. The Mustangs emerged as SWC heavyweights first under Ron Meyer and then continuing under Bobby Collins. Both coaches, however, benefitted from an expansive slush fund that helped land recruits that the Mustangs otherwise never would have landed.

Already under probation in 1985 when news of the infractions first came to light, SMU continued to meet their payroll for the next couple of years as they tried in vain to phase out the operation quietly. Instead, it only inspired further NCAA heat that resulted in a landmark decision on February 20, 1987.

After rejecting SMU’s internal review calling for an additional four years of probation, the NCAA infractions committee led by David Berst called for the Mustangs to shutter their football program for the 1987 season. Players were free to transfer to new programs, and the school decided to cancel the 1988 season as well. In the end, the death penalty decimated SMU football for decades to such an extent that the nuclear option has never again been utilized by the NCAA.