Navy–Johns Hopkins football rivalry
| Sport | Football |
|---|---|
| First meeting | November 30, 1882 Navy 8, Johns Hopkins 0 |
| Latest meeting | October 11, 1919 Navy 66, Johns Hopkins 0 |
| Next meeting | Defunct |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 12 |
| All-time series | Navy leads, 9–3–0 |
| Largest victory | Navy, 66–0 (1919) |
| Longest win streak | Navy, 4 (1889–1919) |
The Navy–Johns Hopkins rivalry was an American intercollegiate football rivalry between the Navy Midshipmen football team of the United States Naval Academy and the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays football team of Johns Hopkins University. The two institutions, located within the span of a few miles in the state of Maryland, first met for a football game in 1882. Following the initial contest, both teams played each other annually for eight years, before it was called off for unknown reasons. The teams competed again in 1911 and 1912, again disbanding the contest until a final match took place in 1919.
The rivalry was controlled by Navy for its entirety, with the Midshipmen winning nine out of twelve contests played. While Johns Hopkins' largest win was a 25–12 defeat of the Naval Academy in 1888, Navy shutout Hopkins five times, including a 66–0 blowout in the 1919 contest. The rivalry was an essential contest for the beginning of both schools' football programs. Prior to the first game, Navy had competed in only a single contest. Johns Hopkins began their football program with the rivalry, originally having to play under a fake title in order to compete.
It is widely believed by football researchers that the playing of intercollegiate football began in November 1869, when a player at Rutgers University challenged another player at the nearby College of New Jersey (now Princeton). The contest more closely resembled soccer, with teams scoring by kicking the ball into the opponent's net, and lacked a uniform rules structure. The game developed slowly; the first rules were drafted in October 1873, and only consisted of twelve guidelines. Even though the number of teams participating in the sport increased, the game was still effectively controlled by the College of New Jersey, who claimed eight national championships in ten years. Only Yale presented any form of challenge, claiming four national championships in the same time period.
...
Wikipedia