1903 Lincoln Tigers football team

American college football season

1903 Lincoln Tigers football
Conference	Independent
Record	1–1
Captain	Smith
Seasons← 1902 1905 →

1903 Midwestern college football independents records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
Nebraska		–		11	–	0	–	0
North Dakota		–		7	–	0	–	0
Central Michigan		–		6	–	0	–	0
Notre Dame		–		8	–	0	–	1
Iowa State		–		8	–	1	–	0
Marquette		–		7	–	1	–	0
Lake Forest		–		6	–	1	–	0
North Dakota Agricultural		–		5	–	1	–	0
Haskell		–		7	–	2	–	0
St. Xavier		–		7	–	2	–	0
Fairmount		–		6	–	2	–	0
Wabash		–		9	–	3	–	0
Wittenberg		–		5	–	2	–	1
Doane		–		2	–	1	–	0
Northern Illinois State		–		4	–	2	–	0
American Medical		–		6	–	3	–	0
Kansas		–		6	–	3	–	0
Drake		–		5	–	3	–	0
Kirksville Osteopaths		–		5	–	3	–	0
Iowa State Normal		–		4	–	3	–	1
Ohio Medical		–		5	–	4	–	0
Lincoln (MO)		–		1	–	1	–	0
Michigan State Normal		–		4	–	4	–	0
Washington University		–		4	–	4	–	2
Heidelberg		–		3	–	4	–	2
Kansas State		–		3	–	4	–	1
Detroit College		–		3	–	4	–	0
Shurtleff		–		2	–	4	–	1
Ohio		–		2	–	4	–	0
South Dakota Agricultural		–		1	–	2	–	0
Mount Union		–		2	–	5	–	1
DePauw		–		2	–	6	–	1
Miami (OH)		–		1	–	4	–	0
Missouri		–		1	–	7	–	1
Western Illinois		–		0	–	3	–	1
Cincinnati		–		1	–	8	–	0
Baldwin–Wallace		–		0	–	1	–	0
Buchtel		–		0	–	2	–	0
Butler		–		0	–	3	–	0
Chicago P&S		–		0	–	4	–	0

The 1903 Lincoln Tigers football team represented Lincoln Institute—now known as Lincoln University—in Jefferson City, Missouri as an independent during the 1903 college football season. The Lincoln football team played two games during the season, finishing with a 1–1 record.

The first game of the season went in favor of Lincoln, as Columbia high school was beaten, 11–5. The final game of the season was played against the George R. Smith College Deweys. The Deweys won the game, however there were widespread allegations against the integrity of the George R. Smith football team. Reportedly, the Deweys treated the Lincoln football team with such brutality, that it culminated with gunshots and physical altercations. As a result, the Lincoln team quit after the first half of the game due to safety concerns.

In the early days of college football, segregation often barred HBCU's from competing with predominantly white institutions. Of the three HBCU's that existed in Missouri at that time, only Lincoln and George R. Smith College fielded football teams. This situation paved the way for an intense rivalry between the two HBCU's. An annually scheduled game against the only other in-state HBCU, resulted in the first attempt to crown an HBCU champion in the region.

As there was not a system in place at the time to crown a national champion, what resulted were unique playoff situations for many HBCU's. As early as 1902, the annual Lincoln–George R. Smith game was promoted as the HBCU football campionship of Missouri. Regardless of whether the annual game was played for a championship title prior to 1902, it was certainly among the earliest de facto HBCU football championships in the region.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Source
October 26	Columbia High School	Unknown	W 11–5
November 21	at George R. Smith	Liberty Park Sedalia, MO	L 0–17

References

"Outclassed Was All". Sedalia Evening Sentinel. November 24, 1903. p. 2 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
"Jefferson City News". Columbia Professional World. November 27, 1903. p. 1 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
"N/A". Saint Louis Republic. November 22, 1903. p. 32 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
"N/A". Columbia Professional World. October 30, 1903. p. 1 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
"Game Ended In A Row". Sedalia Sunday Sentinel. November 22, 1903. p. 5 – via Newspaperarchive.com.

v t e Lincoln Blue Tigers football
Venues	Cottage Place Park West Athletic Field Lincoln Field (1936–1970) Dwight T. Reed Stadium (1971–present)
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990–1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

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