Celebrating 150 Years of College Football

Celebrating 150 Years of College Football
In honor of College Football celebrating its 150^th anniversary in 2019, TulsaHurricane.com will recognize some of the most memorable moments and exciting plays in the history of The University of Tulsa football each week throughout the season.
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Tulsa is in its 120^th season of fielding a football team. The Tulsa gridiron tradition started as Henry Kendall College in 1895 with the first team posting a 1-0-0 record lead by coach Norman Leard. There were a few seasons in the early years that Kendall College did not field a team, but later becoming The University of Tulsa, the Golden Hurricane football teams have amassed 600+ wins in school history.

This first HISTORICAL LOOK of Tulsa football occurred in 1916.

THE TOWER PLAY . . .
It was Nov. 16, 1916 when Kendall College (later known as The University of Tulsa) used the "tower play" against Missouri School of the Mines. The play called for one player to jump on a teammates shoulders to catch a pass.

The play was not used as a desperation gesture. Kendall had the game totally in hand, as the final score of 117-0 would indicate. But nothing like it had been used on the American gridiron before.

It was a football fantasy that Ivan Grove, Vergil Jones and Madison "Puny" Blevens had concocted during slack moments in practice sessions. Blevens and Jones would run down the field, Blevens suddenly would stop and hoist the 126-pound Jones upon his shoulders. Grove then completed the horseplay by throwing a pass to Jones.

There was nothing in the rule book that prohibited the play. The trio had never worked the play to perfection in practice, but it worked in that 117-0 win. In 1917, the play was banned.

Celebrating 150 Years of College Football

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