A Century of Bull: 1898

In the spring of 1898 the football program was dealt a blow by the New York State Intercollegiate Athletic Association. The group refused The University of Buffalo's application for admission on the basis that UB's "Amateur Standing" was not sufficiently established.

H. J. Knickerbocker, then the secretary of the UB athletic program, wrote the association in February and initially it seemed a sure thing.

Most reports were that Buffalo would be eagerly welcomed into the group which included Rochester, Hobart, Syracuse, and some other local schools.

Somewhere along the line however Buffalo failed to convince the Syracuse delegation that UB was "Strictly Amateur".

Because of this decision scheduling became somewhat more difficult than it would have otherwise been.

Syracuse canceled two scheduled games with Buffalo based on the refusal eventually reinstating one of the contests. When they did play UB shut out Syracuse 10 to 0 (per the Buffalo Express 11/2/1898).

During the season Buffalo played ten colleges, the featured a game was against Cornell, in those days a national football power and easily the best team in New York state. That year Cornell, coached by none other than Pop Warner, would go 10-2 losing to only Princeton and UPenn.

Cornell ended up being UB's only college loss of the year. Though Buffalo was unable to score on Cornell's defense they did hold the opposition in check for most of the first half. At halftime the score was Cornell 5, Buffalo 0. In the second half however Cornell's depth got the better of the Bulls who eventually relented to the Cornell attack.

Aside from Cornell the only other Buffalo loss was an exhibition game against the Pittsburgh All-Stars. The team was named "The Giants" and the roster were a collecetion of all the best footballers from the Pittsburgh area. The Giants took Buffalo to task and were on the verge of a huge shutout until Turk Gordon put a last second field goal through the uprights.

On the season Buffalo would finish 9-1 against colleges and universities on their schedule.

The roster of players included James Gordon, Ernest White, MacPhearson, Seth Thomas, Carl Kruse, Pilkey, Robert E. DeCue, Gibbs, Charles Hasse, Crane, and Carsons.