The 1910 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listing Harvard and Pittsburgh as having been retrospectively selected national champions, by four "major selectors" in about 1927, 1947, 1980 and 2003. Harvard claims a national championship for the 1910 season. Auburn also claims a national title based on a selection in Richard Billingsley's unrevised original math system.
Rules
Rule changes were made prior to the 1910 season to permit more use of the forward pass, with complicated limitations:"New Football As Walter Camp Sees It", New York Times, September 15, 1910 The only eligible receivers were the two ends, who could catch a pass no more than 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, and could not be interfered with until the ball was caught. A legal pass could not be thrown unless the quarterback was at least 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage and the rest of the players, except the two ends, were at least 1 yard behind the scrimmage line. On kickoffs and punts, the kicking team's players could not be touched until they had advanced 20 yards Flying tackles were outlawed, and "the man making a tackle must have at least one foot on the ground". The ballcarrier could no longer be aided in any way by his teammates. Games were now played as four quarters, each 15 minutes long, rather than two halves of 35 minutes each
Other rules in 1910 were: Field 110 yards in length Kickoff made from midfield Three downs to gain ten yards Touchdown worth 5 points Field goal worth 3 points
The season ran from September 24 until Thanksgiving Day (November 24)."Football Under New Rules Starts To-Day", New York Times, September 24, 1910 Prior to Thanksgiving, the season's death toll was 22; the previous season's was 30.
Conference and program changes The Colorado Faculty Athletic Conference (CFAC) changed its name to the Rocky Mountain Faculty Athletic Conference (RMFAC, now just the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) in 1910 after expanding into Utah.
Conference changes School 1909 Conference 1910 Conference The Citadel BulldogsIndependent SIAA Denver Pioneers Independent Rocky Mountain Howard Bulldogs Independent SIAA Indiana State Normal Fightin' Teachers Independent Dropped ProgramLouisville CardinalsProgram Established Independent Utah Utes Independent Rocky Mountain
Program changes Arkansas changed its nickname from the Cardinals to the current Razorbacks.
Conference standings Major conference standings
Independents
Minor conferences ConferenceChampion(s)Record Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Kansas State Agricultural 4–0 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Alma 1–0 Ohio Athletic Conference Oberlin 3–0–1
Minor conference standings
Awards and honors All-Americans
The consensus All-America team included Walter Camp's selections: PositionNameHeightWeight (lbs.)ClassHometownTeamQBEarl Sprackling5'9"150Jr.Cleveland, OhioBrownHBPercy WendellSo.Roxbury, MassachusettsHarvardHBTalbot PendletonPrincetonFBLeroy MercerSo.PennEStanfield WellsJr.Massillon, OhioMichiganTRobert McKaySr.HarvardGAlbert Benbrook240Sr.Chicago, IllinoisMichiganCErnest CozensSr.PennGBob FisherJr.Boston, MassachusettsHarvardTJames WalkerMinnesotaEJohn KilpatrickYale
References