Today's Tidbit...Pumpelly For The Tie

Football has seen its share of memorable field goal attempts for the win at or near the end of games, but fewer field goal attempts seeking to tie the game have proved memorable, especially now that football has overtime. Though long forgotten today, one shot at a tie that proved memorable for those who saw it came during the 1912 Yale-Princeton game.

Played at Princeton's Osborne Field two seasons before Palmer Stadium opened, the Tigers entered the game with a 7-1 record, having lost 16-6 to Harvard two weeks earlier. Yale was 7-0 and closed the season by hosting Harvard the following week.

The 1912 season ushered in numerous rule changes. The field lost its 55-yard line but gained end zones. Offenses had four downs rather than three to gain ten yards, and touchdowns earned six points rather than five. Since field goals remained worth three points, they were less valuable relative to touchdowns, but that was not a factor in this game.

Played in ideal football conditions, first-quarter play went back and forth, with Princeton's Hobey Baker missing a field goal attempt while Yale fullback Maurice “Lefty” Flynn made his placekicked field goal attempt to give Yale a 3-0 lead.

Early in the second quarter, Baker tied it up by dropkicking from the 33-yard line and gave Princeton a 6-3 lead with a 15-yarder a few minutes later. As the half neared its end, Yale moved the ball downfield, aided by a Princeton penalty. The clock, visible only to the official holding the stopwatch on the field, continued running as Yale substituted sophomore Harold Pumpelly into the game. Pumpelly, who possessed the strongest leg on the Yale team, missed the 25-yard drop kick as time ran out on the half.