1926 COLLEGE FOOTBALL YEAR-IN-REVIEW

With the biggest name in college football now a professional (and stirring things up in a big way, but you'll need to read the pro recaps for that story) and some of the typical powers having an off-year, 1926 looked like it could be the season in which the tide turned in favor of some new powers. Bluegrass State which had been a good, though not great, team for a while, put it together in a big way in '26 and ran the table for a 9-0-0 campaign and named themselves national champions. But there were several other contenders for that title. One of those contenders was an even bigger surrpise: Lane State. The Lane State Emeralds played in Oregon, which automatically caused controversy with the sport's elite (and most of its top writers) living in the East and biased towards that area (and begrudgingly the Midwest and South). The Emeralds went 8-0-0 against competition that was slightly less impressive than Bluegrass State's schedule. 

Not all the familiar powers were down & out: Alabama Baptist went 9-1-0, Redwood 9-2-0, Coastal California 8-1-1 and St. Blane 8-2-0. Detroit City College, who had been considered the best team in the country the year before, and who returned both their All-American QB Garland Goddard and All-American End Miller Lamb, somehow went 6-2-0 and eliminated themselves as a possible champion. Alabama Baptist, behind that 9-1-0 mark, and playing a tough schedule, earned Thomas Potentas' nod as champs when he published his retrospective in 1936. 

Henry Hudson, long considered an also-ran among the schools of the Academia Alliance, brought a quality Midwestern power into New York for an October matchup and surprised the nation with a solid 9-0 win over Central Ohio. Hudson would go 8-1-0 as the best of the Academia teams in '26. Redwood, now coached by the legendary Pug Johnston who had made powers at both Centerville and Pittsburgh State before heading to the West Coach, earned a nod for the East-West game against Alabama Baptist. It was generally considered by most (outside Oregon & Kentucky at least) that the winner of the New Year's Day clash would earn the national title. Alabama Baptist ground out an impressive 31-6 win and, as mentioned above, got the nod from Potentas and most everyone else at the time.

Mott's All-American Team for 1926: