92-699: Rice–Eccles Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium located on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City , Utah. It is the home field of the Utah Utes of the Big 12 Conference . It was built to serve as the stadium for the Opening and Closing ceremonies of 2002 Winter Olympics , a role it is expected to reprise for the 2034 Winter Olympics . The FieldTurf playing field runs in
184-505: A 0–0 tie. The Army–Navy game of 1893 saw the first documented use of a football helmet by a player in a game. Joseph M. Reeves had a crude leather helmet made by a shoemaker in Annapolis and wore it in the game after being warned by his doctor that he risked death if he continued to play football after suffering an earlier kick to the head. In 1879, the University of Michigan became the first school west of Pennsylvania to establish
276-561: A 120-37 (.764) record at the stadium through the 2023 season. The Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) played at Rice–Eccles Stadium during the league's lone season in 2019. The stadium hosted a round of the AMA Supercross Championship from 2001 to 2004, 2009 to 2013 and 2017. In 2020, it hosted the final seven rounds of the series in a “covid-19 bubble” with no fans being allowed in
368-463: A 56-game undefeated streak that included a 1902 trip to play in the first college football bowl game , which later became the Rose Bowl Game . During this streak, Michigan scored 2,831 points while allowing only 40. Organized intercollegiate football was first played in the state of Minnesota on September 30, 1882, when Hamline was convinced to play Minnesota . Minnesota won 2 to 0. It
460-514: A college football team. On May 30, 1879, Michigan beat Racine College 1–0 in a game played in Chicago. The Chicago Daily Tribune called it "the first rugby-football game to be played west of the Alleghenies ." Other Midwestern schools soon followed suit, including the University of Chicago , Northwestern University , and the University of Minnesota . The first western team to travel east
552-447: A great deal to Harvard's rugby. They decided to play with 15 players on each team. On November 13, 1875, Yale and Harvard played each other for the first time ever, where Harvard won 4–0. At the first The Game (as the annual contest between Harvard and Yale came to be named) the future "father of American football" Walter Camp was among the 2000 spectators in attendance. Walter, a native of New Britain, Connecticut , would enroll at Yale
644-518: A ground-breaking ceremony attended by Olympians Shannon Bahrke and Bill Schuffenhauer . The first phase of construction, which included installing the cauldron and making it operational, was completed in February 2003–in time for the one-year anniversary celebration. The second phase, which included the visitors center, was completed later that summer, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony held August 22, 2003. The park cost $ 12 million to construction, which
736-628: A hybrid of natural grass and artificial turf . Earlier, Rice Stadium had been among the first facilities to use SportGrass. A full natural grass was installed in 2000 for two seasons, then was covered by asphalt blacktop for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics . It was the second-highest field in the Pac-12, about 700 feet (210 m) lower than Colorado 's Folsom Field in Boulder , and over 2,000 feet (610 m) above
828-512: A large 3D sculpture of the 2002 Olympic logo and a second Olympic cauldron, known as the Hero's Cauldron . The stage not only hosted award ceremonies, where the athletes received their medals, but was used as a concert venue during the Olympics, hosting many performing artists. Following the Olympics, plans to install the arch in some kind of park were formulated; many of Salt Lake's citizens wanted
920-548: A liking to the rugby game, and its use of the try which, until that time, was not used in American football. The try would later evolve into the score known as the touchdown . On June 4, 1875, Harvard faced Tufts University in the first game between two American colleges played under rules similar to the McGill/Harvard contest, which was won by Tufts 1–0. The rules included each side fielding 11 men at any given time,
1012-501: A new code of rules based on the rugby game first introduced to Harvard by McGill University in 1874. Three of the schools—Harvard, Columbia, and Princeton—formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, as a result of the meeting. Yale initially refused to join this association because of a disagreement over the number of players to be allowed per team (relenting in 1879) and Rutgers were not invited to
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#17327755145301104-503: A player to pick up the ball and run with it whenever he wished. Another rule, unique to McGill, was to count tries (the act of grounding the football past the opposing team's goal line; there was no end zone during this time), as well as goals, in the scoring. In the Rugby rules of the time, a try only provided the attempt to kick a free goal from the field. If the kick was missed, the try did not score any points itself. Harvard quickly took
1196-465: A professional roster spot as an undrafted free agent . Despite these opportunities, only around 1.6% of NCAA college football players end up playing professionally in the NFL. Even after the emergence of the professional National Football League (NFL), college football has remained extremely popular throughout the U.S. Although the college game has a much larger margin for talent than its pro counterpart,
1288-510: A rougher version of football called "the Boston Game" in which the kicking of a round ball was the most prominent feature though a player could run with the ball, pass it, or dribble it (known as "babying"). The man with the ball could be tackled, although hitting, tripping, "hacking" and other unnecessary roughness was prohibited. There was no limit to the number of players, but there were typically ten to fifteen per side. A player could carry
1380-533: A round ball instead of a rugby-style oblong ball. This series of games represents an important milestone in the development of the modern game of American football. In October 1874, the Harvard team once again traveled to Montreal to play McGill in rugby, where they won by three tries. In as much as Rugby football had been transplanted to Canada from England, the McGill team played under a set of rules which allowed
1472-497: A stage was constructed, scoreboards were removed, flags and Olympic livery were installed, temporary seating was brought in (allowing more than 50,000 spectators), and the 2002 Olympic cauldron was installed atop the southern bleachers. For the duration of the games, the stadium was temporarily renamed the Rice–Eccles Olympic Stadium . Through broadcasts from the stadium, an estimated 3.5 billion people worldwide watched
1564-537: A team be required to advance the ball a minimum of five yards within three downs. These down-and-distance rules, combined with the establishment of the line of scrimmage, transformed the game from a variation of rugby football into the distinct sport of American football. Camp was central to several more significant rule changes that came to define American football. In 1881, the field was reduced in size to its modern dimensions of 120 by 53 1 ⁄ 3 yards (109.7 by 48.8 meters). Several times in 1883, Camp tinkered with
1656-451: A ticket office for the nearby stadium (and continues in that capacity). The center's theater used to play a 10-minute film which looked back on the Games and their success. This film was displayed using three different screens and special effects such as fog and lights; there was a charge to see the center's film. The presentation began in the dark, while inspiring quotes were played through
1748-512: A youth, he excelled in sports like track , baseball, and association football, and after enrolling at Yale in 1876, he earned varsity honors in every sport the school offered. Following the introduction of rugby-style rules to American football, Camp became a fixture at the Massasoit House conventions where rules were debated and changed. Dissatisfied with what seemed to him to be a disorganized mob, he proposed his first rule change at
1840-576: Is 5,300 square feet with 90 lockers. It features a one-of-a-kind locker design with hidden storage, wireless charging, and a locking box for athletes. Immediately south of the stadium was the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Cauldron Park , which contained a 2002 Winter Olympic museum, the Olympic cauldron, and other memorabilia from the games. Only the cauldron remains at the stadium today; the museum and other memorabilia have all since been removed. Hoberman Arch
1932-592: Is generally considered to be the second tier of American and Canadian football; ahead of high school competition , but below professional competition . In some parts of the United States, especially the South and Midwest , college football is more popular than professional football. For much of the 20th century, college football was generally considered to be more prestigious than professional football. The overwhelming majority of professional football players in
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#17327755145302024-538: Is governed by U Sports for universities. The Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (for colleges) governs soccer and other sports but not gridiron football. Other countries, such as Mexico , Japan and South Korea , also host college football leagues with modest levels of support. Unlike most other major sports in North America , no official minor league farm organizations exist for American football or Canadian football . Therefore, college football
2116-684: Is widely regarded as having originated with a game played in Montreal, in 1865, when British Army officers played local civilians. The game gradually gained a following, and the Montreal Football Club was formed in 1868, the first recorded non-university football club in Canada. Early games appear to have had much in common with the traditional " mob football " played in Great Britain. The games remained largely unorganized until
2208-414: The 1997 season's final home game on November 15, fittingly a 31–14 victory over Rice , Rice Stadium was almost completely demolished, replaced with a modern steel, concrete and glass facility. All that remained of the old stadium were the stands in the south end zone, built in 1982 . The stadium did not miss a football season, as the project was timed not to disrupt the 1997 home schedule. The new stadium
2300-580: The Deseret News reported that the university was seriously considering expanding the stadium by at least 10,000 seats, which brings the expected capacity to 51,444. In 2019, the University announced a renovation of the seating at the south end zone. The announced renovation was planned to add 6,000 more seats, high-end suites, locker rooms, offices, terrace seating, and a restaurant, all for $ 80 million. The Ken Garff Family donated $ 17.5 million and
2392-555: The George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation would donate $ 10 million toward the project. In recognition of this gift, the university received permission from the Eccles family to add George Eccles's name to the stadium alongside that of Robert L. Rice , who had funded the original renovation project to Rice Stadium in 1972. Before 1972, it was Ute Stadium, which opened in 1927 with a Utah win over Colorado Mines . Immediately after
2484-569: The Major League Soccer franchise Real Salt Lake from 2005 until October 2008, when Rio Tinto Stadium was opened in the suburb of Sandy , south of Salt Lake City. Rice–Eccles Stadium replaced Rice Stadium , the former home field of the Utah Utes football team. The first Utes game at the stadium was a 45–22 victory over the Louisville Cardinals held on September 12, 1998, with 44,112 in attendance. The Utes have
2576-566: The NFL and other leagues previously played college football. The NFL draft each spring sees 224 players selected and offered a contract to play in the league, with the vast majority coming from the NCAA . Other professional leagues, such as the CFL and UFL , additionally hold their own drafts each year which also see primarily college players selected. Players who are not selected can still attempt to obtain
2668-693: The Old Main lawn on campus in State College, Pennsylvania . They compiled a 12–8–1 record in these seasons, playing as an independent from 1887 to 1890. In 1891, the Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Football Association (PIFA) was formed. It consisted of Bucknell University , Dickinson College , Franklin & Marshall College , Haverford College , Penn State, and Swarthmore College . Lafayette College , and Lehigh University were excluded because it
2760-401: The 19th century, when intramural games of football began to be played on college campuses. Each school played its own variety of football. Princeton University students played a game called "ballown" as early as 1820. In 1827, a Harvard tradition known as "Bloody Monday" began, which consisted of a mass ballgame between the freshman and sophomore classes. In 1860, both the town police and
2852-525: The College of New Jersey, in the first collegiate football game . The game more closely resembled soccer than football as it is played in the 21st century. It was played with a round ball , and used a set of rules suggested by Rutgers captain William J. Leggett , based on The Football Association 's first set of rules , which were an early attempt by the former pupils of England's public schools, to unify
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2944-770: The Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City to codify the first set of intercollegiate football rules. Before this meeting, each school had its own set of rules and games were usually played using the home team's own particular code. At this meeting, a list of rules, based more on the Football Association's rules than the rules of the recently founded Rugby Football Union , was drawn up for intercollegiate football games. Old "Football Fightum" had been resurrected at Harvard in 1872, when Harvard resumed playing football. Harvard, however, preferred to play
3036-561: The NFL, are not permitted by the NCAA to be paid salaries. Colleges are only allowed to provide non-monetary compensation such as athletic scholarships that provide for tuition, housing, and books. With new bylaws made by the NCAA, college athletes can now receive "name, image, and likeness" (NIL) deals, a way to get sponsorships and money before their pro debut. Modern North American football has its origins in various games, all known as "football", played at public schools in Great Britain in
3128-756: The North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, North Carolina . On November 13, 1887, the Virginia Cavaliers and Pantops Academy fought to a scoreless tie in the first organized football game in the state of Virginia . Students at UVA were playing pickup games of the kicking-style of football as early as 1870, and some accounts even claim that some industrious ones organized a game against Washington and Lee College in 1871, just two years after Rutgers and Princeton's historic first game in 1869. But no record has been found of
3220-463: The Olympics—were attached to a fence on the park's southern edge. The interior side of each panel described the Olympic highlights and events of its particular day, while the exterior sides bore the same images that were wrapped on buildings in downtown Salt Lake City during the Games. The park (although surrounded by an often locked fence) was open to the public free of charge, with the exception of
3312-406: The Opening and Closing Ceremonies on television. The Opening Ceremony of the 2002 Winter Paralympics was also held in the stadium on March 7, 2002. The corresponding Closing Ceremony followed suit on March 16, 2002. During the 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the stadium is expected to serve as the venue for the Opening and Closing ceremonies. Rice–Eccles Stadium was also the home field of
3404-470: The arch in the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Cauldron Park. On July 30, 2003, the arch was lifted onto its new base at the park using three cranes. While at the cauldron park, it was no longer functional, although was lit with various colored lights at night. It was located just outside the park's southern fence and was partly open which allowed visitors to walk through it. A large plaque was located in front of
3496-557: The arch to be used in an amphitheater or some kind of concert venue. But, because the arch was a symbol of the 2002 Games, the United States Olympic Committee put restrictions on possible future locations for the arch (to protect Olympic sponsors from other businesses who don't have Olympic sponsor contracts). Because of these restrictions, and a lack of consensus among Salt Lake's leaders on where it would go, SLOC announced plans on December 5, 2002, to install
3588-453: The arch, which provided details on the arch's design and use during the Olympics, including photographs. The arch was removed from the park beginning on August 1, 2014. The park's visitors center was located at the western edge of the park and consisted of an art gallery, theater, and video kiosk area. Large bay windows allowed the cauldron and arch to be seen by visitors from inside the round glass and sandstone building, which also served as
3680-419: The awarding of the 2034 Games to Salt Lake City in 2024. To accommodate expansion of Rice-Eccles Stadium, the cauldron was removed from the park on February 14, 2020, and taken to an off-site location where it underwent a refurbishment. The refurbishment included replacing all 738 panes of glass, wiring the structure with LED lights, and replacing the flame mechanisms to improve energy efficiency. The cauldron
3772-428: The ball only when being pursued. As a result of this, Harvard refused to attend the rules conference organized by Rutgers, Princeton and Columbia at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City on October 20, 1873, to agree on a set of rules and regulations that would allow them to play a form of football that was essentially Association football; and continued to play under its own code. While Harvard's voluntary absence from
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3864-481: The ball was advanced by kicking or carrying it, and tackles of the ball carrier stopped play – actions of which have carried over to the modern version of football played today Harvard later challenged its closest rival, Yale, to which the Bulldogs accepted. The two teams agreed to play under a set of rules called the "Concessionary Rules", which involved Harvard conceding something to Yale's soccer and Yale conceding
3956-473: The bench seating). This allows them to seat more fans in a given amount of space than the typical professional stadium, which tends to have more features and comforts for fans. Only three stadiums owned by U.S. colleges or universities, L&N Stadium at the University of Louisville , Center Parc Stadium at Georgia State University , and FAU Stadium at Florida Atlantic University , consist entirely of chair back seating. College athletes, unlike players in
4048-410: The cauldron, which stood above the stadium's southern stands. Following the games, the cauldron was installed at the park and made operational in time for a ceremonial lighting on the first anniversary of the Games. The cauldron, which included a water feature around its base, continued to be lit on special occasions, including the 10th and 20th anniversary of the Games in 2012 and 2022, respectively, and
4140-474: The center. Later changes made it possible to snap the ball with the hands, either through the air or by a direct hand-to-hand pass. Rugby league followed Camp's example, and in 1906 introduced the play-the-ball rule, which greatly resembled Camp's early scrimmage and center-snap rules. In 1966, rugby league introduced a four-tackle rule (changed in 1972 to a six-tackle rule) based on Camp's early down-and-distance rules. Camp's new scrimmage rules revolutionized
4232-563: The city of New Haven , banned the play of all forms of football in 1860. American football historian Parke H. Davis described the period between 1869 and 1875 as the 'Pioneer Period'; the years 1876–93 he called the 'Period of the American Intercollegiate Football Association'; and the years 1894–1933 he dubbed the "Period of Rules Committees and Conferences". On November 6, 1869, Rutgers University faced Princeton University , then known as
4324-489: The college authorities agreed the Bloody Monday had to go. Harvard students responded by going into mourning for a mock figure called "Football Fightum", for whom they conducted funeral rites. The authorities held firm, and it was another dozen years before football was once again played at Harvard. Dartmouth played its own version called " Old division football ", the rules of which were first published in 1871, though
4416-402: The film shown in the visitor center. Money from ticket sales for the film, along with the original $ 1 million endowment helped pay the park's operating costs. As part of an expansion to Rice-Eccles Stadium, plans were developed to remove the park and reinstall the cauldron at a new plaza. The cauldron was removed in February 2020 to undergo a refurbishment. The following year it was installed in
4508-649: The first game in Virginia. On April 9, 1880, at Stoll Field , Transylvania University (then called Kentucky University) beat Centre College by the score of 13 + 3 ⁄ 4 –0 in what is often considered the first recorded game played in the South . The first game of "scientific football" in the South was the first instance of the Victory Bell rivalry between North Carolina and Duke (then known as Trinity College) held on Thanksgiving Day , 1888, at
4600-404: The first meeting he attended in 1878: a reduction from fifteen players to eleven. The motion was rejected at that time but passed in 1880. The effect was to open up the game and emphasize speed over strength. Camp's most famous change, the establishment of the line of scrimmage and the snap from center to quarterback , was also passed in 1880. Originally, the snap was executed with the foot of
4692-404: The first time. The Yale team was coached and captained by David Schley Schaff, who had learned to play football while attending Rugby School . Schaff himself was injured and unable to play the game, but Yale won the game 3–0 nonetheless. Later in 1872, Stevens Tech became the fifth school to field a team. Stevens lost to Columbia, but beat both New York University and City College of New York during
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#17327755145304784-454: The following year. By 1873, the college students playing football had made significant efforts to standardize their fledgling game. Teams had been scaled down from 25 players to 20. The only way to score was still to bat or kick the ball through the opposing team's goal, and the game was played in two 45-minute halves on fields 140 yards long and 70 yards wide. On October 20, 1873, representatives from Yale, Columbia, Princeton, and Rutgers met at
4876-431: The game dates to at least the 1830s. All of these games, and others, shared certain commonalities. They remained largely "mob" style games, with huge numbers of players attempting to advance the ball into a goal area, often by any means necessary. Rules were simple, and violence and injury were common. The violence of these mob-style games led to widespread protests and a decision to abandon them. Yale , under pressure from
4968-404: The game, though not always as intended. Princeton, in particular, used scrimmage play to slow the game, making incremental progress towards the end zone during each down . Rather than increase scoring, which had been Camp's original intent, the rule was exploited to maintain control of the ball for the entire game, resulting in slow, unexciting contests. At the 1882 rules meeting, Camp proposed that
5060-472: The last two decades of the 19th century. Several major rivalries date from this time period. November 1890 was an active time in the sport. In Baldwin City, Kansas , on November 22, 1890, college football was first played in the state of Kansas . Baker beat Kansas 22–9. On the 27th, Vanderbilt played Nashville (Peabody) at Athletic Park and won 40–0. It was the first time organized football played in
5152-498: The meeting made it hard for them to schedule games against other American universities, it agreed to a challenge to play the rugby team of McGill University , from Montreal , in a two-game series. It was agreed that two games would be played on Harvard's Jarvis baseball field in Cambridge, Massachusetts on May 14 and 15, 1874: one to be played under Harvard rules, another under the stricter rugby regulations of McGill. Jarvis Field
5244-415: The meeting. The rules that they agreed upon were essentially those of rugby union at the time with the exception that points be awarded for scoring a try , not just the conversion afterwards ( extra point ). Incidentally, rugby was to make a similar change to its scoring system 10 years later. Walter Camp is widely considered to be the most important figure in the development of American football. As
5336-452: The mid-19th century. By the 1840s, students at Rugby School were playing a game in which players were able to pick up the ball and run with it, a sport later known as rugby football . The game was taken to Canada by British soldiers stationed there and was soon being played at Canadian colleges. The first documented gridiron football game was played at University College , a college of the University of Toronto , on November 9, 1861. One of
5428-730: The nearest college to play football. It took place at Hamilton Park in New Haven and was the first game in New England. The game was essentially soccer with 20-man sides, played on a field 400 by 250 feet. Yale wins 3–0, Tommy Sherman scoring the first goal and Lew Irwin the other two. After the first game against Harvard, Tufts took its squad to Bates College in Lewiston, Maine for the first football game played in Maine . This occurred on November 6, 1875. Penn 's Athletic Association
5520-457: The new plaza, which was officially unveiled to the public on October 29, 2021, with athletes Catherine Raney-Norman and Chris Waddell in attendance. The new plaza allows for unrestricted public access to the base of cauldron and features eight monuments telling the comprehensive story of the Games with photographs and information plaques. During the games, the Olympic flame burned within
5612-697: The new row of bleachers. In June 2010, the U of U accepted an invitation to join the Pacific-10 Conference (which changed its name to the Pac-12 Conference shortly after the Utah Utes and the Colorado Buffaloes joined) and began playing in the conference during 2011–2012 season. It is expected that Rice–Eccles Stadium is to be expanded and the locker room facilities upgraded. This claim was furthered when both KSL.com and
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#17327755145305704-620: The next year. He was torn between an admiration for Harvard's style of play and the misery of the Yale defeat, and became determined to avenge Yale's defeat. Spectators from Princeton also carried the game back home, where it quickly became the most popular version of football. On November 23, 1876, representatives from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia met at the Massasoit House hotel in Springfield, Massachusetts to standardize
5796-412: The park became disused and some were removed. In 2018, the University of Utah announced it would be expanding the stadium south, requiring the park to be eliminated and the cauldron relocated. The cauldron was removed for refurbishment in 2020, before being installed in the new Olympic and Paralympic Cauldron Plaza, which was unveiled October 29, 2021. Construction on the park began October 2, 2002 with
5888-419: The participants in the game involving University of Toronto students was William Mulock , later chancellor of the school. A football club was formed at the university soon afterward, although its rules of play then are unclear. In 1864, at Trinity College , also a college of the University of Toronto, F. Barlow Cumberland and Frederick A. Bethune devised rules based on rugby football. Modern Canadian football
5980-494: The plaza contains the 2002 Winter Olympics cauldron surrounded by several plaques displaying photographs and information related to the 2002 Games. In 2003, the "Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Cauldron Park" was opened at the southern end of Rice-Eccles Stadium, near where the cauldron had stood during the Games. The park contained the cauldron, the Hoberman Arch , and other features such as a visitor center. Overtime, features of
6072-489: The rules of their various public schools. The game was played at a Rutgers Field in New Brunswick, New Jersey . Two teams of 25 players attempted to score by kicking the ball into the opposing team's goal. Throwing or carrying the ball was not allowed, but there was plenty of physical contact between players. The first team to reach six goals was declared the winner. Rutgers won by a score of six to four. A rematch
6164-625: The rules were changed to allow tackling below the waist, and in 1889, the officials were given whistles and stopwatches. After leaving Yale in 1882, Camp was employed by the New Haven Clock Company until his death in 1925. Though no longer a player, he remained a fixture at annual rules meetings for most of his life, and he personally selected an annual All-American team every year from 1889 through 1924. The Walter Camp Football Foundation continues to select All-American teams in his honor. College football expanded greatly during
6256-444: The rules were formulated before the game. Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Cauldron Park The Olympic and Paralympic Cauldron Plaza is located outside the southwestern corner of Rice–Eccles Stadium on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City , Utah . During the 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympics , the stadium was known as Rice-Eccles Olympic Stadium and hosted the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Currently,
6348-591: The score of this contest. Washington and Lee also claims a 4 to 2 win over VMI in 1873. On October 18, 1888, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 6 to 4 in the first intercollegiate game in the state of North Carolina . On December 14, 1889, Wofford defeated Furman 5 to 1 in the first intercollegiate game in the state of South Carolina . The game featured no uniforms, no positions, and
6440-431: The scoring rules, finally arriving at four points for a touchdown, two points for kicks after touchdowns , two points for safeties, and five for field goals . Camp's innovations in the area of point scoring influenced rugby union's move to point scoring in 1890. In 1887, game time was set at two-halves of 45 minutes each. Also in 1887, two paid officials—a referee and an umpire —were mandated for each game. A year later,
6532-727: The section was named the "Ken Garff Red Zone" in his honor. Construction on the South End Zone was completed on August 12, 2021 and opened to the public that season. After construction, the stadium's capacity had increased by 5,637 seats. The Ken Garff Red Zone features new home and visiting locker rooms, sports medicine facilities and hospitality areas, the University Club restaurant, Diglisic Lounge, Layton Field Club, and various premium seating options, including suites, loge boxes, ledge, club, and premium terrace seating as well as additional bleacher seating. Utah’s new locker room
6624-427: The sheer number of fans following major colleges provides a financial equalizer for the game, with Division I programs – the highest level – playing in huge stadiums, six of which have seating capacity exceeding 100,000 people. In many cases, college stadiums employ bench-style seating, as opposed to individual seats with backs and arm rests (although many stadiums do have a small number of chair back seats in addition to
6716-579: The stands. Since 2021, Rice–Eccles Stadium has been the home of the Championship round Rice–Eccles Stadium has hosted Monster Jam from 2022 to present and in May 2024 it was announced that the stadium would host Monster Jam World Finals 24 in 2025. College football NAIA : NJCAA : College football ( French : football universitaire ) is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur student-athletes at universities and colleges. It
6808-487: The state of Tennessee . The 29th also saw the first instance of the Army–Navy Game . Navy won 24–0. Rutgers was first to extend the reach of the game. An intercollegiate game was first played in the state of New York when Rutgers played Columbia on November 2, 1872. It was also the first scoreless tie in the history of the fledgling sport. Yale football starts the same year and has its first match against Columbia,
6900-406: The theater's sound system. Fog then filled the room, and a single light was displayed on the screens. As that light grew larger, it turned out to be the lantern of a skater, known as the "Child of Light" from the opening ceremony. Skaters were then seen whooshing across the three screens, and a voice sung "there's a flame that burns in every heart"; the athletes were then shown entering the stadium for
6992-671: The third-highest, Washington State 's Martin Stadium in Pullman . After moving to the Big 12 Conference in 2024, Colorado and Utah again have the two highest fields in the conference. During the 2002 Winter Olympics, the stadium served as the venue for the Opening Ceremony on February 8, 2002, and for the Closing Ceremony on February 24, 2002. To host the ceremonies, the grass field was paved over with asphalt and
7084-524: The traditional north-south configuration at an elevation of 4,637 feet (1,413 m) above sea level, 400 feet (120 m) above downtown Salt Lake City. When Salt Lake City was awarded the 2002 Winter Olympics in June 1995, it was obvious that Rice Stadium , the largest outdoor stadium in Salt Lake City, was not suitable to serve as the main stadium. The concrete, timber, and earth-fill facility
7176-466: The two schools organized a game for October 23, 1869, but it was rained out. Students of the University of Virginia were playing pickup games of the kicking-style of football as early as 1870, and some accounts even claim it organized a game against Washington and Lee College in 1871; but no record has been found of the score of this contest. Due to scantiness of records of the prior matches some will claim Virginia v. Pantops Academy November 13, 1887, as
7268-473: Was also the first time one team scored over 100 points and the opposing team was shut out. The next week, Princeton outscored Lafayette 140 to 0. The first intercollegiate game in the state of Vermont happened on November 6, 1886, between Dartmouth and Vermont at Burlington, Vermont . Dartmouth won 91 to 0. Penn State played its first season in 1887, but had no head coach for their first five years, from 1887 to 1891. The teams played its home games on
7360-512: Was at the time a patch of land at the northern point of the Harvard campus, bordered by Everett and Jarvis Streets to the north and south, and Oxford Street and Massachusetts Avenue to the east and west. Harvard beat McGill in the "Boston Game" on the Thursday and held McGill to a 0–0 tie on the Friday. The Harvard students took to the rugby rules and adopted them as their own, The games featured
7452-431: Was built in 1927 and had not aged well. In 1996, U of U athletic director Chris Hill announced plans to renovate Rice Stadium into a new facility that would be up to Olympic standards. It was initially expected to take three years to completely overhaul the facility. However, in 1997, Spencer Eccles , a Utah alumnus and chairman of Utah's biggest bank, First Security Corporation (now part of Wells Fargo ), announced that
7544-538: Was felt they would dominate the Association. Penn State won the championship with a 4–1–0 record. Bucknell's record was 3–1–1 (losing to Franklin & Marshall and tying Dickinson). The Association was dissolved prior to the 1892 season. The first nighttime football game was played in Mansfield, Pennsylvania on September 28, 1892, between Mansfield State Normal and Wyoming Seminary and ended at halftime in
7636-569: Was installed atop a new pedestal in the plaza, just north of the ticket office (originally constructed as the original park's visitor center), on January 29, 2021. The Hoberman Arch was located at the Olympic Medals Plaza in downtown Salt Lake City during the Games. It was used as a mechanical curtain for the Medal Plaza's stage, and opened like the iris of a human eye. While in use at the medals plaza, it would open to reveal
7728-577: Was located until its removal in October 2014. The cauldron has undergone refurbishment and was relocated to a new Olympic plaza at the Southwest corner outside the stadium, just west of the South Endzone expansion. Since 2002 , the playing field at Rice–Eccles Stadium has been FieldTurf . It was most recently replaced in 2015 . When the stadium reopened in 1998 , its surface was SportGrass,
7820-562: Was looking to pick "a twenty" to play a game of football against Columbia. This "twenty" never played Columbia, but did play twice against Princeton. Princeton won both games 6 to 0. The first of these happened on November 11, 1876, in Philadelphia and was the first intercollegiate game in the state of Pennsylvania . Brown entered the intercollegiate game in 1878. The first game where one team scored over 100 points happened on October 25, 1884, when Yale routed Dartmouth 113–0. It
7912-606: Was paid for with revenue and surplus from the 2002 Games. Following the park's opening, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) turned over control and maintenance of the park to the University of Utah, providing them a $ 1 million endowment. The park contained three main highlights: the cauldron, the Hoberman Arch and the visitor center. The park was landscaped with a water feature, plants, stones, and concrete walls. 17 panels—one for each day of
8004-542: Was played at Princeton a week later under Princeton's own set of rules (one notable difference was the awarding of a "free kick" to any player that caught the ball on the fly, which was a feature adopted from The Football Association's rules; the fair catch kick rule has survived through to modern American game). Princeton won that game by a score of 8 – 0. Columbia joined the series in 1870 and by 1872 several schools were fielding intercollegiate teams, including Yale and Stevens Institute of Technology . Columbia University
8096-472: Was ready less than 10 months later for the 1998 home opener, a 45–22 win over Louisville on September 12. The stadium then seated 45,017, plus a new six-story press box. In 2014, a row of bleachers were been added in the standing room areas on the east, west and north sections of Rice–Eccles Stadium. 40 ADA seats were also added for a total of 790 new seats, increasing the capacity of Rice–Eccles Stadium to 45,807, plus additional space for standing room behind
8188-617: Was the 1881 Michigan team , which played at Harvard, Yale and Princeton. The nation's first college football league, the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives (also known as the Western Conference), a precursor to the Big Ten Conference , was founded in 1895. Led by coach Fielding H. Yost , Michigan became the first "western" national power. From 1901 to 1905, Michigan had
8280-656: Was the first game west of the Mississippi River . November 30, 1905, saw Chicago defeat Michigan 2 to 0. Dubbed "The First Greatest Game of the Century", it broke Michigan's 56-game unbeaten streak and marked the end of the "Point-a-Minute" years. Organized collegiate football was first played in the state of Virginia and the south on November 2, 1873, in Lexington between Washington and Lee and VMI . Washington and Lee won 4–2. Some industrious students of
8372-488: Was the third school to field a team. The Lions traveled from New York City to New Brunswick on November 12, 1870, and were defeated by Rutgers 6 to 3. The game suffered from disorganization and the players kicked and battled each other as much as the ball. Later in 1870, Princeton and Rutgers played again with Princeton defeating Rutgers 6–0. This game's violence caused such an outcry that no games at all were played in 1871. Football came back in 1872, when Columbia played Yale for
8464-420: Was through collegiate competition that gridiron football first gained popularity in the United States . Like gridiron football generally, college football is most popular in the United States and Canada. While no single governing body exists for college football in the United States, most schools, especially those at the highest levels of play, are members of the NCAA . In Canada, collegiate football competition
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