Fifth Down Game (1940)

NCAAFootballSingleGameHeader
Name=The Fifth Down Game
Date=November 16, 1940
Year=1940
Visitor School=Cornell University
Visitor Name Short=Cornell
Visitor Nickname=Red
Visitor Record=6-0
Visitor

Visitor Coaches =
Visitor Coach=Carl Snavely
Visitor4=7/0
Visitor Total=0
Home School=Dartmouth College
Home Name Short=Dartmouth
Home Nickname=Indians
Home Record=3-4
Home Coach=Earl Blaik
Home4=3
Home Total=3
Type=Ivy League Game
Stadium=Memorial Field
City=Hanover, N.H.The Fifth Down Game is a college football game that was conceded by the victor after films confirmed that errors by the game officials had allowed an unpermitted fifth down as the last play of the game.

Background

In American football, a team is allowed four attempts or "downs" to move the ball convert|10|yd|m|2|sp=us|lk=on towards the goal line. If the offense moves ten yards in four attempts or fewer, it gains a "first down," which restarts the process. If, after four attempts, the offense has neither scored nor gained ten yards, the other team is given possession of the ball. Under normal circumstances (for example, excluding penalties which can involve replaying a down), no team is supposed to be allowed five attempts.

The Fifth-Down Game of November 16, 1940

Cornell entered the Ivy League contest with 18 straight victories over a two-year period.

Dartmouth would manage to hold off Cornell's offense for nearly the entire low-scoring game. Dartmouth scored first, achieving a field goal for three points in the fourth quarter.

Finally, with less than a minute remaining in the game, Cornell got the ball on Dartmouth's six-yard line. Cornell expected to have four chances to win the game. On its first down, fullback Mort Landsberg gained three yards. On its second down, Cornell halfback Walt Scholl managed to run the ball to the one-yard line. On the third down, Mort Landsberg tried to run up the middle but did not gain more than a few inches. On the fourth down, Cornell was penalized for delay of game, and Referee Red Friesell spotted the ball just over the 5-yard line in order to replay the fourth down. With nine seconds left on the clock, quarterback "Pop" Scholl threw an incomplete pass into the end zone. Normally, the ball would have gone to Dartmouth, which would have used up the remaining seconds and won the game, 3-0.

But following the fourth down, Linesman Joe McKenny signaled that the ball should go to Cornell again. Referee Friesell agreed. Making the most of the unexpected opportunity, quarterback Scholl threw a touchdown pass, and following the extra-point kick, Cornell won the game, 7-3.

The Forfeit

Officials discovered their error after reviewing the game films. Cornell's players, coach Carl Snavely, acting athletic director Bob Kane, and President Edmund Ezra Day, a Dartmouth alumnus, agreed that Cornell should send a telegram to Dartmouth offering to forfeit the game. Dartmouth accepted.

Aftermath

Although there is some doubt whether the 1940 Cornell forfeit was "official" according to NCAA rules, the game is regarded as a 3-0 Dartmouth victory, instead of a 7-3 triumph by Cornell. [cite web | url=http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/documents/cor-041106.asp | title=Cornell Big Red hosts Dartmouth Big Green | publisher=IvyLeagueSports.com | accessdate=2006-11-21 | language=English | format=HTML] . This is described as the only time in the history of football that a game was decided off the field.

The New York Times N.F.L. sports blog "The Fifth Down" is named in part after the incident in this game.

ee also

The Fifth Down Game of 1990

ources

*Cory Bennett, "Part II: The Fifth-Down Game," The Cornell Daily Sun (November 8, 2007) [http://cornellsun.com/node/26006]
*Cory Bennett, "Part III: The Nation Reacts in Wake of Concession," The Cornell Daily Sun (November 8, 2007) [http://cornellsun.com/node/26008]
*"The Infamous Fifth Down: Cornell vs. Dartmouth," YouTube [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKvefN4PmT4]
*Beano Cook, "Beano Cook's top 10 moments in college football," ESPN.Com [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=2615391&type=story]

References