Honor on the Line
The Fifth Down and the Spectacular 1940 College Football Season
by
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Cognizant of what was on the line—the unbeaten streak, the undefeated season, the national title—Day and Lynah had to have regarded one more controversy in an already controversy-laden season as the last straw. They were cognizant as well that one more thing on the line, more important than any other—the honor of their university—and that they might have to choose between the two. And so they took a step never before taken in college football, and never taken since. They prepared and released the following joint statement Saturday night: “If the officials in charge of today’s Dartmouth-Cornell game rule after investigation that there were five downs in the final series of plays, and that the winning touchdown was scored on an illegal fifth down, the score of the game between Dartmouth and Cornell will be recorded as Dartmouth 3, Cornell 0.”
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About the Book
It was the fall of 1940, and Americans turned to college football for relief from the turbulent world around them. The Depression still had its grip on the nation and, across the Atlantic, the Battle of Britain raged. As war crept closer every day, the nation’s first peacetime draft called Americans to the defense of the country. While the great Tom Harmon of Michigan set new standards on the gridiron, on other fields black stars struggled for the right to play. At Stanford, coaching genius Clark Shaughnessy reinvented the game and in the process engineered the greatest turnaround in the history of college football. But the team everybody was talking about was Cornell. Fueled by the most powerful offense in the country, the Big Red dominated the national rankings until, on a snowy field at Dartmouth, they eked out a win with a touchdown on the last play of the game—or did they? When it came to light that the touchdown had been scored on a grievous error by the officials, Cornell, undefeated and in the race for the national championship, faced a wrenching decision. The 1940 season was one of the most exciting on record—and one that taught America about the values that really matter.
About the Author
Robert J. Scott holds degrees from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Cornell University. He served in the US Army as an infantry sergeant and was awarded two Bronze Stars while in Vietnam. Myles A. Pocta received his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. He serves as President of MAP Environmental Inc., where he has published many scientific articles and reports.