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Catholic University Cardinals football
First season1895
Head coachMike Gutelius
6th season, 24–35 (.407)
StadiumCardinal Stadium (Washington, D.C.)
(capacity: 3,500)
Field surfaceArtificial turf
LocationWashington, D.C.
ConferenceNEWMAC
All-time record324–368–15 (.469)
Bowl record2–1–1 (.625)
Conference titles2
Consensus All-Americans2
ColorsCardinal red and black[1]
WebsiteCatholicAthletics.com
Cardinal Stadium

TheCatholic University Cardinals footballteam represents theCatholic University of AmericainNational Collegiate Athletic Association(NCAA)Division IIIcollege footballcompetition as a member of theNew England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference(NEWMAC). The team played its first game in 1895 and was a major college team in the first half of the 20th century, into the 1940s. The football program was put on hiatus duringWorld War II,and then discontinued shortly afterwards. In 1965, football returned to the university at the club level, and, in 1977, re-entered NCAA competition as part of Division III. The Cardinals have participated in theDivision III playoffsthree times in the late 1990s and have secured twoOld Dominion Athletic Conference(ODAC) championships. The head coach isMike Gutelius.

History

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Catholic's first known intercollegiate football game came onThanksgiving Day,November 28, 1895, inEmmitsburg, Maryland.They facedMount Saint Mary's,of which six of the eleven Catholic players were alums. A contemporary article inThe Mountaineer,the Mount Saint Mary's student newspaper, described it as being "rather warm for hard foot-ball playing, and consequently neither team seemed to play with much snap or vim." The Mountaineers scored atouchdownimmediately before halftime to take a 4–0 lead. Catholic recovered a blockedfield goalattempt and ran it back 92 yards for the equalizing score. Mount Saint Mary's later pulled away with asafetyand a touchdown with two-point kick. The final result was 12–4.[2]

In the 1920s, the Catholic "Red and Black" became known as the "Cardinals", sometimes expanded to the "Flying Cardinals" or, less often, the "Fighting Cardinals".[3]Brookland Stadium/ Killion Field opened on October 4, 1924, and helped to increase the prominence of the football team. In 1930, Catholic secured formerMinnesotaassistantArthur "Dutch" Bergmanas their new head coach. During his tenure, Bergman scheduled teams farther afield such asDetroit,DePaul,South Dakota State,andSt. Mary's (Texas).[4]

In 1935, the Cardinals finished the regular season with a 7–1 record. The Catholic defense recorded three shutouts, allowed only 34 points, and norushingtouchdowns. The performance impressed the Orange Bowl committee enough for it to extend an invitation to play againstMississippiin the1936 Orange Bowl.During the game, Bill Adamaitis caught a pass for the first touchdown and then threw for another score. He became the first of only three players to score both receiving and passing touchdowns in the same Orange Bowl. Ole Miss responded when Ned Peters ran for a 67-yard touchdown for a 13–6 halftime mark. In the second half, the Cardinals blocked apuntand returned it 20 yards for the score. Ole Miss recorded two more touchdowns, but missed the penultimateextra point,which proved Catholic'smargin of victory,20–19.[5]

In 1939, Catholic achieved five shutouts in its 8–1 regular season record, and secured its second bowl game appearance. They facedTempe Normal Teacher's College(now Arizona State) in the1940 Sun Bowl.The result was a scoreless stalemate, unusual in the fact that the teams had scored a total of 512 points during the season. After the game, both coaches claimed to have the superior team to the media.Dixie Howellof Tempe said, "I believe we had the better team... and would have won if we had gotten a break at the right time." Bergman responded, "Tempe is a fast, powerful team, but we didn’t play our top game by any means... I think we are capable of beating Tempe six days out of the week."[6]During that gameWashington Redskinsplayer and futurePro Football Hall of FamerWayne Millnerserved as an assistant coach.[7]

From 1941 to 1946, football was discontinued due toWorld War II.Bergman finished his career at Catholic with a 59–31–4 record as thewinningestcoach in school history. He later coached theWashington Redskinsin 1943, when they made anNFLplayoff appearance.[6]When the team was resurrected after the war, the Cardinals could not replicate their previous success. In four seasons, three different coaches posted a combined 7–18–2 record. The team was disbanded in 1950.[4]A trial game was played againstSaint Peter's Collegein 1965, and football revived the following year at the club level.[8]

In 1977, varsity football returned to Catholic with its entry intoNCAADivision IIIcompetition. The team joined theOld Dominion Athletic Conference(ODAC) in 1981, leaving the conference in 1989 to be a founding member of theCapital Athletic Conference(CAC). In 1997, the Cardinals, under head coachTom Clark,made their first appearance in theDivision III playoffs,losing 44–33 againstTrinity.[9]They returned to the playoffs in 1998, where they lost toLycoming College,49–14,[10]In 1999, CUA returned to the ODAC[11]and that season they secured the conference championship with a 6–0 conference record[12]and made their third consecutive NCAA playoff appearance.[13]They lost those NCAA playoffs to Western Maryland College (now calledMcDaniel College), 20–16.[14]

In 2008, the Cardinals finished 4–2 in the ODAC and earned a four-way share of the conference title.[12]Catholic earned a bid to theECAC Southeast BowlagainstJohns Hopkinsand won, 18–17. It was the first postseason victory for the Cardinals since 1936.[15]In 2011, Catholic's quarterbackGreg Cordivariwon theMelberger Award,for Division III's top football player in the nation.

The team joined theNew England Women's and Men's Athletic Conferenceon July 1, 2017.

Rivalry games

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An important rivalry in Cardinals' history has been the game against the Division IGeorgetown Hoyas,where theSteven Dean Memorial Trophywas in dispute. The series started atBrookland Stadiumin 1976. There was a 16-year gap between the 1993 meeting atCardinal Stadium[16]and the 2019 season opener atCooper Field.[17]The record now stands with Georgetown having 10 wins and the Cardinals having nine.

Achievements

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Bowl games

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Catholic University has played in four bowl games, two of which occurred during their tenure prior to the birth of separate Divisions for the NCAA. The Cardinals have a 2–1–1 record.

Season Coach Bowl Opponent Result
1935 Dutch Bergman Orange Bowl Ole Miss W20–19
1940 Dutch Bergman Sun Bowl Arizona State T0–0
2008 Dave Dunn ECAC Southeast Bowl Johns Hopkins W18–17
2022 Mike Gutelius New England Bowl Bridgewater State L 24–34

NCAA Division III Playoffs

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Year Location Opponent Result
1997 San Antonio, Texas Trinity L 44–33
1998 Williamsport, Pennsylvania Lycoming L 49–14
1999 Westminster, Maryland McDaniel L 20–16

Conference championships

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Year Conference Coach Overall record Conference record
1999[18] Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tom Clark 9–2 5–0
2008[19] Old Dominion Athletic Conference Dave Dunn 9–2 4–2

Records

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Latest season's W–L–T records:[20]

Season Overall record Conference record
2019 2–8 2–5
2018 1–9 1–6
2017 5–5 3–4
2016 3–7 0–7
2015 3–7 1–6
2014 3–7 1–6
2013 6–4 3–4
2012 3–7 2–5
2011 5–5 1–5
2010 4–6 2–4
2009 1–9 0–6
2008 9–2 4–2
2007 5–5 1–5
2006 3–7 1–5
2005 2–8 0–5
2004 0–10 0–5
2003 3–7 1–4
2002 4–6 2–3
2001 3–7 1–4
2000 6–4 4–2
1999 9–2 5–0

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Color Palette – Identity Standards – Section 2 – Catholic University of America | CUA".RetrievedFebruary 6,2020.
  2. ^Football: The Early YearsArchived2007-08-13 at theWayback Machine,Catholic University of America, retrieved March 16, 2009.
  3. ^HistoryArchived2007-06-08 at theWayback Machine,Catholic University of America, retrieved March 16, 2009.
  4. ^abVarsity SuccessArchived2007-08-13 at theWayback Machine,Catholic University of American, retrieved March 16, 2009.
  5. ^1936 Orange BowlArchived2008-09-08 at theWayback Machine,Catholic University of America, retrieved March 16, 2009.
  6. ^ab1940 Sun BowlArchived2007-08-13 at theWayback Machine,Catholic University of America, retrieved March 16, 2009.
  7. ^"Bergman in the Dark on Best Preparation for Sun Bowl".The Washington Post.December 13, 1939. p. 25.
  8. ^Club footballArchived2007-08-13 at theWayback Machine,Catholic University of America, retrieved March 16, 2009.
  9. ^Team reaches playoffs for first timeArchived2008-07-09 at theWayback Machine,Catholic University of America, retrieved June 9, 2009.
  10. ^Football Admitted to ODACArchived2008-01-07 at theWayback Machine,Catholic University of America, retrieved June 9, 2009.
  11. ^D3 football Catholic returns to ODAC
  12. ^abODAC ChampionshipsArchived2008-08-30 at theWayback Machine,College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved March 16, 2009.
  13. ^Division IIIArchived2007-08-13 at theWayback Machine,Catholic University of America, retrieved March 16, 2009.
  14. ^Hee, Notarfrancesco named All-AmericansArchived2008-01-07 at theWayback Machine,Catholic University of America, retrieved June 9, 2009.
  15. ^Catholic takes wild 18–17 decision over JHU in ECAC Southeast Bowl,Johns Hopkins University, November 22, 2008.
  16. ^"Georgetown Football: History & Tradition Trophy Games".Archived fromthe originalon 2013-09-27.Retrieved2012-01-17.
  17. ^Prudhomme, Claire (September 19, 2019)."Football Falls 69-0 To Division I Georgetown".The Tower.RetrievedSeptember 19,2019.
  18. ^D3sports.com
  19. ^D3sports.com
  20. ^[1],D3sports.com, retrieved September 17, 2011
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