Sports History

On This Date: Tiny Centre College Beats Mighty Harvard (Oct. 29, 1921)

On Oct. 29, 1921, tiny Centre College beat Harvard 6-0 on a Bo McMillin touchdown run, ending a 25-game unbeaten streak and giving the world C6H0.

“‘Bo’ McMillin starting his thrilling dash that covered 32 yards and gave Centre touchdown that spelled defeat for Harvard.” (The Boston Sunday Globe, Oct. 30, 1921, p. 1, via Newspapers.com)

In 1950, the Associated Press asked sportswriters to name the greatest upset of the first half of the 20th century. They didn’t pick a boxing match or a World Series. They picked a college football game between Harvard and a Kentucky school with a few hundred students.

On Oct. 29, 1921, Centre College beat Harvard 6-0.

“Centre Wins Battle 6 to 0.” The Boston Sunday Globe front page the next morning. (The Boston Sunday Globe, Oct. 30, 1921, p. 1, via Newspapers.com)

David and Goliath

In 1921, Harvard was college football royalty. The Crimson hadn’t lost a game since November 1916, a run of 25 games without a loss, and they had won the Rose Bowl less than 2 years earlier. They had 17 coaches.

Centre College was in Danville, Kentucky, and had somewhere around 300 students. Its coach, Charley Moran, also worked as a National League umpire in the summer. Its stars were a quarterback from Fort Worth named Alvin “Bo” McMillin and 2 linemen everybody called Red, Red Roberts and Red Weaver. Before games they prayed in the locker room, which got them a nickname, the Praying Colonels.

Alvin “Bo” McMillin of Centre College, around 1920.

The 2 schools had met once before. In 1920, Centre went to Cambridge and was tied with Harvard 14-14 at halftime before running out of gas and losing 31-14. When Harvard’s Arnold Horween offered McMillin the game ball afterward, he turned it down. Centre, he said, would be back to take one home.

“Starting for Harvard.” Centre’s team leaves Danville for Cambridge in 1920; the year is chalked on the railcar. (Centre College Digital Archives)

“Upon arrival in Boston.” (Centre College Digital Archives)

“Harvard Wins Over Centre by 31 to 14.” The first meeting, in 1920. (The Boston Sunday Globe, Oct. 24, 1920, p. 14, via Newspapers.com)

The Game

They came back with 28 players, unbeaten. Harvard was still a 3-to-1 favorite, and about 45,000 people filled Harvard Stadium for a 2:30 kickoff.

The official program for Harvard vs. Centre, Saturday, Oct. 29, 1921. (Centre College Digital Archives)

The Centre bench at Harvard Stadium, Oct. 29, 1921.

The first half was a scoreless grind. Harvard missed 2 field goals.

Centre and Harvard at Harvard Stadium, Oct. 29, 1921. (Centre College Digital Archives)

Less than 2 minutes into the 2nd half, Harvard was flagged 15 yards for tripping, and Centre had a first down near the Harvard 25. On the very next play, McMillin started to his right behind Roberts, who knocked over 3 or 4 Harvard men, then cut back through the hole and swept to his left. The Boston Globe measured the run at 32 yards. Nobody touched him. The extra point missed. It didn’t matter.

Red Roberts, who threw the block that sprang McMillin. (Centre College Digital Archives)

“Col. McMillin carrying ball along eight yards around Harvard’s left end.” (The Boston Sunday Globe, Oct. 30, 1921, p. 18, via Newspapers.com)

Harvard drove to the Centre 3-yard line late in the game and was flagged for offside. Centre intercepted a pass on Harvard’s last drive and ran out the clock.

“Centre Outplays and Defeats Harvard 6-0; McMillin Makes Only Touchdown of the Great Game and Is Hero of the Hour.” (The Lexington Leader, Oct. 30, 1921, p. 1, via Newspapers.com)

When it ended, about 10,000 fans poured onto the field. They carried McMillin off on their shoulders. The referee handed him the game ball, and students from MIT, across the river, tore down Harvard’s goalposts.

Harvard coach Bob Fisher called McMillin probably the hardest man in the country to stop. In Louisville, the Courier-Journal’s man in the press box reached for the Bible: “This David from the region of the Blue Grass dragged in the dust the Crimson banner of the proud Goliath of the erudite East.”

“Centre Defeats Harvard, Idol of East, 6 to 0.” The Louisville paper drew McMillin and coach Charley Moran for its front page. (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Oct. 30, 1921, p. 1, via Newspapers.com)

Sam H. McMeekin’s story for the Courier-Journal: “This David from the region of the Blue Grass...” (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Oct. 30, 1921, p. 1, via Newspapers.com)

C6H0

Back in Danville, someone came up with a formula for what had happened. Harvard, a Centre professor said, had been poisoned by an impossible compound: C6H0.

Students carved “C6 H0” into a wall on campus that day and painted it all over town. Danville had already lost its mind. When the news came over the wire that afternoon, the fire department drove around in the rain with nowhere to go, the factory whistles and church bells went off, and thousands of people paraded up and down the streets. The Courier-Journal’s correspondent spotted “a painted cow, with a demented college boy on its back.”

The 1921 Centre team, with a pennant marking the date and the score.

When the team’s train got back to Danville on Monday, about 10,000 people were waiting, including the governor of Kentucky, Edwin P. Morrow. The college canceled classes. “I’d rather be Bo McMillin at this moment than the governor of Kentucky,” Morrow said.

“The Boys Who Beat Harvard.” (Centre College Digital Archives)

“Centre, 6; Harvard, 0” and “Grand, Glorious Welcome.” Danville’s own paper on the day the team came home. (Kentucky Advocate, Danville, Oct. 31, 1921, p. 1, via Newspapers.com)

Centre players back in Danville after the Harvard game.

The players had reportedly bet heavily on themselves. A Louisville Courier-Journal reporter wrote that McMillin rode home carrying more cash than a small bank.

What Came After

Centre finished the regular season 9-0 and beat Arizona 38-0 in a Christmas game in San Diego. On Jan. 2, 1922, it lost 22-14 to Texas A&M in Dallas, in the game that started A&M’s “12th Man” tradition. McMillin got married that morning.

McMillin on the day of the Dixie Classic loss to Texas A&M, his last game for Centre. (The Beaumont Enterprise, Jan. 3, 1922, p. 6, via Newspapers.com)

Harvard got its rematch in 1922 and won 24-10. The schools haven’t played since. Harvard plays in the FCS now and Centre in Division III, and every time Centre has proposed an anniversary game, Harvard has said no.

McMillin went into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 and spent decades as a coach, at Indiana and in the NFL. At Centre, C6H0 is still on the shirts.