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Lafayette vs. Swarthmore

Lafayette and Swarthmore first met in 1886 and have played 16 times; Lafayette leads the series 12–⁠4. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Lafayette 6–⁠4, and Swarthmore has won the last 2.

Lafayette wins
12
Swarthmore wins
4
Ties
0
First meeting
1886
Longest streak
7 Lafayette
Current streak
2 Swarthmore
Last 10 meetings
Lafayette 6–⁠4
Most recent
1917

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1880s3–⁠0
1890s2–⁠0
1900s3–⁠1
1910s4–⁠3
Average margin
20.2 points; 5 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Lafayette
9–⁠2 Lafayette’s record at home
At Swarthmore
2–⁠3 Swarthmore’s record at home
Shutouts
10

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. Lafayette’s biggest win1894: Lafayette 46, Swarthmore 0by 46 points
  2. Swarthmore’s biggest win1917: Swarthmore 56, Lafayette 0by 56 points
  3. Upset1916: Swarthmore 10, Lafayette 6Swarthmore had a 16% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1912: Swarthmore 22, Lafayette 0Swarthmore had a 18% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Lafayette and Swarthmore, 1886 on1300150017001900192019401960198020002020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

From the newspapers

  • The The news & observer. (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current's story of the 1904 game: Other Football Games.

    1904 · The news & observer. (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, North Carolina, Oct 23, 1904

  • The Evening star's story of the 1905 game: SWARTHMORE SMOTHERED LAFAYETTE

    1905 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Nov 16, 1905

  • The Evening star's story of the 1909 game: Lafayette Defeats Swarthmore.

    1909 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Oct 17, 1909

  • The Newark evening star and Newark advertiser's story of the 1910 game: Big SCORES SHOULD NOT BE MANY IN The COLLEGE GAMES THIS SEASON Judging from Saturdays Games One May Reach That Conclusion Noticeable Change All AonG the Line in Last Weeks Games-Yale- Holy Cross Score Same as Last Years.

    1910 · Newark evening star and Newark advertiser, Oct 10, 1910

  • The Evening star's story of the 1911 game: WINS BY II TO 3. Swarthmore Loses to Lafayette in Well PLAYED Game.

    1911 · Evening star, Washington, D.C., Oct 8, 1911

Public-domain newspapers from the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America, found through the American Stories dataset (Dell and Harvard, CC BY 4.0). The earliest meetings with a story on file; each game’s page has the full text.

Every game

Nov 10, 1917Swarthmore 56, Lafayette 0at Swarthmore
Oct 7, 1916Swarthmore 10, Lafayette 6at Lafayette
Nov 6, 1915Lafayette 17, Swarthmore 0at Lafayette
Oct 18, 1913Lafayette 19, Swarthmore 0at Lafayette
Oct 5, 1912Swarthmore 22, Lafayette 0at Lafayette
Oct 7, 1911Lafayette 12, Swarthmore 5at Lafayette
Oct 8, 1910Lafayette 6, Swarthmore 0at Lafayette
Oct 16, 1909Lafayette 22, Swarthmore 0at Lafayette
Nov 11, 1905Swarthmore 27, Lafayette 0at Swarthmore
Oct 22, 1904Lafayette 4, Swarthmore 0at Lafayette
Oct 13, 1900Lafayette 34, Swarthmore 2at Lafayette
Oct 7, 1899Lafayette 16, Swarthmore 6at Swarthmore
Oct 24, 1894Lafayette 46, Swarthmore 0at Lafayette
Oct 13, 1888Lafayette 18, Swarthmore 0at Swarthmore
Oct 22, 1887Lafayette 31, Swarthmore 6at Lafayette
Oct 13, 1886Lafayette 20, Swarthmore 12at Swarthmore

Every game is listed as played on the field.