• In 1922, Amos Alonzo Stagg, "the most revered man in the sport," was in the 31st year of what would be a 40-year tenure at the University of Chicago, a Western Conference (Big Ten) member until 1946 (although the school dropped football after the 1939 season). Stagg was known as a master strategist.

He was one of the first coaches to use the forward pass on the end of a double reverse; he pioneered double and triple passes behind the line, split buck, end-around runs, laterals, and line-shifts. Knute Rockne used to say, "All football comes from Stagg." His numerous innovations included: the huddle (1896); direct pass from center ('96); wind sprints ('96); man in motion ('99); unbalanced offensive line (1900); backfield shift ('04); numbering players ('13); cross-blocking ('18) ...

• The Princeton Tigers, making their first gridiron foray into the Midwest, were coached by alumnus William Roper, whose second term as head man at the school began in 1919 after he had served as a lawyer, insurance man, and Philadelphia city councilman. He remained Princeton head coach through 1930. In contrast to Stagg, Roper didn't specialize in tactics and techniques. He had no playbook. Instead, he "had a flare for grand strategy and could impart this to QBs." He let his players think for themselves. Occasionally, he would dictate a play - if an opponent had used it successfully against Princeton.

Roper was one of the last of the great romantic football coaches. Where other mentors were remembered for tricky systems and won-lost records, Princetonian Bill Roper will be forever associated with locker-room oratory, come-from-behind victories, and heart-stopping upsets.
One of his 1922 stars recalled: "Coach Roper was a true Princetonian from the old school. He convinced us that if we wore Orange and Black colors and the other side didn't, we had them licked."

• Princeton brought a 4-0 record to the Windy City. The Maroons were likewise undefeated in three games. The Tigers sought revenge for the 9-0 beating Stagg's boys had administered in Princeton the previous season. However, Chicago was considered a 3-to-1 favorite over a Princeton team that even for that era was considered small.
• Stagg Field's 32,000 seats, including temporary bleachers in the end zone, had been sold out for weeks. If Chicago had offered standing room tickets, the crowd could have been much larger.
• It was the first football game heard coast to coast. The broadcast was carried on phone lines to New York City, where the nationwide transmission originated. People with receivers could listen in their own homes to one of the 200 radio stations across the nation. Countless others gathered around radios in Western Union offices and speakeasies. Back at Princeton, students crowded into the physics lab. It seemed as if everyone in the New Jersey town was within earshot of a radio tuned to station WOR in Newark.

The schools were not only highly esteemed academic institutions but had also carved out a reputation as football powers. Each squad also represented the aspirations of its section of the country.

• With Yale and Harvard, Princeton constituted the Big Three that had dominated football for 40 years, Princeton, of course, participating in what is considered the first college football game in 1869. The Tigers had disappointed the Eastern Establishment by losing to the upstarts from the Windy City the year before. Roper urged his minions to uphold the honor and tradition of the East.
• Chicago carried the aspirations of the heartland against the Elite East. Midwest football had received a boost in 1913 from an unexpected quarter when tiny Notre Dame had vanquished mighty Army 35-13 thanks to the passing combination of Gus Dorais and Knute Rockne. Chicago could give the section's esteem a booster shot with another victory over Princeton.

Before kickoff, the Chicago band took the field with what it proclaimed The World's Biggest Drum, Big Bertha.

• Star back Johnny Thomas, a 22-year-old World War I veteran from Jamestown ND, carried seven times in 10 plays for 37y as the Maroon mass drove through the smaller Tiger linemen to the end zone for a 6-0 lead. A new rule for 1922 called for the ball to be placed at the five for the PAT, which could be scored by running or passing rather than the traditional placekick. The missed kick failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the confident Chicago crowd. The points were the first surrendered by Princeton all season.

In choosing Thomas for his 1922 All-American team, Walter Camp wrote:

John Thomas of Chicago has that rare art of carrying through his charge with his feet still under him, ready for a further drive. When he strikes, he strikes hard, but he has still a later thrust of power so that the ordinary check in a line does not stop his forward progress. ... His work shone in other games but it was particularly brilliant in the Princeton game. It is safe to say he did far more against the Princeton line in effective scoring than did any backs of the East who met the Tigers.

• Under the rules of the day, the team that was scored upon had the choice of kicking off or receiving the kick. Princeton chose to kick.
• As if sportingly saying, "We give you a chance now," Chicago punted on second down. But the strategy backfired as Jack Cleaves returned the ball from his 45 behind excellent interference to the Chicago 23.
• After two ground plays gained three, a third down pass fell incomplete. T "Pink" Baker then tried a drop kick from the 32 but missed.
• On the first play after taking possession, Pyott punted to QB Johnny Gorman (5'7" 154), who had missed the Chicago game the year before. Gorman made a fair catch on the Princeton 45.

Princeton then drove for its first touchdown.

• On third-and-four, Harry Crum, on a fake double pass, gained just enough for the first down. On the next play, Crum fumbled but recovered.
• Catching the Maroon secondary asleep, Snively shot a pass to E Howard "Howdy" Gray all the way to the seven. A penalty moved the ball to the five. Crum plunged up the middle for a yard as the period ended.
• Crum pushed forward for two, then a half yard. On fourth down, Cleaves squirmed over for the tying touchdown. Ken Smith kicked the goal that put the Tigers on top 7-6.

The Princetonians had made a statement that they didn't come west to be a sacrificial lamb. Game on!

• Chicago chose to kick off to Princeton. The Tigers tried to punt back on first down, but the kick was blocked and went out of bounds on Princeton's 31.
• The Maroons capitalized on the break to retake the lead. Running behind the blocking of Joe Pondelik and Lloyd Rohrke, Thomas smashed through the line twice for 8y, then sprinted around left end on a double pass for a first down on the 17. Harry Thomas, John's brother, gained 5, then Johnny 2 and 4. On a fake end run, John Thomas roared into the end zone. A bad pass from center voided the EP try. Chicago 12, Princeton 7.
• At this point, W. L. Zorn replaced John Thomas. That meant that Thomas could not return until the second half. If he were replaced then, he was through for the afternoon.

• Cleaves recovered T "Pink" Baker's kick at the Chicago 35.
• After two runs gained four, Cleaves fired a pass to Smith to the 11. The Maroons stiffened, throwing first Gorman, then Van Gerbig for losses. Cleaves faked a drop-kick, then ran, but he too lost yardage.
• Smith tried a drop-kick for three points from the 25, but Fletcher blocked it. Strohmeier immediately punted to Cleaves, who signaled for a fair catch of the 45.
• The Black and Orange again pushed deep into Maroon territory. Bob Beattie gained six, then three on a feint of a double pass. Then he rammed through center for a first down on the 31.
• On third-and-seven, Beattie connected with the speedy Cleaves who ran to the 21. However, Beattie fumbled on the next play, and Franklin Gowdy recovered for Chicago. The half ended a few plays later.

We have no record of Coach Roper's halftime speech to his Tigers, but he probably reiterated the famous slogan of Johnny Poe '00, grandnephew of Edgar Allan Poe and Roper's teammate: "The team that won't be beat, can't be beat." Whatever coach said, the third period did not go well for the visitors.

• Gorman returned Chicago's kickoff to the Maroon 35. Cleaves punted on second down to Pyott who was tackled at his 29. The Maroons likewise punted on second down, but Princeton booted the hot potato right back on first down.
• Chicago actually ran two plays before punting, but Princeton was penalized for offsides. which gave the Maroons a first down.
• Pyott attempted to punt on third down, but Gray blocked it out of bounds on the Chicago 22. Given an excellent chance to retake the lead, Princeton sputtered. After two plunges gained 5, a double pass, Snively to Cleaves, failed. The Tigers tried the same play on fourth down. The pass was completed this time, but Cleaves was stopped inches short of the first down marker.
• Pyott wasted no time punting out to the 40, where Cleaves made a fair catch. After a second down pass fell incomplete 40y downfield, Princeton tried another aerial, this one bouncing off a receiver's hand into the arms of Burgess in maroon.
• Chicago ran five plays, making one first down, before punting to Gorman, who "twisted and wrestled" back to midfield. But Cleaves punted on first down to Jimmy Pyott, who returned it 6y to the 31.
• On third-and-5, Pyott kicked to Gorman, who was tackled on the 22. Princeton was penalized half the distance to the goal for illegal use of hands. Rushed hard, Cleaves botched a punt, which went only to his 28.
• Finally getting the field position he had been seeking, Stagg sent Johnny Thomas back in. Zorn smashed through C for 6. Thomas gained 2, then 0. On fourth-and-2, Thomas ripped through a hole in the Tiger defense for 15y to the 6. After Zorn gained nothing, Thomas plunged to the 2, then dove over RE beyond the goal line before being hurled back. Pyott tried his hand at kicking the extra point but failed. Still, Chicago seemingly had the game in hand with an 18-7 lead. But, to quote a phrase made popular 70 years later, "Not so fast, my friend!"
• Baker kicked off to Pyott, who returned the ball 20y to Chicago's 34 as the quarter ended.

Outweighed and worn down, Princeton would need a break to get back in the game.

• Pyott's nifty 14y end run gave the Maroons a first down. Despite completing its first pass of the game - for only 3y - Chicago had to punt. Gorman caught it on the 20, then surprised the onrushing Maroons by lateraling the ball to Cleaves who ran to midfield. However, an official ruled the ball had been passed forward illegally and placed the spheroid on the 1 - in effect, a 49y penalty.
• The prevalent strategy of the day called for Princeton to boot the ball out of danger. However, Roper had trained his lads to think outside the box. So QB Gorman called for punt formation with Cleaves back. But before the ball was snapped, Gorman whispered something in Jack's ear. Roper soon realized what Johnny said as Cleaves retreated to the back edge of the end zone to arch a pass to his QB who caught it on the run and continued to the 40 before being dragged down.
• Trying to take advantage of the momentum, Gorman called for the same combination on a reverse pass that lost 5y. Cleaves then punted but only to the Chicago 42.
• After Pyott failed to gain, Zorn went back to punt. The substitute center's snap hit him in the shoulder and caromed straight into the arms of the onrushing E Gray. "Clutching this gift from the gods," Howdy ran untouched for a touchdown. Smith's PAT made it 18-14.

Gray's dad, the president of the Union Pacific Railroad, wildly waved his program and clobbered a woman in the shoulder.
"Hey, that's my wife," a man shouted at him.
"Sorry," the excited father said, "but that was my boy who scored."
"Oh," the husband said. "Hit her again."
("1922: The team of destiny," John Blackwell, The Trentonian at www.capitalcentury.com)

• When the energized Tiger D stopped Thomas on third down, Chicago kicked to Cleaves at the Tiger 42.
• Jack fired a pass to Smith to the enemy 33. Cleaves took to the air again and was rewarded when Chicago was called for interference, placing the ball on the 18. Cleaves tore through the C for 3y, but Rohrke in maroon was offside, moving the ball to the 7.
• Cleaves battered for 3, then 1, before Ewer was thrown back. On the sideline, Crum, nicknamed "Maud" because of his mule-like kick on plunges, convinced Roper to sub him in place of Ewer for fourth down. Maud knifed into a mass of humanity. The four officials had to untangle the players before determining that the ball was over the line. Smith again booted the point. Princeton 21, Chicago 18.

Again, Baker kicked off, McMasters returning it to the 34.

• With little time remaining, Chicago had no choice but to pull out their neglected passing attack. Pyott hit L. L. McMasters twice to land the ball on the Princeton 45.
• Another pass over the middle resulted in an interference call on the Tigers, advancing the pigskin to the 25. After failing to gain on the ground, Pyott connected with Strohmeier to the 6.
• Twice the Maroons assaulted the Tiger line but gained only to the 2 1/2. Thomas then plunged to the 1.
• On fourth down with time ticking away, assistant coach Fritz Crisler ('22) urged Stagg to send in his son, Amos Jr., a backup QB, with orders to pass. But Amos Sr. shook his head. "I have to live with my conscience. Let the kids work it out by themselves."
• So Thomas hurled himself into the line yet again, but the converging defenders stopped him two feet from the goal line.
• The New York Times play-by-play ended thus:

Princeton kicked out of danger just as the whistle blew, and Chicago went down in the most sensational defeat of the year, leaving the East triumphant.

• In an interview nearly 70 years later, lineman Don Griffin, the last survivor of the '22 Tigers, revealed that Chicago was hampered in its last plays because the roaring crowd drowned out the signals. "We took credit for stopping them," Griffin said, "but the truth is their plays were messed up."
• Stagg was furious. He had been exhorting his charges all week and had reminded them at halftime not to get conservative in their play calls, especially near the goal line, and passes had moved them into position to score. But who could blame them for putting the ball into the hands of Thomas, who had scored all 18 points?
• For many decades, the game was considered one of the greatest upsets of all time.

The fourth period was one of the most thrilling in all modern football history. This was a period to talk about for years to come. It has always been the theory that it was the West that went in for the unexpected and the spectacular, and the East which stuck to the conservative, but right here Bill Roper's pupils pulled a play that was astounding in its aduacity, when on a forward pass from behind his own goal line, Gorman carried the ball to the 40-yard line.
The Princeton players held one of the greatest linebuckers that we have ever seen in a football field. Their stand was one of the gamest in the history of the game. The battle really ended on that last stand. It seems to us that from somewhere Johnny Poe must have looked down and smiled as he remembered that message which he once sent to a Princeton team, "If you won't be beat, you can't be beat."

The greatest sportswriter of the age, Grantland Rice, who had picked Princeton to lose to Chicago, proclaimed the Tigers the "Team of Destiny" after its stunning upset in the Windy City.

• The Tigers lived up to Rice's monicker, finishing the season undefeated with victories in the last two games over archrivals Harvard (10-3) and Yale (3-0).
• William Roper's Tigers have been retroactively selected National Champions for 1922 by the National Championship Foundation and the College Football Researchers Association.

Footage from Princeton's 1922 game against Yale