1891 hiatus

Modern rugby-style football was first introduced to the University of Notre Dame by the University of Michigan in 1887. However, another version of "football" was practiced on at Notre Dame since at least the early 1870s. This version, given the epithet "old-style" once the new variant arrived on campus, could be better described as rugby-soccer than rugby-football. After exploits of the Harvard and Yale football teams began to appear in the Notre Dame Scholastic, the old-style game began to wane in popularity. By the end of the 1880s, the old game was nearly extinct. However, due to a lack of viable candidates in 1890 and 1891, the varsity rugby-football team at Notre Dame disbanded. This allowed old-style football to enjoy a final, brief comeback.

Two recorded games of old-style football were played, both intra-hall contests. The first was on December 5, 1891, between the Northerners and the Southerners of Brownson Hall. The two teams played for a barrel of apples, the traditional prize for winning an old-style football game. The game resulted in a tie of unknown scores. The second game was played between two picked teams of Carroll Hall on February 6, 1892. The result of that game is unknown.