Soon after Stanford opened on October 1, 1891, students set out to form a football team.

[1] One transfer student, John Whittemore, had played football at Washington University.

[1] Whittemore acted as de facto coach, drawing up plays and organizing practices.

[1][4] On March 19, 1892, the Stanford and California teams met to play at Haight Street Grounds in San Francisco.

An owner of a sporting goods store who was in attendance was dispatched on horseback to retrieve a ball and the game eventually started an hour late.