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Baylor Bears football, 1915–1929

The 1915–1929 Baylor Bears football teams composed Baylor University's first fifteen seasons of conference play. In 1915, Baylor played with a team mascot (the Baylor Bears) and in a conference (the Southwest Conference) for the first time ever. In 1915, the SWC's inaugural year, Baylor became conference co-champion, but later voluntarily forfeited the title for using an ineligible transfer player. In 1918, Baylor would record its last winless season until 1962. Baylor won the SWC Conference in 1922 and 1924; it would not have another conference championship until 1974.

Overview
With the early years of the SWC came greater coaching stability for Baylor football; in the 27 years from 1914–1940, Baylor's football team had three coaches with a combined record of 148–96–16, while for the previous fourteen seasons, ten coaches had produced a 47–47–12 record.

1925–1929
--- Baylor University began its organized football team in 1899. Initially, it played its home games on an undetermined field near the university. Beginning in 1905, the team's home games were played at Carroll Field, between the Carroll Science Building and Waco Creek. Baylor did not adopt a mascot (the Baylor Bears) until December 14, 1914, after the completion of the 1914 football season. Additionally, Baylor did not join an athletic conference until 1914 after the conclusion of football season, when it joined the Southwest Conference. Baylor played its first home game against Toby's Business College (located in Waco) in 1899, its first away game on 4 November 1900, at Austin College, and its first neutral-site game against Texas A&M in 1901.

For the 1899 and 1900 seasons, the team was coached by R.H. Hamilton, whose 5–1–1 record was distinguished with never having a losing record; in 1899, Baylor played its first game against Texas A&M, which would become a rivalry, the Battle of the Brazos, with over 100 games played in the series by 2003. W.J. Ritchie coached the 1901 team, leading it to a 5–3 record; in this year, the first games of the Baylor-Texas and Baylor-TCU series were played. TCU (known as AddRan Male & Female College until 1902) was located in Waco from 1895 to 1910 and was one of Baylor's greatest football rivals until the dissolution of the Southwest Conference in 1995. 1901 also welcomed Baylor's first Thanksgiving Day football game, with a 28– win over St. Edwards. J.C. Ewing took control of the team in 1902, and led it to its first losing season, with a 3–4–2 record. R.N. Watts restored Baylor's winning tradition in 1903, with a record of 4–3–1. Sol Metzger led the 1904 team to a disappointing 2–5–1 record; his successor, Archie Webb, did no better with the 1905 team, resulting in a 1–6–0 record.

No team was fielded in 1906; along with 1943 and 1944 (during World War II), 1906 is one of three seasons since 1899 that Baylor has not competed in varsity football. Luther Burleson headed the restored football team in 1907, and managed a 4–3–1 record. E.J. Mills led the team for the 1908 and 1909 seasons; their 3–5–0 and 5–3–0 records were notable for the 1908 loss to LSU with a score of 0–88, and for the world's first "Home-Coming" at the 1909 Thanksgiving Day game, which included a concert, parade, and bonfire. To this day, Baylor claims to have the largest homecoming parade in the world. Ralph Glaze coached the 1910–1912 teams; the 1910 record of 6–1–1 included a sole loss because Baylor left at halftime, with the score tied 6– against Texas, due to a dispute with the referee. Glaze's 1911 and 1912 teams had records of 3–4–2 and 3–5–0, respectively. Norman C. Paine coached Baylor in 1913 to a 3–4–3 record; Charles P. Mosely led the 1914 football team to a 3–5–2 record.

Scoring
Scoring in collegiate football games was first formalized in 1883, but changes to scoring procedure occurred frequently until 1912. The table presented gives scoring values used in Baylor football games from 1912 to 1957, which are equivalent to today's scoring system, but did not include the two-point conversion conversion safety, or defensive conversion, none of which had were conceived by 1929.

TCU
Baylor's 1915 game against TCU was during its second homecoming and the first since 1909. The homecoming parade, with Baylor's move from Independence to its current Waco campus as its theme, featured floats for the first time. In addition, the homecoming celebrated Baylor's 70th anniversary.

1916
In 1916, the Southwest Conference did not declare a conference champion. The top two teams were Baylor and Texas; Baylor, with a 3–1 record, had two fewer conference wins than Texas (5–1), but a better overall record of 9–1, as compared to the Longhorns' 7–2 record.

Texas A&M
Baylor debuted the school's first live mascot, Ted, at its game against rival Texas A&M. The American black bear was donated on January 14, 1917, by the 107th Engineer Battalion of the 32nd Infantry Division, stationed during World War I at Camp MacArthur in Waco. While the Division left Waco, "Bruin" stayed at Baylor, which has since continued to house a live mascot on campus.