The first game in Miner football history was played on Nov. 20, 1893, and the first Miner touchdown wasn’t scored until the next season by G.W. Smith, but the real story of the Miner football team wouldn’t take place until two decades later. 

In 1914, the MSM team beat Mizzou 9-0, spawning wild celebrations in Rolla according to reports. The team would go on to earn seven more shutouts, including two games in which they scored more than 100 points. The eight-game season was a perfect 8-0. But the team was not without skeletons — it was alleged that some of the “recruited” players were paid $100 a month by townspeople who wanted a winning team — with some of the players not even enrolled as students. In 1915, only five members of the perfect team remained on the roster.