In 1876, when Captain Eugene V. Baker called for candidates for the Yale rugby team, freshman Walter Camp was right there. Within a day or so, young Camp won the a regular halfback position. He was exceptionally fast and extraordinarily strong, but, more important for a rugby player, he was a terrific kicker, excelling at both punting and dropkicking.
Much is written about the birth of American Football in the Ivy League in the 1870s, but it was not until 1880 that Walter Camp lobbied the Ivies and succeeded to change the game from 15-a-side to 11-a-side. If we read between the lines of this American Football article, it's rugby that was predominantly played in the second half of the 1870s and it was played at Yale, Harvard, Princeton and Columbia.