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The team left Wednesday, October 11th, for Chapel Hill and their first game of the season against the scrub team of UNC. A&M, acknowledging that their young, if improved, team had no chance against UNC's Varsity squad, instead played a team "picked by a committee and excluding a few of the best players." (News-Observer-Chronicle, October 11th, 1892, p. 4). Chapel Hill had originally planned to see two games of football that week, with their game against A&M being a warm-up match to get spectators, coaches, and the likes back into the swing of the football season, in preparation for a match on Saturday, the 14th, between the Varsity team and Richmond College. Unfortunately for UNC fans, the Richmond team was "disabled" and unable to make the date (News-Observer-Chronicle, October 13th, 1893, p. 4).
However, likely due to this fact, the game between UNC's scrubs and A&M's team got a respectable amount of coverage by the local papers, especially UNC's burgeoning school paper, The Tar Heel. The paper described the game as "a very creditable display of scientific football considering the earliness of [the season and] the necessarily poor chances for practice." An early report of the game said "there was not very much fumbling" and "many brilliant plays."
UNC's second teams' coach, George Graham, was praised, in addition to the work of essentially the entire scrub team: "The rushing of Steel, Dockery, and Thomas, the tackling of McKinne and Rankine were especially noticeable. Currie and Sharp did wonders in breaking the Vs, and Webb played his position well." The report also spoke favorably of the A&M men's football playing and character, saying "They put up a good steady game but fortune was against them.... They have left a pleasant impression of fine gentlemanly fellows." The report closed by hoping the two teams could have "many a friendly tussle" in the future, reporting the score as 22-0 in favor of UNC's scrubs, and promising a full report of the game in the next issue (The Tar Heel, October 12th, 1893, p. 3).
A&M | UNC (Scrubs) | |
---|---|---|
McRae | RE | McKinne |
Williams, J. V. | RT | Price |
Bullocks | RG | Thompson |
Wilson | C | Sharpe |
Mosley | LG | Currie |
Pearson | LT | Weaver |
Vick | LE | Rankin (Capt.) |
Saunders | QB | Webb |
Pritchard, C. | RHB | Dockery |
Williams | LHB | Steele |
Hughes | FB | Thomas |
Period | Time | Description | NCSU | UNC |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st | ~39 | UNC - Dockery - unk yd Run (Thomas kick failed) unk plays, unk yards, TOP unk | 0 | 4 |
1st | ~29 | UNC - Steele - 5 yd Run (Rankin kick) unk plays, unk yards, TOP unk | 0 | 10 |
1st | unk | UNC - Dockery - unk yd Run (Rankin kick failed) unk plays, unk yards, TOP unk | 0 | 14 |
1st | unk | UNC - UNKNOWN - unk yd Run (Rankin kick failed) unk plays, unk yards, TOP unk | 0 | 18 |
2nd | ~18 | UNC - Steele - unk yd Run (Rankin kick failed) unk plays, unk yards, TOP unk | 0 | 22 |
NCSU | Opponent | |
---|---|---|
Rushing TDs | none | Dockery (2), Steele (2), UNKNOWN (1) |
Passing TDs | N/A prior to 1906 | N/A prior to 1906 | Receiving TDs | N/A prior to 1906 | N/A prior to 1906 |
Defensive TDs | none | none |
PATs | none | Rankin (1/4), Thomas (0/1) |
2PT: | N/A/ prior to 1958 | N/A/ prior to 1958 |
FGs | none | none |
Safety: | none | none |
Length: 70 min (45 / 25) *shortened during play - Duration: unk Attendance: unknown Location: "Old" Campus Athletic Field - Chapel Hill, NC Temperature: ??? Weather: ??? Wind: ??? |
The game started at 3:30 PM. The first half lasted 45 minutes. UNC's first touchdown was scored in just 6 minutes by Dockery, with Thomas missing the kick. A&M's first drive started off decently with a ten yard run by Pickett, however, a call of off-sides gave the ball to UNC, who quickly punted for a 15-yard gain. Not long later, Steele ran 5 yards for a touchdown, and Rankin made the kick, leaving the score 10-0 after 16 minutes of play.
Receiving the ball again, A&M attempted 3 plays, making 15 yards, before attempting a punt which resulted in a loss of 8 yards; adding insult to injury, a foul was committed, turning the ball back over to UNC. A&M again appeared totally incapable of stopping UNC, who marched down the field, ending the drive with a short run by Dockery; Rankin missed the kick this time, making the score 14-0; the time taken was not stated.
A&M started and stalled in another attempted drive, but in a refreshing break of luck, didn't lose the ball on the third and final down due to an interference call by UNC. However, A&M went on to squander this second chance, eventually drop-kicking the ball to UNC's 25. The scrub team made fast work of this drive, running plays of 15, 13, 15, and 18 yards. In addition to "some hard rushing" to wrap up the drive, the series also included a pass. It was not recorded who scored UNC's fourth touchdown, but Rankin again missed his kick, leaving the score 18-0 just as the first half ended.
A&M started the second half, which lasted just 25 minutes, with the ball but again went nowhere, losing the ball on downs to UNC immediately. UNC's next drive featured the first big stop by A&M, with MacRae stopping a Dockery who had already broken a tackle by one of A&M's tackles, probably J. Williams. However, just seven minutes into the second half, UNC would go on to score; the drive included a punt, which gained 15 yards, as well as several long runs. Steele scored his second touchdown of the day, while Rankine missed his third kick.
A&M's next drive started off with a promising 8-yard gain by a V formation and a 15 yard run by Pritchett, but was ended by a 15-yard punt by Hughes which resulted in UNC taking control of the ball. After steady five yard gains by UNC's ends, McKinne was called for being off sides, giving the ball to A&M. On A&M's first play of the drive, UNC's Currie "gets hurt while making a beautiful tackle, but plays on," tackling Hughes for a huge, 25-yard loss. The ball was then turned over to UNC on downs. After a short drive, UNC received another foul which gave A&M the ball. However, A&M immediately fouled themselves and returned the ball to the scrub team. Once UNC had the ball, MacRae broke through UNC's line and tackled Dockery before he could advance the ball. The next play, UNC's Webb makes a "dead fumble," allowing Bullocks to recover the ball for A&M. After that play, the first substitution of the game took place, and MacRae was replaced by Mitchell. However, immediately thereafter, Pritchard was injured in a "hard rush" and the game time was called "by mutual consent."
A&M's captain, Joel Whitaker, served as umpire for the first half and referee for the second half, trading places with UNC's second teams' coach, George Graham (The Tar Heel, October 19th, 1893, p. 1; North Carolina University Magazine, Vol. XIII No. 2 (November 1893), p. 108). Despite the loss, local papers reported the game as "a very enjoyable trip to the boys," describing a warm welcome at Chapel Hill (News-Observer-Chronicle, October 15th, 1893, p. 1).
Despite the loss, the Farmers were optimistic about their future; "On their return, the players reported that they had enjoyed the journey to their sister institution and looked forward to the time when they would defeat Carolina (Beezley, p. 29).
Last updated: 6/4/2024