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A&M's football team had played some iteration of UNC four total times since beginning intercollegiate games in 1892. In that time, A&M had only scored 8 total points against UNC, though those points were against UNC's second team. Including the two games in 1893 against UNC's scrubs, the cumulative score of the series sat 8-88 in favor of UNC, with UNC winning 3 out of 4 games. Discluding the games against UNC's scrubs, the series sat 0-60 in favor of UNC. The opening game of 1895 would not change this trend. One local paper wrote "The question is, 'how badly will the A. & M. boys be beaten?'" (The Press-Visitor, October 8th, 1895, p. 1). Regarding the outcome of the coming game, UNC's student paper wrote "A. & M. is not one of the strongest teams we have to meet, nor have we any fear as to the result," but encouraged students to attend nonetheless so they could see how the team would be for the year (The Tar Heel, October 5th, 1895, p. 2).

The game was the first game of the season for both teams, and reportedly the first game to be played in North Carolina for the year. UNC's team was described as "stronger than ever, although lighter than teams of former years," with spots of strength listed as the backs, ends, and center (The Press-Visitor, September 28th, 1895, p. 4). A&M's team was described as in "prime condition" and "good trim." The team weighed an average of 149 lbs. The "light" Chapel Hill team clocked in at roughly 164 lb (The Press-Visitor, October 11th, 1895, p. 1; News and Observer, October 13th, 1895, p. 1; News and Observer, October 12th, 1895, p. 5). Prominent Raleigh newpaper editor (and later infamous co-instigator of the Wilmington Massacre) Josephus Daniels, who rode from Raleigh to Chapel Hill, described the team as "a well behaved body of self-respecting young men, whose deportment reflected credit on the A. & M. College" (News and Observer, October 15th, 1895, p. 4). UNC was coached by first-year coach Thomas "Doggie" Trenchard, of Princeton.

The Agricultural and Mechanical boys left Raleigh for Chapel Hill on Friday night for the Saturday game, playing on UNC's University Day for the third straight year (The Press-Visitor, October 8th, 1895, p. 1). This year's University Day celebrations included a speech by Josephus Daniels, the inauguration of the electrification of UNC's campus, and the 3rd annual University Day match between UNC and A&M (News and Observer, October 12th, 1895, p. 3).

The game started at 4 PM. The Red and White opened the game with a 45-yard kickoff, which was caught by "Johnny" Moore, who returned it for 15 yards. Moore then ran for another 3 yards, followed by a 1-yard gain by Samuel Nicklin, a 5-yard gain by Moore, and then another 4 yards for Moore. In the following play, Nicklin lost a yard, but the difference was soon made up in the form of a 15 yard gain by Moore. Nicklin then got his first solid run of the day with a 12-yard run. Moore then took the ball the distance to score a touchdown, and Lawrence MacRae kicking the goal, making the score 0-6, UNC, after ten minutes of play (though the News and Observer reported that the first points of the game only took 5 minutes) (News and Observer, October 13th, 1895, p. 1; Daily Tar Heel, October 19th, 1895, p. 1).

A&M's David Clark then kicked the ball 35 yards, where it was caught by former A&M player Joel Whitaker, who passed the ball to Moore. The whole play resulted in a 25-yard gain by UNC. Nicklin then advanced the ball another 2 yards, but a foul by guard Harris Collier gave the ball to A&M for the first time all game. On their first play of the season, "The Jap," Sugishita, fumbled the ball but still managed to advance the ball 1 yard. Alexander was then able to gain for 3 yards, followed by a second 3-yard gain by Grier. Sugishita again carried the ball, this time for no gain. Grier then advanced the ball 4 more yards, but Alexander proved unable to gain any ground, and the ball was turned back over to UNC. Upon UNC getting the ball, Jenkins was called for being offsides, and UNC gained 10 yards for free. The very next play, UNC scored on a 67-yard run by Nicklin, though this time MacRae missed "an easy goal," leaving the score 0-10. The News and Observer reported that this drive took 8 minutes to complete. Nicklin's run was, for a brief moment, the 3rd longest recorded run in school history. It would finish the day as the school's 4th longest run (Barrier, p. 12).

On this drive, MacRae received the kickoff and gained 20 yards. Things turned a little brighter for A&M on this drive, with Moore only gaining half a yard on the first down of the drive, and the second down consisting of a "bad fumble" by Whitaker which resulted in a 6-yard loss. Though A&M possession seemed imminent, Moore gained 20 yards to gain a fresh set of downs; this was followed by 2 more yards by Collier and another 4 by Nicklin. Collier's second foul of the game returns the ball to A&M possession. "However, it takes only three downs to take it away." UNC started this drive with a 1-yard gain by Nicklin, with the second play being a 42-yard run by Collier that resulted in a touchdown; MacRae made his second kick of the day. The News and Observer reported that this drive took 5 minutes. The score now was 0-16.

To start the next UNC possession, Clark kicked the ball off 47 yards. MacRae immediately ran the ball back 17 of those yards. UNC scored on the next play on an 80-yard run (the longest of the game) by Nicklin; MacRae missed the goal. The score stood 0-20. This drive reportedly took one minute of playtime. I hate to rub salt in our own wounds here, but this run by Nicklin was impressive. Nicklin's dash was the second longest recorded run in Tar Heel history at the time (second to a heroic 95 yard run against Trinity [Duke] in 1891 by S. A. Ashe), and remained in that spot until 1905; to this day remains tied for 9th longest run in UNC history. It also made Nicklin the first Tar Heel to score 4 touchdowns in a single game; the feat was matched by Bob Wright the following year in the team's second game against Guilford, but Nicklin's feat remained unsurpassed in White and Blue football until 1970, when Don McCauley got 5 in a single game against Duke. As of 1937, though, Nicklin's 4 touchdowns certainly had the most yardage to bolster his fame; Nicklin's 4 trips across the goal line tallied about 229 yards, around 50 more than the next closest Tar Heel touchdown leader (Barrier, pp. 12, 67; UNC Media Guide, p. 165).

Clark again kicked off the ball for A&M, this time to Whitaker, who then passed the ball to Moore; the ball ended at the 33 yard line. Moore and Nicklin then carried the ball once each for no gain. The following play, UNC fumbled the ball but managed to maintain posession. By looking at the remainder of the drive it can be interpolated that UNC also lost 13 yards on the fumble. Despite UNC retaining the ball, a foul by William Daniel Merritt put the ball into A&M's hands for just the third time that day. To start the drive, Alexander "suprises the boys [of UNC]" by making a 10-yard gain, but unfortunately, "Gregory [got] under the crowd and [came] up with the ball" for UNC. In the dying seconds of the half, Moore and Nicklin both rush for 10 yards. According to the News and Observer, the ball ended on UNC's 30 yard line.

Between the halves, a few small changes were made. For A&M, Kendall came in to replace Sugishita, and Howard also subbed in for another player. MacRae opened the half for UNC by kicking the ball 40 yards, where it was caught by Kendall, who returned it for 15 yards. Kendall and Grier then both carried the ball for no gains, leaving Alexander to punt the ball away. Unfortunately, the punt traveled only 25 yards, landing around midfield; fortunately, Whitaker, who was returning the ball, was downed before he could make any progress. A&M's burst of luck was again short-lived, as Nicklin ran 57 yards for a touchdown on his third touchdown on a run of 55 or more yards of the game. MacRae made the goal, and the score stood at 0-26 in favor of UNC.

Clark, seemingly the busiest player on A&M's team, again kicked the ball off, this time booting the ball 30 yards. Robert Steele caught the ball for UNC and advanced the ball 15 yards. Moore and Nicklin again split a pair of 10-yard gains, and an offsides penalty on A&M advanced the ball another 10 yards, to A&M's 35 yard line. Collier made a gain of an unspecified length, followed by Nicklin getting stopped for no gain. Collier then "redeems himself" by gaining another 10 yards for UNC. Whitaker then made his second fumble of the day, but his teammates again bailed him out, this time with Steele recovering the ball. Nicklin then ran for 2 yards, and then another 25 for a touchdown. MacRae again missed the goal after touchdown. The score was 0-30 in favor of UNC.

Clark again kicked the ball off to UNC, this time kicking 48 yards. Moore returned the kick 24 yards. On the next play, Collier "gets off badly" for a loss of 7 yards, but Moore made up the difference by gaining 20 the next play. Nicklin then ran twice for no gain. After that, Collier, Moore, and Nicklin advanced the ball up the field with small gains. UNC's Thomas Hurley then got the ball for the first time in the game, and gained 5 yards. Nicklin and Moore then each carried the ball for no gain, but a 14-yard run by Nicklin and a 20-yard touchdown by Collier made the score 0-34; the goal kick was successfully made, probably by MacRae, and NC A&M was now down 0-36. On the conclusion of the drive, George Stephens was subbed in for Nicklin.

This time, Alexander kicked off the ball for the Red and White. MacRae caught the ball and passed it to Stephens, who gained 25 yards. Stephens then carried the ball for no gain and fouled A&M, resulting in a change of possession. A&M continued to underwhelm on offense: Howard immediately fumbled the ball for a loss of 3 yards, followed by runs of no gain by Alexander and Wootten, returning the ball to UNC. Fortunately, A&M made their first stop of the day, holding Stephens, Collier, and Moore under the 5 yards needed to make a new set of downs. A&M opted to kick the ball, kicking the ball 25 yards. The end of the game got very sloppy for both teams: Stephens fumbled the ball, with Wootten falling on it for A&M; Wootten and Alexander failed to advance the ball, so the ball is kicked off, and Whitaker caught the ball; the ball was then again fumbled. Though it isn't completely clear who fumbled the ball or how, it seems most likely to me that Whitaker fumbled the ball for the third time that day while catching the kick. Wootten again recovered the ball for A&M, but Wright proved unable to gain, so Alexander kicked the ball off. Whitaker "broke up" the kick and fell on the ball, giving UNC much better field position than they would have had had they fielded the punt. Moore carried the ball for no gain and then fumbled the ball, with Howard recovering the fumble for A&M. Unfortunately, Howard himself immediately fumbled the ball. On the final play of the game, Grier carried the ball for no gain. The game ended 0-36 in favor of UNC.

Despite the comedy of errors that ended the game, the game was described as a "creditable game" by the News and Observer for both teams. UNC clearly dominated the ball on both offense and defense. UNC's offense was explosive: The shortest UNC touchdown came from a 14-yard run, with none of the other 6 touchdowns measuring under 25 yards. However, their talent on making plays hid some sloppiness in their playing. Obscured by the success of 7 touchdowns were UNC's 8 total turnovers and 6 fumbles, 3 of which resulted in turnovers. Of all of UNC's turnovers, 5 of them came on the final series of plays, with all 3 of the 3 turnovers that resulted in fumbles taking place then. A&M, on the other hand, only turned over the ball 3 times; once from a turnover on downs, once by fouling UNC, and once on one of their two fumbles. UNC's student newspaper contained a writeup criticizing each of their players' actions in the game. Speaking of the game in general, The Tar Heel said the following: "Owing to the peculiar style of defensive play of the A. and M. team, the men seemed to be at a loss as to who should take the extra men." The paper was also critical of several of UNC's players for initiating interference too close to the line (thus allowing runners to get around them more easily), tackling too high, and following the ball poorly. Perhaps the most critical comments were given to Stephens, who was described curtly: "Stevens [sic] fumbles too much, [and] did not know signals well."

The referee for the game was a Mr. Webb, and the umpire a Mr. Baskerville. Mr. Webb was William Robert Webb, of Bell Buckle, Tennessee. A member of the class of 1896, Webb was highly active at UNC, having taught, edited the Tar Heel, University Magazine (a bimonthly magazine published by UNC's Philanthropic and Dialectical Societies) and the Hellenian, in addition to managing the Mandolin and Banjo Club, singing in the Glee Club, ruling the Gimghoul secret society, and working as class secretry and treasurer, among other accolades. More importantly to his experience as a referee, however, was his experience in 1894 as captain of UNC's second football team and quarterback and captain of the class of 1896 team for intracollegiate games (The Hellenian, 1895, p. 100; The Hellenian, 1896, p. 35). The Mr. Baskerville was Charles Baskerville, captain and fullback of UNC's 1894 football team. In the 1894-1895 schoolyear, Baskerville had been finishing his post-graduate work in chemistry, and in 1895 he worked as the Assistant Professor of Chemistry (The Hellenian, 1895, p. 98; The Hellenian, 1896, p. 58). Though no official estimate of attendance was put out, the game was reportedly witnessed by "a large company" (News and Observer, October 15th, 1895, p. 4).

Some readers may notice that UNC's playing included a great deal of passes. All of these passes were almost certainly lateral passes, as the forward pass would not become legal until 1906. In general, passing was considered a type of trick play. In their third game of the 1895 season, UNC would go on to play Georgia in Atlanta. Purportedly, Whitaker threw what some claim was the first forward pass to Stephens out of desperation as he was getting tackled; though the play was still illegal, the play stood, as the referee claimed he did not see the pass. UNC would go on to win the game 6-0.

In hindsight, the loss to UNC was understandable; UNC's 1895 football team was selected as one of the school's top 6 best football teams of all time in 1936 (Barrier, p. 14).