10/26/1900 - Virginia Tech

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In 1899, The North Carolina State Fair featured their first football game in 6 years in a matchup between the William Bingham School and A&M. The game was reportedly very popular, drawing a crowd of 5,000 spectators to the 18-0 Red and White victory. Hoping to build on that success, the 1900 State Fair made arrangements for the game well in advance of the late-October date of the fair, with a marquee matchup featuring the Virginia Tech (VT) team of Blacksburg (The (Raleigh) Morning Post, September 27th, 1900, p. 5). Both teams were similar in terms of football, with both being the metaphorical little brother to their larger, more powerful state schools, and both had played primarily local schools aside from a few key matchups.

VT's 1899 football team went 4-1, defeating mostly smaller local schools and losing to Virginia. The 1900 team to this point in the season had gone 2-0, defeating the local St. Alban's Lutheran School twice by a combined score of 39-6. A&M's team, on the other hand, had split two games, having lost a close game to Guilford and won a contested victory against Oak Ridge.

The game was announced on September 27th, organized by Perrin Busbee, former A&M coach. Several papers at the time focused on the fact that this game would be "bringing together for the first time the industrial colleges of Virginia and North Carolina." VT was advertised as "the strongest football team in Virginia, excepting the University of Virginia." A&M's team had been described as "very strong" following their victory over Oak Ridge, but reportedly lacked cohesion in previous games.


A photo of Virginia Tech's team from The Bugle (1901), p. 147

The game was played on Friday, October 26th, which that year at the Fair was Children's Day. Reportedly, over 5,000 kids from in and around the city were given a holiday to attend the fair on that day. The game was played free of charge. In addition to the football game, the Fair featured two other never-before-seen attractions: the first "contest between automobiles" in the state of North Carolina, and electric lights, which allowed the fair to be open into the night for the first time ever (The (Raleigh) Morning Post, October 21st, 1900, p. 1; The Visitor-Times, October 20th, 1900, p. 1).

The football game, which was the first of the season played in Raleigh, was somewhat of a disappointment to the Raleigh rooters, who watched their team get defeated 2-18 by the Virginians. It was reportedly "evident from the start" that A&M was "no match for their Virginia opponents." The Virginians were not only about 16 pounds heavier than the Raleigh boys, but also "in better form and training." One Virginia-based paper wrote "The home team lacked training, and the visitors showed much hard work" (News and Observer, October 27th, 1900, p. 5; The Richmond Dispatch, October 27th, 1900, p. 4). Despite their disappointment, "The football contest even eclipsed in point of interest contests of speed between fast horses," the horse races having been historically the most popular events of the State Fair (The (Raleigh) Morning Post, October 27th, 1900, p. 5; Sumner, pp. 141-142).


Roster

A&M VT
McKinnon RE Carpenter
Wright RT Cox
Gardner RG Abbott
Grimsley C Steele
Bowden LG Carper
Turner LT Baird
McCanless LE Jewel
Worth QB DeCamps
Welch RHB Ingles
Lougee (Capt.) LHB Huffard (Capt.)
Dalton FB McCormick
Wootten SUB Councilman
Thompson SUB Moffitt
Davis SUB Beverley
Liles SUB
Carpenter SUB

Source


Period Time Description NCSU VT
1st 15 VT - Carpenter - ~15 yd Run (Carpenter kick) 4 plays, ~40 yards, TOP unk 0 6
1st 3 VT - Huffard - unk yd Run (Carpenter kick) unk plays, 65 yards, TOP unk 0 12
1st unk NCSU - McKinnon - unk yd Safety - 0 plays, unk yards, TOP unk 2 12
2nd 5 VT - Cox - ~12 yd Run (Carpenter kick) 6 plays, 44 yards, TOP unk 2 18

NCSU Opponent
Rushing TDs none Carpenter (1), Cox (1), Huffard (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 Carpenter (3/3)
2PT: N/A/ prior to 1958 N/A/ prior to 1958
FGs none none
Safety: McKinnon (1) none
Game Notes:
Kick Off Time: 3:15 PM - 10/26/1900 - Virginia Tech
Length: 40 (min / min) - Duration: unk
Attendance: 5,000-10,000
Location: Fair Grounds - Raleigh, NC
Temperature: ???
Weather: clear
Wind: ???

Like the State Fair match of the previous year, the weather was again described as "pleasant for the spectators" but too warm for "snappy playing." VT won the coin toss and decided to defend the southern goal. The Blacksburg team kicked off 45 yards to the A&M 10 yard line, where it was caught by Dalton and returned 30 yards. Unable to gain the first down, the ball was turned over to VT, who gained 10 yards in three plays followed by a free 10 yards for an off-sides play by A&M. After under 5 minutes of play, VT made the first touchdown of the game, a roughly 20 yard run by Carpenter. Carpenter also kicked the goal, putting the Virginians up 6-0.

A&M kicked the ball 40 yards to start VT's second possession. The Maroon and Orange broke free with a big 15 yard run, but then fumbled the ball a few plays later. The Farmers recovered the ball, and after a 1-1/2 yard run by Welch, had Dalton punt the ball away 25 yards, where it was returned by VT. Lougee tackled the returner after just 5 yards, making a "pretty tackle" at the 15 yard line to stop the play. After gaining 20 yards, future North Carolina governor O. Max Gardner broke through the Virginians' line and tackled for a loss of 3 yards. After the tackle for a loss, VT got a new set of downs before Gardner again broke through the line and tackled the ball carrier for a loss. After a few runs for virtually no gain, VT again fumbled the ball to the Farmers. Unfortunately, VT soon got the ball back after A&M had gained just 2 yards. After making a series of steady gains, Huffard ran the ball across the goal line. Carpenter again kicked the goal and that put the Virginians up 12-0 after 17 minutes of play.

A&M kicked off again, this time kicking just 25 yards, where Jewel for VT made "a pretty catch" and a 20-yard run. On the first down of that drive, Gardner again broke through the VT line and made a tackle to cause a 5-yard loss; this set A&M up to get the ball on downs. Upon getting the ball, Lougee ran for 7 yards, followed by another two runs for 5 yards by Dalton and Welch. However, after getting to the third and final down and having failed to reach the required 5 yards, Dalton punted the ball away. The Maroon and Orange caught the ball near their own goal line, where McKinnon made "an excellent flying tackle, throwing his man over the line for a safety" to make the score 12-2. The second half started shortly thereafter.

To start the second half, A&M kicked off 30 yards to the VT 25. Carpenter ran the ball back 20 yards with "pretty dodging" to put the Virginians on their own 45 yard line. The Red and White held the VT team to just 2 yards on 3 downs, including 2 straight plays with no gain, giving A&M the ball at about the VT 47 yard line. After making just under 20 yards of gain by Lougee, Dalton, and Welch, the Farmers were stopped, and the ball turned over to the VT team. Upon getting the ball back, Huffard made a long 20-yard run, followed by another 10 yards of gains for VT, stopped by an "excellent" tackle by Welch. Then, Ingles broke free for a 15 yards run. After losing two yards by an A&M tackle, on third down Ingles gained the exactly 6 yards needed to save the drive, setting up another 20 yards of VT gains. The Maroon and Orange again fumbled the ball, and Lougee landed on it. Dalton instantly punted the ball 40 yards downfield, where VT caught it and returned it 10 yards, Welch making "a hard and sure tackle" to stop the run. After gaining 10 yards, the Virginians fumbled the ball yet again, but this time landed on it. After gaining another 22 yards, Cox ran the ball the remaining distance to cross the goal line for VT. Carpenter kicked his third successful goal of the day, and the Virginians scored the final point of the day in their 18-2 victory. 15 minutes of play remain.

But the game was not over quite yet. A&M kicked off 40 yards, where Carpenter caught it and ran the ball to the VT 35 yard line with a "fine tackle and a clever run." After gaining 8 more yards, Carpenter fumbled the ball for VT's fifth fumble of the day, but recovered it and turned the play into a 10 yard gain. After holding VT to no gain on first down, Dalton broke through the VT line and tackled VT for a loss of 3 yards. After failing to convert the ball on 3rd down, the ball went back to the Farmers for the final time of the game. After gaining just 1 yard in their first two downs, Dalton kicked the ball 40 yards. VT advanced the ball about 20 yards before time was called.

A summary of the game wrote that the features of the game were Lougee, Gardner, Welch, and McKinnon's tackling and Dalton's punting for the Red and White, while Huffard and Carpenter were said to have done the best work for VT by their running. The game was played in two 20-minute halves (The (Raleigh) Morning Post, October 27th, 1900, p. 5).

Last updated: 6/4/2024