Return to the 1901 season page

The Farmers opened their 1901 football season hoping to build on some of the momentum they had closed their 1900 season with. Joel Whitaker, who had long been associated with A&M football and had coached the team the previous year, stepped back some but agreed to coach the "scrub" team, while "One of the best coaches of the South" was found to coach the main team (The (Raleigh) Morning Post, September 18th, 1900, p. 5). McRae had played for the University of Nashville from 1895-1897, and was a featured running back for North Carolina from 1898-1900, being selected to the All-Southern team in 1898 for his work.

Guilford, on the other hand, lost much of their momentum after the 1900 football season. Following a phenomenal 4-2 football season by the Quakers, the Crimson and Gray lost much of their team. Guilford lost all of their previous year's players save three; one of the main eleven to not return was Daniels, who had been elected captain at the end of the previous season. Guilford's Collegian predicted gloomily, "To make a winning team out of a lot of material that is largely new requires time, and more time than a first month," lamenting that it had been "impossible" to construct a schedule that did not feature numerous October games. Still, there were "promising men" from the subs of the previous year's team, and the hope that "after the first game or two" the team would "do as good work as last years aggregation" (The Guilford Collegian, Vol. XIV, No. 1 (October 1901), pp. 25-26).

Such was not the case for the Quakers. The team, led by Captain C. M. Short and managed by M. Hardin and F. A. Cameron, lost their two games leading up to the A&M game. Their first game, played at Davidson on October 4th, was lost by a score of 24-0 in a game where Guilford's team was described as "plucky but outclassed" (News and Observer, October 5th, 1901, p. 5). The next day, Guilford got obliterated at the hands of Clemson by a score reported to be 116-0 in Guilford's Collegian but reported elsewhere as 122-0. To explain their massive defeat, Guilford explained that they played the game "without any rest or sleep" on the day immediately following their loss to Davidson. After the Clemson game, "quite a number of players were found unfit for duty and practically out of the game for the rest of the season" The Guilford Collegian, Vol. XIV, No. 2 (November 1901), pp. 57-58).

It should also be noted that football as a sport was gaining a rather negative association at Guilford. After a fight broke out at the Guilford vs Oak Ridge Thanksgiving Day matchup in 1900, the two teams ceased athletic relations, writing "It has been repeatedly shown in our athletic contests with Oak Ridge Institute it has been impossible for the games to have the same pleasant termination which have ever characterized our contests with other institutions." While mentioning that additional events like the fight "cannot fail to bring the game of football into public disrepute," the Athletic Association of Guilford College voted to terminate the games after having attempted "all that could reasonably be expected of us toward making these contests pleasant for all parties" (News and Observer, January 19th, 1901, p. 2). The terrible season and the rash of injuries the Quakers were experiencing did not help the school's impression of the sport.

Despite the colossal losses faced by the Guilford team, they still had a chance at redemption. In 1900 they had twice defeated the Red and White by a combined score of 16-5. The first time the two teams met was on the newly-constructed Central Carolina Fair Grounds, and in 1901 the teams met again for the Fair's second anniversary. Though like many fairs of the time the horse races were the main feature of the fair, an "interesting game" was expected to be the feature of that Wednesday's events, and possibly even one of the main events of the fair. "The only thing that will give Thursday an advantage over the other days will be the slow mule race, but the football game of Wednesday will rival it" (The Greensboro Patriot, October 2nd, 1901, p. 5; News and Observer, October 6th, 1901, p. 1).

Unfortunately, not many details of the game survive. The Collegian, which had previously given excellent summaries of Guilford's football games, appears to have shifted to be primarily a literary magazine, and did not give detailed summaries of their season's football games in 1901. Despite the dearth of information known, we do know some about the game: the 6 points Guilford scored in the game (their first points of the season) were made as the result of what Guilford themselves described as "a fluke" (The Guilford Collegian, Vol. XIV, No. 2 (November 1901), p. 57).

Reports of the game that do survive differ somewhat in their description of the game. The Raleigh reporters wrote that "The team from Raleigh made a strong showing, giving evidence of careful training, strength and skill." The Greensboro papers, on the other hand, wrote "Several hundred people witnessed a game of football between the teams of Guilford College and the Agricultural and Mechanical College, Raleigh, at the fair grounds last Wednesday afternoon. The latter team won by a score of 21 to 6. There were no features to mark the game as a specially fine or interesting one" (News and Observer, October 10th, 1901, p. 1; The Greensboro Patriot, October 16th, 1901, p. 12).

Despite the poor quality of the game, the fair went off well for Greensboro. The weather was wonderful, as "the most propitious weather that could have been desired" pervaded, and "the pleasantness of Indian summer continued throughout the four days of the fair," drawing a large number of people out to enjoy the nice weather. Huge crowds, upwards of 5,000, reportedly witnessed the horse races and the other attractions at the fair (The Greensboro Patriot, October 16th, 1901, p. 3).

Back in Raleigh, the students were elated. "The news [of the A&M victory over Guilford] occaisioned much rejoicing at the college last night, and a celebration followed in which the student body participated. The din of tin horns and glowing bonfires sent the glad news far and near. The boys were given an hour's cesation from the usual grind and discipline of military life to enjoy the victory, which they proceeded to do in the most approved fashion" (News and Observer, October 11th, 1901, p. 5).