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Since A&M first met Davidson in 1899, the Presbyterian team had been one of the stronger teams in the state of North Carolina. The first time the teams met, they ended the day with a tie score of 0-0, and Davidson finished the season with a 1-3-1 record. The following year, the Red and Black picked up J. A. Brewin as a head coach; they went on to defeat the Farmers 17-0 on their way to a 4-1 record, losing only to Clemson. J. A. Brewin had returned to coach Davidson in 1901, and up to that point in the season the Presbyterians' season had gone much like their 1901 season. Davidson opened their play in early October against Guilford, winning 24-0, before defeating the North Carolina Military Institute of Charlotte 23-0. Later in October the Presbyterians took on UNC and lost narrowly with a score of 0-6, and four days later Davidson defeated South Carolina 12-5 in Charlotte. Their last game of the year before this Thanksgiving-day matchup was a 16-6 win over Georgia on November 16th.

Davidson was coming in to the game hot, with a 4-1 record against a schedule that consisted almost entirely of true college teams; A&M, on the other hand, came in to the game 3-2, having played a fairly close game against an (admittedly strong) Oak Ridge team. However, A&M had some positive momentum as well: in addition to having just steam-rolled over Guilford, and a number of good players coming in to their own with great playing.

The Farmers did, however, have a leg up over Davidson for a second reason: as Joel Whitaker, long-time A&M football faithful and former player, explained it:

I went up to the University [of North Carolina] to work with the ends and backs the last week before the [UNC] game with Virginia on Thanksgiving Day, and realizing the posibilities and power of the tackle back formation as Coach Jenkins was working it, I brought the play to A. and M., and by consent of Jas. McRae, the A. & M. coach, changed the who offensive style of play Monday before Thanksgiving.

The tackle back formation, as Dr. Whitaker explained, was essentially brand-new to football. Whitaker learned the play from UNC's coach, Charles O. Jenkins, who himself had learned the play from Yale's coach, Gordon Brown, who had only recently come up with the play. The tackle back play was essentially an early version of a pulling play where one or more of the linemen would leave their spot on the line to help push the runner forward (The Red and White, Vol. IX, No. 4 (December 1907), p. 157).

Local newspapers and the Red and White of 1901 corroborated Whitaker's story. The Red and White wrote "The members of the team and the whole student-body wish to thank Dr. Whitaker for his able coaching just before the Thanksgiving game, which won the game for us." The News and Observer wrote that "The tackle back formation was used by the A. and M. almost entirely and the visitors were unable to meet it" (Red and White, Vol. III, No. 2 (December 1901), p. 7; News and Observer, November 29th, 1901, p. 5).

Davidson's team, while strong, had faced some injuries. One of their players, a Mr. Kimson, broke his collar bone earlier in the year against South Carolina (The Alamance Gleaner, November 14th, 1901, p. 4). Despite the injury, Davidson's team had nearly two weeks off of playing before their game against A&M and was described as "one of the strongest teams in the South" by Raleigh papers. The team left for Raleigh on the morning of the 27th. While in Raleigh, the Presbyterians were invited to a reception at Peace Institute (now William Peace University), a womens' college in Raleigh located not far from A&M. The women of Peace were reportedly at the game, though it wasn't recorded which side they cheered for, or whether the reception had any impact on their presence (Daily Charlotte Observer, November 27th, 1901, p. 3; News and Observer, November 27th, 1901, p. 8; The (Raleigh) Morning Post, November 28th, 1901, p. 8).

The weather for the game was again described as cold, with a "sharp, biting wind." Most of the spectators had expected A&M to lose. As the News and Observer wrote, "there were a few of the ardent followers of the great college game offering wagers that A. and M. would not score." The Morning Post dramatically wrote "the A. and M. boys... went into the game believing they were going against sure defeat." The Farmers outweighed their opponents by 10 pounds per man, but the differences in scores spelled disaster for the Raleigh boys.

The first of the two twenty five minute halves started with Davidson, who won the toss, kicking the ball off 40 yards to A&M. Richardson advanced the kick 10 yards, and then carried the ball two more yards. Welch, Richardson, Turner, and Seifert each carried the ball once or more to bring the ball 34 yards in six carries before Welch went on a 20-yard dash to leave the ball at around Davidson's 25 yard line. Welch and Richardson split the remaining distance in 4 carries, with Richardson bringing the ball across the line. To celebrate the touchdown, "the cadets and their freinds... made enough noise to rout a steam calliope." Turner missed the goal, and after 5 minutes and 40 seconds of play, the score was 5-0 in favor of the Farmers.

Davidson's McLeod kicked the ball 35 yards, where Richardson caught the ball and returned it for 10-15 yards. After that, reports of the drive differ slightly. The Morning Post wrote that Welch at first failed to make any gain, but then Richardson picked up 7 yards, followed by two yards by Turner. The News and Observer instead wrote that "failure to start off promptly in a play by Richardson lost two yards," but the loss was nullified by a 5 yard gain from McKimmon, followed by three runs for 8 total yards by Turner. After that, both papers go back to agreeing again, with Gardner carrying the ball for 4 yards, though the News and Observer wrote that he dropped it first. After that, Turner broke away with a 10-15 yard run, followed by a 5 yard gain by Welch. Aside from a gainless carry by Seifert and a 10 yard run by Welch, the rest of the 10 yards to the goal was gained in short bursts Richardson and Turner until the goal was made. The Morning Post reported that Welch made the touchdown, while the News and Observer reported that Richardson carried the ball. Turner missed his second goal, and the score was 10-0 in favor of the Red and White after another 7 minutes and 30 seconds of play.

Davidson kicked the ball away again, the kick again going for 35 yards. The kick was caught by either McKinnon or Welch; either way, the returner gained 4-5 yards. From there, Richardson carried the ball for between no gain and 1/2 a yard, Welch gained 5 yards. After that, reports again differ on what exactly happened, with the Morning Post claiming that Gardner "jumps center" for 4 yards, followed by Welch making a short gain and then a 4-1/2 yard gain by Richardson, followed by 9 yards of gain by Richardson and Turner over the course of three carries. The News and Observer, on the other hand, says that Gardner fumbled the ball but that Welch fell on the ball before it could be taken by Davidson, followed by "several four and five yard gains through the line." Finally, Welch circled the left end of the line to make a 20 yard run, "warding interference nicely." At that point, Mann, Davidson's starting center, was injured and had to be removed from the game, replaced by W. B. Johnson (Charlotte Daily Observer, November 29th, 1901, p. 1). Reports again vary on exactly what happened after that. The Morning Post wrote that after the 20 yard run, Gardner, Welch, Richardson, and Turner combined for 14 yards over 4 carries before Seifert fumbled the ball, while the News and Observer reported that, after "several short gains," Wooten fumbled the ball, but "A. and M. had more good luck and Richardson captured the pig skin." From there, both papers again unite in the telling of the story and write that Welch, Gardner, and Richardson took the ball the remainder of the distance in a series of mostly-5-yard runs until Gardner crossed the goal line. Turner missed the goal a third time to make the score 15-0 in favor of the Raleigh boys with very little time left to play. The time reported by the Morning Post was 11 minutes and 20 seconds, while the News and Observer reported a time of play of "4:5." [sic]. Given the fact that the only remaining recorded events of the first half were a 50 yard kick to Richardson and his 23-yard return before the half ended, and the fact that 11 minutes and 20 seconds adds up with the other times to make 24 minutes and 30 seconds (leaving just half a minute of playing time left in the first half) in additoin to the obvious typo, the Morning Post's recorded time is almost certainly the right one.

A&M started the second half with the ball, kicking off 25 yards to McLeod of Davidson, who advanced the ball two yards. The Presbyterians' first two carries of the game went poorly: McLeod fumbled the ball on the first one, and then ran for no gain on the second carry. On third down, Wyman gained two yards, but that was not enough to earn a new set of downs, and the Farmers got the ball back. After that, "The A. and M. eleven then started off like a whirlwind." Welch started the drive with an 8 yard gain, followed by a 2-4 run by Gardner and then another 8 yard gain by Welch. After that, Darden got the ball, but A&M lost 10 yards for being offsides. The loss was soon gained back, though, as Welch ran for 5-7 yards, followed by a 10 yard pick up by Gardner and five yard gain by Turner. After that, Darden got a run of either 3 or 12 yards, and Turner took the ball the last few yards to the goal line. Reports disagree as to whether Turner finally redeemed himself or Asbury kicked the goal, but either way the Red and White kicked their first goal and the score stood 21-0 after 6 minutes of play.

Following A&M's fourth touchdown of the game, Davidson kicked off a 35 yard boot. Darden made a 5 yard run, and then, for the first time all day, the Red and Black of Davidson made a stop. Welch and Darden combined for just 4 yards on 3 downs, and, being 1 yard short of the first down, gave the ball over to the Presbyterians. As the News and Observer put it, "for the first time during the contest the Presbyterians stirred themselves." McLeod made a 4 yard gain, followed by a 0 to 1/2 a yard gain by Wyman. Then, the Farmers got yet another offsides penalty, giving the Red and Black a free 10 yards. Capitalizing on the Red and White's mistake, Rowe gained 7 yards, and Fitzpatrick finally carried the ball in for the touchdown that had long eluded the Davidson boys. Wyman successfully made the kick, and after four 4 more minutes of play, the score stood 21-6.

A&M kicked the ball off for just the second time that day, kicking the ball to Fitzpatrick, who promptly lost 7 yards. Wyman managed to gain one of those yards back, but Davidson realized their time would be best spent moving the ball further away from their goal, and Fitzpatrick kicked the ball 30 yards downfield; the ball was caught by Welch, who gained 7 yards. After that, though, Seifer kicked the ball away 30 yards. Davidson, after failing to gain on the first run, gained 7 yards via Caldwell, followed by 3-1/2 by Wyman and Rowe, and then 10 yards by A&M again being ruled offsides. Davidson then gained a little more ground, but then lost it and turned the ball over on downs to A&M. The Farmers got the ball and made 46 yards by Welch, Gardner, and Turner in 5 plays, with a 25-yard run by Turner highlighting the drive. It is probably at this point that Caldwell, Davidson's captain, was removed from the game for slugging, though it was not clearly specified in any of the game summaries. The News and Observer wrote the following: "The most sensational feature [of the game] was the disqualification of Capt. Caldwell of the visitors, who was charged with slugging, but in justice to that young man he denies the accusation. Darden, of the A. and M., held Capt. Caldwell and he drew back as if to hit him, so he says. The umpire paralyzed Darden's action in holding Crawford [sic] by giving the ball over to Davidson." The Red and White did not believe that Caldwell's feign to slug was a mistake, writing "Only one thing marred the pleasure of the game and that was the slight show of temper by Captain Caldwell of the Davidson team, who attempted to slug. This was very uncalled for by a man of Captain Caldwell's experience as a player. He was promptly put out of the game, as he should have been" (Red and White, Vol. III, No. 2 (December 1901), p. 7). This situation explains why Davidson got the ball here, an event otherwise left unexplained in the Morning Post's summary of the drive.

Davidson got the ball, but Welch promptly "carries [Davidson's] player back seven yards" on their first run. An unnamed Davidson player gained 2 yards, but the team then decided to kick the ball away 25 yards. After that, the Red and White finally built up the momentum to make the game-winning run. After a few short runs, a long run was made to put the ball as close as 7 yards to Davidson's goal. The Morning Post claimed that Seifert made a 30 yard run, while the News and Observer wrote that Wooten made a 35 yard run. Dr. Joel Whitaker, in the Charlotte Observer, agreed that the run was made by Wooten, but wrote that it was a 50 yard run (Charlotte Daily Observer, November 29th, 1901, p. 1). Gardner carried the ball the final few yards, and Asbury made the final goal. After a 14 minute and 40 second drive, the game was called The (Raleigh) Morning Post, November 29th, 1901, p. 5; News and Observer, November 29th, 1901, p. 5).

The game, which secured A&M the title of second place in the state (behind UNC) was played before a crowd of just 600 people. The coldness of the day was blamed for the small size of the crowd, in addition to the fact that the Trinity-Wake Forest debate had been postponed. The debate, which had taken place in Raleigh on Thanksgiving annually since 1897 (and was organized in direct opposition to the violence of football), helped draw students from Durham and Wake Forest (both schools who had suspended their football programs in the 1890s) to Raleigh to cheer on their respective schools at the debate and then cheer on their collegiate neighbors on the gridiron, was delayed after two of Trinity's debaters reacted negatively to a small pox vaccine that had been administered to all Trinity students earlier that year to help check the spread of the disease on their campus (News and Observer, November 27th, 1901, p. 1).

Despite the crushing win by the Red and White, the game was described as "practically devoid of sensational plays" by Raleigh papers. For the Farmers, the work of Welsh, Richardson, and Turner was congratulated, while Dr. Whitaker congratulated Welsh in particular, writing "Welsh... was the star of the field and the success of the A. and M. team was due more to his individual play than anything else." All sources unanimously agreed that the Red and Black's star was Fitzpatrick, with Whitaker saying "For Davidson Fitzpatrick's kicking was the one redeeming feature," adding that "his punting will equal that of any man in North Carolina to-day."