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  * Non-conference games

1901 was considered by many to be the best football season at A&M the school had ever had. The Red and White summarized the season by saying "this year's team is, by far, the best that ever represented the College" (Red and White, Vol. III, No. 2 (December 1901), p. 7). Indeed, the team had a great deal of success, winning every game except those against North Carolina, who was traditionally a powerhouse in the early 1900s.

A&M's rebound from 2-6 to 4-2 was something of a surprise, completely turning around their football program in just one season. Part of this can be attributed to the atrophy of Guilford's team. In 1900, Guilford beat A&M twice, while in 1901 Guilford's team went winless, losing to a local high school and UNC's scrub team, among others. But, A&M's team did also improve, especially before their Thanksgiving-day game against a tough Davidson team.

The Farmers retained many of their best players from the 1900 season, including O. Max Gardner, Welsh, Turner, and Wooten, among others, to form a team that was "considerably heavier and stronger than the one the year before" (Red and White, Vol. IX No. 4 (December 1907), p. 157). To add to a healthy supply of strong players from the previous year (in addition to more player to choose from as the college grew at a steady rate), the team's coaching improved. Former A&M player and local ophthalmologist Dr. Joel Whitaker, who had coached the team the previous year, was replaced as head coach by James McRae, a former UNC player and member of the 1898 All-Southern team. McRae played on Chapel Hill's team in 1900 and helped organize and play for the Fayetteville Athletic Association team in 1900, but had never coached before. Despite that, his skill as a coach, and the continued assistance of Joel Whitaker despite his demotion to assistant of the second team, helped propel the team forward.

Early reports of A&M's football season were typically optimistic. "The A. and M. College is going to turn out the team of the season this year," with "Abundant material of the best type... on hand" for the team to build with. In addition to having the right material, the students of the school were behind the team: "The student body seems determined to have a first-class team, one that can compete successfully with any college in the South," and even grew favorable comment from Chapel Hill's former coach, Reynolds (The (Raleigh) Morning Post, September 18th, 1901, p. 5; News and Observer, September 18th, 1901, p. 5).

A&M's season started off strong with two consecutive days of games, defeating early rival Guilford 21-6 and then beating an Oak Ridge team that would go on to be arguably the most dominant "prep school" team in the state. To celebrate their victory, the students of the college took to the streets, creating bonfires and generally creating a ruckus, though doing so "in the most approved fashion." When the team arrived back on campus, they were greeted by the newly-formed college band and most of the student body.

Despite the auspicious start to the season, the reality of UNC's early dominance in football was unavoidable, and A&M lost two straight games to them by 30 or more points after winning their two openers. Though newspaper reports indicated that the team had planned to play a game for the state fair and travel to Blacksburg to face Virginia Polytechnic Institute between their two games against the boys from Chapel Hill, those games appear to have never materialized. Though this is purely speculation, I suspect they were canceled so the team could focus on training better before going out to play more football.

Coming in to the final game of the year, most football fans assumed that the Farmers were going to lose to Davidson. The Presbyterians' football team had been one of the stronger teams in the state for the last few years, and only barely lost to UNC by a score of 0-6 earlier this season. But the Farmers had a trick up their sleeve: under the guidance of Joel Whitaker the team changed their entire offensive game plan less than a week before Thanksgiving. Heading in to the game, a newspaper called the 1901 team A&M's most successful football team since their 1898 team, though they likely meant to refer to the 1899 team which had tied UNC (News and Observer, November 12th, 1901, p. 2). The change was a smashing success, with the Red and White dominating the Red and Black for nearly the entire game.

Sadly, the Farmers did not get much of a chance to revel in their victory; Watauga Hall, which had housed the mess hall and some dormitories, burned down. Completed less than five years ago in the Spring of 1896, the losses were estimated to be about $15,000 (just hunder half a million dollars in 2019), including furniture, clothes of the students, supplies, and the building itself (News and Observer, March 20th, 1896, p. 5; The (Raleigh) Morning Post, November 30th, 1901, p. 2). Though the exact cause of the fire was unknown, it originated in the kitchen and was discovered around 11 PM by Robert R. King, who had been preparing to "play an innocent joke on a fellow student" with P. H. Poindexter when the boys noticed the fire and woke up the remainder of the building. Aided by a strong breeze blowing from the west-south-west direction and the fact that the interior of the building was made of pine wood, the entire building was on fire within just 30 minutes. The flames were so intense that "great tongues of fire almost lapped" the 75-foot distance from Watauga Hall to the nearby Infirmary. The Cadets formed a bucket brigade while waiting for the firetruck to come; when the truck finally arrived (around midnight), the roof of Watauga Hall was already falling in. Almost all of the approximately 60 students who lived within the building lost most all of their personal effects, and were allowed to return home early for the holidays by President Winston; about 50 of the students chose to take Winston up on the offer (The Red and White, Vol. III, No. 2 (Dec. 1901), pp. 4-6).