Return to the 1902 season page

The Red and White had not lost their last 3 straight games, going 2-0-1 with a cumulative score of 34-5. Davidson, on the other hand, under leadership of J. A. Brewin, who had coached the Red and Black since they first got a coach in 1899, after two seasons of playing, was having a bit of a down year. After going 1-3-1 in 1899, the Presbyterians improved to 4-1 in 1900 and 4-2 in 1901, losing only to North Carolina (twice) and A&M after 1899. Though normally one of the best teams in the state, their team's luck slackened in 1903, and going in to the game in Greensboro, Davidson had a 3-4 record. They opened their season on October 1st with a 28-5 win over Oak Ridge, but then dropped their next two, losing 6-0 to Furman and 27-0 to UNC. Their next game they pick up a 16-6 win over the Robert Bingham School (of Asheville, NC), but then lost to powerhouse Virginia 34-0. In a trip to Georgia, Davidson played two games in two days in Georgia, beating Georgia Tech 5-7 but losing to Georgia 27-0.

The A&M boys came in to the Davidson game riding the high of their tie against UNC, and fully expected a win, especially given the fact that Chapel Hill had beaten Davidson earlier that season to the tune of 27-0. Many papers also expected the Red and White to win, given those comparative scores and the 27-6 thrashing the Farmers had dealt Davidson in 1901, though the certainty of the win was callen into question by at least one paper, writing that "A. and M. is very much weakened by the loss of Gardner, the big 200 pound captain" (The Winston-Salem Journal, November 21st, 1902, p. 1; The (Raleigh) Morning Post, November 21st, 1902, p. 5).

The game, which pitted A&M's rapidly-improving team against a speedy and historically successful Presbyterian team, was adverised as "the greatest game of football ever [to be] seen" in the city of Greensboro" (News and Observer, November 20th, 1902, p. 2). Looking back on the game, the Agromeck wrote "We were over-confident; they had caught us off guard, and we had lost," but went on to claim that the team was made up largely of substitutes (The Agromeck, Vol. I, p. 148). The Agromeck explained their loss to Davidson in prose-form as well, explaining the series of games in terms of the then-well-known logic that, in a fight, a possum would beat a raccoon and a dog would beat a possum, but a raccoon would still beat a dog. The prose, originally written in an extended form by Atlanta Constitution lyricist Frank Lebby Stanton, was printed in the Agromeck as follows:

"De Possum whip de Coon,
De Dog he whip de Possum;
En de Coon eat up de Dog.
Brudderin', how you gwine reconcile
Dese things on Judgment Day?"

The claim that two of the Red and White's players were out was true; Gardner was still injured from the VPI game in mid-October, while Darden, the usual quarter back, stayed out as a sub, replaced by Asbury, who started for all of 1901 and the first half of 1902, but cannot be confirmed to have been the quarterback since the same VPI game Gardner got injured in due to conflicting reports in local papers on team lineups. He appeared as a sub against Guilford but likely did not see the field, and was not mentioned in writeups on the UNC game. But probably more importantly was the absence of Coach Devlin, who was replaced by Carpenter, the usual LG. Replacing Carpenter's spot at LG was Abernathy, who had started in the VPI game but otherwise last seen action as a sub against Guilford.

Unfortunately, a detailed account of the game does not exist. The game took place too near to the publication of Red and White, Vol. 4 No. 4 to be described; instead, the score was given alongside the intention to describe the game in detail in the following edition. Sadly, in the following edition of the periodical, team captain and Red and White athletic editor O. Max Gardner wrote "Space forbids me from going into details concerning the different games of the season" (Red and White, Vol. 4, No. 4 (November 1902), pp. 8, 13; Red and White, Vol. 4, No. 5 (December 1902), p. 10).

Several papers, including papers in Charlotte and Raleigh, ran a short summary of the game, which I have re-printed here.

Davidson Jubilates Over a Score of Five to Nothing

Greensboro, N. C., Nov. 21.--Special. Last year it was A. & M. football team on top of Davidson to the tune of 27 to 6. Today the brass buttoned gallants went down in defeat and Davidson is doing the jubilating over a score of five points to nothing. A good attendance was on hand and A. & M. seemed lacking inspirit [sic], caused, it is claimed, by absence, on account of sprained legs, of its two best tackles. The teams were very evenly matched, the ball staying around center of field most of the time. Davidson played a better average, and the only brilliant feature was a sixty yard run by Caldwell, who made a touch down. Davidson kicked a goal, but on offside, and it was not counted. The cadets, after every down, arose to a man without injury, indicating physical development, while Davidson was often delayed for wind and recuperation.

Davidson will play Guilford College there [in Greensboro] tomorrow. The A. & M. leave tonight for Raleigh (The (Raleigh) Morning Post, November 22nd, 1902, p. 1).

A report in the Richmond Dispatch added that the goal kicker and perpetrator of the offsides was also Caldwell. A second article published almost a week later in the Charlotte Daily Observer opined that the goal kicked by Caldwell did not fail, but was actually "a beautiful goal, but was denied it on account of a technicality (Richmond Dispatch, November 22nd, 1902, p. 2; Charlotte Daily Observer, November 26th, 1902, p. 3).

The Davidson Monthly carried a report of the game as follows:

The most glorious victory of the season was that at Greensboro, over the A. and M. College. Last year this team in some unaccountable way defeated us by a rather large score -- a result as surprising to them as to us. This year, being over-confident on account of their past record, they expected another "walkover," and even dropped some remarks that sounded like "thirty to nothing." It is indeed sad to think how disappointed the poor fellows were, for at the end of the game the Davidson goal was still to them unknown territory, while their own goal had been explored by Davidson's Captain, who made a successful tour through that region. The actual score was six to nothing but the official said five, and we are satisfied. The celebration given in honor of the team when they returned showed the most college enthusiasm that has been seen at Davidson in many days.

...

Last year A. and M. beat us, and though it was a hard pill to swallow, especially as the result was wholly unlooked for, we acknowledged that a better team beat us. The circumstances were somewhat similar this year, only we reversed positions. If there was ever a game played and won, on its merits, our contest with A. and M. at Greensboro was such a game. We not only gained more ground, in both halves than they did, but held them for downs and forced them to punt more times during the contest.

Davidson put up a better game, both on offense and defense, in this contest than she did at any time during the year. Every man on the team did his duty and played the game to the limit and that is the reason we won. It was a treat indeed, to see Captain Caldwell tear down the field, side step the A. and M fall back and plant the ball behind the goal posts. He traveled so fast that the A. and M. men seemed to be dazed and were unable to overtake him. The only man who seemed to give Morris a "run for his money" was Dr. Martin and he was close behind when the touchdown was made. Through a technicality Johnston's goal was not allowed, but we were all satisfied, as it made no material difference in the final result (Davidson College Monthly, Vol. XIX No. 3 (December, 1902), pp. 144-145, 154-155).

Davidson played their final game of the season against Guilford in Greensboro on November 22nd; the game ended in a 0-0 tie. Despite the fact that Davidson's team had 18 men, two of their men were "quite sore" from the A&M game the day before (The (Raleigh) Morning Post, November 25th, 1902, p. 6).