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The Red and White played their final game of the season on November 24th on Thanksgiving Day against Clemson. The Farmers had enjoyed a fairly successful season during 1904, having played a full slate of college teams, winning against several traditionally-strong opponents, tying rival UNC, and losing only to the powerful Virginia team. In early October, the Clemson game was looked forward to with great anticipation, with one editor in Red and White writing that the matchup would be "the game of the season," given Clemson's strong team and record the previous season (Red and White, Vol. VI No. 2 (October 1904), p. 100).

The Tigers, who had been flourishing as a team under coach John Heisman for the previous few seasons, found themseves with a new head coach for the first time since 1900 after Georgia Tech recruited their former coach away. Attempting to prolong Heisman's 19-3-2 overall record since the turn of the century was Shack Shealy, a former Clemson football captain and a member of Clemson's inaugural football team. Clemson's season was a decent one of back-and-forth wins: the Tigers won their opening game against a strong Alabama team 18-0, then dropped their next game to 1904 SIAA co-champion Auburn 0-5. Their next matchup was a 10-0 win over a bad Georgia team, followed up with a loss to the powerful Sewanee Tigers. Their next game was an 11-11 tie against Georgia Tech, followed up with a 6-0 win over a weak Tennessee team.

A pre-game writeup in The Greenville Daily News predicted that the teams would be evenly matched. The article in the News and Observer shared a similar sentiment, writing "The A. & M. should--and let it be hoped--will win, but their victory will be a hard-earned one in any event," adding that the Clemson team, who arrived on the night of November 23rd, heavier than expected and "a dangerous looking lot of players." While both teams had similar records, the Farmers were at an additional disadvantage: Hadley, the Red and White's usual RG, would not be playing after Clemson objected to his time spent playing professional baseball during the summer (The Greenville Daily News, November 23rd, 1904, p. 2; News and Observer, November 24th, 1904, p. 21; The (Raleigh) Morning Post, November 24th, 1904, p. 5).

A diagram of the game drawn by A&M's Prof. H. M. Wilson printed in Red and White. I combined and rearranged multiple pages of the article to make the chart a bit more reader-freindly.

The game, played in a half of 25 minutes and a half of 20 minutes, started at 2:30 PM, with a strong south-to-north wind blowing over the field and making an already-chilly day (with a high of 60 degrees) even colder. The Farmers won the toss and elected to defend the south goal, forcing Clemson to kick into the fierce winds.

Holland kicked off first for Clemson from the center of the field (the 55 yard line, at that time), but the kick was batted down at the 45 yard line by Tom Lykes; despite the block, Clemson still recovered the ball right around midfield. Clemson's first drive was their best of the game and reportedly the only time they got within scoring position; the Red and White wrote that Clemson "immediately began to hammer A. and M.'s line, which was taken off its feet." A few different Clemson players helped advance the ball to the Red and White's 3 yard line, but the bulk of the driving was done by Holland in two runs, one of 20 yards and one of about 10 yards. However, once the ball was on A&M's 3 yard line, the Farmers braced up, earning the ball on downs; Holland was hurt in the drive but returned to play after recovering.

As soon as the Red and White got the ball, Arthur "Babe" Wilson kicked the ball away; Clemson recovered the ball 45 yards away. After a few downs, Holland ran the ball 10 yards, bringing the ball to the 25-30 yard line, but lost the ball there on downs; Holland was hurt twice more in the process. After getting 5 yards back from a Clemson offside, Abernathy, Gardner, and the Wilson brothers moved the ball 53 yards to Clemson's 30-33 yard line for the Farmers, with Harlan "Curley" Wilson moving the ball 25 of those yards in two carries, between which Gardner broke his nose. Despite his nose bleeding, Gardner was back in the game after a few minutes' delay. Soon after resuming play, though, the Aggies lost the ball on a fumble due to a mistaken signal. Clemson's attempts to advance the ball, including an attempt at a fake kick, were made "in vain," and A&M got the ball back on the 35 yard line; to make matters worse, Orange and White star Holland had been hurt once again. After a few short gains, H. Wilson ran the ball for 10 yards, but was soon one-upped by his brother, A. Wilson, who gained 15 yards. One of the two Wilson brothers ran the ball the final 5-6 yards across the line for the touchdown, with Red and White and The Morning Post agreeing it was Harlan, while News and Observer claimed it was Arthur. Tom Lykes kicked the goal successfully, putting the Farmers up 6-0.

Clemson kicked the ball off 40 yards to the A&M 15, A. Wilson running the ball back 10-11 yards. With the ball on the 25, the Wilson brothers and Abernathy advanced the ball to the 45, at which point it was lost on downs. Upon getting the ball, Clemson lost yards over the course of their first two downs, and on third down decided to kick the ball away, sending the pigskin to the Farmers' 20 yard line. "Babe" caught the kick, fumbling the ball at first but recovering it. "Babe" then initiated the run with a long 20-yard run, and was soon followed by his brother, "Curley," who carried the ball another 15 yards. Here, the Farmers' drive stalled slightly after Sadler attempted a long lateral to "Babe" Wilson which ended up being a forward pass; for this, the Aggies were charged either 5 or 15 yards in penalties (reports differ on which distance was enforced). The Farmers advanced the ball to Clemson's 40 yard line--a distance of about 10 yards--but were unable to reach the distance required for a first down. As such, on third down at about the Clemson 45, Arthur Wilson kicked the ball away, sending the ball out of bounds at the 30 yard line. Once again, Clemson failed to gain. Holland kicked the ball away, using the strong wind at his back to his benefit. The Tigers' player sent the ball a colossal 83-85 yard distance, over return-man Sadler's head, and across the goal line, resulting in a touchback.

The Farmers got the ball on their own 25; Arthur Wilson again kicked the ball off, sending it 35 yards into the formidable oncoming wind, to the Clemson 50. On her first play of the drive, Clemson lost 15 yards on an attempted double pass; rather than continuing with the drive, Clemson elected to kick the ball away on second down. Either Sadler or Abernathy received the kick and, starting from the A&M 30 yard line, advanced the ball 10 yards. After this run, the time expired, and the first half was over.

According to tabulations made in Red and White, the Tigers were thoroughly outclassed in the first half. The Farmers had gained 320 total yards, compared to just 269 by Clemson; further, 195 of Clemson's yards gained came from kicking, whereas only 87 of the Farmers' yards came in the air, meaning the Aggies outran Clemson 233 to just 74. Clemson was also significantly behind the Farmers in terms of first downs, earning only 12 compared to the Red and White's 21.

To start the second half, Arthur Wilson kicked the ball off 50 yards to the Clemson 5 yard line, where McIver caught the ball 15-20 yards. Clemson then kicked the ball back, sending the ball back to midfield. The kick was caught by Sadler, who returned the ball 10 yards. L. "Dick" Lykes, Abernathy, and the Wilson brothers brought the ball to about the 20 yard line. Here, the Farmers' fumbled but recovered the ball, and then turned it over on downs. Once in possession of the ball, Clemson kicked the ball away, sending the ball to the 50; the kick went out of bounds and landed in an empy car along the sidelines. Arthur Wilson and Abernathy both carried the ball about 5 yards each, but on the following play A&M was penalized 15 yards for holding by Gardner. After the penalty on Gardner, "Babe" Wilson kicked the ball 30 yards away. The ball landed at Clemson's 25 yard line, where Clardy mishandled the catch and fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Sadler. The Aggies were again unable to advance, and Sadler kicked the ball away 20 yards to Clemson's 5-8 yard line, with the strong wind once again working against A&M. The Tigers immediately kicked the ball back, hoping to get an "on side" and recover their kick. Unable to do this, the ball ended up right back on Clemson's 25 yard line in the hands of the Farmers. From there, Abernathy and "Babe" Wilson steadily worked the ball up the field, with "Babe" eventually carrying the ball across the goal line for a touchdown. Tom Lykes scored the goal kick, and the score became 12-0.

Clemson kicked off again, sending the ball 35 yards; Abernathy returned the ball 10-15 yards for A&M. Able to use the wind to their advantage for the first time that day, A. Wilson kicked the ball 55 yards, to Clemson's 25 yard line, where it was recovered by McIver, who was "downed in his tracks." Clemson decided to kick the ball away, sending the ball 35 yards, to A&M's 50, where Sadler returned the kick 15 yards. The Farmers quickly got down to business, with Arthur Wilson running 25 yards. From there, Wilson and Abernathy both steadily drove the ball down the field until Abernathy crossed the goal line for a touchdown. Tom Lykes kicked his third and final goal of the day, making the score 18-0 in favor of the Farmers.

Very little time remained in the game. Clemson kicked a long kick to A&M's 10 yard line, where "Curley" Wilson fielded the ball and returned it 15 yards. "Babe" then kicked the ball about 25 yards, where it was caught by Clemson. The Tigers got off two short runs before time expired, but lost the game with the ball right around A&M's 35 yard line. The pattern of Farmer domination continued, with the Red and White gaining 355 total yards to Clemson's 244 (157 to just 35 yards on the ground).

Several accounts of the game stated that the statistical summary of the game "does not do it justice," adding that Clemson, "while completely outplayed by A. and M., nevertheless was a hard and dangerous opponent." Stars for the Tigers were Holland and Webb (with Taylor praised for his defensive work), while the best players for A&M were Tom Lykes, Abernathy, Gardner, and the Wilson brothers on defense, and Abernathy and the Wilson brothers again on offense (Red and White, Vol. VI No. 4 (December 1904), pp. 233-239; The (Raleigh) Morning Post, November 25th, 1904, p. 5; News and Observer, November 25th, 1904, pp. 1, 5).

The one chief complaint of the entire game was the crowding of students and spectators around the field. Though only the News and Observer complained about this aspect, the report went to great lengths to describe how the crowding of the field negatively impacted the game, even suggesting that the Farmers should have been penalized for the fans' failure to clear the playing grounds. Though the fair grounds's gridiron had been fenced before (notably the 1902 game against UNC), but was only installed when required to hold the game since the Agricutulra Society required all structures used for football to be removed from the center of the horse track (where the field was located) when not in active use for games. It should be noted that the report did mention that the crowding did not significantly impact the playing of the game.

After the game, both teams went back and had dinner at A&M's mess hall, where the entire battalion "was in an uproar." The Commandant of the battalion, Capt. Phelps, came forward to congratulate Clemson on their "gentlemanly playing," after which long-time Clemson football assistant Prof. Riggs was summarized as saying that "in the six or seven years Clemson has played foot ball he has never seen such a good opponent as the team that defeated her today."

After dinner, over 300 cadets of A&M marched through downtown Raleigh, cheering and singing throughout the walk. The band assisted with the march, and over the course of the night, and a bonfire was lit. The students marched around Raleigh, giving the college yell up and down Fayetteville Street, and also made stops to St. Mary's, Peace, and the Women's Baptist College (now Meredith).