10/15/1906 - at Washington & Lee

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Following a strong 17-0 win over Virginia Military Institute, the Farmers stayed in Lexington to play the Cadets' inter-city rivals, Washington & Lee. The Farmers had not lost a game since their October 7th, 1905 game against Virginia. The only negative fact going into the game for the Techs was the fact that two Washington & Lee students, in addition to their coach, had seen the Red and White play the previous Saturday against VMI, and as such had insight into how the Farmers would play.


A photo of Washington & Lee's team from The Calyx (1907), p. 155.

Washington & Lee had started off strong in 1906, opening their season with a 10-0 win against the Augusta Military Academy, and following that game up with a 14-0 win against St. John's College, from Maryland. Though the White and Blue had not yet faced a serious challenge on the gridiron, the Lexington boys knew that was soon to change. An early preview of the game in Washington & Lee's Ring-tum Phi reported that the Farmers' line averaged 204 pounds, adding that the Aggies had a fast backfield. Despite this, the White and Blue of Lexington were undeterred, going through "hard training" in preperation for the game. The student body even organized a meeting before the game to practice their school yells, stating "We have to beat A. & M." in their advertisement (Ring-tum Phi, Vol. X No. 3 (October 13th, 1906), p. 1).


Roster

A&M W&L
Stevens RE Osbourn
Beebe RT Alderson
Perkins RG Dinges
Temple C Hoge
Sykes LG White
Stroud LT Whittington
Thompson LE Dow
Eskridge QB C. F. Bagley
Hardie RHB Streit
Wilson (Capt.) LHB T. O. Bagley
Shuford FB Moomaw (Capt.)
Whitehurst SUB Miles

Source 1, Source 2


Period Time Description NCSU W&L
1st unk NCSU - Thompson - 25 yd Field Goal - unk plays, unk yards, TOP unk 4 0
2nd unk W&L - T. O. Bagley - 25 yd Field Goal - unk plays, 85+ yards, TOP unk 4 4

NCSU Opponent
Rushing TDs none none
Passing TDs none none
Receiving TDs none none
Defensive TDs none none
PATs none none
2PT: N/A prior to 1958 N/A prior to 1958
FGs Thompson (1/1) T. O. Bagley (1/1)
Safety: none none
Game Notes:
Kick Off Time: 3:45 PM - 10/15/1906 - at Washington & Lee
Length: 40 (20 / 20) - Duration: unk
Attendance: unknown
Location: Wilson Field - Lexington, VA
Temperature: ???
Weather: ???
Wind: ???

The first of the game's two 20-minute halves saw the ball mostly on Washington & Lee's side of the field. As Ring-tum Phi put it, "The visitors [A. & M.] gained the most ground, but they only brought it down the field to lose it and have it kicked up the field again." Other reports stated that the Farmers nearly doubled the yardage gained by the Lexingtonians. After 17 minutes of play in the first half, Hardie sprained his ankle and was replaced by Whitehurst. On the very next play, Thompson performed a drop kick goal from the 25 yard line, puttin the Farmers up 4-0 just before the end of the first half.

The second half reportedly started off much faster than the first half. About 5 minutes into the second half, T. O. "Shack" Bagley caught a forward pass and ran nearly 60 yards down the field, to A&M's 25 yard line. Capitalizing on that momentum, "Shack" tried and made a drop kick goal of his own, making the final points of the game to tie the score at 4-4. Neither team's goal was in danger for the remainder of the half, and kicking was reportedly frequent. The game ended with the ball near the center of the field.

The game was a defensive one for both sides: neither team ever got closer than within 15 yards of their opponents goal line. For A&M, the problems were two-fold. The first issue was that the Aggies were unable to complete their forward passes, our "star feature in former games," with much success due to the fast Washington & Lee ends. The second problem, which was likely interrelated to the first, was that the White and Blue had learned all of A&M's trick plays. Even the editors of Ring-tum Phi admitted as much, even if offhandedly: "Possibly our team had a slight advantage in that they had seen all of A. & M.'s tricks played. Their forward passes seldom gained much for them and they lost the ball several times in trying it."

The game had a few spectacular plays, with "Shack" Bagley's 60 yard reception likely the premier one, but was primarily a slow game with lots of punting. While both goal kicks were also impressive, Red and White praised Wilson for his two long runs of 15 and 20 yards, during one of which he reportedly came "very near [to] getting away for a touchdown." Throughout the game, there was "plenty of open play but little roughness."

For A&M, the star of the game was said to be Wilson for his end running. For Washington & Lee, honors were given to their line for holding A&M's line well, "even though they [A&M] were superior in weight," in particular Dinges, Hoge, and Dow. "Shack" Bagley was the best ground gainer, as well as the overall feature of the game, while Moomaw's work was also lauded (Ring-tum Phi, Vol. X No. 4 (October 20th, 1906), p. 1; Red and White, Vol. VIII No. 2 (October 1906), p. 71; The Lexington Gazette, October 17th, 1906, p. 3; The Washington Herald, October 16th, 1906, p. 8).

The White and Blue of Lexington logically thought of this game as a win, especially considering that the Farmers had defeated VMI by such a large score. Red and White reported that "The Washington & Lee students considered the tie a victory for them[selves], and proceeded to take in the city with their celebrations."

The implications for Washington & Lee were obviously huge, given the number of teams from Virginia the Farmers had played in 1906. As Ring-tum Phi put it, "That game proved the superiority of our eleven over the eleven from V. M. I. It also demonstrated that the skill of our boys in handling the pigskin was equal, if not superior, to that of the eleven of the University of Virginia."

The paper went on to claim that their team would have played or even defeated some of the powerful teams to the North; though aided by espionage in this game, the claim proved to be not far from the truth: the W&L boys finished their season with a 4-1-1 record, adding to their laurels wins against Randolph-Macon (8-4) and the "Old" University of Maryland (not the university presently known as Maryland; 18-0) and a close 5-6 loss against a strong 6-1 Georgetown team who lost only to Virginia, in addition to defeating North Carolina.

The tie can be further explained by noting that "Shack" Bagley was widely considered one of the best players in the nation; he was elected to both the All-Southern and All-South Atlantic teams at right end. In the write-up explaining his nomination, he was described as "the best defensive player seen in Washington this year," as well as "a brilliant broken field runner" and "an excellent drop-kicker." The column was closed by writing "It was against this player that the entire offensive tactics of opposing elevens have been aimed this year." Bagley's prowess on defense was certainly elevated by his knowledge of A&M's entire offensive strategy before the game (The Washington Post, December 7th, 1906, p. 8).

Coach Heston himself was not disappointed by the loss: "We were playing under many disadvantages today. In the first place, no team can play a game of football every other day and play their best game the second day. Washington and Lee had the advantage over A. & M. for the entire team and their coach witnessed the game between V. M. I. and A. & M. Saturday and learned the different formations and plays used by A. & M. So they knew how to play their defense to meet them. The A. & M. players were sore and stiff from the game they played on Saturday. I consider we should feel quite well satisfied with the result of the game" (News and Observer, October 17th, 1906, p. 10).

Last updated: 6/4/2024