10/12/1907 - at Richmond

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The second game the Farmers played in 1907 was a game at Richmond against the Spiders. The Aggies had originally planned to play their second game against the Orange and White of William & Mary but instead waited twelve days before being able to play their last match before their big game with the vaunted eleven of Virginia.

The Spiders of Richmond were in excellent trim for the game. They opened their season with a 0-38 loss to Virginia, but played Maryland A&M (now the University of Maryland) three days later to an 11-5 victory. Through pre-season writeups in the Red and Blue's Messenger avoided predicting the outcome of any specific game, it was noted that the team had a hard schedule but that the Richmonders would soon have a reputation that would "extend from the Potomac to the Gulf" (The Messenger, Vol. XXXIV No. 1 (October 1907), pp. 35, 37).

While the Richmonders were likely aware of the defeat the Aggies had recently handed Randolph-Macon, they were also probably aware that their team had some positives going for them coming into the game. First and foremost was the issue of weight: the previous year, when the Aggies outweighed the Virginians by nearly 20 lbs, the game had resulted in a tie. This year, the Old Dominion boys' team was roughly the same weight (155 lbs); the Red and White, on the other hand, were lighter (158 lbs), outweighing the Richmond squad by a negligible amount (The (Richmond) Times-Dispatch, October 12th, 1907, p. 7). In addition to having nearly 30 men playing in team scrimmages, Richmond returned most of their starters from the A&M-tying team of 1906including lettermen Robinson, Louthan, Waite, Thraves (who played at VMI in 1905), and Stringfellow. The Red and Blue also brought in several experienced players, including Lankford (from Woodberry Forest), Jones (from Virginia Christian College--now the University of Lynchburg), and the Rue brothers, from New Jersey (The Messenger, Vol. XXXIV No. 2 (November 1907), p. 98).


A photo of Richmond's team from The Times-Dispatch, November 8th, 1907, p. 7. The figure to the far left is Coach E. A. Dunlap.

Local papers did not make many bold predictions about the outcome of the game: in Raleigh, the game was only notable because of the reciprocation of a game in Raleigh between the two teams (News and Observer, October 12th, 1907, p. 6); in Richmond, it was noted that it would be "a pretty battle" since "both teams... have overcome the crudeness of the preliminary contests" (The (Richmond) Times-Dispatch, October 12th, 1907, p. 7).

The Farmers arrived in Richmond the night before the game and attended the Richmond Horse Show (The (Richmond) Times-Dispatch, October 11th, 1907, p. 8). The event was primarily a prize horse show involving multiple classes of horses and multiple events, but was also "Richmond's Annual Social Event." The night the A&M boys were there was also the same night that former presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan was in attendance; he received a standing ovation from the attendees upon his arrival (The (Richmond) Times-Dispatch, October 11th, 1907, p. 13; The New York Times, October 12th, 1907, p. 10).


Roster

A&M Richmond
Sadler RE Duval
Beebe RT Robinson
Von Glahn RG Jones
Thomason C Pitman or Tilman*
Sykes LG Stringfellow
Stroud LT Thraves (Capt.)
Seifert LE Wright
Stephens QB Atkins
Long RHB Louthan
Johnson LHB Lankford
Thompson (Capt.) FB Waite
Harris SUB
Bray SUB
Latimore SUB
J. Stafford SUB
Wilson SUB
Spencer SUB
James SUB

Source 1, Source 2, Source 3

* Local papers list Richmond's center as former star "Rattler" Tilman, but since Tilman left the team to start working in Charlottesville at some point before the November publication of The Messenger, it is possible a man named Pitman took his place. Given that Tilman was still in Richmond in time for the Spiders' second matchup against the Aggies, Pitman was probably a mistake.


Period Time Description NCSU RICH
1st unk NCSU - Stephens - 40 yd Offensive Fumble Recovery (UNKNOWN kick failed) 2 plays, ~50 yards, TOP unk 5 0
1st unk NCSU - TEAM (Offensive Fumble OOB) - 0 yd Safety - 0 plays, 0 yards, TOP 0 7 0
2nd unk RICH - Atkins - 30-32 yd Field Goal - 2 plays, 40 yards, TOP unk 7 4

NCSU Opponent
Rushing TDs Stephens (1) none
Passing TDs none none
Receiving TDs none none
Defensive TDs none none
PATs UNKNOWN (0/1) none
2PT: N/A prior to 1958 N/A prior to 1958
FGs Stephens (0/1), Beebe (0/1) Atkins (1/2)
Safety: TEAM (1) none
Game Notes:
Kick Off Time: 4 PM - 10/12/1907 - Richmond
Length: 50 (25 / 25) - Duration: unk
Attendance: unknown
Location: Broad Street Park (I) - Richmond, VA
Temperature: ???
Weather: ???
Wind: ???

Though it's not specified who won or lost the toss, Richmond started off the game kicking to A&M, who started the game defending the eastern goal. The game was played in two halves of 25 minutes each.

Lankford opened the game, sending the opening kickoff from midfield to Thompson, who caught it on A&M's 10-yard line and returned the ball to the 25 before being downed. After two tries by the Farmers to gain a new set of downs without success, the ball was punted 45 yards to Richmond's 40-yard line. Once in possession of the ball, the Spiders themselves failed to gain once before Lankford and Louthan gained 5 yards each for a first down. On the next play, however, Richmond was thrown for a loss and fumbled the ball; the Farmers came up with the ball.

After a run for 4 yards' gain and a second run for no gain, "fine interference" (and a bit of luck) helped Stephens make an impressive 40-yard run. At the end of his run, the Red and White runner fumbled the ball, but recovered the ball after it rolled across Richmond's goal line for a touchdown. Though not mentioned, Thompson was probably the Raleigh player who attempted the goal kick; he missed the kick, making the score 5-0 in favor of the Aggies after a short but unspecified amount of time.

After the teams switched goals, Lankford kicked off, sending the ball to Stephens, who stood waiting at the Red and White's 25-yard line and was stopped before he could advance the ball. After two runs for little gain, A&M chose to punt, with Stephens sending the ball to midfield, where Atkins caught the ball and stopped before he could advance the ball. After two plays for little gain, Richmond again fumbled the ball, giving control to the Farmers at their own 50-yard line.

The Farmers started off their third drive on a stronger note: Johnson gained 10 yards, and was followed up by a 7-yard gain by Thompson. After a run for 4 yards to get a first down, two subsequent plays netted only five yards, the Techs failed to convert the ball on their third and final down, giving the ball back to Richmond on the Red and Blue's 15-yard line. Feeling that the ball was too close to their goal line for comfort, Richmond punted the ball 35 yards, to their own 50; Stephens caught the ball and returned it 3 yards before being downed. The Farmers then steadily worked the ball to Richmond's 25; upon reaching that point, Thompson attempted a goal from placement (field goal), but the kick fell short, giving the ball back to the Virginians. Waite recovered the short kick on his own 10 yard line and then advanced the ball another 10 yards. Richmond then attempted a "bad" "high" lateral pass, which was probably batted by one of A&M's defensive linemen across Richmond's end line, resulting in a safety--the 3rd recorded safety in A&M history, and the first caused by the scored-upon team. The score became 7-0 in favor of the Aggies.

The ball was then brought out and punted by Richmond to the center of the field. On the first play of the new drive, Johnson made a run around the left end for 30 yards, but was called back after A&M was penalized for holding. After the penalty, the Farmers punted the ball away, kicking it to Richmond's 20-yard line; Lankford caught the kick and ran back nearly 30 yards to roughly the middle of the field. After Lankford's run, though, Richmond proved unable to advance the ball, and kicked the ball to A&M's 25-yard line, where it appears the Virginians recovered the ball. On the next play, Richmond was penalized 5 yards for being off sides. Richmond attempted an onside kick, but failed, with the ball returning to A&M's hands. In the dwindling seconds of the first half, Thompson carried the ball 30 yards, followed by a 3-yard pickup. The first half ended with the ball on Richmond's 30-yard line in A&M possession with the score 7-0 in favor of A&M.

The second half opened with A&M still defending the western goal; the Aggies kicked the ball from midfield towards Richmond's goal line, where Atkins caught the kick and returned it 5 yards. For the first time all game, a forward pass was attempted: Atkins "hurled" the ball 20 yards to Duval, who advanced the ball to Richmond's 48-yard line. Atkins then punted the ball to A&M's 25-yard line; whichever Mechanic caught the ball was tackled before he could advance it.

A&M immediately punted the ball themselves, sending the kick to Richmond's 45-yard line. After a few failed attempts to gain, Atkins again punted, sending the ball to the Red and White's 40-yard line. Stephens attempted to return the punt yet again, but missed the ball; a Richmond player landed on it, giving the Spiders excellent field position. Richmond tried and made their second successful forward pass, with Wright catching the ball this time for a gain of 8-10 yards. From about 30 yards out, Atkins made "a beautiful goal" to make the score 7-4.

The Farmers kicked off for just the second time all game, sending the ball to Richmond's 25-yard line. After failing to advance the ball, Richmond punted to midfield, where A&M took possession. At this time, Seifert was replaced at right end by James, who immediately caught a forward pass for 20 yards. One a second attempt at a forward pass, the Aggies failed and lost 15 yards, bringing the ball roughly back to midfield. The Aggies punted again; Louthan caught the kick for the Spiders at what both summaries of the game called the 80-yard line (actual location was possibly the Richmond 25, or Richmond's 8-yard line, but it's difficult to be certain) before Atkins kicked the ball back to A&M's 45. The Red and White delivered the third consecutive punt of the game to the Red and Blue's 40-yard line.

The Spiders finally broke the back-and-forth kicking of the game with a run by Louthan around the left end of the line for 12 yards; after two consecutive tries failed to gain any more ground, though, Atkins kicked the ball again, sending the ball to A&M's 25-yard line. Following Richmond's lead, the Farmers tried moving the ball by scrimmage again; after a 5-yard penalty on Richmond for being offside, A&M threw a forward pass to James, who picked up 25 yards. Another run by an unnamed Aggie gained A&M an additional 10 yards, putting the ball on Richmond's 15-yard line. Beebe dropped back and attempted to make a goal from placement (a field goal), but had his kick blocked. The Farmers recovered the ball but lost 5 yards.

Attempting a play called "out kicking" by Red and White (an early alternative name for the on-side kick), the Farmers kicked the ball to the north side of the field, where they recovered it at Richmond's 8-yard line. After a gain of just 3 yards on second down, the Aggies were just short of the line-to-gain (Richmond's 5); going for it on third down, the Red and White runner was thrown for a loss of 8 yards, placing the ball back at roughly Richmond's 13 in Red and Blue possession.

Atkins immediately punted the ball to Richmond's 40-yard line, where A&M recovered it. Yet another forward pass was attempted, this time to Sadler, but this one was dropped; one of Richmond's men landed on the ball, giving control back to the Virginians. Atkins again punted, this time to A&M's 45-yard line, where the Farmers recovered it. Stephens then attempted a quarterback kick to the right side of the field (another variation of the on-side kick), but the ball was fumbled and recovered by Richmond. Richmond then tried a forward pass of their own to Wright and made 10 yards. After a run by Richmond netted next to no gain, Atkins attempted a goal from placement from roughly the 35-yard line; his kick was wide by "only about a foot."

The ball was brought back out and punted to Richmond's 50-yard line. Desperately trying to advance the ball back down the field, Atkins made another forward pass to Wright, who again caught the ball and advanced it 15-yards. After an attempted run around one of the ends of the line, the second half ended, and the Farmers won the game 7-4 (The (Richmond) Times-Dispatch, October 13th, 1907, pp. F1, F3; Red and White, Vol. IX No. 2 (October 1907), pp. 83-84).

The game, which was described as "fast and clean" and "a beautifully played game," was the first real challenge the Aggies had faced in 1907, and just the third played by Richmond. Not many comments were made about the performances of specific players (especially those on A&M's side of the ball), but Atkins was the most vaunted player of the Richmond team. His passing was described as "the prettiest and cleanest exhibition of the forward pass ever seen" in Richmond--a renowned football city. Local Richmond papers emphasized the heaviness of A&M's team and the desperation which required them to punt, but this was largely a false narrative: as discussed earlier, the Farmers outweighed the Old Dominion boys by a mere 5 lbs, and the Aggies punted by design rather than through desperation, though Richmond's line was certainly stout.

Though not mentioned in any reports from the game, Captain Thompson was reportedly hurt during this game; his injury later forced him to be taken out during the Aggies' subsequent game against Roanoke.

Last updated: 6/4/2024