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Following their blowout win over Maryland Agricultural College, the Farmers traveled to Lexington, Virginia to meet Washington & Lee in their first true away game of the season. Long touted as one of the strongest team in the South Atlantic, the White and Blue appeared to be in the same fine fettle at the opening of the 1909 season under the auspices of cocah T. N. Pfeiffer of Princeton, who was assisted by several coaches, including former coach R. R. Brown.

Though missing a few former starters due to injury (Waddell) or an extended recovery from typhoid fever (Pipes) in addition to graduation, the team was otherwise strong and full of capable replacements (Lexington Gazette, September 29th, 1909, p. 3; The (Richmond) Times-Dispatch, October 5th, 1909, p. 7). Captained by quarterback Izard, the White and Blue's opening game of the season was a dominant 24-0 statement win over Roanoke.

The rest of W&L's season was up-and-down. Despite being one of the more progressive teams in the South in terms of passing in 1909, the team was perfectly comfortable falling back on the traditional Southern style of football, employing frequent line plunges. Their next game was a 6-0 win over Hampden-Sidney which proved much more narrow than it should have been. A week later, the army men took down Wake Forest 17-0, and followed that up by defeating a much stronger Davidson eleven 18-6 in Roanoke. The first loss the White and Blue suffered in the season was a dominant 6-34 loss against Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Lynchburg; the game would have been a shutout had a last-minute forward pass--the only one attempted in the game--not been completed (The Lexington Gazette, November 3rd, 1909, p. 3).

The Lexingtonians were also frequently beguiled by injuries. Going into the A&M game, their team was described as "crippled," as it was missing several regular starters, among them Captain Izard. Other starters who failed to start were Brown, Simms, and Smartt, though Simms and Izard were substituted in towards the end of the second half in an attempt to pull off a win (The (Richmond) Times-Dispatch, November 7th, 1909, p. 7).

The Farmers were, for their part, in better shape in terms of injuries than they had been before the MAC game. Raleigh papers consented that W&L was "a formidable aggregation" and that any win would be earned through talented playing. The prospects of winning were made bleaker by the fact that standout left tackle Von Glahn's injury was still prohibing his play. The Aggies left for Lexington on Friday morning without Von Glahn (The (Raleigh) Evening Times, November 5th, 1909, p. 7). The Aggies outweighed Washington & Lee by about 7 pounds per man, giving the A&M line a slight numerical advantage.

Sadly, not many details of the game are known. For much of the first half, the ball was kept on Washington & Lee's side of the field, and though the Farmers were able to gain well between the 20s, once within striking distance "the Tarheels were unable to do anything with the stubborn White and Blue defense" (The (Richmond) Times-Dispatch, November 7th, 1909, p. 7). That sentiment was echoed more acutely in Red and White, where the sports editor opined that the team should have scored "several touchdowns" but "owing to a little dissatisfaction among the team they did not work good that day" (Red and White, Vol. XI No. 3 (November 1909), pp. 162-163).

As it was, the Farmers attempted three dropkick field goals in the first half, with each attempted by Hartsell. Hartsell's first two attempts were both blocked, but on the third attempt, in the closing seconds of the first half, the halfback found success, making the kick from 30 yards out to give the Mechanics a 3-0 lead heading into halftime.

The second half started off well for A&M, but not long after the start the White and Blue doubled down. The ball was in A&M territory somewhere between a "good portion of the time" and "all the time." At one point, W&L got as close as the 40-yard line, from which O'Quinn attempted a drop kick at goal. Unfortunately for the Lexingtonians, his kick missed by a few inches (News and Observer, November 7th, 1909, p. 11; The Lexington Gazette, November 10th, 1909, p. 3; The (Richmond) Times-Dispatch, November 7th, 1909, p. 7; Red and White, Vol. XI No. 3 (November 1909), pp. 162-163; (Newport News) Daily Press, November 7th, 1909, p. 6).

In generally, the play was rough and sloppy, despite being "full of snap and hard football." Both sides were responsible for repeated fumbles, and both teams were forced to punt repeatedly. For A&M, the cause was believed to be a lack of teamwork and practice; as such, much of the week following the game was spent "almost solely on signal work." At least one Raleigh paper claimed that the individual players at A&M were "far superior" to those of W&L but that their poor preparation and teamwork hindered them (News and Observer, November 9th, 1909, p. 3).

The poor showing by the Farmers was bad news for both their Thanksgiving prospects as well as their claims to state superiority; their Turkey Day rival VPI had just defeated W&L 34-6, while North Carolina had taken down the White and Blue by a 6-0 margin. While this caused some concern among the Red and White fanbase, the following explanation was offered:

"A. & M. went to Lexington with the sole intention of playing old style football. It was well known that V. P. I. coaches would be on the scene to get a line on the strength and methods of the Tarheel farmers, and to frustrate these plans only old style play was used by A. & M." (The (Raleigh) Evening Times, November 8th, 1909, p. 2).

It was noted that Washington & Lee's line work was "much better" than the work they did during the VPI game the previous week. While this could be attributed to any number of factors, Raleigh sources attributed the success of the White and Blue to two factors. While the limited playbook of A&M was proffered by some, the primary takeaway among management was the importance of having an engaged student body at the game.

The enthusiasm of the student body was lost on none of the Red and White spectators at the game; it garnered a brief description in Red and White's short description of the game, and prompted the Athletic Association to have a meeting in Pullen Hall just under a week later in preparation for their Thanksgiving Day game to create new songs and cheers. A&M's manager, L. P. McLendon reveled in their noise: "When A. & M. had the ball the players had to get together around 'Steve' [quarterback Stevens] so that they could hear the signals, but when they [Washington & Lee] had the ball everything was as quiet as a mouse, and when a good play was made you could hear them a thousand miles" (News and Observer, November 11th, 1909, p. 3).

The win came at a large cost to the Farmers: both Seifert and Hartsell were seriously injured. Though Seifert's injury was not specified, it was critical enough that he remained in the hospital through the first half of November; as for Hartsell, his knee was injured at some point in the second half which prohibited him from practicing in the following weeks (Red and White, Vol. XI No. 3 (November 1909), pp. 162-163).

Following their game against NC A&M, the Lexingtonians played their final game of the season against A&M rival North Carolina. The two teams met in Newport News on November 13th; W&L lost 0-6, giving UNC a slight edge in the claim for state champion. That same day, Virginia and Georgetown met in Washington, DC in a game which proved pivotal to the future of football. Though Virginia won 21-0, they lost in another way: Freshman star Archer Christian was trampled while attempting to score a touchdown, an injury which ultimately resulted in his death.

Long term, Christian's death refreshed the national debate on whether football should be banned or not. Eventually, the rules were changed in another attempt to make the game safer. The most impactful changes were that the division of play was changed from halves to quarters, players were allowed increased flexibility for substituting, and the much-maligned "mass plays" were further limited (Virginia Magazine (Fall 2011), "Football's Founding Fathers"). Short term, though, it resulted in the cancelation of all the remaining games scheduled to be played by Virginia and Georgetown. This canceled the annual UVA-UNC Thanksgiving Day tilt, as well as Washington & Lee's scheduled Turkey Day game against Georgetown (The Charlotte Evening Chronicle, November 15th, 1909, p. 2). W&L ended their season with a disappointing-looking 4-3 record; though most of their losses were to notable teams, the team still felt they could have done better.