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The second game of A&M's season was against Villanova as part of the North Carolina State Fair--the Farmers' fifth consecutive year as a marquee feature of the event. Though A&M had a game scheduled against Wake Forest on October 15th, a revised A&M schedule released on October 1st showed the game had been canceled. This was likely because the Baptists' original team manager had failed to return for the school year, forcing them to revise their original schedule on short notice (The (Wilmington) Morning Star, October 1st, 1910, p. 2). Wake Forest published a revised schedule of their own a few days later which also did not include the game; the match was instead replaced with a game against the Norfolk Light Artillery Blues; they went on to lose the game 0-31 (The Charlotte News, October 3rd, 1910, p. 9).

Meanwhile, Raleigh rooters were preparing for the game. The A&M Athletic Field's seating was roughly doubled from its original size of about 1,500 with the construction of "two mammoth sets of bleachers" in preparation for a large State Fair crowd expecting to hold at least 3,500 rooters. And following the maceration of the field during the downpour of the Georgetown game, improvements were also made to the turf (News and Observer, October 11th, 1910, p. 5; The (Raleigh) Evening Times, October 18th, 1910, p. 6).

Coach Greene was eager to get over Villanova to help solidify A&M's supremacy in regions beyond the southeast. The North had long been on of the nation's most powerful football regions, dating back to the creation of football in 1869. A&M had never yet tested their mettle against a team north of the Mason-Dixon line; the northernmost team the Aggies had faced up to this point was Georgetown, whom the Farmers had played both two weeks prior and in 1908 (W 5-0).

Remarkably, the Villanova team had the exact same line of demarcation, having never played a team South of Georgetown, whom they had not met since 1905 following some apparent break in relations after meeting annually for 3 years (The Harrisburg [Pennsylvania] Telegraph, October 1st, 1910, p. 8). The game would truly be the first of its kind for both teams.

The Blue and White were not, however, the best team to showcase the North's perennially-high levels of competition; though they went 3-2 in 1909 (losing only to powerhouses Carlisle and Princeton by small margins in each game), Villanova had started off 1910 bleakly, losing to the ever-tricky Carlisle Indian school 0-6 before being lambasted 36-to-nothing by Princeton. Several papers wrote Greene expected to duplicate the embarrassing defeat affected by the Tigers (News and Observer, October 11th, 1910, p. 5).

Villanova being a Catholic school from Eastern Pennsylvania made North versus South bylines especially prominent during the weeks building up to the game. One excellent quote demonstrative of many of these is the following quote from A&M team manager G. W. Ross in response to the question, "Do you think you can beat those Yankee boys?": "Well, if we don't beat them the game will be like the old battles between the Yankees and the Southerners--they will certainly know we have been there" (News and Observer, October 20th, 1910, p. 3). Even in the North, the battle was described regionally, with one Pennsylvania paper writing that Villanova Coach Fred Crolius "is determined to whip the big Blue and White team into shape so as to give the southerners at A. and M. College a real taste of northern football" (The Philadelphia Enquirer, October 14th, 1910, p. 10).

Despite the initial tenor of his response, Ross was confident in a victory for the Farmers, adding that he thought the Farmers would win because the Red and White had the faster team, and because the Pennsylvania boys would be tired from their traveling (The (Raleigh) Evening Times, October 18th, 1910, p. 6). Pennsylvanians, on the other hand, felt that the time learning new plays in the weeks before the game would pay dividends, as would the return of starting left halfback, Barr, and left end, Slavin, who had both been injured in the Catholic's opening game against Carlisle (The Philadelphia Enquirer, October 14th, 1910, p. 10; The Philadelphia Enquirer, October 20th, 1910, p . 10). Regrettably, the Farmers would not be in peak form: left tackle Hurtt had been kicked on the bicep during a scrimmage a few days prior, but was expected to play the whole game nonetheless thanks to his rapid recovery; Captain Hartsell, on the other hand, remained predominantly sidelined owing to a lingering sickness he caught the past fall.

While a great crowd of North Carolinians were expected to be on the scene for the State Fair game, sources also expected 2-300 Villanovan rooters to accompany the 18 Catholic players to the game (News and Observer, October 20th, 1910, p. 3; The (Raleigh) Evening Times, October 20th, 1910, p. 8). Sadly, no mention was made of how many Main Liners actually made the trip down with the team. The crowd in attendance was strong, though, with each paper that gave a number reporting about 2,000 fans in the stands.

The game kicked off at 3:30, with A&M starting off strong. The Farmers received the kickoff at their own 20-yard line and returned it 5 yards. From there, Cool and Robertson gained 10 and 20 yards, respectively, bringing the ball to midfield. There, however, the Aggies were penalized, as Red and White put it, "For some reason," losing 15 yards and forcing a punt. Cool punted the ball, sending it 40 yards, to Villanova's 20-yard line. Two attempts on A&M's line by the Catholics fell flat, gaining "but a few feet," forcing the Blue and White to punt.

Once back in control of the ball, the Red and White resumed their dominance, moving the ball 10-to-15 yards at a time, through a combination of runs between Villanova's tackles and ends. According to Charlotte Daily Observer, most of the plays were fake plays made by Cool, Robertson, and Stafford, with the most prominent feature being a 30-yard run by Cool. Eventually, A&M had the ball on Villanova's 4-5 yard line with a fresh set of downs. About 4 of the remaining yards were covered by Von Eberstein; the final yard was gained in a "manly effort" by Stafford. Seifert successfully made the goal kick, putting the Red and White up 6-0 after somewhere between 5 and 8 minutes of play; News and Observer, the most detailed account of the game, reported it was after six minutes and forty seconds of play.

By all accounts, the Farmers dominated the first 11-minute quarter of the game. As News and Observer put it, "Evidently the Yankees were unaware of the real strength of the Tar Heel team, but after this score was made they began to realize they were up against a team equal to those of Carlisle and Princeton." And according to other reports, the speed of the score had a real impact on the playing of the Pennsylvanians, with the play through the second quarter being predominantly even.

Villanova kicked off a second time; A&M returned the kickoff 7 yards, but again was penalized 15 yards, forcing another punt. Unfortunately, the remainder of the first quarter was not captured in great detail. Once in possession of the ball, Villanova made 5 yards through "good interference," in addition to two successful attempts at forward passes, though neither resulted in much yardage. The first quarter ended with the ball in Blue and White hands around midfield.

The Catholics opened the second quarter swinging, attempting a forward pass to Slavin, their left end. Fortunately for the Farmers, Stafford intercepted the pass, netting the Aggies 10 yards in "a beautiful exhibition of skill."* Though one of the downs on the following drive was not described, a gain of 8 yards by Robertson was not enough to keep the A&M series alive, forcing Cool to punt on third down. Villanova was stopped before they could return the kick any meaningful distance, and on the following drive their quarterback, Skelton, was tackled for a loss of 10 yards, forcing another White and Blue punt.

During this punt, the Farmers were delivered what several papers called "their death blow": Stafford was knocked unconscious. He managed to get back to his feet, however, he was shaky and remained in a state of semi-counsciousness for the remainder of the game. Despite his injury, Stafford remained in, as the Farmers had no man who could replace him. The remainder of the second quarter went largely undescribed, aside from the fact that much of the quarter was played on A&M's side of the field, though the play was "nowhere near the line." The quarter closed with the ball on Villanova's 35-yard line.

After a 15 minute intermission, both teams returned to the field. This time, A&M kicked off, sending a "vicious" kick to Villanova. After a 5-yard penalty on Villanova and a change in possession, "one of the prettiest things in the whole game" took place. Cool delivered a booming 45-yard punt which was caught by Skelton, Villanova's quarterback. Upon catching the ball, Skelton was tackled by Glenn and Seifert simultaneously, causing a loss of 10 yards. Standing at their own 20-yard line with just 3 minutes left in the quarter, the White and Blue chose to punt the ball.

The punt was recovered by a Skelton, with McCormick running as a blocker alongside of him. Robertson dodged McCormick's interference and tackled Skelton, who the crowd all thought was sure to make a touchdown, at A&M's 15-yard line. After two runs for small gains, the White and Blue attempted a forward pass on their third and final down on A&M's 10-yard line. The first time A&M's goal had been threatened for the entire day resulted in a touchdown for Villanova; McCormick caught the pass just across the goal line for a touchdown. Charlotte Daily Observer noted that the touchdown was largely caused by Stafford's disoriented state. A successful kick by Kelly tied the game at 6 a piece. It was the first successful forward pass for Villanova in quite some time, with two of their previous attempts having been intercepted by Stafford and Von Eberstein for 10- and 20-yard losses.

The fourth quarter started shortly thereafter. By all accounts, there were few plays of note; both teams played like they were tired on account of the mud and heat. Most of the quarter was consumed by punts, with both sides punting nearly every time they got the ball. At some point in the quarter, Villanova moved the ball to the Red and White 30-yard line, where the attempted a field goal, however their attempt missed by a few yards. The game ended with the ball in A&M territory, with Charlotte Daily Observer noting that the Yankees likely would have scored again had the game gone on a few minutes longer (Charlotte Daily Observer, October 21st, 1910, p. 8).

Naturally, North Carolina fans believed the Aggies clearly had the stronger team and would have easily won had Stafford not been injured. Red and White wrote that "It was evident that we outplayed them up to the time Stafford was injured" and that the Aggies were "superior" to the Blue and White. The sentiment was echoed in virtually every paper with a substantial review of the game, who added accolades such as being "better trained" (News and Observer, October 21st, 1910, p. 3; The (Raleigh) Evening Times, October 21st, 1910, p. 3; Red and White, Vol. XII No. 3 (November 1910), pp. 152-153).

Stars of the game were nearly unanimous for both teams. For the Farmers, Seifert and the entire backfield (Stafford, Cool, Von Eberstein, and Robertson) were heralded, while for Villanova praise was given to Skelton, Kelly, and McCormick. In general, the Aggies played with better interference, while the Northerners were much stronger in the passing game: the Farmers only attempted a single forward pass during the game--this attempt failed. Villanova, on the other hand, attempted nine forward passes and completed five of them. Finally, in terms of discipline, the White and Blue were again superior, amassing only 20 yards of penalty to A&M's 45 throughout the game. And though the Yankee team was heavier, the Farmers were said to possess much more speed and ability.

Stafford was not the only Farmer boy to get hurt during the game, with Charlotte Daily Observer in particular noting that three-quarters of A&M's team was hurt or laid out during the game. This was said to be another contributor to the lackadaisical play in the final quarter. While a good number of Villanovans were also said to have been injured, the extent of their injuries was not noted.

The Villanova squad would not go on to have a very good year: the following week's scoreless tie against Penn State was probably the next most exciting game of the season. The White and Blue lost the remainder of their schedule, falling to Army 0-13 and Washington & Jefferson 0-9 on Thanksgiving. In total, the Villanova eleven finished the season with a 0-4-2 record, and scored their only points of the season against A&M en route to a 6-60 point differential.

* Both Bill Beezley (p. 23) and Thad Mumau (p. 32) have mistakenly identified this as NC State's first recorded interception; instead, this was the third. The earliest was, ironically enough, against their next most northerly opponent, Georgetown. The second came in 1909, against Maryville.