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  * Non-conference games

  * Non-conference games

The Farmers opened the 1910 on the heels of a bitter close to their 1909 season: the squad was just one win away from the first (and, to this day, only) perfect season in NC State history. The pill of defeat was even harder to swallow when recognizing that Virginia Tech was the Southern Champion of the year; that title would similarly be the most notable title ever won by NC State football, to this day.

The Red and White were nonplussed: the returned their talented coach, Eddie L. Greene, for his second season, as well as the assistance of former captain, Frank Thompson, who served briefly as an emergency coach before the 1909 season. A&M also retained the bulk of their best players, including Dunn and Hurtt returning as tackles, Floyd and Gattis returning as guards, Seifert and Stafford returning as ends (though Stafford be moved to quarterback before the start of the season), Glenn, Hartsell, and Robertson in the backfield, and former captain, Bray, at center, as well as former scrubs Clark, Von Eberstein, and Sherman. Additionally, campus interest in the sport continued to grow at a rapid rate, accelerated by their recent spate of victories. About fifty men tried out for the team in 1910, giving the Farmers an excellent base to draw from (Red and White, Vol. XII No. 1 (September 1910), pp. 31-32).

There were a few changes to both A&M's team and the rules of the game, probably the most major of which was the loss punter, runner, and lineman Von Glahn, whose body of work was so impressive he was voted to a regional Virginia-Carolina all-star team despite missing most of the season with a knee injury. Another major loss was the departure of the former All-Southern quarterback, goal kicker, and captain, Stevens. Other major losses were those of Long and Keasler, former Clemson halfback and savior of the U.S.S. Franklin game); both were strong runners.

The rules governing the play of football changed fairly considerably between 1909 and 1910. Probably the most major was the elimination of old-fashioned "mass" plays* by requiring that seven men start on the line of scrimmage; this seems counterintuitive until it is realized that pushing and pulling was banned. The substitution process was unshackled from the previous system, which prohibited a player from returning once substituted, and made so that substitutions were more feasible. Another major strategic change to the game was the removal of several different tackling styles deemed as dangerous, while passing was also opened up by creating passing interference rules and by removing the requirement that a player be 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage in order to throw a forward pass. Procedurally, the playing of the game was changed to be in quarters of 15 minutes each, with a 3 minute break between each, retaining the total official game time of 60 minutes. Finally, the quarterback was allowed to advance the ball beyond the line of scrimmage without running 5 yards from the direction where the ball was snapped.

Despite several changes to the rules of football between the 1909 and 1910 seasons, Green and Thompson were confident their squad would be successful. Recognizing the new style of play would emphasize having a large stable of speedy backfield players due to the new "open" playstyle, Green promoted several former scrubs to the Varsity team and emphasized plays of the newer style. To explain what the team had changed, see this summary of pre-season work from September below:

"Friday and Saturday afternoons Head Coach Eddie Green, of the A. & M. football squad, put[s] his charges through a fast running of the plays and formations that will characterize the new game of football this season. At first notice, there appears but little variation from the old style of play, but closer observation will disclose the absence of the old mass plays and show in their stead formulations which s[w]ing into sweeping end runs and unexpected open field plays that promise to make the game more interesting and attractive to the spectator. To successfully run the new plays a speedy back field is needed, and for this requirement the A. & M. team is well qualified, with such players as Hartsell, Robertson, Surratt, McIver and Gattis. Hartsell, a brilliant, dashing runner, with the agility to jump into full speed at the start, and Robertson, with his powerful, shifty stride, will prove star score getters in the open field work. Glenn, of whom great work is expected this season, is filling in at tackle until the return of Lonnie Dunn, when he will probably be shifted to the back field, although his last year's work indicated that he would be a star in either position."

One unexpected change was a sudden sickness which plagued Hartsell, who had been voted captain at the close of the 1909 season. Though participating in September (his work in the above preview was described as "alert" and "snappy"), by the start of the season in October, Hartsell was stricken with a sickness which left him out for the majority of the season (The (Wilmington) Evening Dispatch, September 20th, 1910, p. 2). Because of this, Hartsell saw minor action in the season opener against Georgetown, where he played for only the final two minutes in a desperate attempt to break the tie, and played just one quarter over a month later against Wake Forest. He finally was fully healthy again in time for the big VPI game on Thanksgiving.

In his place, Bray was elected to be acting captain, making Bray the acting captain for two consecutive years, a feat never before achieved. Hartsell's sickness was not widely published heading into the game, and sources were not very specific about when he got sick. A December review of the football season indicated that even other members of the team had no idea Hartsell would be out for an extended period until just after the Georgetown game (Red and White, Vol. XII No. 4 (December 1910), p. 200). Retrospective accounts, however, pin primary leadership of the team on converted quarterback Tal Stafford, saying he was "to all intents and purposes acting captain" (News and Observer, October 15th, 1911, p. 7).

The Farmers were originally set to open their season on September 24th, against Wake Forest, however after Wake Forest's new coach, "Reddy" Rowe, did not arrive on campus until just days before the game, the Baptists rearranged their schedule. That left A&M opening their season with a tough game against Georgetown on October 1st; this was no easy prospect, considering the fact that the Hilltoppers consistently turned out one of the strongest teams in the South Atlantic. However that game, too, was delayed after Georgetown's season opener, against Eastern College, was canceled.

Instead, the Farmers opened up the 1910 season in a sea of mud after nearly two days of rain flooded the A&M Athletic Field and continued throughout the game. The poor weather necessitated a conservative, defense-heavy style of play and resulted in a 0-0 tie; notably, this was the first time the Farmers didn't win a home game outright since 1906, when A&M tied Richmond 0-0. The game caused contention, but not because of any on-the-field issues; instead, a controversy erupted in Raleigh after Georgetown's football team ransacked a local cafe and refused to pay for damages.

The Red and White did not wait as long for their second home tie; their very next game against Villanova had the same result. The 6-6 tie was a spectacular one, as neither team had ever played a school from the other side of the Mason-Dixon line before. The game was highly-anticipated by both fanbases, with the game being widely discussed in broad strokes with heavy Civil War-themed overtones. Unfortunately, the Aggies were handicapped after a major blow to Stafford rendered him unconscious in a very chippy game. Short on players for unexplained reasons, Stafford played the remainder of the game in a semi-conscious state.

Just over a week later, A&M played their first "gimme" game of the season against Eastern College. The weaker defense gave the Farmers the opportunity to experiment some more with forward passes, throwing a season-high seven lobs. Otherwise, the game was only remarkable in the sense that Sam Spencer and J. B. "Big Ross" Ross was the first former A&M player to meet his previous team in action since 1895, when Joel Whitaker left NC A&M for UNC. A&M's following game, against Washington & Lee in Lynchburg, was canceled by W&L faculty on the grounds of injuries against heavy student protests. Following this game, Coach Greene "began to emphasize interference and team work above everything else" (Red and White, Vol. XII No. 4 (December 1910), p. 201).

The Farmers played their fourth consecutive home game of the season two weeks after their Eastern College game against the floundering 1-3-1 Richmond's Spiders; the Red and White easily handled the Virginians in a 50-to-nothing blanking. The lopsided game was especially disinteresting because A&M did not attempt any exciting plays, probably fearing espionage from Virginia Tech. The Farmers next game was a similarly easy cakewalk; the 28-3 victory over Wake Forest featured predominently scrub players.

One interesting piece of trivia: 1910 may have been the only time North Carolina and A&M played 1905 and 1919 was in 1910. With both teams gearing up for their final Thanksgiving Day tilts in Virginia, they both had good reasons to get one more serious scrimmage under their belt. The Farmers had only played five games ro this point in the season due to cancelations and scheduling issues, and had played the entirity of the season without their captain, Hartsell, who recovered from his ailment just in time to participate in the VPI game. North Carolina, on the other hand, had played plenty of games--eight total before Thanksgiving--but had not shown well in them, earning a paltry 3-5 record en route to a season described by noted football mind as "the most disastrous season in her history" (Spalding's Official Football Guide, 1911, p. 75).

The only problem with this is that the practice was only described in one singular place. Following their win over South Carolina in Durham, Baltimore's Sun reported that "When the University of North Carolina football team was in Durham, N.C., Saturday it was decided by Carolina to spend the first three days of this week [November 20th-22nd] playing against Agricultural and Mechanical College" (The (Baltimore) Sun, November 22nd, 1910, p. 12). No North Carolina papers mentioned the scrimmage taking place, and while both teams ran "secret practices" of their own, UNC was camped in Williamsburg, Virginia, while A&M was quartered in Elizabeth City (The Raleigh Daily Times, November 22nd, 1910, p. 7; The Tar Heel, November 23rd, 1910, p. 4). While the two teams could have technically made the trip to meet at some point in the middle, it seems highly unlikely.

Finally, A&M met the Techs in Norfolk. There was a lot riding on this game for the Farmers: a victory meant a stake in the title of South Atlantic Champion. Virginia Tech was already out of the running for this title due to their loss to Navy in late October. A huge exodus of North Carolinians made their way to Virginia to see the game, and formed the better part of the over 10,000-spectator crowd in attendance. In a game that many said was the greatest every played in the South, the Farmers edged out VPI 5-3 in a clean, spirited game.

The Red and White celebrated their victory in style back in Raleigh by marching to downtown in a half-mile long parade, led by two floats carrying both the varsity and scrub football teams, as well as a massive constructed football which proclaimed their self-appointed title of South Atlantic Champion. The festivities went well into the night and involved stops at City Hall and the houses of several prominent Raleighites, as well as the usual trip to the girls' schools.

While the title of South Atlantic Champion is now retroactively seen as a co-champion thanks to the tie with Georgetown, some A&M fans of the time were not content with that title alone. Some A&M rooters claimed the team had won the laurels of champion of the South Technician, March 16th, 1987, p. 10). President Riddick announced that A&M shared the throne for best team in the country with Harvard. The logic was: Harvard tied Yale, who defeated Princeton. Yale was beaten by West Point, who defeated the Naval Academy; this means Navy had a very good team. Navy was unable to score a touchdown against VPI--a feat which A&M was able to do. Also, Villanova lost to Pennsylvania by a small score, and Penn tied Michigan (the strongest team in the West) and defeated Cornell. A&M played Villanova to a tie, and most of the game was in favor of A&M (who would have won had it not been for their QB's injury) (Beezley, p. 24).

The grandioseness of those claims aside, A&M beat some very good teams, and had a strong eleven men doing that. Probably the most notable were halfback D. A. Robertson and center John Bray, who were nearly universally selected as being All-Southern players at their respective positions of center and halfback. Guard D. B. Floy was also credited as being an All-Southern team, though the most credible list, published by W. A. Lambeth, did not inlcude him (The Agromeck, Vol. IX (1911), p. 152; Spalding's Official Football Guide, 1911, p. 59).

Though the players are obviously a vital cog in such a successful team, the men on the team felt that more credit was due to the coach. Tal Stafford, who went on to be an NC State administrator and temporary baseball and football coach during World War I, said the following about Greene's performance as a coach:

"Too much cannot be said in praise of Eddie Green's [sic] coaching. We owe all of our success to him. He was untiring in his efforts, absolutely fair in his dealing with the men, and his offensive and defensive formations were the best in Southern football this year. Doctor Green [sic] knows the game thoroughly; he understands men and can get the best work that a fellow is capable of giving. He is a gentleman at all times. 'Play hard fellows, but don't do anything dirty.' This is his motto, and A. & M. is to be congratulated upon securing such a man to train her athletes." (Red and White, Vol. XII No. 4 (December 1910), p. 203)

The entire year of athletics was special for NC State; the season had also encompassed a South Atlantic Championship-winning baseball team, and a SIAA track championship as well. Even as late as 1939, the season was looked at as the crown pinnacle of NC State football, and it stayed that way up until 1973-74, when NC State won football, baseball, and swimming ACC Championships and her first NCAA trophy in basketball (Beezley, p. 24-25).

* Technically, momentum plays were more directly targeted, though most people, then and now, refer to all of these styles of play as "mass" plays. Formerly, teams would run "off tackle" or "tackle back" plays, which had a lineman start a few yards behind the line of scrimmage in order to gain more momentum; this technique made mass plays much more successful.