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Kansas State Agricultural College again dipped into the Jayhawk well to find a new head coach after the departure of Fay Moulton. Wade Hampton Moore, who hailed from Franklin County, took over the reins of the program.
Moore had lettered twice in baseball and once in football at Kansas, and with the somewhat free-wheeling eligibility rules of the time served as a player-coach for the Aggies. In the season opener on October 7 in Lindsborg, Moore himself kicked two field goals to help KSAC to a 12-5 win over Bethany. A week later, the Aggies posted an 11-0 win over College of Emporia at home.
Then it all fell apart. Bethany came to Manhattan and won 17-0. Two weeks later, the team went on a road trip and played three games in six days; they lost 24-6 at Kansas City Medical College before heading to Emporia and losing 24-0 at Kansas State Teacher’s College (Emporia State) and 11-0 at College of Emporia two days later.
And that was it for their collegiate schedule. They did post a 30-0 win against Manhattan High on November 20, and traveled north on December 1 where they fought Washington High (now Washington County High) to a 6-6 draw. But as bad as that was, worse was looming.
After the season, Moore returned to his true love, baseball. He moved to Texas, managing and playing catcher for a series of minor league teams. He won the South Texas League title twice in its three-year existence, in 1903 with the San Antonio Bronchos and in 1905 with the Houston Buffaloes. But by 1908, he was done with baseball as well. He moved to Anadarko, in southwestern Oklahoma, and ran a movie theater and a baseball bat manufacturer.
Running total: 9-15-5, 6-14 against colleges
We’re still mostly in the dark about the baseball team at this point, but we do know two very important things: the Aggies won a road game, and they finished at .500, going 5-5. It would be their last non-winning record for a decade.
Running total: 23-34
Next time, an important development at KSAC as a new sport arrives.