The first known football game to have been played in the south took place in 1873 between VMI and next-door neighbor Washington and Lee.

The contest, played under different rules than conventional modern day football, was played on the VMI Parade Ground with 50 players a side and won by Washington and Lee, 4-2.

VMI did not officially recognize football as an intercollegiate sport until 1891, but many games had been played by cadet squads before that time.