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The A&T football team went back to the drawing board during its bye week, taking an introspective look at some of the challenges they’ve faced during the first half of this season while also using the time away to get healthier in preparation for its final five games.
With an overall record of 1-6 and still stinging from a frustrating Homecoming loss to South Carolina State on Oct. 11, the Aggies wanted to get back to the basics and become a better version of themselves.
“Coming off a bye week, we’ve had a chance to heal up a little bit, do some self-scouting and figure out what we are doing good and what we can do better,” said first year A&T head coach Shawn Gibbs. “And now it's just time to get back to work and go out and compete this Saturday at 1 o’clock.”
A&T will host instate rival Campbell at Truist Stadium this weekend in a matchup of two teams currently struggling in the Coast Athletic Association.
The Fighting Camels (2-6 overall, 2-2 in the CAA) have won the last two encounters in this series, including a 21-7 win last year in Buies Creek.
Campbell enters the contest having split its last two games – a 38-21 win over Hampton on Oct. 11 and a 24-10 loss versus New Hampshire last weekend.
The Camels are still looking to find some consistency on offense, having played both redshirt sophomore Kamdem Sixkiller (1,237 passing yards, 9 touchdowns and three interceptions) and graduate Mike Chandler II (294 passing yards, one touchdown and no interceptions) at quarterback this season.
Their running game is led by sophomore J.J. Cowan, who has 407 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 80 carries.
Campbell’s offense is currently ranked 9th in the CAA and 87th in FCS football.
Defensively, the Camels have found success creating turnovers – ranking second in the CAA and 12th nationally with 13 takeaways this year. That includes six interceptions and seven recovered fumbles.
“The guys are well-coached on both sides of the ball,” said Gibbs. “They’ve played a tough schedule against some really tough opponents like East Carolina, N.C. State and Rhode Island who’s No. 9 in the (FCS polls) right now. So, we’re going to have our hands full.”
The main focus for A&T this Saturday will be finding a way to stop giving up explosive, momentum-changing plays on defense.
The Aggies currently rank dead last in the CAA scoring defense, allowing 40.1 points per game. They are next to last in the conference in total defense, surrendering 465.3 points per contest.
Against South Carolina State, A&T held a 9-0 lead midway through the third quarter before Bulldogs quarterback William Atkins connected with a wide-open Cyrus Ellison on a 43-yard pass to end the shutout.
SCSU would then take advantage of back-to-back fumbles by A&T quarterback KJ White to eventually score 22 unanswered points in the second half.
Another frustrating issue for Gibbs has been the inability to establish a consistent running game.
Despite having a stable of talented running backs and good size on its offensive line, A&T currently ranks 12th out of 14 CAA teams in rushing offense – averaging just 111 yards per game.
Redshirt senior Wesley Graves leads the Aggies with 407 yards and five rushing touchdowns through the first seven games of the year. Shimique Blizzard and JT Smith have added 210 and 155 rushing yards respectively, and both have scored a rushing touchdown.
Gibbs said he expects the work his team put in over the bye week to result in stronger performances in the second half of ball games and throughout the final stretch of the season.
“The main thing that we’ve got to harp on is finishing. Part of our culture is how you do anything is how you do everything, so we’re trying to encourage these guys to finish everything that we do. That’s every rep in practice. That’s every tackle. That’s everything that you do off the field. Finish your lunch. Finish your dinner. Finish your homework. Finish everything.”
