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As head coach Shawn Gibbs’ first season back in Aggieland nears the finish line and his program continues to endure growing pains on and off the field, the remaining schedule doesn’t get any easier.
After suffering a disappointing 38-12 road loss at Stony Brook last week, A&T returns to Truist Stadium this Saturday for their final home game of the year, only to face arguably the toughest team in the conference.
The Aggies, now 2-8 overall and 2-4 in the Coastal Athletic Association, will host No. 12 Monmouth – a veteran unit loaded with talent on both sides of the ball and currently leading the conference in nearly every offensive category.
“We got to go back to work, turn the page and get ready to play the best team we’ve (faced) in the CAA,” said Gibbs. “The best offense. No. 1 scoring offense, No. 1 total offense, No. 1 rushing offense, No. 1 passing offense, No. 1 redzone offense, No. 1 third down offense.”
“If it’s got a No. 1 behind it, it says Monmouth.”
The Hawks’ offense might represent the proverbial irresistible force, but A&T’s defense has been far from an unmovable object this season.
Out of 14 CAA teams, the Aggies have statistically the worst rated defense, ranking dead last in yards allowed per game and points allowed.
Against the Seawolves last Saturday, A&T made another opposing young quarterback look like a future NFL prospect – this time allowing redshirt freshman Quinn Boyd to throw for a career-best 380 yards and three touchdowns on 37-of-48 passing.
One bright spot for A&T’s defense against Stony Brook was the play of junior defensive tackle Marquis Hood.
The transfer from Fort Valley State finished with a career-best three sacks, seven tackles and also knocked down two passes as the line of scrimmage.
Listed on the roster at 6’2, 275 pounds, Hood is considered undersized for his position but has found ways to use his speed and athleticism to bypass bigger offensive linemen. He now ranks third in the conference with 8.5 sacks on the year.
As a team, the Aggies were more aggressive on defense after the break and only allowed Stony Brook to score seven points in the second half.
This week, A&T best hope to slow down Monmouth’s potent offensive attack might be to control the clock and limit the Hawks’ possessions.
For that to happen, A&T will need to find a way to jumpstart its own offense that has been anemic over the past four weeks.
“Offensively, it was another rough day at the office,” said Gibbs. “We only had 221 yards of total offense and 41 yards rushing and that’s totally unacceptable.”
Starting quarterback Kevin White Jr. continued to struggle with his accuracy, completing 15-of-24 passes for 180 yards, one touchdown and two costly interceptions against Stony Brook.
Gibbs said all the blame shouldn’t fall solely on White’s shoulders, but he did hint that true freshman Nelson Layne could see action in these final two games of the season since it would not comprise his red-shirt status.
This week’s contest will also serve as Senior Day for 19 A&T seniors and graduates including starting running back Wesley Graves, right guard Korian Sharpe, defensive back Aaron Harris, edge rusher Tim Alderman and kicker Andrew “Money” Brown.
“We need to do everything in power to send our seniors out the right way this week,” Gibbs said. “We owe them that. I’m just extremely proud of them. And Korian – he got an invitation to the (Allstate HBCU) Legacy Bowl. That was great. Now we’re waiting on Aaron Harris and Andrew Brown to get there’s.”
Gibbs was assistant coach on A&T’s sideline the last time the two schools met in 2021 when Monmouth crashed the Aggies’ homecoming party with a 35-16 victory. That year both schools were members of the Big South conference.
Don’t be surprised if the Hawks enter this year’s contest with some extra motivation after suffering a 13-34 home loss to New Hampshire last week. It was just Monmouth’s first loss to an FCS opponent this season, with their only other defeat coming in a 35-42 loss to Charlotte in week three.
“We’ve got a tremendous challenge in front of us but these are the games that anybody who’s a competitor really looks forward to,” Gibbs said.
Another on-going challenge for Gibbs this season has been trying to establish the right culture in his locker room.
Discipline issues and mental errors have continued to plague the Aggies in crucial moments on the field, and during his weekly press conference on Monday, Gibbs announced that he dismissed multiple players from the program after the Stony Brook game for undisclosed reasons.
“How you do anything is how you do everything,” said Gibbs. That’s what I’m trying to get across to our team. We kind of look at things on the macro level rather than the micro level but it’s the little things that’s killing us. Once we understand that, I think we’ll be a lot better.”
