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A house was defended, pride was restored and now a resurgent A&T football team enters the final three games on their schedule with the wind at their back and a slim yet still feasible chance to earn a postseason berth.
With the city of Greensboro bursting at the seams last weekend in celebration of the 100th edition of the Greatest Homecoming on Earth (GHOE), the Aggies outlasted Elon in a defensive slugfest, 13-10 - their first homecoming win in four years.
“It was a great win and I’m happy we were able to do our part of homecoming and that’s win the football game so we could finally celebrate with a victory,” said A&T head coach Shawn Gibbs. “Extremely proud of our players for finding a way to win.”
Coming off a bye week, Gibbs challenged his team to “defend the house” on GHOE and they responded with their best defensive effort of the season in front of a jammed-packed crowd of 22,401 at Truist Stadium.
“I think it was a good job by our coaches – especially Coach (Denzel) Jones and the defensive staff,” said Gibbs, who handed the Phoenix (4-5 overall, 2-3 in the CAA) their fourth straight loss. “Because we faced one of the best running backs in the country – that No. 22 from Elon, Kamerin McDowell-Moore. We didn’t shut him all the way down but we made him earn everything and I’m sure he’s pretty sore right now.
Moore, the top running back in the Coastal Athletic Association, finished with 102 yards and one touchdown on 25 carries but Elon as a team was held to just 201 yards of total offense and gained just nine first downs.
A&T’s Blue Death Defense was particularly stingy on third down, allowing Elon to convert just 3 of 15 attempts.
Redshirt sophomore linebacker Tyrek Brown led the way with six tackles, a pass breakup and two forced fumbles – including a strip sack on the game’s final play to seal the win with Elon driving for the potential go-ahead touchdown.
“Unfortunately, we lost the turnover battle three to one, but the one we had was probably one of the biggest in the history of GHOE – a great sack, forced fumble by Tyrek Brown,” said Gibbs. “You know we talked after the Bryant game about having guys who can close out a football game. We’ve been preaching that and preaching that, and then one Saturday it was good to see of our players, who I feel is one of the best linebackers in the country, close the door.”
Brown, who transferred to A&T from Campbell this offseason, was recognized by the conference on Monday when he was named CAA Co-Defensive Player of the Week.
With the win, the Aggies improved to 4-5 overall and moved up to seventh place in the CAA standings with a 3-2 conference record. They will likely need to win out and get a bunch of help along the way, but a pathway to the postseason is still a mathematical possibility.
It wasn’t that long ago when that scenario seemed completely implausible after the Aggies began the season 0-4. However, following a rock-bottom performance against a now ranked Campbell squad, the Aggies have won four out of their last five games including four straight at home.
Up next will be an always tough road trip to New Jersey to face a nationally ranked Monmouth team who currently sits atop the CAA standings.
Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. at Monmouth’s Kesler Stadium.
The Hawks currently rank third the conference in scoring offense, averaging 33.1 points per game. They are led by redshirt sophomore quarterback Frankie Weaver who has thrown for 1946 yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions in nine games.
Last Saturday the Hawks extended their winning streak to six games with a 34-21 home victory against Bryant, improving their record to 7-2 overall and 6-0 in the CAA. Monmouth is now ranked 17th in the AFCA Coaches Poll and 18th in the FCS Stats Media Poll.
“(Elon) was a great win but we’ve got to put that behind us because now we’ve got to focus our attention on a top 20 team,” Gibbs said. “The only team in the conference without a loss in the CAA and a team that beat the brakes off us last year, 63-19, and we’ve haven’t forgot that.”
