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Halloween is still weeks away, but at times last Saturday it felt like A&T fans were watching a scary movie inside Truist Stadium and bracing themselves for an inevitable jump scare.
Even though A&T clung to a narrow 9-0 lead over South Carolina State midway through the third quarter, the atmosphere on that chilly Homecoming afternoon was a tense and somewhat quiet one - as if something bad was about to happen.
Sure enough, SCSU would finally awake on offense after a sloppy start, striking for three quick touchdown drives in the second half to surge ahead and eventually hold on for a 22-16 win.
“I think we definitely played good enough to win but, once again, we found a way not to win,” said A&T head coach Shawn Gibbs, who saw his team fall to 1-6 on the season. “You know, just turning the ball over late in the game which led to some points. I did see some improvement, but it’s the same thing that keeps rearing its ugly head.”
It was the third straight year the Aggies have lost on their Homecoming and the second year in a row they’ve been defeated by SCSU.
In a contest that featured 26 combined penalties by both teams and a total of 225 penalty yards, the Bulldogs would get out of their own way long enough to capitalize on some costly Aggie turnovers down the stretch.
Starting quarterback Kevin White Jr. finished with 194 passing yards and one touchdown. However, lost fumbles on back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter set up easy Bulldog touchdowns. Later, White threw an interception in the end zone when the Aggies were on the SCSU 12-yard line.
“I think Kevin played solid again other than those two (fumbles) and that was just a ball security issue,” said Gibbs. “We’ve got to make sure we have two hands on the ball and have pocket presence when people are around us so we don’t put the ball on the ground. But other than that, I thought he made pretty good decisions. Like every game, he had a couple of throws that I’m sure he would like back, but when we needed some points he was able to connect with Thomas Brown and they were able to get back in the game.”
Another bright spot against South Carolina State was senior kicker Andrew “Money” Brown who connected on three field goals in the second quarter to give A&T its 9-0 lead. His 55-yarder with a little over three minutes left before halftime set the school record for longest made field goal.
Now the Aggies will enjoy a midseason bye week and get some additional time to regroup, return some players from the injury list and reassess the direction of their program before beginning a two-game homestand.
They’ll return to action on October 25 for a Coastal Athletic Association matchup against Campbell, followed by another home conference game against Towson on November 1.
The A&T offense, which had been trending upwards prior to the Homecoming loss, still needs to find a way to reduce the costly turnovers and penalties and establish more consistency.
The Aggies currently rank dead last in the CAA in total offense, averaging just 303 yards and 23 points per contest. A&T ranks 12th out of 14 conference teams in passing offense -averaging 192 yards, and 11th is rushing stats, averaging 111 yards on the ground each contest.
Defensively, A&T currently ranks 13th out of 14 schools in the CAA in points allowed, surrendering 40.1 points per game. The Aggie defense also ranks near the bottom of the conference is total yards allowed, with 436.4 yards per contest.
Most of that damage has come via big plays where opposing teams have seized on mental errors and miscommunication by A&T defenders at the most inopportune times.
Gibbs said the team will spend the early part of the bye week just getting back to the basics.
“This is going to be a big week of fundamentals and technique; making sure we’re still practicing with the effort , intensity and focus that’s required to win football games, said Gibbs. “So the first couple of days we’re going to be focused on North Carolina A&T and then later in the week, Thursday and Friday, we’re getting started on Campbell.”
