It is the middle of the football season and A&T is at the crossroads time of where and how their season will progress.
With four of their next five games at home against Howard, Norfolk, FAMU, and South Carolina State mixed in with a trip to Dover Delaware to visit a rejuvenated Delaware State football team, crunch time is upon the Aggies now.
A&T has three possibilities awaiting them at this point of the season. Being ineligible for the conference championship this season, here are the options:
Defensively, the Aggies have been there most all of the season with the exception of one two plays. Despite being the undersized unit in the MEAC at about only 255 pounds per man up front, they continue to be generally the best defensive unit in the MEAC because they play extremely fast, hard, and they swarm to the ball.
There is little to complain about with the players or coaching on this side of the ball.
Yes, reduced practice time is a major factor that clearly is affecting the offense and its timing. It takes much longer for offenses to find their rhythm and to become consistent
The smart fans know its going to take a another big recruiting class, some more seasoning and the lifting of the APR sanctions before we become world beaters like a lot of fans want to see.
That part I get. Coach Broadway can stop preaching to the true believers. We already know about that problem and we accept it will take time.
However, unlike a year ago, A&T has been coming up short in the effort area and reduced practice has far less of an affect on effort than on mechanics.
Being in the red zone four times against BCU last week and letting them off the hook each time had more to do with bad decision-making and poor execution than it did one less day of practice last week.
That was a lack of effort, no determination, and no real fire. I often remark about having the eye of a cold blooded killer in football.
Simply put, when you have an opponent in a straight jacket with their back up against a wall, you must as a football team place the dagger straight into their heart and take the life of them.
That is certainly rather cruel and violent analogy of which I speak I know, but football is a cruel and violent game and it is not for the faint of heart, the meek, or the timid.
It is not about being cute and flashy, making those picturesque bombs down the field or breaking off those sixty-yard jaunts to the end zone.
Its about getting in the trenches nose to nose with the person in front of you and just flat knocking the crap out of him to the point he is blinking and taking a step back on the next series of downs because you have gotten inside his head. You must be willing to grind people down and into the dirt. It’s not pretty but it works and it wins.
You can coach X’s and O’s and fans will debate that topic until they are blue in the face and flies are all over that dead horse.
Nevertheless, if the young men who step on the field do not the passion to want to make it happen and are not willing to step up and meet the challenge then you could have Nick Saban being in charge and you still will not be done. Its mid season now, its gut check time and yes guys you’re being called out.
Do they want to win? Sure they do. Will they win every time out? Not likely.
However, most importantly are they willing as a team to do what you have to do in order to compete and give yourself the opportunity to do so?
Either bring the passion this Saturday or take a knee.
Your choice.
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Howard. Unless something out of the unusual happens this team will probably win the MEAC this season and that includes Bethune Cookman. Right now they are the best coached team in the league.
Not the most talented team but I said the best coached at this point. What Howard has learned to do is find ways to win and win a variety of ways whether taking an opponent for 50 plus points or battling it out to the lat play, Coach Gary Harrell has his team playing at a high level.
Howard matches up with A&T pretty much size wise evenly although A&T is slightly faster with its team speed. Where the Bison have separated themselves from everyone else in the league is their quarterback and receiver play.
They run the pick play as well as anyone and their misdirection running game is consistent. Defensively Ray Petty has some of the best linebackers in the FCS but they do have a penchant from time to time to turn the ball over and the kicking game is average.
In other words, they are good, very good, but also very beatable. For A&T to win this game it has to become a war of attrition, and not a war of quarterback play.
It has to be a game of field position and special teams and not home run plays. If A&T gets into that trap this game will not be pretty. That is Howard’s specialty.
A&T has to run the football against the Bison and run it effectively and stay with even it even when it gets tough.
A&T can throw the ball and can make plays but trying to make a steady diet of that is not who we are and that has been the biggest downfall these last two weeks.
Defensively the Aggies should be there in force this weekend and will put the offense in a position to win this thing if they do not turn the ball over.
Its up to the offense to match the defensive effort. Besides after last year’s overtime loss by less than a yard in which we blew a big lead late in their homecoming game in which we dominated them for 55 minutes, we owe them one.
PREDICTION
N.C. A&T – 24
Howard – 22
