A&T Offense Shut Down By Coastal Carolina
By Semaj Marsh
Bluedeathvalley.com
September 28, 2008
GREENSORO - The undesired combination of a soggy playing field and an injured Mike Ferguson spelled doom for the A&T offense last Saturday against Coastal Carolina.
With a light rain falling throughout most of the evening and the Aggies’ best running back sidelined with a high ankle sprain, A&T looked hopelessly inept at moving the ball in an ugly 20-7 loss to the visiting Chanticleers.
Utilizing a relentless pass rush and suffocating run defense, Coastal Carolina held A&T to 146 yards of total offense and just seven first downs. The Chanticleers also recorded seven sacks and intercepted two passes.
“Obviously their defense played pretty good tonight,” said A&T coach Lee Fobbs, whose team has now dropped three consecutive games after beginning the season 2-0.
“We had a few opportunities to score but we just weren’t able to sustain anything offensively.”
Coastal Carolina was led by quarterback William Richardson, who had 108 yards passing and also rushed for 44 yards and two touchdowns. Running backs Arthur Sitton and Jamie Fordham combined for 146 yards on the ground.
It was the second straight anemic performance for the A&T offense, which also struggled mightily in last week’s 44-7 loss to Hampton. This was the first time this season, however, that the Aggies were held without an offensive score.
Starting quarterback Herbert Miller, who was held out of the Hampton game due to a concussion, returned to action against Coast Carolina but appeared unable to shake off the rust. He completed just 9-of-19 passing for a mere 69 yards and two interceptions. Junior Dione McNair filled in for the injured Ferguson and recorded 71 yards on 23 carries.
Once again, untimely mistakes played a big role in the Aggies’ plight, as they were penalized eight times for 61 yards and converted just five of 15 third down attempts.
Still, as bad as the Aggies played on offense, they remained within striking distance for most of the night thanks to their own stingy defense. Linebacker Andre Thornton led the way with a game-high 11 tackles, cornerback Deshaun Graham added 8 tackles and defensive lineman Jarrell Herring recorded an interception.
The Aggies held Coast Carolina to just four of 11 third down conversions and forced three turnovers. One of those turnovers came on an interception by linebacker Jamison Hedgepeth off a tipped pass in the endzone, which proved to be A&T’s lone touchdown.
That score brought the Aggies to within 10-7, but after a celebration penalty gave Coastal Carolina great field position on the ensuing kickoff, the Chanticleers quickly responded with a seven play, 41 yard scoring drive that led to a 22-yard Justin Durham field goal.
After both teams traded possessions back and forth, the Chanticleers finally put the game away for good when Richardson broke free for a 22 yard touchdown run off a quarterback draw with just over five minutes remaining in the game.
“This one hurts,” admitted Hedgepeth afterwards. “It felt like our defense had a good grip on the game but we just didn’t finish.”
Next up for A&T will be a trip to Charlotte to face arch-rival North Carolina Central in a neutral site game at Memorial Stadium. The Eagles are 0-4 on the season and have giving up an average of over 43 points per game. Kickoff is set for 5 PM
“If there is a positive about all this, we’re pretty much going to see the same offense next week,’’ Fobbs said. “We’re going to see them same spread/zone type offense against Central. But we have to play better and we have to tackle better.”
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