A&T STATISTICAL LEADERS: RB Kashon Baker (21 rush att., 59 yards, 2 TDs; 3 rec., 31 yards); DE/LB Stephen Davis, Jr. (2 sacks); QB Jalen Fowler (10-for-26, 211 yards, 2 INTs); LB Tyquan King (15 tackles, 6 unassisted, 2 TFLs); LB Jacob Roberts (11 tackles, six unassisted, 3.5 TFLs, 3.0 sacks); LB Joseph Stuckey (4 tackles, 2 unassisted, 1 INT); RB Bhayshul Tuten (5 rush att., 18 yards, 3 rec., 108 yards); DL Shomari Wallace (3 QB hurries).
CSU STATISTICAL LEADERS: QB Jack Chambers (21-for-44, 150 yards); DB Lawson Cook (10 tackles, 6 unassisted, 1.5 TFLs); WR Cayden Jordan (7 rec., 70 yards); WR Garris Schwarting (6 rec., 54 yards); DL Anton Williams (3 tackles, all unassisted, 2.0 TFLs, 2.0 sacks); DB Matthew Williams (3 PBUs).
WHY A&T GOT THE “W”: It’s an easy question. Defense. Yes, the Aggies held Charleston Southern to minus-3 yards rushing. Yes, the Aggies held the Buccaneers to just 147 yards of total offense. But what may have been more impressive is how the defense reacted after A&T turnovers. CSU got the ball at the Aggies 42-yard line after a first-quarter interception. The Bucs did not gain a yard on the possession, turning the ball over on downs after a Tyquan King sack. In the third quarter, the Bucs got the ball at the A&T 30 after a pick. But they gained only nine yards and eventually missed a 37-yard field goal. CSU finally scored on Aggies turnover in the fourth quarter after taking over at the Aggies 18 following a fumble.
WHY CSU DID NOT GET THE “W”: Not only did the Bucs not take advantage of the opportunities the Aggies gave, they did on a day where they allowed the Aggies to get off to a fast start. The Bucs gave up a 92-yard catch and run to Bhayshul Tuten. The long reception led to a 1-yard Kashon Baker touchdown. Minutes later, a bad snap on a punt led to Jazir Staton recovering the ball in the end zone for a 14-0 first-quarter lead. The Aggies put together a 9-play, 58-yard drive on their first possession of the second half to take a 21-3 lead.
CRUCIAL: The Bucs had trouble moving the ball against the Aggies in the first half. They finally mounted a drive late in the first half. On 1st-and-10 from the Aggies 14, Chambers found a wide-open Garris Schwarting across the middle at the 8. It appeared Schwarting would score for sure. But Janaz Sumpter came racing in from the end zone and stopped Schwarting cold at the 1-yard line with six seconds remaining in the first half. CSU ran another play, but it was an incomplete pass, forcing the Bucs into a field goal. Sumpter’s tackle would prove huge as CSU rallied in the fourth quarter.
THE STORY: CHARLESTON, S.C. – North Carolina A&T’s defense was right where the Aggies needed it at the end of Saturday afternoon’s football game at Charleston Southern’s Buccaneers Field.
They were on the field. Linebacker Joseph Stuckey (6-foot, 215, JR, Hillside, N.J.) intercepted Bucs quarterback Jack Chambers with 1:45 remaining in the game to secure a 21-18 Big South Conference win.
The win snaps the Aggies three-game losing streak as they avoided their longest losing streak since going 1-10 in 2010. A&T also ended a five-game road losing streak, winning on the road for the first time since beating South Carolina State, 22-20 in Orangeburg, S.C, on Nov. 2, 2019.
The Aggies (4-5, 3-3 Big South) got back to their winning ways behind a ferocious defensive performance. The Bucs (3-5, 2-4 Big South) mustered only 147 yards of offense and had minus-3 yards rushing. They did not make it into the end zone until the fourth quarter.
A&T even mastered third down after struggling last week. The Bucs converted only 4 of 16 (.250) third downs and were 1 of 3 on fourth down. Even when the Aggies defense had their backs against the wall after the offensive turned it over, the Bucs managed to score only seven points off of three A&T turnovers.
The Bucs came in averaging 308.8 yards per game passing, and quarterback Jack Chambers had two 100-yard rushing games to his credit. CSU threw for only 150 yards, and Chambers had minus-14 yards rushing and was sacked 11 times.
A&T’s 11 sacks are a school record and are tied for the third-most in NCAA history. In the past two weeks, the Aggies have recorded an incredible 19 sacks. One thing would have made A&T’s defensive performance complete. If they did not give some of those lost yards through sacks back on 11 penalties for 104 yards. The Aggies have committed 23 penalties in the last two weeks.
“Our problem right now is penalties,” said A&T coach Sam Washington. “Had we removed those penalties today, it would have been a more dynamic day for our defense.”
As it were, the Aggies went into the fourth quarter, holding on to a 21-3 lead thanks to two Kashon Baker (5-6, 170, RB, SR, Farmville, N.C.) touchdowns. A special teams touchdown on a bad punt snap that Jazir Staton (5-11 195, linebacker, Charlotte, N.C.) recovered in the end zone also helped.
Late in the third quarter, the Aggies looked poised to put the game away through their running game. The defense was coming off a series where they held CSU to a missed field goal after the Bucs took over at the Aggies 30-yard line following an interception.
But a Baker fumble with 2:32 remaining in the third gave CSU another crack at scoring as John Chiaramonte recovered the ball at the Aggies 18. Aided by three A&T penalties, CSU finally capitalized on an Aggies turnover as running back Kyris Barnett scored from two yards out to make it a 21-10 ballgame.
A&T held CSU to a three-and-out on its next offensive drive before CSU took over possession at its 34 with 7:45 remaining. The Bucs put together their best drive of the game, a 10-play, 66-yard drive that ended with Chambers scoring on a 3-yard run to cut A&T’s lead to 21-16 with 4:18 to play.
The Bucs added to their momentum when Garris Schwarting took a pass from Chambers a carried a few Aggies across the goal line for a two-point conversion to get the Bucs to within field goal.
The Aggies went three-and-out on its ensuing possession, leaving the door open for CSU to complete its comeback.
CSU took over at the 50-yard line, and the Aggies defense showed out again. They pressured Chambers on four straight plays, finally catching him and sacking him on the fourth play as linebacker Jacob Roberts (6-0, 235, SO, Charlotte, N.C.) earned his third sack of the day.
Then on 2nd-and-21 from the 50, Stuckey stepped in front of a Chambers pass and picked off the pass.
“I thought it was fitting that the game ended with the defense on the field because of all of their effort. They contributed a lot to this ballgame. They made a ton of plays, so I thought it was fitting they finished the game with an interception.”
QUOTABLE: “Football players make football plays. That man is a football player. He came in ready to participate as a freshman. Very few freshmen have played in this scheme. His football IQ is unbelievable, and he has readiness. He is always ready to play.”
Coach Sam Washington on Jacob Roberts after Roberts had 11 tackles, three sacks and two tackles for loss on Saturday
GAME NOTES
The Aggies 11 sacks are a school record, breaking the previous record of nine set in 1999.
The Aggies held CSU to minus-3 yards rushing, marking the third time in the Washington era that the Aggies have held an opponent to negative yards rushing.
The Aggies scored a second-half touchdown on Saturday. It marked the first time in three games the Aggies scored in the second half.
In two games versus A&T, CSU has managed to rush for a combined 45 yards.
Jah-Maine Martin had a career-best 299 yards rushing the last time the Aggies played the Bucs, but he did not play on Saturday.
Bhayshul Tuten had 108 yards receiving, marking the second time this season a freshman has recorded a 100-yard receiving game after Jamison Warren had 103 yards receiving at Hampton on Oct. 23.
Tuten’s 92-yard reception from Jalen Fowler is the longest play from scrimmage this season and the second-longest play from scrimmage in school history.
