A&T STATISTICAL LEADERS: RB Jah-Maine Martin (16 rushes, 97 yards, 1 TD); QB Jalen Fowler (18-for-29, 215 yards, 1 TD); WR Taymon Cooke (5 catches, 53 receiving yards); LB Jacob Roberts (8 tackles, 3 unassisted, 3.0 TFLs, 2.0 sacks); DE Devin Harrell (4 tackles, 1 unassisted, 2.0 sacks); ROV Richie Kittles (10 tackles, 5 unassisted).
MU STATISTICAL LEADERS: QB Tony Muskett (19-for-28, 246 yards, 2 TDs, 2 rushing TDs); RB Jaden Shirden (8 rush att., 52 yards, 1 TD); WR Lonnie Moore (5 rec., 100 yards, 1 TD); WR Terrence Green, Jr. (4 rec., 79 yards); DB Tyrese Wright (9 tackles, 6 unassisted, 1.0 TFL); DB Justin Terry (5 tackles, 5 unassisted, 1 INT); LB Ryan Moran (9 tackles, 4 unassisted, 0.5 sacks).
WHY A&T DIDN’T GET THE “W”: The Aggies have struggled mightily to score in the second half as of late, and that trend continued against Monmouth. A&T has not scored a second-half point since the fourth quarter of the North Alabama game on Oct. 9. Monmouth held the Aggies to just 141 yards of offense in the second half, 42 of those coming on a late fourth-quarter drive when the game was out of reach.
WHY MONMOUTH GOT THE “W”: A&T’s defense looked like one that would make head coach Sam Washington proud on first and second downs, but third downs were different. Monmouth converted 8 of 17 (.471) on third downs compared to A&T, converting only 3 of 12 (.250). The Hawks also converted on three of their four fourth-down attempts to keep drives moving.
CRUCIAL: The Aggies had created some momentum heading into the halftime break. A bad snap from Monmouth’s center culminated in a safety that A&T followed up with a seven-play, 56-yard touchdown drive to cut the Hawks lead to 21-16, with the Aggies set to receive the second-half kickoff. A&T would, unfortunately, go three-and-out on their first two drives of the second half totaling eight yards of offense between the two. Monmouth took advantage of that and put together a back-breaking 15-play, 87-yard touchdown drive to extend their lead back to 28-16, with a few minutes left in the third quarter.
THE STORY: EAST GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T Aggies were on the wrong side of history on Saturday afternoon inside Truist Stadium in front of a sell-out crowd, losing their first homecoming game since 2010 as Big South Conference preseason-favorite Monmouth defeated A&T, 35-16.
A&T’s three-game losing streak is its first since 2011 as the Aggies dropped to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in Big South play.
The Hawks (5-3, 4-0 Big South) received the opening kickoff hoping to get off to a fast start. That was not the case; however, as defensive end Devin Harrell (6-foot-3, 240, R-JR, Gastonia, N.C.) recorded the first of his two sacks on the day to put the Hawks in a third-and-long situation, they did not convert, forcing a punt.
The Aggies put together a season-high eight sacks against the No. 1 pass protection in the Big South.
A&T’s opening drive did not go as planned, either, especially when punter Mike Rivers (6-0, 175, JR, Wilmington, N.C.) fumbled the snap, forcing him to take a loss of 19 yards, giving Monmouth excellent starting field position on the Aggies 37-yard line.
The Hawks expressed their gratitude with a five-play, 37-yard scoring drive to take a 7-0 lead early. It was the first of three-straight touchdown drives for Monmouth, enabling them to jump out to a 21-7 advantage.
The Aggies punted with 7:30 remaining in the first half, and the Hawks took over on their own 23. Two negative plays later, including a sack from sophomore linebacker Jacob Roberts, forced a third-and-long when a safety gave A&T the ball back trailing 21-9.
The Aggies followed with a 56-yard scoring drive finished off when A&T quarterback Jalen Fowler (6-4, 235, R-JR, Spartanburg, S.C.) faked a handoff to running back Jah-Maine Martin (5-10, 220, R-SR, Conway, S.C.) found tight end Nick Dobson (6-3, 240, FR, Teachey, N.C.) in the flats for a 4-yard TD reception.
A&T’s defense forced a punt that allowed the offense 16 seconds to work with before the break. Running back Kashon Baker (5-6, 170, R-SR, Farmville, N.C.) exploded out of the backfield on the ensuing play for a 19-yard gain, and scoring before the half all of a sudden became a possibility with the ball near midfield.
Fowler found wide receiver Korey Banks (6-0, 195, GR, Tyrone, Ga.) on the next play for 25 yards, but Banks did not get out of bounds. With no timeouts, the Aggies headed into the locker room empty-handed.
That was the closest A&T would get the rest of the ballgame.
Two three-and-outs on their first two drives of the second half did not help, and Monmouth broke the game open again, with a 15-play, 87-yard touchdown drive ending in a 1-yard touchdown from Hawks quarterback Tony Musketto. It was the first of two 1-yard rushing TDs for Muskett on the day.
QUOTABLE: “Tough day. Our third-straight loss makes it very difficult to come up here and share with you guys. However, I’m not as disappointed this week as I was last week. I thought the guys fought, at least for a half. In the first half, I thought we played well. We didn’t play well enough to win, but at least we played with some effort and desire, and I thought the second half, the energy died, and we were not as effective. Penalties and some bad choices also played into the score being what it was.”
A&T coach Sam Washington on the Aggies effort Saturday
GAME NOTES
Monmouth snapped the Aggies nine-game homecoming winning streak.
Saturday was also the first home loss since Sept. 28, 2018, a 16-13 defeat to Morgan State. It snapped a seven-game home winning streak.
One bright spot for the Aggies is they held Monmouth to just 77 total rushing yards. It marked the 53rd time in the 113 games since Washington has been back with the A&T program that the Aggies have held an opponent to under 80 yards rushing.
A&T has played an opponent for the first time in school history five times thus far this season. They are 2-3 on those games.
The Aggies have given up more than 200 yards passing in every game this season except one, which was the triple-option offense of Kennesaw State.
The Aggies’ eight sacks are the most they recorded since posting eight sacks against Delaware State on Oct. 7, 2017.
The Aggies have been ranked 89 straight weeks in the BoxToRow black college football poll. That streak will be under threat this week.
