After a disappointing 0-3 start to the season, the Aggies look to turn their season around in Virginia this Saturday against the Norfolk State Spartans.
This weekend’s matchup between the two teams is the last chance for A&T to go head-to-head with an HBCU team this season. If the Aggies can win this game, it could potentially add a spark to turn around their season after their last loss to Elon.
After facing early criticism, head Coach Vincent Brown addressed the team’s current state.
“We are disappointed with where we are in the season, but we’re not discouraged. We understand we have very passionate fans, but we have greater supporters,” said Brown. “Our goals are still right in front of us. We played one conference game, and understand what we need to improve.”
Brown also explained how the team has trained for Norfolk State in the past week during their bye, as well as this week for the upcoming game.
“We really kind of split practice with three-quarters of the practice being focused on us. Each day, we allocated a portion of practice towards the Norfolk State game plan,” said Brown. “There’s focus on us primarily but also getting an introduction into what they do schematically.”
The Spartans enter this game with a 2-2 record on the season. They’re currently 0-1 at home after giving up 33 points in their only home game this season.
The Spartans are averaging 21.3 points per game, as well as the defense allowing an average of 27.8 points per game.
Stopping the run game will be a crucial focus for this game, with the team having a run-by-committee attack. Last week, Norfolk ran the ball 54 times against Towson.
Norfolk State has lost six straight matchups against North Carolina A&T dating back to Oct. 10 2015, with the previous matchup last season ending in a 49-24 victory for the Aggies.
The Aggies’ offense and defense will both hope to make much-needed improvements on Saturday. The defense has allowed 385 yards per game, with the offense only averaging 170 yards per game.
Starting cornerback Aaron Harris addressed the state of the defense and where the unit could improve moving forward.
“We’re just trying to stay together. I will say one thing: we have to do better as a defense,” Harris said. “We need to take the ball away and give the offense a better chance to get better field position and get in the endzone.”
The Aggies are looking for their first win on the road this Saturday in Virginia and their first win against an HBCU team. With a loss to North Carolina Central University already, A&T is hopeful to split their series of HBCU matchups.
