Post by krazykev on Nov 4, 2008 9:09:24 GMT -5
MEAC's big boys up last as A&T seeks a strong finish
GREENSBORO -- A winning season and conference championship are out of reach, and the coach has been fired. Yet, as they enter their final two football games of 2008, the N.C. A&T Aggies swear the search for significance isn't as tough as finding Sasquatch in Summerfield.
"Florida A&M and South Carolina State: the big boys," interim coach George Ragsdale said. "And we're a big boy. We've got to get our place back."
Simply beating the Rattlers and Bulldogs won't immediately return A&T (3-7, 1-5 MEAC) to that status, but it might be a start. And at least the Aggies are done with travel for the year, having driven to the ends of the MEAC -- Delaware State and Bethune-Cookman -- during the past three weeks. Those journeys added up to approximately 1,934 round-trip miles, the rough equivalent of taking the bus one way from Greensboro to Moab, Utah. So what exactly is in it for the Aggies in the two games and one bye week to come?
l Stability. Ragsdale is the interim replacement for Lee Fobbs, who was tossed to the curb after the Aggies lost to N.C. Central and to Howard on homecoming in consecutive weeks last month. Athletics director Wheeler Brown has said he considers the remainder of 2008 as Ragsdale's audition for the permanent job, and A&T has a win over Howard and a competitive 24-14 loss at Bethune-Cookman to its name the past two weeks.
Upheaval and player attrition tend to follow coaching changes. Fobbs noticed that pretty quickly upon taking over in early 2006 and realizing he didn't have enough bodies to conduct a real spring scrimmage that year. The players and administrators would rather keep this thing in-house than conduct another external search.
l Empirical evidence of progress. The previous two seasons were winless; this one is slightly better.
"We're still in the race for fourth or fifth" in the MEAC standings, senior linebacker Brandon Long said. "And that's better than finishing last."
Winning the last two would entail a verdict over the MEAC's current front-runner. South Carolina State (5-0) is in a three-way contest with Morgan State and Hampton, both 4-1, for the league title. The schedule does give the Aggies an opportunity to help determine the champion.
"These aren't pushover teams," junior linebacker Jamison Hedgepeth said of the Rattlers and Bulldogs. "If we win these games, it will give us a boost of confidence."
Granted, they won't get the chance to display that confidence for another several months, but a strong finish would be a nice bridge to offseason workouts regardless of who's coaching.
l Development and evaluation of young talent. Sophomore Nigel Tomlin, an unrecruited walk-on, has averaged 6.3 yards per carry and has scored four touchdowns after getting his chance with Michael Ferguson (ankle) injured. Freshman wide receiver Derek Gould, one of the fastest Aggies, has caught at least one pass in each of the past three games and is considered an intriguing prospect. Others may emerge.
Ferguson, who began the season on pace to become the school's career rushing leader, is no longer a lock for that distinction. He'll have to average 164 yards in the final two games to get there, and Ragsdale said he won't force-feed Ferguson carries simply in the quest for history. Ragsdale, who went on to an NFL career, specifically remembers this issue in his A&T playing days. Informed he was closing in on the program's first 1,000-yard rushing season in 1975, he happily abandoned the chase toward the end of the regular-season finale.
"Know what we got?" he asked Monday. "We got a championship. Even though I wasn't the first 1,000-yard rusher, it didn't hurt me. Ferg's the same way."
Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rob.daniels @news-record.com
GREENSBORO -- A winning season and conference championship are out of reach, and the coach has been fired. Yet, as they enter their final two football games of 2008, the N.C. A&T Aggies swear the search for significance isn't as tough as finding Sasquatch in Summerfield.
"Florida A&M and South Carolina State: the big boys," interim coach George Ragsdale said. "And we're a big boy. We've got to get our place back."
Simply beating the Rattlers and Bulldogs won't immediately return A&T (3-7, 1-5 MEAC) to that status, but it might be a start. And at least the Aggies are done with travel for the year, having driven to the ends of the MEAC -- Delaware State and Bethune-Cookman -- during the past three weeks. Those journeys added up to approximately 1,934 round-trip miles, the rough equivalent of taking the bus one way from Greensboro to Moab, Utah. So what exactly is in it for the Aggies in the two games and one bye week to come?
l Stability. Ragsdale is the interim replacement for Lee Fobbs, who was tossed to the curb after the Aggies lost to N.C. Central and to Howard on homecoming in consecutive weeks last month. Athletics director Wheeler Brown has said he considers the remainder of 2008 as Ragsdale's audition for the permanent job, and A&T has a win over Howard and a competitive 24-14 loss at Bethune-Cookman to its name the past two weeks.
Upheaval and player attrition tend to follow coaching changes. Fobbs noticed that pretty quickly upon taking over in early 2006 and realizing he didn't have enough bodies to conduct a real spring scrimmage that year. The players and administrators would rather keep this thing in-house than conduct another external search.
l Empirical evidence of progress. The previous two seasons were winless; this one is slightly better.
"We're still in the race for fourth or fifth" in the MEAC standings, senior linebacker Brandon Long said. "And that's better than finishing last."
Winning the last two would entail a verdict over the MEAC's current front-runner. South Carolina State (5-0) is in a three-way contest with Morgan State and Hampton, both 4-1, for the league title. The schedule does give the Aggies an opportunity to help determine the champion.
"These aren't pushover teams," junior linebacker Jamison Hedgepeth said of the Rattlers and Bulldogs. "If we win these games, it will give us a boost of confidence."
Granted, they won't get the chance to display that confidence for another several months, but a strong finish would be a nice bridge to offseason workouts regardless of who's coaching.
l Development and evaluation of young talent. Sophomore Nigel Tomlin, an unrecruited walk-on, has averaged 6.3 yards per carry and has scored four touchdowns after getting his chance with Michael Ferguson (ankle) injured. Freshman wide receiver Derek Gould, one of the fastest Aggies, has caught at least one pass in each of the past three games and is considered an intriguing prospect. Others may emerge.
Ferguson, who began the season on pace to become the school's career rushing leader, is no longer a lock for that distinction. He'll have to average 164 yards in the final two games to get there, and Ragsdale said he won't force-feed Ferguson carries simply in the quest for history. Ragsdale, who went on to an NFL career, specifically remembers this issue in his A&T playing days. Informed he was closing in on the program's first 1,000-yard rushing season in 1975, he happily abandoned the chase toward the end of the regular-season finale.
"Know what we got?" he asked Monday. "We got a championship. Even though I wasn't the first 1,000-yard rusher, it didn't hurt me. Ferg's the same way."
Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rob.daniels @news-record.com
