Post by exterminator on Oct 25, 2005 9:19:48 GMT -5
Struggling A&T might swap QBs
By Rob Daniels
StafGREENSBORO -- The original Marshall Plan was destined to reinvigorate Europe. The N.C. A&T football team's version just wants a few first downs.
Aggies coach George Small said Monday he's leaning toward returning to Marshall Glenn at quarterback if Rico Watkins (hamstring) is ruled out of Saturday's home game with Bethune-Cookman (7 p.m., ESPNU).
"Rico's day-to-day at this point," Small said. "But we're going to start getting someone else prepared. We're going to look at Marshall."
Glenn started the first half of the season, but was moved to wide receiver three weeks ago when he struggled at his original spot. Curiously, he threw his only touchdown pass of the season while lined up as a receiver in the Oct. 16 loss to Delaware State.
Glenn and Watkins have similar statistics, which isn't necessarily encouraging. Watkins tossed two costly interceptions in Saturday's 16-0 loss at Howard, A&T's first shutout in nearly nine years. Dropped passes and the irregular availability of various running backs have hurt both quarterbacks, but the Aggies still haven't exactly gotten precise, well-timed execution of the offense.
A&T ranks 99th of the NCAA's 117 Division I-AA teams in scoring, at 16.25 points per game. If that stands, it will be the program's worst showing since the 1988 team went 2-9 while managing 10.27 points per game.
The Aggies (2-3 MEAC, 3-5) must win their final three regular-season games to avoid the program's first consecutive losing seasons since 1988-89.
Two newcomers to the program, junior-college transfer Rodrick Stevens and freshman Marcus Hammond, played but failed to generate positive yardage against the Bison. Two signees were announced in February in addition to Stevens, but Herbert Miller III is listed as a receiver and Brenton Smith is not on the roster.
Senior linebacker Chamar Milton said it would be silly to affix blame to any particular position or phase of play. "A lot of things have been wrong, but I can't give you a definitive reason," Milton said. "It boils down to the players. We didn't execute. And now we're paying for it."
TAPE DELAY: One relatively trivial consequence of Hurricane Wilma is the difficulty of tape exchange between A&T and Bethune-Cookman. At 9 a.m. Monday, Delta Air Lines announced it had canceled the morning and afternoon flights in and out of Daytona Beach, which meant each team still was seeking footage of this past weekend's games.
TV TIME: A&T, which lost 31-14 to MEAC-leading Hampton in its ESPNU debut Sept. 15, gets another chance on the cable network this week. The station is only available in the Triad on DirecTV Sports Pack channel 609.
"You want to be successful with a national audience, but you want to be successful anyway," Small said. "We're tired of stubbing our toe."
f Writer
By Rob Daniels
StafGREENSBORO -- The original Marshall Plan was destined to reinvigorate Europe. The N.C. A&T football team's version just wants a few first downs.
Aggies coach George Small said Monday he's leaning toward returning to Marshall Glenn at quarterback if Rico Watkins (hamstring) is ruled out of Saturday's home game with Bethune-Cookman (7 p.m., ESPNU).
"Rico's day-to-day at this point," Small said. "But we're going to start getting someone else prepared. We're going to look at Marshall."
Glenn started the first half of the season, but was moved to wide receiver three weeks ago when he struggled at his original spot. Curiously, he threw his only touchdown pass of the season while lined up as a receiver in the Oct. 16 loss to Delaware State.
Glenn and Watkins have similar statistics, which isn't necessarily encouraging. Watkins tossed two costly interceptions in Saturday's 16-0 loss at Howard, A&T's first shutout in nearly nine years. Dropped passes and the irregular availability of various running backs have hurt both quarterbacks, but the Aggies still haven't exactly gotten precise, well-timed execution of the offense.
A&T ranks 99th of the NCAA's 117 Division I-AA teams in scoring, at 16.25 points per game. If that stands, it will be the program's worst showing since the 1988 team went 2-9 while managing 10.27 points per game.
The Aggies (2-3 MEAC, 3-5) must win their final three regular-season games to avoid the program's first consecutive losing seasons since 1988-89.
Two newcomers to the program, junior-college transfer Rodrick Stevens and freshman Marcus Hammond, played but failed to generate positive yardage against the Bison. Two signees were announced in February in addition to Stevens, but Herbert Miller III is listed as a receiver and Brenton Smith is not on the roster.
Senior linebacker Chamar Milton said it would be silly to affix blame to any particular position or phase of play. "A lot of things have been wrong, but I can't give you a definitive reason," Milton said. "It boils down to the players. We didn't execute. And now we're paying for it."
TAPE DELAY: One relatively trivial consequence of Hurricane Wilma is the difficulty of tape exchange between A&T and Bethune-Cookman. At 9 a.m. Monday, Delta Air Lines announced it had canceled the morning and afternoon flights in and out of Daytona Beach, which meant each team still was seeking footage of this past weekend's games.
TV TIME: A&T, which lost 31-14 to MEAC-leading Hampton in its ESPNU debut Sept. 15, gets another chance on the cable network this week. The station is only available in the Triad on DirecTV Sports Pack channel 609.
"You want to be successful with a national audience, but you want to be successful anyway," Small said. "We're tired of stubbing our toe."
f Writer
