Post by JayBee on Sept 4, 2007 8:53:57 GMT -5
Aggies head to coast, but not to the beach By Rob Daniels
Staff Writer
Tuesday, Sep. 4, 2007 3:00 am
N.C. A&T vs. PRAIRIE VIEW A&M
When: 5:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Los Angeles Coliseum
Radio: WNAA-90.1
Records: N.C. A&T 0-1; Prairie View 1-0
Online: ncataggies.com
GREENSBORO -- Lee Fobbs can't part the Pacific Ocean, but he can effectively dry it up when his N.C. A&T Aggies travel this week to the Los Angeles Coliseum to face Prairie View A&M.
Save an obligatory trip to Universal Studios and Disneyland for a promotional function, the Aggies might as well be in Hoboken instead of Hollywood.
"There won't be any beaches -- I promise you that," Fobbs said as preparations continued for the Angel City Classic.
In other words, the off-the-field itinerary isn't as extensive as it was when A&T last played on the West Coast. In a 2002 trip to face Portland State, the team toured the Nike campus in Beaverton, Ore., and attended two large-scale public functions The game was viewed as an extension of a larger university mission marked by the early stages of a $100 million capital campaign, then less than three weeks from formal initiation.
A&T lost 23-20 in overtime.
This Saturday's endeavor is expected to be more about football than politics or fundraising, and no coach will object to that. That's especially true for the Aggies, whose losing skid reached 17 games with an opening-week loss at Winston-Salem State.
The team will fly by charter Thursday to Los Angeles to get acclimated to the time change, and that will move up the practice timetable accordingly. The hotel will be in downtown L.A., not Malibu or the shadow of the Sunset Strip, and the Aggies expect to spend quality time at the 92,000-seat Coliseum during a walk-through Friday.
The place won't be filled, as it was Saturday night for Southern Cal's victory over Idaho, but there's a backdrop to everything in a bowled-in structure.
"I try to block all that out," A&T punter Lee Woodson said. "It's not a big factor to me."
As for Prairie View, it is best known for putting together the longest streak of futility in NCAA football history, a run of 80 agonizing games that encompassed almost all of the 1990s.
The Panthers aren't Southwestern Athletic Conference contenders, but this isn't really your goofy, bumbling uncle's Prairie View team. At least not by comparison to the earlier era.
The Panthers opened their season with a 34-14 victory over Texas Southern in another NFL-size facility, Houston's Reliant Stadium. Their defense allowed 463 yards, but they more than compensated with two fumble recoveries and three interceptions.
The offense is a spread, shotgun-based outfit in which quarterback Chris Gibson is as likely to run as he is to throw. He carried 14 times for 123 yards in the opener and will be the focus of A&T's time-crunched preparations.
The Aggies' point of offensive emphasis is sustaining blocks. Holes would appear and then close suddenly in Saturday's 28-7 loss to Winston-Salem State.
Another split-second up front might be enough to spring any of the players in an interesting running triumvirate -- Michael Ferguson, Demerick Chancellor or David "Speedy" Robinson -- for decent gains.
Staff Writer
Tuesday, Sep. 4, 2007 3:00 am
N.C. A&T vs. PRAIRIE VIEW A&M
When: 5:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Los Angeles Coliseum
Radio: WNAA-90.1
Records: N.C. A&T 0-1; Prairie View 1-0
Online: ncataggies.com
GREENSBORO -- Lee Fobbs can't part the Pacific Ocean, but he can effectively dry it up when his N.C. A&T Aggies travel this week to the Los Angeles Coliseum to face Prairie View A&M.
Save an obligatory trip to Universal Studios and Disneyland for a promotional function, the Aggies might as well be in Hoboken instead of Hollywood.
"There won't be any beaches -- I promise you that," Fobbs said as preparations continued for the Angel City Classic.
In other words, the off-the-field itinerary isn't as extensive as it was when A&T last played on the West Coast. In a 2002 trip to face Portland State, the team toured the Nike campus in Beaverton, Ore., and attended two large-scale public functions The game was viewed as an extension of a larger university mission marked by the early stages of a $100 million capital campaign, then less than three weeks from formal initiation.
A&T lost 23-20 in overtime.
This Saturday's endeavor is expected to be more about football than politics or fundraising, and no coach will object to that. That's especially true for the Aggies, whose losing skid reached 17 games with an opening-week loss at Winston-Salem State.
The team will fly by charter Thursday to Los Angeles to get acclimated to the time change, and that will move up the practice timetable accordingly. The hotel will be in downtown L.A., not Malibu or the shadow of the Sunset Strip, and the Aggies expect to spend quality time at the 92,000-seat Coliseum during a walk-through Friday.
The place won't be filled, as it was Saturday night for Southern Cal's victory over Idaho, but there's a backdrop to everything in a bowled-in structure.
"I try to block all that out," A&T punter Lee Woodson said. "It's not a big factor to me."
As for Prairie View, it is best known for putting together the longest streak of futility in NCAA football history, a run of 80 agonizing games that encompassed almost all of the 1990s.
The Panthers aren't Southwestern Athletic Conference contenders, but this isn't really your goofy, bumbling uncle's Prairie View team. At least not by comparison to the earlier era.
The Panthers opened their season with a 34-14 victory over Texas Southern in another NFL-size facility, Houston's Reliant Stadium. Their defense allowed 463 yards, but they more than compensated with two fumble recoveries and three interceptions.
The offense is a spread, shotgun-based outfit in which quarterback Chris Gibson is as likely to run as he is to throw. He carried 14 times for 123 yards in the opener and will be the focus of A&T's time-crunched preparations.
The Aggies' point of offensive emphasis is sustaining blocks. Holes would appear and then close suddenly in Saturday's 28-7 loss to Winston-Salem State.
Another split-second up front might be enough to spring any of the players in an interesting running triumvirate -- Michael Ferguson, Demerick Chancellor or David "Speedy" Robinson -- for decent gains.
