by Donal Ware
boxtorow.com

Montgomery, AL – The North Carolina A&T Aggies football program has once again done it for the culture. The HBCU culture.

A&T, ranked No. 14 in FCS, defeated perennial power Jacksonville State 20-17 in Montgomery Alabama’s Cramton Bowl, which is a little more than 123 miles from the Gamecocks’ campus. And when I say JSU is a perennial FCS power, I mean just that. The Gamecocks have at least 10 wins in each of their last five seasons. They have won their last 32 games in a tough Ohio Valley Conference. JSU lost to Auburn by a touchdown in 2015 on its way to playing in the national championship game. And coming into the game against A&T, the Gamecocks were ranked No. 6 in FCS.

But those things did not phase new head coach Sam Washington and his Aggies. In his season opening press conference on Monday, when asked by reporters about how tough the Gamecocks were and JSU being a perennial power, Washington had to remind reporters that the Aggies are pretty good too.

How good have the Aggies been in the same span as JSU? N.C. A&T has an overall record of 47-12 and a 32-8 MEAC record, two Celebration Bowl victories and two HBCU national championships, and a perfect, undefeated, 12-0 season in 2017. All of this for a program that was essentially in shambles when former coach Rod Broadway took over in 2011. Broadway initially had 30 scholarship equivalencies and no spring practice, some of which lingered into these last five years.

What may be more important are some of the wins A&T has had in the last five years. How about a 2016 overtime win at FBS Kent State. How about last year’s win at FBS Charlotte. By my count, the Aggies are 12-5 in nationally televised games including the win over Jacksonville State. Two wins (2-0) have come on ABC and two of the wins (2-0) have come on ESPN (not 2 or U, ESPN). Last year’s win at Gardner-Webb was understated, but was really big considering the score by which the Aggies won (44-3). There is part perception and part reality that FCS HBCUs don’t tend to fare well or win against non-HBCU FCS opponents and certainly not against FBS opponents. A&T is making false that perception and reality.

By the way the Aggies defeated Elon on the road in 2015, which ultimately gave them the tie-breaker advantage of representing the MEAC in the Celebration Bowl that year. A&T is 9-2 against non-conference FCS opponents in the last now six seasons and 6-2 against non-HBCU FCS opponents.

There are also times, HBCUs will have teams on the ropes and can’t finish the deal. This could have been the case for A&T, who dominated the game defensively. The Aggie offense wasn’t clicking on all cylinders in part because of the Gamecocks defense. And while the Gamecocks managed 403 yards of total offense, the Aggies forced JSU into 1-of-11 on third down conversions, forced four turnovers and blocked a game-tying field goal. The Aggies defense was so dominate, that JSU’s last six possessions consisted of a missed field goal, punt, punt, blocked field goal, lost fumble, and lost fumble, all with the Aggies leading 20-17.

Speaking of big wins, one of the biggest wins in the history of the program came in 2013, when the Aggies went to Boone, NC and defeated perennial FCS power the Appalachian State, who that year was making the transition to FBS. The Mountaineers had just pummeled the Aggies 58-6 two years earlier.

Saturday’s win over Jacksonville State may have been a bigger win than App State and we must start thinking of the Aggies as not just the best program in HBCU football, but a perennial FCS power.