NC A&T getting it done by keeping it simple
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
A report that the Aggies didn't even have enough offensive linemen to play the annual Blue-Gold game that ends spring practice added fuel to the gloomy outlook. Prior to the season, MEAC coaches picked the Aggies to finish sixth in the 2003 race.
So the fact that Small's Aggies enter Saturday's game in Daytona Beach, Fl., against defending MEAC champion, ninth-ranked Bethune-Cookman, at 7-1 and undefeated at 3-0 in the MEAC, is quite a feat.
The Aggies have done it with no recognizable star, no premier stat-stuffers and three-way platoons at quarterback and running back.
Some would call it 'smoke and mirrors' but Small credits the realities of basic hard-nosed football and team unity.
"I think these guys have done a great job," Small said at a recent press conference. "It's part of the family atmosphere that we have believe it or not the unity that we have. We're just playing as a football team.
"There are no egos involved. Everyone is trying to contribute in every possible way that they can. We're just trying to find a way to win football games. That's what we say going in, week-in and week-out. 'Let's just try to find a way to win the game.' No matter what it takes or who it is, just do your 1-11 and everything else will take of itself. We say we don't have any stars on the team we just play hard, blue-collar type football."
Small, a 1979 A&T grad, former all-MEAC lineman and Aggie captain, cut his coaching teeth at some of the premier I-AA programs in the nation.
He had stints at Youngstown State ('01) under (now Ohio State coach) Jim Tressel. He also assisted Eddie Robinson at Grambling ('94), Billy Joe at Florida A&M ('93) and most recently had been a defensive assistant to Joe Taylor at Hampton ('02). Small had also spent six years ('95-'00) as head man at Kentucky State, a Div. II black college program in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference where he compiled a 34-35 record.
He inherited much of his philosophy from Tressel who won four I-AA national championships ('91, '93, '94 and '97) at Youngstown State.
" I don't think they had many stars at all," said Small. "But the one thing that they had was team unity. They just played as a collective team. They played hard. With that concept, it's scary, but it's kind of working out the same way (for us). We're just playing hard-nosed football and everyone is trying to do the best that they possibly can."
In fact, the team that nobody picked is ranked 19th in the latest I-AA poll.
"I commend these guys wholeheartedly in terms of the way they've been handling success," Small said. "We're going to continue to take one game at a time, not look too far ahead, not read all the headlines, and just stay focused. That's very important for us being a young team. Our focus from week-to-week is to not get caught up in all the publicity, all the sudden fame. We're just going to continuously work and concentrate on what got us here."
If there is an individual standout on the team its senior placekicker Yonnick Matthews who is the runaway leader in the conference in field goals, hitting on 13 of 15 (86.7%), including at least one in seven of the eight games.
Among the other things that got the Aggies to 7-1 is an opportunistic defense that leads the MEAC in turnover margin (+9), is best against the rush surrendering only 95.6 yards per game and is second best in total (253.8 ypg.) and scoring defense (14.2 ppg.).
All those areas will be important against a B-CC team that leads the MEAC in total offense (400.1 ypg.), rushing (247.7 ypg.) and scoring offense (36.4 ppg.) The offense is led by reigning MEAC Offensive Player of Year, QB Allen Suber, whose 222.3 total yards per game tops the MEAC.
"Suber is gonna present a host of problems," said Small. "He's a tremendous athlete, no doubt. He's a senior, a veteran. He's well-seasoned. He's been down this road many times. Our hands are gonna be full.
"It's probably going to be the most challenging team offensively, other than Southern (who defeated the Aggies, 35-16), that we're going to meet defensively. And they have tremendous experience on both sides of the football.
"It's a David and Goliath-type situation and hopefully David will come out and be victorious."
© 2003 Azeez Communications, Inc.