Figuratively, the Aggies don't think they are that far away from having the Blue and Gold presented the trophy by the commish. After a competitive first half against No. 7 S.C. State, the Aggies eventually lost to the playoff-bound Bulldogs 28-10 at Dawson Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Wallace Miles had eight receptions for 66 yards. Jeremy Graham had nine tackles, a tackle for loss and an interception.

The Bulldogs (10-1, 8-0) clinched the MEAC Championship last week, therefore, they were going to be rewarded the trophy win or lose Saturday. Most people in the know thought the game was a definite win for the Bulldogs. But they forgot to tell the Aggies.

N.C. A&T, who had surrendered more than 50 points to the Bulldogs in the previous two meetings, jumped out to an early lead. The Aggies capitalized on Justin Ferrell's league-leading sixth interception of the season. After Ferrell returned a Malcolm Long pass 48 yards to the Bulldogs 37-yard line, the Aggies put together a 7-play drive that ended on a 1-yard touchdown by Tony Coles with 5:42 remaining in the first quarter.

The Aggies defense held the Bulldogs scoreless in the first quarter, marking the first time this season a Division I FCS team has held the Bulldogs scoreless in the first period. S.C. State eventually scored thanks in part to an interception by Aggie freshman quarterback Lewis Kindle. Jason Ayers intercepted Kindle's pass at the Aggies 31. The Bulldogs tied the game on a 3^rd-and-6 as Malcolm Long found Tre Oliver in the corner of the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown pass with 9:03 remaining in the first half.

The 7-7 score at the half was the most competitive half the Bulldogs have played against an MEAC opponent all season. But on the first play of the second half, Long found Oliver on a quick pass down the line of scrimmage. Oliver turned up field, broke a few tackles and scored on a 49-yard touchdown reception to give the Bulldogs the lead for good.

“We just had some blown assignments,'' said N.C. A&T head coach Alonzo Lee. “We came out in the second half and didn't do the things we needed to do. A good team like this is going to make you pay. Each time we missed an assignment, they had the right play called. That happens in games.”

The Aggies went three-and-out on their next drive. Punter Alex Grubb's kick only went 19 yards, which allowed the Bulldogs to start their next drive at the 50. A 17-yard run by Long set up an 18-yard touchdown run by Will Ford to give S.C. State a 21-7 advantage. Ford finished the day with 156 yards and a touchdown to break the MEAC rushing record.

Ford gained 99 of those yards in the fourth quarter. He had to stay in the game because the Aggies would not surrender. A Nick Clement interception at the Bulldogs 20 set up a 39-yard field goal by Miles to cut the lead to 21-10 with 15 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

A 9-play, 64-yard drive to start the fourth quarter made an Aggies comeback even more difficult. Long ended the drive with a 1-yard touchdown.

“(S.C. State head coach) Buddy Pough is doing an outstanding job with this program,'' said Lee. “He has great talent all over the field. The team he has right now can win a national championship. That's what we want to be about. We want to be about putting teams together that can compete for national championships.”

The Aggies close out Lee's first season at 5-6 overall and 3-5 in the MEAC. This season follows three three-win seasons and two winless seasons, so optimism certainly has returned to Aggieland. The Aggies biggest losses will come along their defensive line where they will lose the best defensive end combo in the conference in Tyre Glasper and Jarrell Herring along with defensive tackle Adam Beal.

Although it improved this season, the Aggies offense still struggled at times. Lee said stability should settle those issues. Growing pains were expected when a new offensive system was mixed in with a young team.  

“We played this year with five sophomores on the offensive line, two freshmen at running back, a transfer at running back and sophomores and freshmen at wide receiver,'' said Lee. “Once (offensive coordinator Chennis Berry) gets another spring with those guys, we're going to be rock 'n' rolling and ready.”