GREENSBORO - George Hines shows up when needed.
Three years ago, North Carolina A&T baseball coach Keith Shumate needed a lead-off hitter to set the table for his offense, and an outfielder to help him defensively. Hines transferred from UNC Pembroke and used his speed, defense and power to help the Aggies win an average of 27 games over three years.
When N.C. A&T head football coach Alonzo Lee needed a quarterback to run an offense he believed from the beginning could score 30-35 points a game with the right man calling the signals, again Hines showed up.
After only three weeks with the team, Hines made his second consecutive start on Saturday and led the Aggies to a 52-32 win over Howard at Aggie Stadium. The win is the Aggies (1-7, 1-4) first of the season. It snaps a 10-game overall losing streak for the Aggies as they earned their first win since Oct. 24, 2009, a 30-19 over Howard in Washington, D.C. it was the Aggies first time over 50 points since scoring 76 against the Bison on Oct. 20, 2001.
"I expected our offense to shine,'' said Lee. "I mentioned that early in the year. With a good quarterback, you see we have the potential to score points. I didn't expect 52, but I did expect us to come out and put some points on the board."
Hines had the Aggies in the lead at the halftime last week at Delaware State. But Hines couldn't finish the game because of a concussion. This week before he left the game in the third quarter with a cramp, he did enough damage to make sure Howard could not recover. Hines threw for 235 yards and three touchdowns on 12-for-16 passing.
Hines' big day led to two Aggie receivers going over 100 yards as junior Wallace Miles caught six passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns. Redshirt sophomore Torrian Warren added four catches for 100 yards.
"He would have thrown for 200 last week if he didn't get a concussion,'' said Lee about Hines. "He's just an athlete and a student of the game. I come into work on Monday, and he's the first thing I see, ready to watch film and get ready for the opponent."
Hines' preparation led to him saying the coaching staff had him so prepared, he knew where Howard's personnel would be, which made his reads easy. He and offensive coordinator Chenniss Berry noticed how much Howard's linebackers and safeties flow to the running back on play action plays.
"I asked (coach Berry) why not hit them with play action early?'' Hines said.
Therefore, on the first play of the game, Berry and Hines set the tone. Hines faked the hand-off to MEAC-leading rusher Mike Mayhew. The Bison safeties bit, and Warren got behind the secondary for a 35-yard reception. Two plays later, Miles ran down the middle of the field. He turned, leaped and stretched out his arms as much as he could to snag Hines' 26-yard touchdown reception for a 7-0 Aggies lead.
The Aggies took a 14-0 lead a minute later as outside linebacker Jeremy Graham scooped up a Howard fumble and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown. It was Graham's second defensive touchdown in as many weeks.
Howard all but erased the Aggies lead in matter of five minutes thanks to two touchdown passes by freshman quarterback Randy Liggins. Liggins' first TD pass went to Brandon Drayton for 56 yards. His second was a 31-yard pass to Daley Gunter that cut the Aggies lead to 14-12.
The Aggies' offense dominated from there. N.C. A&T put together a 13-play, 60-yard drive that lasted more than eight minutes. Miles ended the drive with a 21-yard touchdown reception. It marked the second time in as many weeks, the Aggies had a scoring drive last more than eight minutes.
The Aggies 28-point second quarter and 42-point first half ended when Mayhew ran in for a 1-yard touchdown with two seconds remaining in the first half. Mayhew finished with his fifth 100-yard rushing game of the season as he compiled 109 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.
Mayhew is now 169 yards shy of becoming just the sixth Aggies running back in school history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season.
"I'm a lot happier for the guys than I am for myself because they've been working hard the whole year,'' said Hines. "I'm just glad I had the opportunity to help them."
The Aggies will have a short week as they travel to Daytona Beach, Fla., to face undefeated Bethune-Cookman Thursday night at 7:30 on ESPNU.
