EAST GREENSBORO (September 3, 2018) – You can rely on a few things from North Carolina A&T football these days. They play really well as the underdog.
They win when they're placed on national television. And cornerback Mac McCain III (5-foot-11, 173, R-SO, Greensboro, N.C.) will take a quarterback's pass back the other if they're not careful.
McCain returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown in the Aggies 28-23 win over East Carolina Sunday at Dowdy-Ficklen. It was his second career 100-yard return for a touchdown and the fourth pick-6 of his career.
For his efforts, McCain was recognized as the defensive player of the week by the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference o Monday. It is McCain's fifth career MEAC weekly honor which includes three defensive player of the week honors. He also won rookie of the week twice last season and was even named FCS STATS rookie of the week following his three-interception performance at Morgan State on Sept. 23, 2017.
McCain's INT in the first quarter was vital. The Pirates were driving in the first quarter looking to take a 10-0 lead. But on a 1st-and-goal from the Aggies 2-yard line, McCain benefited from pressure being put on ECU quarterback Reid Herring. He stepped in front of a hurried pass by Herring nine yards deep into the end zone and went the distance to give N.C. A&T a 7-3 lead.
“I was good the first 60 yards,” said McCain. “When I got to about the (ECU) 40 I started looking at the video board to see who was behind me. That guy (Blake Proehl) almost caught me. He must be on the track team or something because he was moving. I was so tired, I didn't think I could play the rest of the game.”
He was able to play the rest of the way where he also led the Aggies with 11 tackles and three pass breakups. McCain is the Aggies leading returning tackler from last season when he made 50 stops as a rookie cornerback.
McCain now has seven career interceptions for 374 return yards. The NCAA FCS record for most touchdowns scored on an interception return is seven by North Dakota State's Marcus Williams. The career FCS record most interception return yards is 682 by Bethune-Cookman's Rashean Mathis. McCain is only a sophomore, therefore, he possibly has more than 30 games remaining in his career.
“He has more work to do to be the type of corner we need him to be, and I think he knows that,” said N.C. A&T coach Sam Washington, a former NFL cornerback. “But he is well on his way to being a great player. He has good instincts and he's super-fast. Those are two great qualities for a cornerback to have.”
N.C. A&T will begin a string of three straight home games at BB&T Stadium starting with their home opener against Gardner-Webb, 6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 8. The Aggies will be protecting a 14-game winning streak when the Runnin' Bulldogs come to East Greensboro on Saturday.
