Football | 10/28/2023 9:33:00 AM
GAME: North Carolina A&T Aggies (1-6, 0-4 CAA) at Hampton Pirates (3-4, 1-3 CAA)
DATE: October 28, 2023
TIME: 2 p.m.
LOCATION: Armstrong Stadium (Hampton, Va.)
FLOFOOTBALL:
RADIO ANNOUNCERS: Donal Ware (play-by-play); Al Swann (analyst); Billy Covington
RADIO STATIONS: 1400 AM, 103.5 FM, XM Radio 385
HAMPTON, Va. – The North Carolina A&T Aggies look to close the season strong over their final four games. The Aggies will play in another homecoming game. Two weeks ago, they played at the Delaware Blue Hens' homecoming, but a rainy day dampened that atmosphere. But this week will be different as the Aggies travel to Hampton, Va., for the Hampton Pirates' HBCU homecoming, which is sold out.
Saturday will be a preview to another homecoming, the Aggies' Greatest Homecoming On Earth next week. Until then, the Aggies will meet an old Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). The Aggies and the Pirates will play for the 48th time on the gridiron.
A&T and Hampton have been playing for so long the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) is the fourth different conference the two teams have been a part of together. Despite the historic nature of the game, the two teams have only played twice in the past seven years. The last time they met, when both schools were members of the Big South Conference, the Pirates came away with a 30-9 win at Armstrong Stadium. Hampton head coach Robert Prunty led the Pirates to the win.
STORYLINES:
- Everything points to North Carolina A&T graduate kickoff returner Taymon Cooke being the best returner in the nation. Against Richmond last week, he proved that when he returned the Spiders' kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown.
- Cooke's third return for a touchdown in 2023 earned him FedEx Ground FCS STATS National special teams player of the week and CAA special teams player of the week.
- It marked Cooke's first national weekly honor and second career conference weekly honor after earning Big South special teams player of the week last season.
- Cooke leads the nation in kickoff returns for touchdowns with four. He is the only player in Division I-FCS with three. He also leads the nation in yards per kickoff return (41.5).
- All three of Cooke's touchdown returns have come at Truist Stadium. He had an 80-yard kickoff return against North Carolina Central on Sept. 9 before racing 94 yards for a touchdown against Villanova on Oct. 7.
- Cooke shares the program record for career KOR touchdowns – four – with Brian Rodman (1990-93) and Malik Wilson (2015-18). Wilson owns the single-season record as well, having returned all four of his kickoff returns for touchdowns in 2018.
- A&T also has some outstanding defensive superlatives, starting with inside linebacker BJ Turner.
- Turner had 13 tackles, including nine unassisted and three for loss in the loss to Richmond. Turner leads the nation in solo tackles with 7.7 per game. He is sixth in the nation in tackles per game (11.7) and seventh in the country in tackles for loss per game (1.7).
- Avarion Cole had an interception against the Spiders last week. It was Cole's third interception of the season. He is the only Aggie this season with an interception. Cole ranks ninth nationally and first in the CAA in interceptions per game (0.4).
- Offensively, the Aggies are looking to get their running game going again. The Aggies are averaging 127.0 yards per game in their last three. In their first four games, the Aggies averaged 164.8 yards. A&T is looking for their first 100-yard rusher since Kevin White and Kenji Christian went over 100 at Norfolk State on Sept. 30.
- Hampton and A&T have a few connections. Hampton's director of football operations is Brian Jenkins. Jenkins is a 2019 A&T graduate who played football for A&T before becoming the program's quality analyst. During his time at A&T, the Aggies won four Celebration Bowls and four MEAC titles.
- Hampton's starting quarterback, Chris Zellous, is from Greensboro, N.C., and played at Grimsley High School. Defensive back Robert Prunty Jr. is also a Greensboro native.
- Hampton got off to a 3-1 start, but the Pirates come into Saturday's game on a three-game losing streak after giving up 138 points over those three games, including 108 in their last two.
- Defensively, in its four games, the Pirates gave up an average of 342.8 yards per game. But in their previous three games, the Pirates defense surrendered 485.0 yards per game.
- Last week against Delaware, Hampton had to play without starting quarterback Zellous and their two star running backs, Elijah Burris and Darren Butts.
- Burris has 567 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 65 carries. Butts has 503 yards rushing and four touchdowns on 86 carries.
- Tymere Robinson rushed for 119 yards on 20 carries in the absence of Butts and Burris.
Coach Brown's View
The challenges A&T faces: "I've been a part of some very challenging situations. In my seventh year in the NFL, we were 1-11. We went on to win the last four to finish 5-11. The next year, we started the season not so great. And then we went on to win the next six or seven games to finish 10-6 and go to the playoffs. So, I know some of the challenges that go into building a program, and it doesn't always look the way you want it to look immediately."
The Aggies schedule thus far: "We've played some very good football teams, but we try to stay in the moment. If you look at how we lost the game Saturday, I don't think anybody would have imagined we would have turned the ball over as we did. If we had not turned the ball over, we had a chance to win the football game because it's always about keeping it close enough to win it at the end. We have a lot of young players, new players, trying to figure out how not to lose games. Sometimes you go through these growing pains of learning how to win it at the end."
The Opposing Point of View: "It's always great to play A&T. You know Vincent Brown will have a sound football team. He believes in his teams being fundamentally sound, and he coaches that, especially from the defensive standpoint. I'm impressed with A&T because they have been in every game. Coach Brown's guys play hard, and you have to respect that. Those guys are out there fighting. You know it's going to come together. It is just a matter of when. You can clearly see week in and week out; he has those guys prepared to go out there and play. It's great for our community here when homecoming comes, especially playing against A&T because A&T travels well. They have passionate fans. They're passionate about their football team, and they have a good coach. He's a good man."
Robert Prunty
Hampton Head Football Coach
