SMITHFIELD, RI – What happened inside Beirne Stadium to the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University football team on Saturday night against Bryant University is hard to describe.
The words heart-wrenching, unbelievable, and you gotta be kidding me come to mind, but they still fall short. Bryant scored 10 points in the game's final two minutes, 18 seconds to defeat the Aggies 31-30 and take away, for now, what appeared to be the program-shifting moment A&T's rebuilding program needed.
Coming off an upset win over nationally ranked Rhode Island, the two-time defending Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Football Conference champions, A&T had a serious chance to put together the program's first two-game winning streak in four years. This collection of Aggies would also have captured A&T's first road win as a CAA member, and its first road win overall in three years.
More importantly, the Aggies could have improved to 2-1 in conference play, marking the first time they have been above .500 since joining the league in 2023. All of that seemed plausible when A&T junior quarterback
Kevin White located a wide-open
Michael Carlock-Williams at the Bryant 45-yard line on a 3
rd-and-5.
After the catch, Carlock-Williams turned upfield and ran for a 68-yard touchdown, the team's longest play from scrimmage this season. It gave the Aggies a 30-21 lead with 2:18 remaining. The score left the Bulldogs down by two scores with two timeouts and the two-minute timeout remaining.
Bulldogs quarterback Brennan Myer completed seven passes on Bryant's next drive, including a 5-yard completion on 4
th-and-5 from the A&T 5 for a touchdown pass to Kendrick Agenor, cutting A&T's lead to 30-28 with 39 seconds remaining. Bryant also benefited from a pass interference call on the drive. But the Aggies still had the advantage.
Bryant's drive eliminated its remaining two timeouts. Therefore, the Bulldogs' only hope was to recover the impending onside kick. Nicholas Stoyanovich's kick bounced toward a hesitant A&T kickoff return team, and Bryant recovered at the 50-yard line. The big play on the drive was a 20-yard completion from Myer to Jose Leon to the A&T 8, setting up a first-and-goal with six seconds remaining. After Myer spiked the ball to stop the clock, Stoyanovich kicked the game-winning 25-yard field goal for the one-point decision.
A&T still had one more play from scrimmage, but its attempt to throw laterals after a completion to senior
JT Smith failed, leaving the Aggies without a two-game winning streak. Instead, they dropped to 1-5 on the season and 1-2 in CAA play. It does not seem an appropriate fate for a football team that played excellent defense over the first three quarters.
The Aggies forced two turnovers and held the Bulldogs to 112 yards of offense in the first half. A&T's offense also came alive early. The Aggies took the game's first drive 75 yards, culminating in a 5-yard touchdown pass from White to Carlock-Williams for a 7-0 lead. Later in the first quarter, the Aggies offense capitalized on an unsportsmanlike penalty to take over at the Bryant 42.
White then found senior wide receiver
Amonte Jones open down the middle of the field for a 34-yard gain. On 3
rd-and-10 from the Bryant 10, White scrambled right, appearing to be running toward the end zone. Instead, he unleashed a pass toward the end zone and found Jones near the right front pylon for a 10-yard touchdown. Initially, officials called an illegal forward pass.
But after a booth review, officials overturned the call, giving the Aggies a 14-0 lead, and they took a 17-7 lead into the half after an interception by freshman
Donavan Frederick ended the half.
Antoine Bell recovered a fumble forced by Elijah Kenney to open the second half. The turnover led to a 34-yard field goal by freshman
Asher Holland, giving the Aggies a 20-7 lead.
The Aggies carried a 20-7 lead into the fourth quarter before Bryant's inexplicable comeback. White led the Aggies, completing 12 of 18 passes for 181 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. As a team, the Aggies ran the ball 38 times for 175 yards. A&T will come home for a three-game homestand that will include the university's centennial homecoming festivities.
The Aggies will host the New Hampshire Wildcats at noon on Saturday, Oct. 10, at Truist Stadium.
