NC A&T Upsets No. 19 Rhode Island
North Carolina A&T snapped a 0-4 start in the biggest way possible on Saturday, holding off nationally ranked Rhode Island 22-18 at Truist Stadium for the program’s first win of the season. The Aggies improve to 1-4 overall and 1-1 in the CAA, while Rhode Island falls to 2-3 and 1-2. It was the result the Aggies planned for, with head coach Shawn Gibbs framing the Hall of Fame weekend matchup as a chance for his team to prove itself against the defending CAA co-champion.
North Carolina A&T controlled the first half, building a 15-3 lead behind three Asher Holland field goals of 41, 31, and 21 yards and a 2-yard touchdown run from quarterback Kevin White. Tyrek Brown then turned a third-quarter fumble recovery into a 69-yard touchdown to push the lead to 22-3. Rhode Island answered with a Gabe Winowich touchdown run and a two-point conversion to cut it to 22-11 after three quarters, then got a 13-yard touchdown run from Terrence Campbell with 12:40 left to cut it to 22-18. The Aggie defense held on from there.
Rhode Island outgained North Carolina A&T 398 yards to 303 and held the ball for nearly 35 minutes to the Aggies’ 25, but the turnover margin and red-zone execution decided the game. North Carolina A&T scored on all four red-zone trips, and Holland went a perfect 3 for 3 on field goals. Quarterback Kevin White finished 11 of 20 passing for 139 yards, with Anthony Rucker (two catches, 45 yards), Jayvonne Dillard (three catches, 39 yards) and Michael Carlock-Williams (three catches, 21 yards) as his top targets. J.T. Smith led the ground game with 68 net yards on four carries, including a 63-yard run.
Defensively, Donavan Frederick paced the Aggies with 13 tackles, including a sack and three tackles for loss, plus a forced fumble. Steven Davis II and Kamari Blankumsee each intercepted a pass, and Blankumsee also forced a fumble. North Carolina A&T’s defense recorded three sacks and forced two fumbles, turning one of them, Brown’s recovery, directly into points.
Gibbs was proud but not surprised by the result. “I think the coaches did a really good job of our game plan this week, both offensively and defensively,” Gibbs said. “Of course, we have a lot of stuff that we still have to clean up, but the guys were ready to play, and I’m super proud of them. I know many people are surprised by this victory, but I’m not, because I know what we’re capable of doing.”
Gibbs credited a shift in practice habits during the week, including three straight days of what he called genuinely competitive, physical practice, the first stretch like that all season. He pointed to a moment in the second quarter as the one that stuck with him most. “Anthony Rucker, one of our senior tight ends, came over to me and he was like, ‘That’s Aggie football’,” Gibbs said. “When he said it, it sent chills down my spine, because he was right. That was Aggie football. We were running the football. We were playing good defense. The energy was good. Being physical, that’s Aggie football. So now they know what Aggie football looks like.”
He also singled out Blankumsee’s open field tackle on a Rhode Island quarterback break as the defining defensive play of the game. “The play that KB made, that was the play of the game to me, when the quarterback broke, and he ran down and tapped him and saved the touchdown,” Gibbs said. “That’s the type of effort that I expect from these guys.”
Gibbs respected the program on the other sideline. “Hats off to Coach Fleming in Rhode Island,” Gibbs said. “It’s a first-class program. He’s a first-class coach.” He also singled out Rhode Island receiver Marquis Buchanan, who left the game and then returned. “I was happy to see Buchanan, number one, come back in the game,” Gibbs said. “I thought he was seriously hurt. You never want to see a great player like that get hurt.”
