North Carolina A&T Edges Elon 13-10 on Late Sack-Fumble to Win 100th Homecoming

The Greatest Homecoming on Earth turned 100 on Saturday, and North Carolina A&T threw it the kind of party that only a defense can throw. Nothing about it was pretty. All of it counted.

North Carolina A&T beat Elon 13-10 on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Truist Stadium in Greensboro, N.C., in a homecoming game the school billed as its 100th. Asher Holland's 34-yard field goal with 2:18 left broke a 10-10 tie, and the Aggies survived a frantic final Elon drive to improve to 4-5 overall and 3-2 in the Coastal Athletic Association. Elon, which came in as a 10.5-point favorite on the ESPN game page, fell to 4-5 and 2-3.

A rivalry game played in a phone booth

A&T and Elon sit about 25 miles apart, and this one played like two teams that know each other far too well. Neither offense found the end zone in the first half. Elon's Xavier Porter intercepted Kevin White in the first quarter, punts piled up on both sides, and the only points before halftime came on Holland's 25-yard field goal with 21 seconds left in the second quarter. A&T led 3-0 at the break.

The defenses set the tone early, and both offenses spent most of the first half searching for answers that never came. The numbers tell you what kind of game it was. Elon would end up punting eight times. A&T's DJ Page would punt five times and average 45.4 yards, flipping the field again and again, including a 63-yarder.

Homecoming in Greensboro is an event that reaches far beyond the field, and the 100th edition carried extra weight for a program still finding its footing in the CAA. A&T had an off week to prepare after facing Norfolk State on Oct. 17, and it showed in a defense that looked fresh and organized from the opening snap.

The third quarter flurry

The game finally woke up after halftime. Elon put together a nine-play drive that ended with a 25-yard Luke Barnes field goal, tying it 3-3 with 10:07 left in the third.

Then A&T made a mistake. White fumbled, Trey Woods recovered for Elon at the A&T 27, and five plays later Kamerin McDowell-Moore punched in a 2-yard touchdown. Elon led 10-3 with 7:19 left in the quarter, and in a game this tight, a seven-point lead felt like 20.

A&T answered the way homecoming crowds dream about. The Aggies went 75 yards in 11 plays, the longest drive of the day, and White found Jayvonne Dillard for an 8-yard touchdown with 31 seconds left in the third. It was 10-10 heading to the fourth.

The turning point: a fourth-and-1 decision and a fumbled kickoff

Midway through the fourth quarter, A&T moved 34 yards in eight plays and faced fourth-and-1 at the Elon 17. The Aggies took the points. Holland's 34-yard field goal made it 13-10 with 2:18 left.

It was a defensible call either way. Going for it would have put the game on one snap, while kicking meant trusting a defense that had allowed one touchdown all afternoon, and that one came on a short field. The kickoff that followed nearly ended things on the spot. A. Bell forced a fumble on Elon's return, but Elon fell on it at its own 18. From there, Brady Stober went to work. Stober hit Zimere Winston for 13 yards and then found Alex Voss for 36, and a 15-yard pass interference penalty on A&T pushed Elon deep into Aggies territory. The Phoenix were in field goal range with under a minute to play.

They never got the kick off. After an incompletion, T. Brown came free and sacked Stober for a 7-yard loss at the A&T 21. Stober fumbled on the play, and Cadricus Stanley recovered for A&T with 44 seconds left. White took two knees, and the 100th homecoming had its ending.

The players who decided it

White, who came in with 1,263 passing yards on the season according to ESPN, was the engine of the A&T offense even on a modest passing day. The quarterback completed 11 of 23 passes for 98 yards with the touchdown and an interception, but did more damage with his legs, running 14 times for 95 yards with a long of 39. On a day when nobody else could get going consistently, White kept giving the Aggies a chance. J.T. Smith added 49 yards on 12 carries, and Dillard caught both of his passes for 23 yards and the tying touchdown.

The defense deserves the headline, though. A&T held Elon to 201 total yards and 3-of-15 on third down, and finished with four sacks. Kamari Blankumsee had eight tackles and a sack, and the final sack-fumble was the play of the game. Holland was perfect, going 2-for-2 on field goals and making his only extra point.

For Elon, McDowell-Moore carried the offense, running 25 times for 102 yards and the touchdown. Stober completed 9 of 16 passes for 100 yards without an interception, with Winston catching three for 40 and Voss making the 36-yard grab that nearly flipped the game. Porter's interception and Woods' fumble recovery gave the Phoenix two takeaways, and Elon finished with three sacks of its own.

Numbers that matter

This was a game of field position and mistakes. A&T outgained Elon 270 to 201 and won the first-down battle 13 to 9. The Aggies ran for nearly 170 yards, while Elon managed 101 on 40 carries, just 2.5 yards per attempt.

Turnovers nearly cost A&T the game. The Aggies gave it away three times, two fumbles and an interception, while Elon lost the ball once. But Elon could not turn enough of those gifts into points, and A&T made its one takeaway count most. A&T converted 7 of 15 third downs and controlled the clock for more than 31 minutes. The full numbers are in the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab).

What it means

For A&T, this is a statement win in the second season under head coach Shawn Gibbs. The Aggies came in 3-5, with a week off after their game against Norfolk State, and beat a nearby rival that was favored by double digits. At 3-2 in league play, they are in the conversation in the middle of the CAA, and they got there on Saturday with defense. The next week is a big ask. A&T visits Monmouth, still unbeaten in league play, on Nov. 7, then plays at Hampton before closing at home against UAlbany.

For Elon, this one will sting. The Phoenix came in on a three-game skid after losses to New Hampshire, Wofford and Stanford, and Saturday was a chance to steady the season against a team they had beaten 55-17 a year ago. Instead, an offense that has now scored 10 or fewer points in three of its last four games could not finish when it mattered. Coach Tony Trisciani's team hosts Hampton on Nov. 7 and Campbell on Nov. 14 before closing at Towson.

The last word

Some homecomings are about blowouts and fireworks. This one was about a defense that bent and bent and then refused to break on the last drive. A&T will remember the 100th homecoming for a sack, a fumble and two kneel-downs, which might be the most fitting way an old-school rivalry game can end.

Elon will remember it as the one that got away, with a tying field goal well within range and the ball on the ground before the kicker ever got a chance.

Sources: ESPN box score and play-by-play, North Carolina A&T Athletics, and theScore. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: North Carolina A&T State University (file photo).