The NCCU Scouting Report
North Carolina Central will continue its serious of road games to start the season. The Eagles have already played Hampton, Liberty and Duke on the road this season. In fact, after playing N.C. A&T at Aggie Stadium this weekend, the Eagles will go on the road again to play Division I FCS power Appalachian State on Oct. 10. The Eagles have a veteran running game with junior running backs Tim Shankle and Tony McCord leading the way. Shankle has 262 yards and a touchdown on the season, while McCord has compiled 100 yards on 25 carries this season. Sophomore Michael Johnson, a transfer out of Tulsa, has taken the majority of the snaps at quarterback. He has completed 51.5 percent of his passes and has four touchdowns and four interceptions. Defensively, the Eagles are led by defensive tackle Teryl White. White has 24 tackles, four tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.

A YEAR AGO AGAINST THE EAGLES
N.C. Central jumped out to a 21-0 lead thanks in large part to Tim Shankle. Shankle scored two touchdowns early and finished the game with 55 yards on 12 carries. Shankle’s running back mate Tony McCord is back this season. McCord had 42 yards on 16 carries in last season’s game. Central receiver DeMarcus Hill, who only has one reception this season, caught a 5-yard touchdown pass to start the Eagles 21-point unanswered streak. Alex Winters also scored a touchdown for the Eagles, but he scored his defensively. Winters scooped up a Carlton Fears fumble and returned it 38 yards. Winters also made eight tackles in the game. This season, Winters has 16 tackles and an interception. For the Aggies, Carlton Fears made the start and rushed for 82 yards on 14 carries. Nigel Tomlin, who has not played this season, had a career game a year ago with 110 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. The Aggies leading receiver last season was Giorgio Lowrance who had three catches for 32 yards.

GREAT AGGIE PERFORMANCES AGAINST NCCU
North Carolina Central seems to bring out the best against in N.C. A&T. Over the 85 years the series has been in existence, there have been some great performances by Aggies against N.C. Central. The following list is a look at some of those top games.

November 24, 1949
Red Jackson launched a 90-yard touchdown to Athie Garrison to lead N.C. A&T to a 33-6 win over the Eagles.
 

November 22, 1975
Recently inducted N.C. A&T Sports Hall of Famer Ellsworth Turner passed for 255 yards and two touchdowns on 14-for-29 passing to lead the Aggies to a 34-16 win over the Eagles.
 

November 18, 1978
Freshman Charlie Sutton rushed for a school-record 243 yards on a school-record 44 carries to lead the Aggies to a 17-13 win in Durham. Sutton also scored two touchdowns.

November 16, 1985
Sophomore Stoney Polite rushed for 208 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries to lead the Aggies to a 28-19 win.

November 15, 1986
Alan Hooker passed for 264 yards and three touchdowns on 15-for-28 passing to lead N.C. A&T to a convincing 35-13 win over NCCU.

August 31, 2003
The Aggies intercepted five N.C. Central passes led by Joey Lance, who picked off two passes for 63 yards. Lance was named the Aggies defensive most valuable player.

September 5, 2005
Brandon Sweeney rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries. He even scored a go-ahead touchdown for the Aggies in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough in a heartbreaking 23-22 loss to the Eagles.

…The Aggies will be able to end a two-game slide, and remove any thought of what happened last season. The Aggies won their first two ball games last season but lost six straight after the promising start. A win will be big in perishing that thought.

...The Aggies will end a three-game losing streak to the Eagles. The Aggies once had a 13-game winning streak against the Eagles that extended through the 90’s into the new millennium. But the Eagles have been able to rattle off wins in three out of the last four meetings. The last time the Eagles won four straight over N.C. A&T was in the early 70’s.

...The Aggies will improve to 5-2-1 against N.C. Central at Aggie Stadium. Before 2007’s game at Aggie Stadium, the Eagles had not played at the Aggies home in 16 years.