A&T to Host Annual Blue vs. Gold Spring Football Game, Saturday

COURTESY OF NCAT AGGIES

EAST GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T football program will hold its annual Blue & Gold Spring Football Game at 1 p.m., Saturday, April 1, from Truist Stadium. The spring game will be the first for head coach Vincent Brown. The Aggies started spring practice on March 1. Unfortunately, the weather has canceled a few practices, but the Aggies will use one of those practices as their spring game on Saturday.

The game will feature the defense vs. the offense. The No. 1 offense will face the second-string defense, and the second-string offense will face the No. 1 defense. Traditional points for a touchdown (6), an extra point (1) and a two-point conversion will go to each team. Outside of a defensive touchdown, the defense can also score two points for a third-down stop, three points for a three-and-out, two for a sack and two for a turnover. The game will feature four 12-minute quarters, with each team receiving three timeouts per half and one timeout if an overtime period is necessary. Brown said the Aggies hope to run approximately 70 plays on Saturday.

“The goal is to cover certain field zones and situations that occur during the course of a game to see how much of our systems our guys have been able to retain,” said Brown. “That will allow us to see what we need to work on going into training camp and the season.”

A&T is coming off a 7-4 season overall. They went 4-1 in their second and final season in the Big South Conference, losing the game for the conference championship at Gardner-Webb on Nov. 19. They lost some talent in the transfer portal, but they will return three all-conference offensive linemen and all-conference defensive Karon Prunty. The Aggies enter their first season in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in 2023 with their inaugural CAA game scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16 at Elon.

A&T opens the season Thursday, Aug. 31, at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. UAB has yet to release a game time. A&T’s home opener is Saturday, Sept. 9, as the Aggies renew their longstanding rivalry with North Carolina Central. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Truist Stadium.