If one thing was known about the Aggies of North Carolina A&T State University heading into its Sept. 13 game against Elon University, it was this: they like to run.
And the Aggies, namely sophomore running back Tarik Cohen, did just that. By the time N.C. A&T’s 17-12 win was complete, he had racked up 234 yards on the ground and handed Elon its first home-opener loss in six years.
Cohen averaged 147 yards per game in his first two games of the season, but was on a different level at Rhodes Stadium. He dipped and dodged Elon defenders all night and gave the Aggies the lead for good with 11:40 to play in the game after an 81-yard scamper for a score.
Cohen also threw for the Aggies first passing touchdown of the season on a play in which he took a pitch from junior quarterback Kwashaun Quick and found junior wide receiver Denzel Keyes wide open in the end zone for a touchdown.
“The Cohen kid is a handful,” Skrosky said. “He’s going to give a lot of people headaches this year and the problem defending him is the way the play is designed isn’t necessarily what he hits. You just have to have great discipline.”
Elon players echoed Skrosky’s testament.
“[Cohen’s] a special player,” said Elon senior wide receiver Andre Davis, a teammate of Cohen’s at Bunn High School outside of Raleigh. “He’s got a good heart. You can’t say enough good things about him. It was pretty cool to see him excel. I didn’t want to see him excel, but obviously you have to respect him.”
Though Cohen’s big game keyed the Aggies’ win, Elon had plenty of chances to win the game. On five separate occasions, the Phoenix drove the ball deep into Aggies territory, but failed to score a touchdown.
Four of those drives ended in field goals by Elon sophomore kicker John Gallagher, whose four field goals were a new career high. Gallagher’s fifth field goal attempt, which would have given the Phoenix a 15-10 lead late in the third quarter, was blocked by Aggies senior defensive back Donald Mattocks, a graduate of nearby Eastern Alamance High School.
As for what went wrong on offense, the word “execution” and lack thereof was a common one uttered by Elon players and head coach Rich Skrosky after the game. The Phoenix finished the game 3-of-16 on third down.
“There were more opportunities in this game to actually score, and after the game, we knew the problem was execution right off the bat,” Elon senior quarterback Mike Quinn said.
After a defensive stop by the Phoenix, Elon got the ball back with 2:13 to play, no timeouts, and 85 yards to go to win the game. Though a pass interference penalty gave the Phoenix new life, Quinn’s pass intended for Davis on 4th and 8 fell incomplete, all but sealing the win for the Aggies.
“I felt composed,” Quinn said of the final drive. “We had been through two-minute situations countless times in practice, so everyone knew what to do. I knew the play call was going to be there, but it all comes back to execution. That’s just what we needed to happen.”
The Phoenix had seven possessions in the second half, but only came up with points on one of them. The other six possessions ended as follows: punt, blocked field goal, punt, interception, punt, turnover on downs.
Skrosky was generally satisfied with his defense’s performance, which intercepted a pass, recovered a fumble, and held the Aggies, who improved to 2-1 on the year with the win, to a 27 percent conversion rate on third down.
“I thought the game played out about the way I thought it was going to play out,” Skrosky said. “I thought it was a well-played game. Overall, we played good enough on defense to win this football game.”
Quinn was impressively efficient to start, completing each of his first five passes to four different receivers on Elon’s first drive of the game, which culminated in a field goal. But after that, Quinn lost his rhythm and seemingly was unable to find it the rest of the night. 
With a 15-yard completion to R.J. Pearsall on Elon’s first play from scrimmage, Quinn eclipsed the 3,000-career yard mark, becoming the ninth quarterback in Elon history to do so.
Quinn finished the night 20-of-40 passing for 253 yards and two interceptions. He was also sacked three times.
Sophomore running back B.J. Bennett was Elon’s leading rusher, carrying the ball 19 times for 80 yards. Davis hauled in a team-high seven catches for 90 yards.
Elon falls to 0-2 with the loss and will host the University of North Carolina at Charlotte next Saturday, Sept. 20. Kickoff at Rhodes Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the American Sports Network.