B-CU defense steps up

DAYTONA BEACH -- The bread and butter for Bethune-Cookman this season has been its rushing offense -- tops in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and 10th-best in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. But on Saturday at Municipal Stadium, the offense -- while it did produce enough points to hang a 24-14 defeat on North Carolina A&T -- had to let the defense take the most bows.

"I guess it was our turn," sophomore linebacker Josh Smiley said. "The offense has picked us up in some games, so maybe today we helped the offense and made their job a little easier." And how! Consider that B-CU defenders permitted the Aggies only eight first downs, only 2.9 yards per rushing attempt, only 163 total yards (103 rushing, 60 passing), only 47 offensive plays (22 less than B-CU), only 24 minutes of possession (about 11 less than B-CU), only two third-down conversions and only one "earned" touchdown.

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