By Ben Malcolmson
USCRipsIt
The Angel City Classic kicks off this Saturday with an exciting matchup between North Carolina A&T and Prairie View A&M.
A bye week for USC doesn’t mean football in Los Angeles takes a break.
North Carolina A&T and Prairie View A&M will meet Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, giving college football fans a fun, marquee matchup, along with an opportunity to see a battle of the bands between the schools’ famous marching bands. The festivities are all a part of the Angel City Classic.
The game also gives the two historically black colleges a chance to play in front of thousands of fans in Los Angeles.
“It’s a great opportunity for our program, a great opportunity for our kids to come to the West Coast,” said Lee Fobbs, head coach at North Carolina A&T. “Not only athleticwise, but educationwise as well. We’re excited about the opportunity to come to Los Angeles and playing in the LA Coliseum is just great for our young men.”
Coach Pete Carroll, several other USC coaches, and many Trojan players are planning on attending the game Saturday.
Though the teams have several fun activities planned during their stay in Los Angeles, Fobbs said the game is the most important part of the journey.
“Business is first,” said Fobbs, who, as a member of the Grambling State football team in the ’70s, played at the Coliseum against Long Beach State. “We’ll prepare that way. It’ll be a normal road trip for us. The No. 1 goal is to come win the game.”
North Carolina A&T is coming off a 28-7 loss to Winston-Salem State on Saturday. Prairie View A&M, a historically dominant program, is fresh off a 34-17 win at Texas Southern last weekend thanks to a strong effort from quarterback Chris Gibson, who passed for 123 yards and ran for 103 yards in the game.
“They are a gun spread-type offense, zone-type offense,” Fobbs said. “Their offense is built around their quarterback. They are spread team, they spread you out to get [Gibson] one-on-one.”
Check out the Angel City Classic website or see the promo video.
• Ben Malcolmson is the Director of Online Media for USCRipsIt.com. You can contact him at Ben@USCRipsIt.com.
