Trei Oliver is fully aware that this will be his last chance to get a win against Buddy Pough as the South Carolina State football coach is retiring after this season.
Pough, meanwhile, is focused on keeping his Bulldogs competitive when they travel to face the Eagles, ranked 10th in the FCS, on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. EST on ESPNU.
“I’m trying to figure out what day of the week this is,” Pough joked about the turnaround from playing Saturday to again on Thursday. “They tell me it’s Monday, but it feels like Wednesday as far as preparation goes.”
The Bulldogs (3-4, 1-0 MEAC) were well-prepared last Saturday, scoring 35 unanswered points to defeat host Delaware State 35-7 at the Hornets’ homecoming last weekend. The youthful Bulldogs’ ground game, led by freshmen Jawarn Howell, Tyler Smith, and Josh Shaw compiled 357 yards on the ground.
NC Central, on the other hand, had a Thursday night fight of their own. The Eagles overcame a scoreless first half to edge Morgan State 16-10, improving to 6-1 on the season and 1-0 in MEAC play.
“You look at that game, and you’d like to see us play better, but Morgan State made plays,” Oliver said. “We went up against a really good football team, I have to take my hat off to them. We were fortunate to get out of there with the win.”
The Eagles will look to correct a blemish on their record in the Oliver era, a stunning 26-24 loss at SC State last year. Oliver is honored to face Pough one more time and realizes his team will have their hands full.
“We haven’t had an opportunity to beat Buddy Pough since I’ve been here,” he said. “I just hope I can have the type of success Coach has had over his career, to win championships and develop young men like he has.”
Pough feels that Oliver is one reason he’s leaving the MEAC in great hands.
“Trei is one of the coaches, he and Willie Simmons at FAMU, that if I could go back 20 years or so and have their careers, I would,” he said. “He says he’s never beaten me. Well, he’s got the team to do it. This Central team is by far the best in our league.”
