North Carolina Central couldn’t have ended the regular season on more of a perfect note.
The Eagles offense a near school-record 669 yards. Senior quarterback Davius Richard threw for 386 yards and five touchdowns to go along with a rushing score in a 55-14 win over Delaware State.
The only blemish on what was an all-around stellar day was learning that Howard had clinched the outright MEAC championship and berth in the Celebration Bowl with a 14-7 victory over Morgan State.
While there would be no repeat for the 9-2 Eagles, there still is a possibility NC Central, ranked No. 14 in the country heading into play on Saturday, could earn an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs.
After the game, head coach Trei Oliver mounted a defense of his team’s resume.
“We lost two games this year; one was to UCLA,” he said. “We are definitely a playoff-worthy team. I don’t know why we wouldn’t get in it. What else do you have to do?
Prior to its stunning loss to MEAC champion Howard, NC Central had won 13 consecutive games against FCS opponents dating back to last season, including a win this season over then-No.25 Elon.
“We lost one conference game and one FCS game. You look at our body of work and what we did in the non-conference our body of work speaks for itself,” said Oliver.
NCCU will await their fate during the selection show for the NCAA Division I-FCS playoffs at 12:30 p.m. today on ESPNU.
For what it’s worth, FCS senior writer Craig Haley at The Analyst and Hero Sports’ Sam Herder both project NC Central to make the postseason field.
“Unfortunately Morgan didn’t pull it out against Howard and we weren’t able to win the conference championship, but we have more ball to play.”
