Last Saturday’s 27-24 loss at South Carolina State wasn’t what Larry Scott hoped for.
However, the good news for him and Howard is they can still grab first place in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference this weekend with a win over North Carolina Central at Greene Stadium. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m.
The game will be televised live on ESPNU.
“In true South Carolina State and Buddy Pough fashion, they played the game that is their brand,” Scott said of the Bulldogs’ 438 yards of rushing offense. “They ran for the most yards against us since I’ve been here. The formula came together for them; they controlled the ball on the ground, running through and around us.”
The challenge for the Bison now will be to put that game in the rear-view mirror and focus on the Eagles, who are ranked in the top 10 in all of FCS and are 3-0 in MEAC play (8-1 overall).
“No matter what the situation was, this game was going to have implications for us having a chance to go on [to the Celebration Bowl] or not,” Scott said. “This game doesn’t lose any luster or impact.”
North Carolina Central head coach Trei Oliver agrees.
“Howard is a well-coached, complete team with a lot of experience on their staff,” he says. “Coach Scott is an offensive genius, so we’ve got to play well this weekend. Obviously, it’s a championship game. It’s all on the line this weekend.”
Oliver’s Eagles got off to a quick start, then held off relentless Norfolk State 38-24 for a homecoming win last weekend.
“Thought we jumped out to a fast start, then kind of lost focus and let them back in the game,” Oliver said of a 28-3 lead that quickly shrunk to 28-24 by the beginning of the fourth quarter. “We preach about those middle eight minutes and did not win those. We knew it was going to be a dogfight. Norfolk wasn’t going to quit. Fortunately, we made enough plays to pull out the win.”
