Week six of the HBCU football season ends with a strong teaser for the upcoming weekend, setting up what will be the Game of the Year in the SWAC in week seven.
The CIAA champs are on the fast track to a third straight title game appearance thanks to what has been a monstrous streak by their star running back.
Meanwhile, a classic MEAC rivalry ended what has been a long-standing losing streak for a particular team in the series.
There are the 5 Takeaways from Week 6 of the 2025 HBCU football season.
1. Jackson State, Alabama State set up high-stakes Week 7 clash
After handling business in their respective Week 6 matchups, the Jackson State Tigers and Alabama State Hornets are set up for the Game of the Year with the SWAC East title on the line.
The defending SWAC champions traveled to Mobile, Alabama for the Gulf Coast Challenge against Alabama A&M, coming away victorious after scoring a season-high 57 points.
Alabama State had a 50-point performance of its own, taking down Bethune-Cookman 52-35 to celebrate its homecoming.
The Hornets will be looking to play the role of spoiler not only in the Tigers hopes for a championship repeat and in what will serve as JSU’s homecoming contest.
As the last two remaining unbeaten teams in conference play in the SWAC East, the winner of this matchup will be set up with a commanding lead in the division as they reach the midway point in the season.
2. Curtis Allen’s dominant run continues
The reigning CIAA champion Virginia Union Panthers went on the road for a clash with the Winston-Salem State Rams, coming away with a 44-34 win following a dominant performance by their star running back.
Curtis Allen ripped through the Winston-Salem State defense, posting 249 rushing yards on 34 attempts and scoring four touchdowns.
This is the second straight game that Allen has recorded over 200 rushing yards while scoring multiple touchdowns.
The Panthers’ running back is the runaway favorite to take home the CIAA Player of the Year award, averaging 197.4 rushing yards per game and scored 14 rushing touchdowns through five games.
With all its remaining games this season coming against teams with losing records, this provides a golden opportunity for Virginia Union to cruise into its third straight CIAA championship game.
3. A home team finally wins the Battle of the Bay
Hampton notched its first FCS win of the season this weekend, taking down Norfolk State 41-34 in the 60th edition of the Battle of the Bay.
Their combined 75 points makes for the highest-scoring game between these two teams since 2021 when they combined for 88 points.
In addition to the Pirates snapping a three-game losing streak this season, they also snapped a significant losing streak in this series.
The home team in this series had lost the last six editions of the Battle of the Bay, with this being the first win for the host team since 2015.
Hampton will now shift its focus to snapping a six-game losing streak against conference opponents dating back to last season when it dips back into its CAA schedule.
4. Extended losing streaks were snapped
Speaking of losing streaks, this was a great weekend for ending long losing streaks with some significant ones being taken down.
The most notable came from Bluefield State who took down Shaw 35-33 to claim its first conference win since re-joining the CIAA in 2023, ending a 15-game losing streak.
After Central State ended what was a 12-game losing streak dating back to last season last weekend against Lane, Morehouse ended a 10-game losing streak of its own with a 27-20 comeback win over Tuskegee.
Finally, Elizabeth City State snapped a four-game losing streak to start the season with an 39-27 upset win over Livingstone.
5. A pair of heartbreaking losses
It is rare to see two games end with walk-off touchdowns in the same slate but it happened this weekend against two HBCU teams.
In its matchup against Georgetown, Morgan State battled back from a 14-0 deficit in the first quarter to take a 24-21 lead into the final period.
Still leading with seconds remaining, the Bears were done in on the final play of the game, as Georgetown connected on a miracle Hail Mary to snatch the victory.
West Virginia State were also unlucky to have a walk off score go against it when engaging in a fourth-quarter shootout with West Liberty.
The two teams combined for 40 fourth-quarter points, ending with West Liberty winning with a 40-yard passing touchdown as time expired.
