NCCU Eagles Overpower & Outwit Southern Jaguars To Win The MEAC/SWAC Challenge

WALKER HARRIS' MATURITY SHOWS UP

Walker Harris was highly productive both in the air and on the ground. Excluding a first-half fumble at the goal line, the senior quarterback made good decisions throughout the evening.  

"Walker has always done a really good job of managing the game. He has a strong arm, he can place the ball and things that people understand," Oliver praised his quarterback.

He finished completing 19 of 24 (79.2%) passes for 183 yards and one touchdown to 10 different receivers. The Eagles quarterback also rushed on five carries for 26 yards, but was sacked for 12 yards, netting Harris 14 yards.

EAGLES COACHING OUTWITSJAGUARS

Despite the two explosive touchdown plays in the first half by Southern, the Eagles had total control of the football game.

Trei Oliver's team outplayed Southern in all aspects of the game, including offense, defense, and special teams. The Eagles' defense must clean up, as they allowed the Jaguars to rush for 268 yards on 0.  

The carries yielded two rushing touchdowns of 69 and 80 yards. However, the defense clamped down, not yielding a score from Southern in the second half.

"That's why I challenged the guy. In the second half, we got a strain and I thought we did a better job of that," Coach Oliver noted.

JALEN WOODS DISCIPLINED?

HBCU Legends learned Southern's quarterback, Jalen Woods, was not allowed to start due to disciplinary reasons. His absence affected Southern's game, but NCCU's defense made the necessary adjustments for the second half; however, the Jaguars did not. Coach Graves did not confirm before the game.

Southern's first-half momentum ended poorly because of four reasons:

1. NCCU's defense changed its gap assignments.
2. A short kickoff gave NCCU excellent field position, which resulted in Chris Mosley's 49-yard rushing touchdown.
3. The K. Pham shanked punt for 7 yards was a problem.
4. The Jaguars had the football in Eagles territory with 23 seconds remaining and two timeouts available. OC Mark Federick inexplicably called a rushing play. Instead of calling an immediate timeout, Coach Graves allowed 10 seconds to run off the clock before stopping the clock at 13 seconds. Also, instead of calling passing plays into the endzone, Frederick threw the football near the line of scrimmage. The half ended.

Trei Oliver's t-shirt said "Culture Over Scheme." Culturally, the coaching staff and players were in sync, mostly playing brilliant football throughout the entire game. Schematically, the Eagles coaching staff outclassed the Jaguars in every phase.  

Coach Oliver on his adjustments: "So we started exchanging some gaps, moving the interior D-lineman to try to make the old lineman think a little bit more and then to make the ball to bounce another gap wider."

GIVENS NEUTRALIZED

Southern's defensive coordinator, Henry Miller, was called out of the booth to the field, but could not stop the bleeding in the second half. SWAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Ckelby Givens, was a non-factor for a majority of the contest.  

"They made a statement early," Coach Oliver said about his offensive line handling Givens. "Dudes had a chip on his shoulder because y'all were preaching and praising, preaching and praising. We couldn't block the dude, and our guys blocked him. And he's a very good football player. I mean, I had talked to Givens, very good football player. But I said my two tackles were very good and I think they showed that tonight."

He finished with four total tackles (2 solo, 2 assisted), .5 tackle for loss, and a forced fumble. Oliver neutralized Givens with his much larger and highly effective tackles, holding the All-American to zero quarterback hits and one pressure.

JAGS QBs

Cam'Ron McCoy played a majority of the possessions for Southern. The Jaguars' wideouts didn't help his campaign last night. On three well-thrown deep passes, the Jaguars' receivers had their hands on the footballs, but couldn't catch them for touchdowns. At least 21 points were left off the scoreboard for Southern.

McCoy completed 9 of 14 passes for 71 yards and no touchdowns. Jalen Woods relieved McCoy in the second half to complete 4 of 5 passes for 21 yards.

The Jaguars' offense lacked structure, strategy, and scheme, which didn't bode well for them in their first game of the season. Last season, Southern was able to overcome poor starts by their opponents making mistakes, giving them chances to rally. NCCU was too good and SU didn't have an answer in the final two quarters.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS FOR NCCU

• The Eagles produced 414 yards of total offense with 231 rushing yards and 183 passing yards.   
• Rushing plays were 6.6 per carry.
• Passing plays were 9.6 per pass.
• 21 first downs
• 5 trips to the redzone; Four scores, and one resulted in a fumble through the endzone and a touchback for Southern.
• 5 Penalties for 50 yards, two were on the offensive lineman for a false start.
• Time of possession: 35:06

INSIDE THE NUMBERS FOR SOUTHERN

• The Jags produced 342 yards of total offense with 250 rushing yards and 92 passing yards.   
• Trey Holly rushed 10 times for 116 yards in his first HBCU football game. However, besides the 80-yard touchdown run, he averaged 4.0 yards per carry.
• Rushing plays were 8.3 per carry.
• Passing plays were 7.1 per pass.
• 15 first downs
• Only converted 2 of 10 third downs
• 1 trip to the red zone, resulting in 0 points.
• 6 Penalties for 37 yards
• Time of possession: 24:54
• 1 sack

WHAT'S NEXT?

North Carolina Central University (NCCU) will host New Hampshire at 6:00 PM ET on Saturday, August 30, at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium. Meanwhile, Southern University will travel to play against Mississippi Valley State at 4:00 PM CT on the same day, under the leadership of new head coach Terrell Buckley. This game will take place at Rice-Totten Stadium.

HBCU FOOTBALL