LUT WILLIAMS BCSP Editor
The top challenge facing teams that got big wins this past week will be how they follow-up those victories.
One of the biggest wins saw Edward Walters, a team that just got full NCAA Div. II and SIAC status in 2024, take out back-to-back CIAA champion Virginia Union in an exciting down-to-the wire 41-38win Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida.
It was the third 40-point-plus performance by interim head coach Brian Jenkins’ Tigers after a 41-14 win over Savannah State to start the season and a 45-14 win over defending SIAC champ Miles in Week 2. EWU (3-0, 2-0 SIAC) can now brag wins over both the CIAA and SIAC defending champions as well a serious step-up in their contender status for SIAC honors.
It sets up an intriguing battle for Jenkins and the Tigers as they travel to meet winless (0-3) Bethune-Cookman Saturday on the road in Daytona Beach, Florida (3 p.m., TheGrio).
It was at B-CU in the MEAC from 2010-2014 that Jenkins established himself as a force to be reckoned with. He stunned the conference by turning the Wildcats into a perennial winner, posting a 46-14 mark over his five seasons and winning parts of four MEAC titles, earning three FCS playoff berths and taking home two national black college football titles. His ‘Cats won 18 straight conference games between 2011 and 2013, the longest streak in MEAC history and defeated rival Florida A&M four straight times (2011-14) for the first time in school history.
So, intriguing is likely the best word to describe this SIAC vs. SWAC meeting of teams headed in opposite directions – EWU up and B-CU down. EWU is averaging an SIAC-best 42.7 points per game and has been led by senior QB Noah Bodden, who had stints at both Grambling State and Southern of the SWAC. Bodden currently leads the SIAC averaging 243.0 passing yards per game with six TDs and 7p no picks. Running back Johntarrious Thomas is second in the league averaging 84.0 yards pergame, 5.9 yards per rush with three TDs.
The Wildcats, under third-year head coach Raymond Woodie, are coming off a high-scoring 55-41 loss at South Carolina State Saturday. QB Cam’Ron Ransom threw for 302 yards and four TDs in that affair and should challenge the EWU defense.
There is an argument that North Carolina A&T’s 33-30 double overtime win vs. Hampton was last week’s biggest win.
It was the first win for new head coach Shawn Gibbs, the first for the once-mighty Aggies in three years in the Coastal AthleticAssociation (CAA) and the first over an FCS opponent in three seasons
The follow-up has the Aggies (1-2, 1-0 CAA) hosting fierce rival N. C.Central Saturday in what sets up as a hard hitting affair in Greensboro, N.C. (4 p.m., Flo Football).
NCCU (2-2) has won the last three meetings including a 66-24 beatdown in Durham last season. The Eagles are coming off a 49-19 win over CIAA member Fayetteville State that allowed them to flex their muscles after two straight losses.
Johnson C. Smith got a big, but expected,21-17 win over winless Elizabeth City State (0-3) last week. The win was big because it kept the Golden Bulls undefeated at 3-0 and setsup an early CIAA showdown with aforementioned two-time conference champ Virginia Union (1-1) Saturday in Richmond, Va. (1 p.m.,CIAA Sports Network). JCSU beat VUU 21-16 last year in route to an 8-0 start before collapsing over the final two weeks of the season. Theteams enter with JCSU 21st in the AFCA Div. II Coaches Poll with VUU dropping from 9th to 22nd. Another top CIAA match up of contenders has Virginia State (1-1) at Winston-Salem State (2-1) at 1 p.m.
Hampton and Howard renew their Battle for the Real HU at the P&G Truth & Service Classic at Washington D. C’s Audi Field (4 p.m., HBCUGo.tv). The Bison (2-1) will be looking to end a losing streak to Hampton (1-2) that now stretches to eight games after last season’s 27-20 Pirates’ win.