Black College Round-Up
This Week in the CIAA
Sam Davis
BCSP Contributing Writer
North Carolina Central, fresh off its stunning upset of
North Carolina A&T, travels to Atlanta this week to take on
Morehouse, which lost to Fort Valley
State 23-0 last weekend. The victory over the MEAC's Aggies should be a shot in the arm for
coach Rudy Abrams, whose team put together its first winning
season under his direction in 2001.
The Eagles have two proven quarterbacks in
Sean Williams and Lawrence Fuller. Fuller came off the bench to
operate NCCU's veer-option offense to near-perfection against
A&T. Morehouse, meanwhile, struggled against FVSU, despite
debuting former Texas Southern players, Adam Lamb
at quarterback and Santino Hall at defensive back. Hall was an all-SWAC
selection last year and was on some preseason black college
all-American teams.
After coming through with their upset win last week,
NCCU will take considerable momentum into Atlanta for its battle with
the Maroon Tigers.
PREDICTION: The Eagles improve to 2-0 with a 28-14 win.
Winston-Salem State needs to get itself pointed in the
right direction after a blowout at Carson-Newman last weekend.
The Rams, who lost several key players off its defensive unit along
with defensive coordinator Andrew Faison, had no answers in the
early going and fell behind 40-0.
Although the final score of 47-35 looked respectable,
the Rams' performance came up a whole lot short of it.
Carson-Newman emptied its bench against the Rams after taking its
40-0 lead midway through the third quarter.
WSSU, which captured two of the previous three
CIAA championships, can't afford to come out of the gate slow against
a strong Tuskegee team that travels to Winston-Salem
Saturday. Tuskegee, three-time winners of the SIAC
title and Pioneer Bowl, has a proven program and has much to gain from a victory over
the Rams. Head coach Rick Comegy lost 17 starters from last
year's 10-1 squad but has found some players to replace them.
Back-up running back Courtland Florence
ran for 157 yards including a 38-yard TD last week against FVSU.
Florence, who we did say was a back-up, also had a 98-yard TD jaunt
called back because of a clipping penalty.
WSSU QB Josh McGee and company must find a way
to generate offense early in the game to take some of the pressure
off a defense that needs to start developing confidence. A big
crowd, including the Rams' 1967 NCAA College Division
Basketball Championship team, is expected on Hall of Fame Day and
coach Kermit Blount's Rams need to come through with a strong
showing.
PREDICTION: Expect the Rams to be fired up for this one, but
it still won't be enough - Tuskegee 21-17.
Johnson C. Smith travels to Bowie
State for a key battle and the Golden Bulls will find out something that the rest of
the CIAA will soon discover. The BSU Bulldogs are definitely for
real and without a passing game opponents don't stand a chance.
Bowie limited West Virginia State to only 34 yards
rushing last week in a 34-7 victory. Linebacker
Atcheson Conaway continues to impress foes with his ability to cover in the secondary
and come up and strike ball-carriers. Bowie has also gotten better
on offense and that could be the real key for the Bulldogs this season.
Meanwhile, JCSU's offense continues to be anemic.
Without much of a threat to move the ball through the air, coach
Tim Harkness' Golden Bulls stand little chance of leaving with
a victory.
PREDICTION: Bowie State, 24-7.
Virginia Union opens its 2002 campaign against
Elizabeth City with hopes of repeating as the CIAA's champion.
The Panthers have a lot of holes to fill on offense
and defense. However, the offensive and defensive lines should be
the strengths of the team. Tailback Larry
Edwards will be counted upon to carry the load until the Panthers gain experience at
quarterback.
Elizabeth City lost to Kutztown 34-13 last week, but
the Vikings did show signs of improvement. The Vikings' passing
game is improved and so is their defense. But confidence is a
question mark.
PREDICTION: VUU Panthers, 24-17.
Fayetteville State also had last weekend off and the
extra week of preparation should help against the
St. Augustine Falcons, who will be playing against their first CIAA foe. St.
Augustine's lost to Edward Waters, 18-7 last week, in its first game back
in intercollegiate football.
The Broncos are considered by some to be the darkhorse
in the Western Division of the CIAA. A lopsided win early in
the season would go a long way in developing the confidence needed
to make a run at WSSU in the divisional race.
PREDICTION: FSU Broncos, 30-14.
Livingstone makes its debut under first-year coach
George Johnson but will be up against one of Division II's top
programs when it faces cross-town foe Catawba.
The Bears will unveil a new offensive and defensive
scheme and will have little time to pull itself together. The Blue Bears
will need to be able to mix up its passing and running more than
in previous years if they expect to have any kind of chance to
come away with a victory. Emotions should run high for the Blue
Bears, but that won't be enough.
PREDICTION: Catawba 27-17.
© 2002 Azeez Communications, Inc.
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