Grambling vs. Southern. Jackson State vs. Southern. Albany State vs. Tuskegee. Alabama A&M vs. Alabama State. Bethune-Cookman vs. Florida A&M.
These are some of the biggest rivalries in HBCU Football, whether from a competitive standpoint, for bragging rights or from a fan base perspective.
The best rivalry in HBCU Football over the last six years has been Bethune-Cookman vs. South Carolina State.
Without question.
The two teams will meet Thursday night in Daytona Beach, FL and the game will be televised by ESPNU. Over the last couple of years, ESPN hasn’t seemed to schedule the best Thursday night matchups. They got this one right.
Over the last eight years, Norfolk State is the only team to win the MEAC championship outright other than the Wildcats or the Bulldogs. Florida A&M in 2010 and Morgan State, North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central, shared the crown last year with B-CU and SCSU. Since Bethune-Cookman’s return to prominence in 2010, when Brian Jenkins became the Wildcats head man, the Wildcats have won three of the five meetings between the two.
Last year’s game was later in the season and was a game for the ages. The Bulldogs held off the heavily favored Wildcats 20-14 in Orangeburg. That game is arguably the biggest game that helped to create the five-way championship in the MEAC last year. If B-CU wins that game, they would have been the MEAC champs outright.
Even with all that the Wildcats have accomplished the last five years, I thought they would be down a bit this year.
I was wrong.
As a matter of fact, the Wildcats have won arguably the two biggest games in HBCU football this season. After holding off Lane 7-3 at home on September 19, the Wildcats won on the road at Grambling “holding” the Tigers to 53 points, scoring 56 themselves. (The next week, Grambling defeated Prairie View A&M 70-54). Last week they came from 26-7 down in the third quarter to defeat North Carolina Central 28-26, again on the road.
In Terry Sims first year as head coach of the Wildcats, he initially used the two-quarterback system with veterans Larry Brihm and Quentin Williams. But in the last few week, Williams has emerged and was brilliant against NCCU, accounting for 317 yards of total offense (241 passing, 76 rushing), while completing 13-of-18 passes with two touchdowns and one interception. So far this season Williams has completed 66 percent of his passes for 875 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions and has rushed for 248 yards. He leads the MEAC in pass efficiency (173.3). The Wildcats lead the MEAC in total offense (396.8).
Meanwhile, SCSU is up to its old tricks in the defensive department as the top ranked defense in the conference. The Bulldogs are giving up just 16.2 points per game and 284.5 yards per game. They continue to have the top defensive player in the league in reining BOXTOROW Willie Davis Defensive Player of the Year defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, who despite constant double teams, leads the conference with four sacks, has eight tackles for loss and has 20 total tackles (15 solo).
The Bulldogs offense isn’t shabby either, ranking third in total offense (366.8) with more of a balanced attack, leading the league in rushing offense (174.8), which hasn’t been the strength of B-CU who is giving up close to 200 yards rushing per game. Bulldogs running back Jalen “Scoot” Simmons is averaging 87.7 rushing yards per game, which is second in the MEAC, but has yet to score a touchdown.
Who do you think will win this game and why? Tweet about the game using #scsuvsbcu and give us your thoughts.