MEAC Football Media Center | Weekly Coaches Video Conference

NORFOLK, Va., Oct. 27, 2021 – Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play is back underway this Saturday, with all six teams squaring off in three games that will go a long way in determining what the race to Atlanta looks like as the calendar flips to November.
 
All three games will be broadcast live on the MEAC Digital Network on ESPN+.
 
Here’s a glimpse of the two games on tap for MEAC teams on Saturday, Oct. 30:
   
Norfolk State has now won five in a row after this past Saturday’s 45-31 win over Howard to ruin the Bison’s Homecoming. Morgan State, meanwhile, is still in search of its first win of 2021 after the Bears fell at home to North Carolina Central on Saturday.
 
“We’re (about to) play a football team that’s very physical,” Spartans coach Dawson Odums said, “It’s about just getting better every day and knowing that you’ve got to get physical and be physical if you want to win football games in the MEAC.”
 
Added Bears coach Tyrone Wheatley about the Spartans: “They’re very mature, very dynamic, very, very, very, very poised under pressure. Nothing seems to rattle these guys … they smell blood in the water, and this is their home. It’s going to be a physical game.”
   
South Carolina State, the MEAC preseason favorite, has won three of its last four games after Saturday’s 13-7 win over Delaware State, and the Bulldogs sit alone atop the standings at 2-0 in league play. The Eagles snapped a three-game losing streak in defeating Morgan State this past weekend.
 
“It’ll be the usual Dawgs and Eagles,” Bulldogs coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough said, “fighting like cats and dogs, I guess. It’s always a tough game when you get a Trei Oliver-style defense … he’s had some great success against us, and it’s gonna be a tough football game.”
 
Added Eagles coach Trei Oliver: “Slowly but surely, we’re seeing a bit of improvement here. It’s gonna be a physical ball game, we’re gonna have to stop the run. It’s gonna be a knock-down, drag out. They’re big and physical up front with their offensive line, which they always are.”
   
Both the Bison and the Hornets will be looking to bounce back and get back into the conference race after losing their respective Homecoming games this past Saturday – Howard to Norfolk State and Delaware State to South Carolina State.
 
“It’s focusing on things we need to focus on,” Bison coach Larry Scott said. “It’s all about us. We didn’t have a whole lot of mental errors, mental mistakes … it’s just coming out and finding a way to start faster and execute consistently. We’ve done a really good job in recent weeks on third down, and we just need to make sure we help our defense out by keeping the ball.”
 
Added Hornets head coach Rod Milstead about the Bison: “They’re a much more improved football team from the spring. We played them twice in the spring and were fortunate to come away with wins on both occasions. But they’re a different football team now, they have more weapons, their quarterback’s playing well … they’re a two-headed monster at running back, so we have to have a good gameplan and be prepared.”