MEAC Football Media Center | Weekly Coaches Video Conference
NORFOLK, Va., Nov. 3, 2021 – Believe it or not, there are just three weeks left in the regular-season for Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) football teams. That makes each week an opportunity and each game monumental for the league’s six football-playing institutions.
The stretch run begins on Thursday, when the Delaware State Hornets (4-4, 1-1 MEAC) look to remain in contention for a MEAC title and berth to the Cricket Celebration Bowl when they face the Morgan State Bears (0-8, 0-4 MEAC) in Baltimore, Md.
The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
Two days later, current MEAC leader South Carolina State (4-4, 3-0 MEAC) will host the Howard Bison (2-6, 1-2 MEAC) in a MEAC Digital Network/ESPN+ game in Orangeburg, S.C., while the Norfolk State Spartans (6-2, 2-0 MEAC) will look to remain unblemished in MEAC play when they travel to Durham, N.C. to face the North Carolina Central Eagles (3-5, 1-1 MEAC) on NCCU’s Homecoming,
The Spartans-Eagles contest will be televised live on ESPN3 and rebroadcast on ESPNU at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday.
According to Bulldogs head coach Oliver “Buddy Pough,” the race for the MEAC crown is up for grabs.
“The comparables right now in our league show us to be pretty even,” Pough said. “If you look at the scores, everybody seems to be playing each other within a touchdown or two. That really means that anybody can beat anybody on any given day.”
Howard head coach Larry Scott added, “You’re either a contender or pretender in the month of November. You definitely see the intensity pick up in conference play and from week-to-week you don’t know which way it’s going to go. So, you have to have your guys revved up and ready to go from week-to-week.”
In addition to the games on tap for this week, prior to Saturday’s NSU-NCCU game in Durham, the second episode of the MEAC’s pregame football show,
MEAC Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Coca-Cola, will air live on ESPN+ starting at 12 p.m. Charlie Neal and Nicole Hutchison will host this festive pregame show that will include interviews with Norfolk State head coach Dawson Odums, North Carolina Central head coach Trei Oliver, North Carolina Central chancellor Dr. Johnson O. Akinleye, new MEAC commissioner-elect Sonja Stills and others.
Fans are encouraged to come and cheer on their favorite MEAC team during the show.
Here’s a glimpse of the games on tap for MEAC teams on Saturday:
Delaware State Hornets (4-4, 1-1 MEAC) at Morgan State Bears (0-8, 0-4 MEAC)
Thursday, Nov. 4 • Hughes Stadium • Baltimore, Md. • 7:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN2 - Live Stats
The Delaware State-Morgan State game is one of those games Hornets head coach Rod Milstead says he’s leery of playing. Although it should be an exciting contest, according to Milstead, playing a team in Morgan State’s situation literally scares him. “When a team doesn’t have a victory, it’s a tough deal when you have to go into their place to play them because they’re going to be playing on all cylinders,” he said. “They’re looking for that first victory and no one wants to be that guy. When you look at them on film, they’re not a 0-8 team.”
Meanwhile, Bears head coach Tyrone Wheatley says that although his team isn’t where he’d hoped it would be at this stage, the important thing is to keep fighting to the end. “November football is a true testament to the work you put in before August,” he said. “It’s all the things you see that’s coming into reality. The whole point of this thing -- it’s a race and you want to finish. No matter where you are, you want to finish.”
Howard Bison (2-6, 1-2 MEAC) at South Carolina State Bulldogs (4-4, 3-0 MEAC)
Saturday, Nov. 6 • Oliver C. Dawson Stadium • Orangeburg, S.C. • 2 p.m.
TV: Live on the MEAC Digital Network / ESPN+
Saturday’s matchup between Howard and South Carolina State features a pair of coaches who aren’t hesitant about lavishing praise upon each other or upon the opposing team. Howard’s Scott said of the Bulldogs: “They (SCSU Bulldogs) are a talented team. Obviously, Coach Pough has done a great job with that program. They’re on top of the standings right now and they’re on top of the standings for a reason. They’re really good on defense, good in the kicking game and tend to be explosive on offense. It’ll be a challenge for us to go down there and play a really good football team.”
Added Pough: “I feel like Howard is a team in the making. I saw Howard in the spring and I said I don’t know if they’ve got a shot, but to see that team now is a testament to Coach Scott and those guys on that staff. I’m scared to think about what will happen when you give those guys an opportunity to go out and get the kind of players I know they’re going to recruit. You’d better get them now because I’ve got a feeling it won’t be pretty down the road.”
Norfolk State Spartans (6-2, 2-0 MEAC) at North Carolina Central Eagles (3-5, 1-1 MEAC)
Saturday, Nov. 6 • O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium • Durham, N.C. • 2 p.m.
TV: Live on ESPN3 (rebroadcast on ESPNU at 10:30 p.m.) - Live Stats
Dawson Odums of Norfolk State and Trei Oliver of North Carolina Central are two head coaches who know each other quite well; they were both defensive players for the Eagles back in the 1990s under legendary head coach Larry Little. Additionally, when Odums was head coach at Southern University, Oliver was one of his assistant coaches. “He (Odums) is a good friend of mine and I had an opportunity to work under him at Southern University,” Oliver said. “I’m happy to see where both of our careers have taken us, from way back in 1995 to where we are now. So, I wish him all the best – except for this Saturday!”
Added Odums: “Coach Oliver will have those guys fired up and ready to play, so it’s going to be an old-school street fight and we know that. We know the territory we’re going in. We understand what we need to do. We just have to go in there and play Spartan football. If we do that, we think success will find us.”
About the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is in its 51st year of intercollegiate competition with the 2021-22 academic school year. Located in Norfolk, Va., the MEAC is made up of eight outstanding historically black institutions across the Atlantic coastline: Coppin State University, Delaware State University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina Central University and South Carolina State University.