NORFOLK, Va., Sept. 8, 2021 – Big non-conference games are on the schedule for all six Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) football-playing institutions this weekend, but perhaps none is bigger than Saturday’s clash between South Carolina State and sixth-ranked Clemson.
 
The SCSU-Clemson game will mark the fourth time that the two in-state foes have faced each other on the football field. To secure a victory, according to SCSU head coach Buddy Pough, the Bulldogs will have to click on all cylinders.
 
“Hopefully, we can get in there and play well on all sides of the ball,” Pough said during Monday’s MEAC Football Coaches Video Conference. “We’ve got to be able to go out there and match up our offense against their defense in a way that we can have some success. When we get up against their high-powered offense, we need to play well on defense. We’ve got our work cut out for us. It’s a tough match-up.”

Delaware State Hornets (1-0, 0-0 MEAC) vs. Georgetown Hoyas (0-0, 0-0 Patriot League)
Saturday, Sept. 2 • Alumni Stadium • Dover, Del. • 2 p.m.
TV: MEAC Digital Network on ESPN+

The Hornets opened their season last weekend with a 32-24 victory over Bowie State, seeing three of their players sweeping the conference’s weekly football honors. Freshman Sy’Veon Wilkerson won both Offensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week, defensive back Esaias Guthrie won Defensive Player of the Week and defensive tackle Kevin DeShields won Specialist of the Week. Georgetown, a Big East member that plays football in the Patriot League, cancelled its scheduled season opener at Marist after a COVID-related pause during training camp affected the Hoyas’ preseason preparations and conditioning. This will be the first-ever meeting between the Hornets and the Hoyas. Head coach Rod Milstead said on Monday: “We’re going to focus on what we do well and improving on what Delaware State football is. They can only have 11 guys on the football field at one time and we can only have 11. If we focus on what we do well, everything else will take care of itself.”

Howard Bison (0-1, 0-0 MEAC) vs. Maryland Terrapins (1-0, 0-0 Big 10)
Saturday, Sept. 11 • Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium • College Park, Md. • 7:30 p.m.
TV: Big 10 Network • Live Stats

The Bison, coming off a 38-14 loss at Richmond, will be facing the Maryland Terrapins for the third time and hoping to notch their first win in the short series. The teams squared off in 2016 (Maryland won 52-13) and 2019 (Maryland won 79-0), but the Bison have a new look now under head coach Larry Scott. Last weekend, Maryland defeated West Virginia 30-24 to open its season. Scott said on Monday: “Our biggest challenge and our biggest opponent is us, because we’re still in the stage of educating and teaching our young people about the process of winning. Our biggest challenge and our biggest opponent from week-to-week is just making it about us, not making about who’s next on the schedule.”

Morgan State Bears (0-1, 0-0 MEAC) vs. Tulane Green Wave (0-1, 0-0 AAC)
Saturday, Sept. 11 • Legion Field • Birmingham, Ala. • 1 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN+

Both Morgan State and Tulane will be looking to secure their first victory of the season; the Bears fell to Towson 31-0 and the Green Wave lost to Oklahoma 40-35 this past Saturday. Originally scheduled to be played at Tulane’s Yulman Stadium in New Orleans, Saturday’s game has been relocated to Birmingham’s Legion Field due to the effects of Hurricane Ida on the state of Louisiana. This will be a first-ever meeting of the two football programs. Bears head coach Tyrone Wheatley said on Monday: “We had 10 penalties (against Towson) and we absolutely can’t have those kinds of penalties. A lot of those penalties were deer-in-the-headlight penalties. We just have to rely on who we are and what we are and play our style of football.”

Norfolk State Spartans (0-1, 0-0 MEAC) vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (1-0, 0-0 ACC)
Saturday, Sept 11 • Truist Field • Winston-Salem, N.C. • 12 p.m.
TV: ACC Network Extra • Live Stats

The first of two games the MEAC will play against the ACC on Saturday, this one features a Norfolk State team led by new head, coach Dawson Odums, and the conference’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, Juwan Carter. Last weekend, the Spartans were on the short end of a 49-10 loss to Toledo, while Wake Forest was victorious in its season debut, defeating Old Dominion 42-10. Spartans head coach Dawson Odums said on Monday: “It’s a great challenge for us. It’s a great opportunity. Wake Forest is a very good football team, but we just want to see the Spartans get better in every phase of the game. The thing about these kinds of games is getting to the fourth quarter and hope you have a chance in those types of football games.”

North Carolina Central (1-0, 0-0 MEAC) vs. Marshall (1-0, 0-0 C-USA)
Saturday, Sept. 11 • Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, W. Va. • 6:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN+

 
Both the Eagles and the Marshall Thundering Herd will enter Saturday’s contest after recording big wins in their respective season openers. The Eagles had an idle week this past weekend after registering a 23-14 victory over Alcorn State in the Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kickoff on Aug. 28. Marshall, meanwhile, upended Navy 49-7 last Saturday, marking the first time a new head coach at the school has ever started his career on the road and won. Head coach Trei Oliver said on Monday: “That’s a good football team (Marshall). They took Navy behind the shed. They’re a very physical football team, a well-coached football team. We’re going to focus on North Carolina Central and try to control what we can control and work to get better week-by-week.”

South Carolina State Bulldogs (0-1, 0-0 MEAC) vs. Clemson Tigers (0-1, 0-0 ACC)
Saturday, Sept. 11 • Memorial Stadium • Clemson, S.C. • 5 p.m.
TV: ACC Network

Saturday’s game between South Carolina State and Clemson will be the fourth all-time meeting between two universities which are located less than three hours from each other, and the game will also represent two programs predicted to sit atop their respective conferences come season’s end. Both, however, will be looking to bounce back from season-opening losses. S.C. State lost a 42-41 offensive shootout on the road to Alabama A&M last weekend, while No. 3 Clemson fell to No. 5 Georgia 10-3 in a defensive slugfest in Charlotte, N.C. The loss dropped the Tigers to No. 6 in this week’s FBS rankings. Bulldogs head coach Buddy Pough said on Monday: “We need to make a lot of improvements in a short amount of time. Both of us are trying to find our mojo. I’ll be really, really interested to see just how we match up our offensive front with their defensive front. I think that we may have one of the best offensive fronts that we’ve had in a while.”