LUT WILLIAMS BCSP Editor
There are a few intra-conference skirmishes as black college teams move into Week Three of the 2024 season.
Southern (1-1) and Jackson State (1-1) stage the 73rd meeting of their historic SWAC rivalry in Jackson, Ms. Saturday (6 p.m. onESPN+). In the series that dates back to 1949,Southern leads 50-22. JSU prevailed last year in Baton Rouge, La. 27-21.
New Southern head coach Terrance Graves will be looking for his first SWAC win since being named to the permanent position after last season.
North Carolina A&T (1-1) has its first Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) game of the year as it hosts 1-0 Delaware Saturday (1 p.m. on FloFootball). Delaware has won both meetings between the schools including a 21-6 win last season in Newark, Del.
In the CIAA, undefeated Johnson C. Smith (2-0) plays host to Lincoln (Pa.) (0- 1) Saturday (1 p.m. on CIAA Sports Network). The JCSU Golden Bulls, after finishing 7-4 last year under then second-year head coach and alum Maurice Flowers, are looking to thrust themselves into the CIAA championship picture.
Over in the SIAC, there are two in- conference match ups. Kentucky State (0-2) is at Fort Valley State (0-1, 0-1) on TheGrio at 1 p.m. and Lane (0-1) plays at Benedict (0-1) at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
In a key regional battle Hampton (1-1) of the CAA is at Norfolk State of the MEAC in a game previously hyped as the Battle of the Bay. This will be new Hampton Interim Head Coach Trent Boykin’s first battle with the Pirates’ Hampton Roads rival. NSU won last year’s contest 31-23.
There are two neutral site classics on this week’s schedule.
Howard (1-1) of the MEAC faces Morehouse (0-2, 0-1 SIAC) of the SIAC in the HBCU New York City Football Classic in East Rutherford, New Jersey (3 p.m. on CNBC). A year ago, Howard easily dispatched the Maroon Tigers, 65-19 and has outscored them 161-65 in winning their last four meetings.
In Memphis’s Southern Heritage Classic (6 p.m. on HBCUGo), Tennessee State (1-1) of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) takes on the SWAC’s Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-1) at the Liberty Bowl. TSU jumped out to a 21-0 lead in last year’s match up before settling for a 24-14 win.
The biggest challenges Saturday will be faced by SWAC contender Prairie View A&M and MEAC contender North Carolina Central as the FCS members ‘play up’ against FBS opponents.
Prairie View A&M (1-1) and head coach Bubba McDowell will travel over 1,000 miles North from Texas to East Lansing, Michigan to take on 2-0 Big Ten FBS member Michigan State (2:30 p.m on the Big Ten Network).
Trei Oliver’s NCCU (1-1) Eagles from Durham, NC, have just a 20-mile trek over to Chapel Hill, NC to face 2-0 North Carolina of the FBS Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Saturday (6 p.m. on the ACC Network).
Morgan State (1-1) is in the same boat, having the unenviable task of facing an FBS opponent on the road. The Bears will be in Athens, Ohio Saturday (3:30 p.m. on ESPN+) to meet 1-1 Ohio U of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Head coach Damon Wilson and the Bears had MAC member Akron on the ropes last year leading 21-17 with 17 seconds left before the Zips got a scoop and score to come away with a stunning 24-17 win. Ditto for Bethune-Cookman and head coach Raymond Woodie Jr. whose 0-2 Wildcats travel to Kalamazoo, Michigan to face MAC member W. Michigan (0-2).
Shaw, one of just three black college teams thatsitat 2-0,ishosting0-1CatawbainDurham, NC Saturday at 6 p.m. The CIAA Sports Network will carry the game.
The other 2-0 team, the SIAC’s Clark Atlanta, travels to Miami Gardens, Florida to take on 1-1 Florida Memorial in a 1 p.m. affair.
