CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University football team will be on the road again today (9/14), making the short trip to take on North Carolina at Kenan Stadium.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m., live on ACC Network Extra.
Series History: This will be the first-ever meeting between the Eagles and the Tar Heels, despite the two campuses only being 12 miles apart.
Last Time Out: The Eagles (1-1) dropped their home opener this past Saturday, falling 41-19 to Elon. It marked the first time N.C. Central fell in its home opener under head coach Trei Oliver, and it was the Eagles’ first home loss since 2021. Walker Harris threw for 181 yards and a touchdown, while J’Mari Taylor and Chris Mosley each had a rushing touchdown.
The Tar Heels improved to 2-0 on the season this past weekend with a 38-20 win over Charlotte. Conner Harrell threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns, while adding a rushing score. Davion Gause and Nate McCullom also had rushing scores for the Tar Heels. UNC’s defense tallied 6.0 total tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks. UNC is receiving votes in both the AP Top 25 Poll and the Coaches Poll.
The Coaches: Trei Oliver (N.C. Central, 1998) is in his fifth season as a college head coach. With 24 years of college coaching experience that includes five conference championships and three Black college football national titles, Oliver returned to his alma mater as North Carolina Central’s 24th head football coach in December 2018. A native of Yorktown, Va., Oliver earned all-conference and all-region honors as a defensive back and punter during his four-year playing career at NCCU from 1994-97. The 1998 graduate later returned to NCCU as an assistant coach from 2003-06, helping the Eagles to back-to-back Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) championships in 2005 and 2006. Oliver is 29-19 in four seasons as NCCU’s head coach.
Mack Brown (Florida State, 1974) has the very unique distinction of being the only active head coach in FBS to be a member of the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame. He is also one of just three current head coaches in FBS to have won a national championship. Named North Carolina’s head coach on Nov. 27, 2018 his 283 career victories rank seventh on the FBS all-time list. He is the winningest coach among active coaches. Brown is also the first head coach to win 100 games at two FBS schools having done so at UNC and Texas.
NCCU the MEAC Favorite: The 2022 MEAC champion and HBCU national champion Eagles were selected as the preseason favorite to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) for the second straight season.
Four Eagles made the preseason first team: Trevon Humphrey (OL), Jaden Taylor (DL), Kole Jones (DB) and Juan Velarde (P/K). Four more Eagles were on the second team list: J’Mari Taylor (RB), Joaquin Davis (WR), Ja’Quan Sprinkle (OL), and Max U’Ren (LB).
Nationally, NCCU is receiving votes in both the Stats Perform FCS and AFCA Coaches polls.
Eagles vs. The ACC: The Eagles are 0-7 all-time against schools from the ACC, having played just Duke in said games. N.C. Central’s highest point total in those contests came in 2015, when the Eagles scored 17 points.
Non-Conference Success: Under Oliver, the Eagles are 15-11 against non-conference opponents – including a 12-4 mark over the last two-plus seasons after a season-opening win over Alabama State and this past weekend’s loss to Elon. NCCU has three Top 25 wins in that span, defeating No. 25 Elon (2023), No. 25 New Hampshire (2022) and No. 5 Jackson State (2022).
Honorary Captains: Both teams will have honorary captains for Saturday’s game, and N.C. Central’s will be former football coach and college athletics administrator Bill Hayes, and former athlete Bishop Harris. Hayes served as the head football coach at Winston-Salem State (1976-87) and at North Carolina A&T State University (1988-2003), compiling a career record of 195–104–2. In 27 seasons as a head coach, Hayes has the distinction of being the winningest coach at both football programs. Hayes became an athletic administrator after he ended his coaching career, serving as athletic director at his alma mater from 2003-07; Florida A&M University, from December 2007 to December 2009; and Winston-Salem State University from 2010-14. Harris, who is being recognized posthumously, was a former athlete and head coach at N.C. Central. He coached in the NFL, as well as on the college level, and he was the first Black assistant coach at both Duke and LSU.
A North Carolina State of Mind: NCCU’s emphasis on recruiting talent in North Carolina is demonstrated with 63 Eagles calling the Tar Heel state their home out of the 110 student-athletes on the team’s season-opening roster (63%).
North Carolina State of Mind, Part Two: Oliver has made a point of playing schools from the state of North Carolina, and there are four on the schedule this year (Elon, UNC, North Carolina A&T and Campbell). There have been at least two teams from the Tar Heel State on the schedule each year since Oliver took over as head coach. Since 2011, the Eagles are 20-20 against teams from North Carolina and Oliver has an 8-5 advantage. The Eagles went 4-0 against teams from North Carolina just a year ago, and they are 6-2 over the last two-plus seasons.
Source: NCCU Athletics
