INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The North Carolina Central University football team will open Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play on Saturday, squaring off against Norfolk State in the Circle City Classic® in Lucas Oil Stadium.
The game will kick off at 3 p.m. ET, live on ESPN+, and rebroadcasted on ESPNU. A Spanish language simulcast will also be available on ESPN+.
Series History: The Eagles and the Spartans will meet for the 21st time in history, with North Carolina Central leading the all-time series 13-7. For the first time, this match-up will be played somewhere other than Norfolk, Va. or Durham, N.C., as the Eagles and Spartans will meet in Indianapolis.
The Eagles are 5-3 in games against Norfolk State played away from O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium. N.C. Central has won the last three meetings in the match-up, and eight of the last 10.
Last Time Out: North Carolina Central (2-2) got back into the win column with a 66-24 win over rival North Carolina A&T this past weekend. It was the highest point total for the Eagles since a 62-28 win over South Carolina State last season, and running back J’Mari Taylor recorded his second 100-yard rushing game of the season. MEAC Offensive Player of the Week Walker Harris threw three touchdown passes in the victory.
Norfolk State (2-3) defeated VMI 32-10 on the road this past Saturday, behind a strong defense and a 277-yard, 3-touchdown performance from quarterback Jalen Daniels. Wide receiver Jacquez Jones caught 12 passes for 143 yards and two scores, and the Spartans held the Keydets to 203 total yards. Daylan Long had Norfolk State’s first pick-six since 2019 and was named MEAC Defensive Player of the Week.
Circle City Classic®: The Circle City Classic® is an annual American football game featuring two historically Black colleges/universities (HBCUs) played in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event was established in 1984 by Indiana Black Expo and has been played every year except 2020, when it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. No game was played for the 2022 Circle City Classic. The game was held from 1984 to 2007 in the RCA Dome and was moved to the new Lucas Oil Stadium in 2008. In addition to the game, there is also a parade, The Classic Coronation, and a concert related to the Classic.
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 University’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.
Dawson Odums known the “The Panther” during his time at NCCU (North Carolina Central, 1997) Odums, a championship coach with a track record of developing student-athletes both on and off the field during his collegiate coaching career, enters his fourth year as the head football coach at Norfolk State University in 2024. He was named the 18th head coach in Spartan history on April 21, 2021. Norfolk State continued to build up its program in 2023, taking significant strides in several key areas on the stat sheet. While the Spartans finished the season with three wins, the team remained competitive every week. Five of Norfolk State’s losses came by one score. Six players earned All-MEAC accolades in 2023, headlined by promising freshman AJ Richardson. The first-year linebacker led the team with 69.0 total tackles, including 41 solo stops and 11.0 tackles for loss. Norfolk State picked up a 31-23 road victory over Hampton in the Battle of the Bay, before rushing for 350 yards in a gutty 21-14 win at Towson. The Spartans also cruised past Delaware State 44-21, as Terron Mallory became the first player in the program’s Division I history to intercept three opposing passes in a single game.
Aggie-Spartan Connections: The HBCU coaching landscape is considered small, a tight group, and it is easy to find some connections between the team. N.C. Central might have more than others as the Eagles have alumni who are head coaches in the CIAA and MEAC, and some others who have coached at N.C. Central at some point during their career. The connections with Norfolk State are no different, as the Eagles head coach and the Spartans head coach were teammates at N.C. Central. Oliver played defensive back and punted from 1994-97, while Odums played defensive line for the Eagles from 1993-96.
Oliver also served as defensive coordinator under Odums when he was head coach at Southern University, but he was not the only Eagle on the Jaguars staff. Offensive Coordinator Matt Leone served as quarterbacks coach on the Southern staff under Odums. Aaron Tiller played for Oliver while at Southern.
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.
Carrying the Rock: N.C. Central has been known for producing some great running backs, and J’Mari Taylor is cut from the same fabric as the others. Taylor has recorded 365 yards and six touchdowns to average 91.3 yards per game–and he has at least one touchdown in all four games.
Youth Movement: Underclassmen have played a significant role with the Eagles during the first three games this season, and that shows just how much youth is on this team. There are 56 underclassmen on the roster (freshman or sophomore), and they continue to play snaps for the Eagles. Three games into the season, 40 of the 56 underclassmen have seen playing time.
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%).
Source: Maurice D. Williams/NCCU Athletics