N.C. Central coach Mose Rison is 14-18 after three seasons, and the future continues to look bright. (File photo by Rob Rowe)
N.C. Central’s football season has been over for nearly a week now, and for the second straight season Mose Rison’s club finished with a 4-7 record.
After a tough start in which the Eagles went 0-6 with road defeats to heavily favored Liberty, Appalachian State and Duke, the third-year head coach had set a goal of winning the last five games to finish 5-6. And because of a road defeat at Old Dominion in the ninth game of the season, it didn’t happen.
But what kind of shape is the NCCU program in right now? Reality says it’s pretty good. Continue reading »
NCCU senior Rashad Fox celebrates after he blocks a pass from Savannah State. (Photo by Rob Rowe)
O’KELLY-RIDDICK STADIUM/DURHAM It’s the season football finale at N.C. Central, and so far the whole campaign has been a mixed bag.
NCCU went 0-6 through an extremely tough first “half” of the schedule, in which the Eagles dropped a pair of very winnable games in overtime.
Coach Mose Rison at that point set a goal of winning the last five in a row. Old Dominion derailed that idea two weeks ago, but now the idea is to win four of the last five and match last season’s 4-7 finish.
The opponent is Savannah State (2-7), which is reeling with a couple of losses to teams below the Division I level. NCCU has beaten the Tigers the past two seasons, including the season-ender in Durham last year.
WALLACE WADE STADIUM/DURHAM Some folks may have been anticipating this one for an old man’s lifetime, and it’s finally going to happen on Saturday night.
The “Bull City Gridiron Classic” will put host Duke - which is playing in its homecoming game - and N.C. Central on the football field at the same time for the first time, and it’s definitely the talk of the city.
The Mayor already issued a proclamation on Monday night.
Today at 5:30, the student unions are holding a joint 5 ½-hour pep rally at historic Durham Athletic Park at which both coaches will speak and student performance groups from both schools will entertain all comers.
And all day Saturday before the 7 p.m. kickoff there will be service projects and youth clinics and cultural events bringing together the two universities and their associated communities.
Both teams are sorely in need of a win, although for the Eagles (0-3) an upset would be of the monumental variety. But even if Duke (2-1) plays well and wins convincingly, a good night against an inspired challenger from last than five miles away would be a lot bigger feather in the cap than another one against a Brand X Championship Subdivision team nobody in Durham knows.
For the longest time in the bad old days, the schools didn’t play because of race. Then they didn’t play in any official athletic events for another long time because Duke was Division I and NCCU was Division II. Now that the Eagles are in transition to become a full member of Division I (Championship Subdivision) in 2011-12, the game is a natural.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to Durham to come out and see good football,” said Duke coach David Cutcliffe, who has done a much better job of attracting black athletes - and even hometown black athletes - to the program than any previous Blue Devil mentor. “I would think the atmosphere in Wallace Wade Stadium should be the best it’s been since we’ve been here. I think it’s going to be a fantastic Saturday night atmosphere in Wallace Wade.
“They have a fine staff. Their director of athletics (Ingrid Wicker-McCree) has done a fine job. They have a new field (surface). I think there’s a celebration going on at Central about who they are. There’s a celebration going on at Duke about who we are. You put the two together in Durham, and how awesome is that that we’ve got programs that are on the rise right here in Durham? I see it as a celebration of two programs that are headed in the right direction.”
Duke now has dozens of black football players. Like Duke, NCCU is no longer a racially segregated football team, instead having whites in several key spots on the field and many others as assistant coaches and in the larger support staff.
“A lot of people were pessimistic about this ever happening,” said NCCU coach Mose Rison, who counts Duke AD Kevin White among his oldest and best friends. “People are very excited about this. We’ve had success here in football, and people have wondered how good can we be? Are we good enough to play with a school like Duke in the ACC? The wondering minds have wondered if it could happen. But it’s going to take a monumental effort for us to win this football game. I know everybody’s excited. It’s going to be a fun atmosphere.”
One more post is coming tomorrow, folks. We’ll see what the players have to say. Read on for keys to the game.
N.C. Central football coach Mose Rison said he’s had a bad taste in his mouth ever since his team finished a 4-7 campaign in 2008, and kept thinking over and over again how close the Eagles came to a winning season.
This weekend, they get a chance to start making up for it. It’s well known that the Eagles want to be in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, and when they visit Hampton on Saturday they get a chance to knock off one of the league’s traditional powers.
But Rison (pictured) isn’t considering this any kind of “measuring stick” game. He pointed out that against the one common opponent the teams played last season, the Eagles won and the Pirates didn’t.
“Hampton is one of the top tier teams in the MEAC,” Rison said. “But Hampton got beat by Winston-Salem (State). We beat Winston-Salem. We want to show people we can play with those people. Hampton is going to be on our schedule every year.
“It’s the first game on our schedule, and you can’t win them all unless you win the first one.” Continue reading »
Kyle on "UNC holds off pesky NCCU with big second half, awaits selection committee": Mike Potter does Triangle sports fans a wonderful service by providing a unique perspective of events that may not otherwise receive media coverage. Thanks Mike for all you have done and continue to do in your outstanding career as a journalist and an ambassador for the Triangle.
caniacgirl on "Peters and pipes pickpocket a peck of prickly Penguins": I absolutely love the headline! Games like this one definitely reignite the little bit of playoff hope I have left in me. It should be an interesting few weeks that's for sure.
Greg Nccu Student on "Miller leads NCCU to 11th victory": There are a lot of Rumors on Campus about Joanna Miller leaving NCCU next year. Please Coach Robinson, We need to keep this player from gong to another College.
