HBCU Gameday

Howard walks off Morgan State in overtime on a pick-six, Jackson State falls to Bethune-Cookman, and North Carolina Central hangs 31 on Delaware State — MEAC opening weekend blew up every preseason assumption, and the national picture has never been muddier. Why it matters: with November here, there is no clear frontrunner in a single HBCU conference. Jacobi Simmons, Steve (SJG) and Josh open with the top-three debate — Alabama A&M is the consensus No. 1 after the chaos and South Carolina State sits at No. 2. Guest Vaughn Wilson still finds a spot for Morgan State at No. 3 even after the Bears blew a 14-point lead to Howard, Josh takes "the field," and Steve goes off-script with North Carolina Central at No. 3 after the Eagles' payback rout in Dover. The MEAC report: Howard's defense carried a quiet offense for three quarters before the Bison stole the game in overtime, 26-20. North Carolina Central's RPO game carved up Delaware State behind a 15-for-18, 155-yard day from its quarterback, and Trei Oliver's young Eagles now get Howard next. In the other opener, South Carolina State beat Norfolk State 22-7. Vaughn joins for Segment 3: three MEAC winners, three different identities — North Carolina Central, South Carolina State and Howard — and who actually looks built to win the league. South Carolina State gets the nod as the most complete team, with a running back injury worth watching. Plus: Bowie State's 16-13 stunner over Johnson C. Smith scrambles the CIAA tiebreakers; the panel pauses for a sobering report from Vaughn on the shooting that marred Florida A&M's homecoming — 11 people struck and no fatalities reported at airtime; and the Brick by Brick Player of the Week goes to North Carolina Central freshman running back Gino Addison, who ran for 214 yards in the win at Delaware State. Lookahead: Howard at North Carolina Central, Delaware State vs. Norfolk State at Lincoln Financial Field, Virginia State at Johnson C. Smith, and the Magic City Classic. Originally streamed live on YouTube on October 26, 2026, as "Upsets Galore And Homecoming Fallout."

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Oh shucks, Jackson State lost to Bethune Cookman, is the swag east slipping away. Morgan State just blew a 14 point lead to Howard. Can the Bears recover? Bowie State, some PTA, the Johnson C Smith. So all I wanna know is who's getting left out of the CIAA picture and which teams are built for November in HBCU football. But I got something better for you. Roll the tape, Steve. They gotta convert here or it's gonna be real tough to win this game. KMS to throw, steps up in the pocket, he'll fling it downfield, gonna be intercepted by the bison, they're coming back the other way. A scorer would win the game at the 40, the 30, the 20, the 10, the five, ball game, all over. The pick six, the Howard University bison put the game on ice on a pick six, has came in, after all kinds of it. Great. That's what you call conference play in the MIAC, baby. And I think everybody's coming to go, I mean, everybody's coming to play. But we had, Jackson State upset, you know, Bowie State upset. Delaware State got Molly walked at home. Trey Oliver got some get their leg back. Trey Oliver got his leg back. And then Howard upset Morgan State, right? And I would have never thought it. So now when we talk about the national picture, right? It is muddier. So now we're gonna get right to it. I'm gonna start with Vaughn since he's our guest today, right? I know he's family, but he's a guest today. Who's your top three, Vaughn? What you got? Start with number three. Start with number three. Are we talking about division one? Yes, division one. Number three, geez. It's nasty, it's nasty out there right now. It's nasty. Got the wheels turning. I don't know who number, I guess I gotta go. Boy, that's not, that's a tough one. I'm sorry, I didn't see that in the script. Because I'm still trying to figure out, I'm trying to absorb all this crap that happened. But I guess we gotta move Morgan down to three. I'll move Morgan down to three. I will keep South Carolina, I'll put South Carolina State at two and I gotta put Alabama A&M at the top. Okay, all right. What you got for me, Josh? Ah, man. Hearing this question in the rundown, man, I was looking, I'm scrambling. I'm like, do I throw a C-I-A-A-A-A-A? A team in Arizona, I don't know. So honestly, honestly, at the three, I got the field. I got the field, I got the field. I don't know, I don't know. I don't know if I wanna go PV, they're starting to look a little bit better but it's like, do I drop Morgan all the way out to three? Do I bring in Jackson State? You know, this had a bad loss. My dog, Jerry, played horrible. I don't know, I'm picking the field. I'm sorry, I'm picking the field at three. And my two, South Carolina State. I mean, I'll get to my row report later. I'll get to my row report later. I know I left them out of the top three last two weeks. I don't, it's just so much inconsistency that I personally not liking from them but they haven't lost the game in the me hack. So I gotta put them at two. And at my one, sad about me and them, like I've been telling y'all for the past two weeks so now, they look like the best team at HBCU football. I keep telling them every single week, if they hold on to that Jackson State win, we have talking about a whole different, it's in a whole different landscape. So that's my top three. The field, South Carolina State, and I'll have been me and them at one. Okay. Steve, what you got for me? All right. So for me, I'm gonna kinda come out out of left field a little bit, but hey, why not? I'm gonna go number three, North Carolina Central. See, I was thinking that too. And we're gonna get into that later. I was thinking that too. Yeah, man. I mean, they came up to Delaware, they was smacking them silly, you know? I mean, what they say? Payback is a dog, dog, it's a dog. Yeah, man, they are. You know, I mean, hey, they wanna know. They wanna know in the me hack, you know? So they got Howard this week. We'll see what's what. I mean, I could've thrown Howard in there, but Howard, you know, their offense was anemic. It was, it put us to sleep the first three quarters. We're not gonna lie. We'll get to that. Three quarters in eight minutes. Yeah. Or six minutes. Yeah, until Isaiah Freeman got in there. We'll talk about that later. Where's he from? Where's he from? From Chester, baby. All the way up north. I'm just saying. I'm just saying for all the people that don't talk about how we don't play football, if you go look at it, he's from the north. And like I told you, my north starts from Virginia on up. So you could say what you want, argue with your mama. Go ahead. And I'll give him my top three. We could get to that later. We're gonna talk to him later. Okay. Howard. Number two, South Carolina State. Not scratch that. No, number two was Alabama A&M. Okay. I mean, I know they've been winning, you know. Number two was Alabama A&M. They did lose to Howard. So they're not spotless in FCS play. And they lost to Jackson State, yeah. So I still, yeah. And number, I got South Carolina State back at one. Like Brian McKnight, they're back at one. I mean, but real quick, just jump in. I understand they lost to Howard week one, but this is not the same Alabama A&M team that we've seen week one. It isn't. The same thing with North Carolina Central. This ain't the same team that lost to Texas Southern. So we can't hold that over their heads for this long. I'm not holding it forever, but they also did lose to Jackson State. And Jackson State is clearly beatable. We're up 10. They were up 10. And Jackson State is clearly beatable. They are. Everybody's beatable. Everybody beatable this year, right? Right. Yeah. So, you know, South Carolina State is disappointing for them to finish the way that they finished in the non-conference play. You know, Coach Berry's not gonna make excuses, but you know, I know, you know, he had some tragedy with the, you know, with the him, and you know, it's just, I think, I think that, you know, nobody's gonna give them an excuse, but I don't know how much you put into that, but they're 1-0 again. He still has not lost a game, and the Miyagi is a perfect 11-0. And, you know, rolling into Baltimore, feeling pretty good about themselves, even though, you know, they probably wanted to put up a couple more points than they did, so yeah. That's, I got North Carolina Central, Alabama A&M, and South Carolina State. Okay, Steve. Okay. I still think that's a tad bit blasphemous, but I'll see. I'll see. We'll see if they earn that and keep it, but I'm gonna go with Morgan State. And I feel like the Morgan State is snake-bitten with Howard. This the second overtime loss in two years, and I just believe it's something on that beltway, or what they call it, the Route 1, or 995 rivalry or whatever it is. It's just something. It's the second time. It didn't look like a rivalry on the sidelines. I ain't even getting into that. We ain't gonna talk about the fans, but that's a whole marketing thing that they gotta do better at, bring people to the game. It was a beautiful day, man. Yes, it was. But I'm gonna keep Morgan at number three. I'm gonna go with... Two losses in a row, they still number three? That's what I'm saying, Coach. That's what I'm saying, Steve. Well, here's the hard part. Who are you gonna put there? You got Central, right? And that's one win after a few bad losses. I got the four. Right? You got Jackson State who just got two bad losses. Yup. Right? And so, who else do you put there? Howard. I'm not putting Howard for playing one quarter of a decent football. Benedict. Not even quarter, nine minutes of good football. Right? In two lane. And then I seen how they give up games before. Kentucky State. Kentucky State at this point. Godly. Right? And so, when you sit there, I could say, but through them cookmen at three. Yeah, that's all I can say. But then they got smoked by Jackson State and they got... They beat Jackson State. No, no, I'm sorry. They got beat by South Carolina State. They got beat by Alabama A&M. And Alabama A&M. That wasn't, they didn't lose the Alabama A&M. They got smoked. Right? He put up a 55-point piece platter. Right? it's really tough and like Josh kind of says the field I'm picking I'm making a decision and I'm standing on it cuz I believe that I saw some good things and I think they can finish out and that they're one of the better teams they just haven't played four quarters a good football and I have to say this hold on I do yo I have to say this I kid you not I'm gonna come back to that cuz I got to do my road warrior report I'm gonna come back to that Morgan State South Carolina State Alabama and that's how I see it right now in the middle um Morgan is we all seen Morgan is beatable and the way that a much improved Norfolk State team hung around just a little bit of South Carolina State just shows me a little wear to the paint so I'm not sure I'm not trying to figure I mean I'm not sure what they're gonna do but I know in that order I feel comfortable with those three teams and that also in my row report coming up I got a little nugget that some people might want to stay around for that's gonna make this game Saturday very interesting so make sure y'all stay tuned it's already interesting cuz I'm gonna give you the nuggets about the game on Friday we definitely gonna get to that but look fella we didn't talked about our top three we're so I got a question so we we know it's hard because we we like we're all sitting here where does North Carolina Central honestly belong after that after that went over Delaware State I'm gonna be honest man I'm gonna be honest Delaware State messed up Friday night they did how did they mess up they gave Trey Oliver and Norcon essential their swag back they did they went to a whole new quarterback mind you the court like I've been telling y'all whenever I went to those games and I seen Nelson Lane play I said guys I don't think the quarterback is the answer for Central they probably need to switch it up they switched it up they had a closer game versus William & Mary had a close game at home versus Campbell I mean what no William & Mary was homecoming they had a close game versus Campbell and they just beat the brakes out of out of Delaware State who DJ was talking spicy at media day you talking spicy I'm gonna tell you this right now you're giving too much credit to Delaware State and you know I love Delaware State but that game you're giving them too much credit I'm gonna come back to that oh trust me I know do y'all really think Benedict is the top division two team they're the best team in the division two I mean with their defense I feel like they have the best defense to match up with Kentucky State I feel like their defense is definitely able to match up with the offense that Kentucky State is able to provide so between them two if I had to pick we have the better defense because the offenses are similar to go for their offline and going to score points then they can run the ball at will Kentucky State is gonna throw the ball through the air and get it on the ground as well the difference in that game if they played I think would be defense the way the Benedict shutdown with Waters the way that the offense is running I gotta get the edge to Benedict for defense because I was just totally shocked with the way that they shut down Erica Dooley's office Dooley is running there with water's office the way that Benedict shut it down it was impressive yeah one it sound like your microphone still got that that homecoming hangover to Mike Mike that sounded good yeah it got started yeah it's not like you got that morning hangover boy no it went down a little bit keep talking that's a little bit but we'll get to it while you work on it a little bit we'll just work on the segments and keep it rolling Steve what did you feel about Benedict are they the top division two team right now I don't know I I don't know yeah I mean it beat Johnson C Smith but hey booty stages be Johnson C Smith yeah right clearance you know so now the Rams could not be Johnson C Smith but seriously I you know I don't know that division two is there is a whole bunch I mean look at right behind I mean Benedict right now still one of three teams that's tied for second place in the SIC at five and one so it's hard to say I mean are they even the best team that's among those three you know I mean it's it's so bunched up I mean the way that Edward Waters beat Kentucky State in their second half and then they used up all that spicy nuggets and didn't have any when they went to Allen I'm sorry Benedict so I don't know I mean Kentucky State you know minus that half has been the most consistent team Virginia State I want to give it to them but you know they haven't played the best schedule yet but I mean you know yeah you know the next two weeks they got a chance to earn it they come out of these next two weeks two and oh well for one they'll be in the CI double-a championship game and for number two you know they will they will have really I mean they would have really separated themselves so I think we still probably won't know how good they are until next week until this week when they go down to Charlotte so but I mean hey I mean the team that can score I think they scored like 120 points and their last two games you know I'm just glad they didn't break 50 against my Rams everybody can't say that so there we go and look I'm gonna sit here and I'm gonna tilt my head on who I think is the best team I don't know can you still see that under there behind me maybe not but I'm thinking Virginia Union is still sitting at number one and that's I mean I would love to see them play they had one bad game which was the first game of the season when they had a lot of replacements of young players so I still think they're sitting at the top you know what I mean so and it said it said a whole lot the way they you know that lost to Bowie for Johnson C Smith in the last few minutes and did they throw a pass did Bowie throw pass the last that last drive yeah score to score they ran it down there most of the game so we don't I mean yeah they're their their their run game is really good at their past game is not great but I mean like I said when they when they beat Winston they ran I think they only threw the ball seven times of course it was the downpour but I mean you know they don't they don't necessarily have to throw the ball to win so yeah so I'm sorry I got distracted by Vaughn's chair I need a chair that hugs me too you hear me better now okay sorry about that I had to go off no problem I was gonna call you to Golden Throat but no ditty diabolical so anyway now we're gonna move over from our top three and we're gonna talk about we were the ones that were at the games we're gonna give the Road Warrior Report this week Vaughn you're still a guest talk to us about the game you were at what you saw you you know fam you this weekend homecoming tell us a little bit about the situation well fam you homecoming obviously was a lot disappointed for coach Quinn Gray you know coach Quinn Gray coming back to your school to coach it's a blessing and a curse because you understand all the traditions you understand the importance of homecoming your rivalry games and all that kind of thing and I I just really felt in my mind that coach Gray is actually putting too much pressure on himself this year I mean everybody understands the situation he walked into and that he's brought to rebuild that program but it was not the team's best performance this weekend and it's just like everything bad that the team does showed up in this game you time bluff was always scary from the beginning of the season they have been a team that takes advantage of every opportunity that they have and I have to give them credit for that coach coach Hampton did a great job of having his guys ready to play you know I didn't realize to after the game with coach and I know coach has been around but I didn't realize his family still lives here at Tallahassee so when I asked him on the interview at a HBCU game day you can see it on HBCU game day the only post game interview he did he's like yeah my family still lives here so I understood the importance of this game and and the magnitude of it so that was kind of an interesting nugget that only us at HBCU game they have but uh other than that I mean it's homecoming I mean millions of millions I got green on the day because all the money came in you know all the groups the cap alpha side crossed the 1.1 million dollar mark and in donations the deltas I mean all of these groups just the donations coming back that's what homecoming really is you know we have all these ancillary events they had an amazing homecoming concert TI Summer Walker, Ghana, I forgot who the other guy, the white guy from Atlanta, you know who I'm talking about? Yeah. Yeah, I'm gonna get his name. But anyway, he's a rapper. He might be mixed, he might not be white. I think my daughter told me he was mixed. But anyway, great homecoming concert, great step show, great alumni parties. Alumni party Friday night. The alumni party, day party on Friday. Keisha Lance Bottoms and David Jolly. David Jolly is the gubernatorial candidate from Florida, and Keisha Lance Bottoms, a family alum, the gubernatorial candidate from Georgia, I mean, and Will Packer, hosted by Will Packer. I mean, star-studded events all weekend. You got the parade, the game goes on, and then obviously the unfortunate incident that happened after the game that we're finding out more about. The area, if you've ever been to FAMU, that area behind the stadium, just like a lot of stadiums, they draw a lot of people that generate income from the game. They're not actually associated with the university. That's not university property. But of course they get as close as they can to university property. Operating late, and unfortunately, today they arrested a 15-year-old for open fire in that crowd of 50. It hurt my heart to see him arraigned today. It's just like, where do we fail as a society? Where do we, I mean, they can blame it on him all they want, but to me, I just, it hurt my heart to say, where do we fail this young man and show him no hope? So that's the old man and me. But unfortunately, 11 people were hit by bullets and a 12th lady fell running. Fortunately, no fatalities at this time. Six or seven have been released from the hospital. And we're just praying that all the rest of the people are spared from that unfortunate incident. Yeah, I appreciate you for just kind of giving us that, being on the ground and everything like that. I know, like you said, homecoming is just, I mean, even at a smaller homecoming, like Winston-Salem State, our homecoming is not probably anything like you guys' homecoming, but I was there last year with all of the violence that we saw at different places. And I was like, man, there's so many people here. And there's, I mean, there's only, yeah, if you going into the game, you're getting checked to see what you have on you. But other than that, you're really just kind of like praying and hoping that people are, at least have that, you know, you know people are carrying stuff. Unfortunately, especially these places in the South, you know they're carrying stuff and you just hope that there's not some type of a powder keg situation that blows up because then, whether or not it happens on camping or anything, it's going to be associated with the event. Absolutely. You know, and so it's, you know, I mean, even last year, I just remember I was walking back to my car later because they kind of had a, you know, but anyway, I was walking back to my car and there was a situation where a young lady was passing and a young man, I'll call him that, you know, he tried to approach her and she, you know, brushed him off, you know, and he just kind of acted like, you know, you just felt like something might jump off there and it's like anything that simple and with the crowds that, you know, we're dealing with at HBCUs is always going to be, you know, something that people are going, you know, the people that plan these things have to plan for and, you know, most people don't really think too much about it unless a situation like this happens. I think I said in the chat, you know, last year it seemed like we were doing a report every week about something like this. And so literally the week before I had just said, man, I'm glad we haven't had to do one of these. And so, you know, hopefully, you know, it's, you know, you get that many people around there, it's unfortunately something that happens. And Steven, just like you were alluding to, Homecoming is Black Excellence. All of the people who have done well at one of the, at the convocation on Friday, a family alum who's donated, I mean, this dude paid $500 for the band's uniforms that they wear now. He's donated over. Dude dropped two million at convocation. Convocation speaker was this CEO. He dropped another million. I'm just talking about great, just great atmosphere. And it's all kind of, it gets pushed way to the back. And it wasn't until I went back and looking at the videos and things we did at a concert and these alumni parties, y'all gonna see, the day party and all of that. It's just greatness. It's the greatness that we are as HBCUs, the absolute greatness. People go off, graduate and come back. So I'm gonna get off of that. But yeah, that's- But that happens too. Oh, I'm sorry, Vaughn. Go ahead, go ahead. I was gonna say that happens to a lot of our events that we consider, like when you talk about the Greek picnic or that Philly Greek, Atlanta Greek, all the Homecomings, because it is so much fun. People who haven't been to the universities or just in proximity wanna be a part. You know what I mean? And sometimes by them not understanding the customs or understanding, being Greek, party walking in this cats does not from or understand what's going on. A fight starts. I ain't getting out the way and all that other stuff. And I'm not blaming anyone, it's just what can happen when you have all those things. And sometimes people who don't understand the traditions, the culture, or when you just have so many people and it's promoted as just a good time without all the other things related to it. Yeah, absolutely, man. You couldn't have said it any better. It's just unfortunate. I mean, because none of the other events I went to, it was like all alumni. I mean, these people with 401ks or might be retired already and comfortable in who they are, they're not gonna start no trouble. They don't want no trouble. We actually plan it to not be around any trouble. So unfortunately, the big events draw an element who is not aware of the big picture. They're just aware of the moment that's in front of them and that emotion, that knee jerk emotion. And it puts a damper on all of the good things. When you talk about all these grads and all of the things, Tiffany Green. I mean, I could just go on and on about the great grads that came home. So we're praying for all of those victims as we always do. The mood around town though, seriously, once it came out that it was a 15-year-old, the mood around the whole town is everybody's like, how did we let this young man fall through the cracks to that? All of the responsible people, of course you got people pointing the finger, but for us people who would with any sense of compassion is like, how did this young man fall to the cracks to that, to be able to make that decision at that time? It's sad, that's heavy, man. Look, I'm gonna try to brighten it up. Yeah, please do. We're gonna try to get, you get everything going because we're gonna talk about them bulldogs down in South Carolina State with Josh. You know the South Carolina State beat Norfolk. Tell us a little bit about the game, Josh, and what stood out most to you. Yeah, so before we get into the game, it was actually homecoming out there at South Carolina State as well. And it was my first time ever going to a South Carolina State homecoming, definitely wanted to feel the vibe and Lord have mercy, Vaughn. I know we talked a couple of weeks ago about the distractions out in the family, you, Lord have mercy, they got some- People that sleep on South Carolina- Hey, they got some distractions out there. I'm not a South Carolina guy by any stretch of imagination, but in that regard, yes. Boy, they got some beautiful distractions out there in South Carolina State. And it was my first time like actually like driving around cause I tried to attend the parade a little bit. I did not know that classroom was literally right across the street. I did not know that. It's a brick wall to separate them. I literally did not know that. It wasn't because every time I go to South Carolina State, I go to the same place every time cause you got to go to the hotel and then the hotel takes you right to the stadium. You don't have to go around the other side. I never knew that. So yeah, the vibe out there was a good little vibe, good turnout, good little crowd. A lot more Norfolk people out there. Now, were they Vic people or Norfolk people? I don't know. But all in all, it was a great crowd. Real good police security presence, especially, you know, I was talking about the thing that happened this past weekend. You know, people recall last year with the South Carolina incident with the young ladies, unfortunately passing away out there. It was a very good police presence out there and security out there for sure. Shout out to my guy Guwop. Guwop images out there at South Carolina State. He showed me around at the home, come out the tailgate at the yard and stuff like that. Very nice area. Everything was sectioned out perfectly. There was, I didn't, if there was a time where I didn't see police or security out there, I'll be lying to you. It was very much protected, very well organized. And yeah, it was a good time. It was a definitely good time. Have fun, definitely have fun. And let's get into the game report. My game report for this week, my one sentence for this week to describe this report. The school board doesn't tell the whole story. It doesn't. Coming. to this game, I have been saying for the past couple of weeks, Ah, sock on a state that they're good, but it's just some things missing. They had coming off two back to back losses. And they just had a bite week. So I'm thinking, are they gonna come out slow? They're gonna come out fast? How's they gonna go? They came out pretty hot. Cannot lie came out pretty hot. But uh, you know, else came out pretty hot. Norfolk State defense, first drive of the game, they got to stop for down about to kick a field goal. What I'm trying to get the field goal, they have a just just an idiotic offsize penalty, idiotic offsize penalty. It was fourth and 10. The five yards made it fourth and four. Well fourth and nine, then they made it fourth and four. Sock on a state goes for it. I'm like, Oh, wow, they're gonna go for this. They run it, Mason pick eggs, runs for a touchdown. Literally, like you like it was like, wow, like you get that's crazy. They're gonna score the touchdown. Norfolk State's offense. I'm being honest, it looks improved. It doesn't look as bad as it did last year. Um, Steve said he's been out there to a couple of Norfolk State games. Michael Vick looks a lot more involved. This is my first time seeing Vick this season after seeing him three times last season. He looks a lot more involved on the sidelines very much into interacting with the huddles on the offensive side, the defensive side a little bit. And like he's very, very into it. I don't is, um, Steve, what quarterback started whenever you was there? It was a number two and number six. Bailey started the first game and then he started. I think he's been in and he started. I think he might have started against Hampton, but I can't recall now. I think yeah, I think Del Jay was the starter there too. Yeah. Yeah, he's been mixing him in. Yeah. Number six was he was talking to him a lot on the sidelines, making sure that he was understanding a lot of things. And the difference in his game was the turnovers. Because Norfolk State's defense only held Suck on the state to 13 points. They had more field goals than touchdowns. They had three field goals and two touchdowns and one of the extra points got blocked. So they really only scored 13 offensive points. Seriously. And two of those touchdowns, one of them came from a, again, idiotic turnover in the red zone. Norfolk State is marching on the field. It's zero for zero 13. They're marching on the field. Norfolk State gets it to the end zone, throws an idiotic interception. Kid returns it back 60 yards. They're at the 25 yard line now. Mason Pickett hates runs in there for another touchdown. So now it's 19. Now it's 19. No, now it's 20 zero. And it's like, wow, you know, this game definitely could have been a lot more closer, but the turnovers cost them. And then once again, Norfolk State gets a punt return in the second half. The defense comes out, gets a stop. They come out and get another stop. The offense was Suck on the state. It was a little stagnant. And I'm gonna tell you what made the offense stagnant. I was telling you Kobe earlier, but it was a little nugget. Mason Pickett Hicks has been looking like the maniac player of the year. He went down with an injury right before halftime. Now, not gonna say what the injury was. Coach Barry didn't say that he had a report out of the game. But from my report, from what I seen on the field, after halftime, he was on crutches and they had a walk and boo set out for him. He couldn't put no weight on that foot at all. So I don't know if he's going to play Saturday or not. And that's a big, big nugget because the running game didn't look good in the second half at all. The second half offense was stagnant. Norfolk State outran Suck on the state and coming into this game, you wouldn't have guessed that at all. You wouldn't have guessed it. Norfolk State. Who believes that? Norfolk State has 170 yards rushing and Suck on the state will have like 120 Mason Pickett hits at like 54 yards rushing for two touchdowns. And like I just told you guys, the two touchdowns came on the fourth and 15 and a second and 12. I mean, it was like a 15 yard run. There wasn't no big explosion runs. Norfolk State did a lot good on the ground game. The difference was the turnovers. They kept turning the ball over in the biggest moments and gave Suck on the state amazing field position to where they couldn't punch it into the end zone. The only way out they got seven points was on a punt return. That's the only touchdown they scored. Now, like I said, the scoreboards tells the story because if certain things go the other way, we're talking about, hey man, Norfolk State, their defense did pretty solid versus the Suck on the state offense. And like I said, with Morgan, I mean, with Suck on the state going off the Morgan this weekend, even though Morgan hasn't looked as well, with Mason out the lineup, they're relying on that run game. That's a huge, that's a big factor in the game Saturday. So that was my biggest takeaway of the game. The scoreboard doesn't tell the whole story. And like I said, I like Suck on the state, but it's something missing and something stagnant within the office. Like Keely had 215 yards, but he was like 21 for like 40 passing, you know, and he didn't even have a touchdown passing. So I don't know what's going on with the with the office consistency. I'm not going to say the office is bad, but the consistency of the offense, especially in the second half, it doesn't look like they're able to put drives together. I know some people may be like, oh, they probably turned it down. They probably just know they were still airing the ball out in the third and fourth quarter, trying to get throws down the field. They couldn't. They could. They weren't connecting down the field. They had to keep selling for screen passes and little slant routes and out routes and curl routes. They couldn't connect down the field. Norfolk State played pretty well defensively. They just couldn't score in the red zone. What do they need to correct? What do they need to correct? Turn the ball over in the biggest moments. Like I said, they had, um, they marched all the way down the field. They got some good receivers on the outside. My God. Brevin Caldwell had a great game. He had an amazing game. Um, they actually had a touchdown call back for Holden. It was a 40 yard running touchdown call back for Holden. So that could have been 14 20. I mean 14 21. It could have been a 14 19 game. That changes a lot. What stood out the most about South Carolina State? What stood out? Looking there. Yeah, the most that stood out to suck on a state. I will say how they're able, how their defense is able to bend but not break because like I stated, Norfolk State was able to move the ball. But whenever it came to the red zone and getting into the red area and whenever they get past the 50, they weren't able to continue to put drives together and put points on the board and even get a field goal. You know, like I just said, we don't have the capacity. They continuously kept turning the ball over. So and then, like I said, they messed up with field position because they had the interception in the red zone that South Carolina State ran all the way back to their own 30 yard line. Then they had a fumble at like the 30 yard line and their own 30 yard line to gave South Carolina State the ball again. But South Carolina State only got three points out of that. So like I said, man, the defense, if you ask Michael Vick right now to this day, hey, how do you think the defense play? I think they did their job. They did what they were supposed to do. The officers didn't come to play. Wow. That's it. That's well, um, yeah. Now, I'm gonna flip this because I'm gonna get on the other side of that game that's happening on Saturday at the link and talk about Delaware State, North Carolina Central. Because Lord have mercy. If you watch the game from the field, not just Lord. So this is what this is the interesting thing. I don't you saw run right, run left, then run right, quick pass left, then bust one up the middle. And that's what they did all game for long sustained drives. I felt like the defense, Delaware State's defense was the most off balance. I've seen them all in the last two years. The other thing that stood out is that North Carolina State look more physical. Central. Yeah, that's what I'm yeah. North Carolina Central. Excuse me. Uh, don't don't send me nothing in my inbox. North Carolina Central. Look like the more physical team. North Carolina State got a job opening now. Hey, they do. Okay, they do. They do. Well, listen, I'm gonna tell you. Trey, all of always have a gritty team though. So that doesn't surprise me. But I'm gonna say this difference between last year and this year with Delaware State, even earlier this year, like I am bamboozled. Right? Because they're physicality. Brothers and sisters, I'm having a hard time understanding. Yeah, I don't. Because this did not look like a Delaware State team that I've seen in the last year it doesn't. Right. And I'm normally honest about y'all don't believe me sometimes, but I'm honest about what I tell you. This is not the same team. This team looked like Delaware State when Lee Hall was coach. They brought in three quarterbacks. None of them could really get any motion on offense. Um, they moved the ball a little bit. But they this game, they look out coach the defense definitely look out coach. And I'm gonna tell you something. They got a true freshman that running back that's a stud. Geno Addison, whoo, boy, that name. I'm gonna tell you that remember that, that remember his name. They probably want you to stop saying his name at this point. Right. Exactly. The transfer portal and NIL error. They don't want his name out there. You know, that boy, man, special might be mad at me a little later. But I'm gonna tell you, the reason I said that I'm gonna go back because Josh, you were talking about the quarterback. He wasn't the difference. Corey Tompkins it has name. Um, they had two was three and 15. Yeah, Corey is the new one. Corey Corey is the transfer. He transferred from Citadel. He's only like a sophomore. They mixed them in. It didn't matter. The coach play calling the coaching kept them all balanced. They were very run. Then every now and then they run the um, I can't even think of the name play action They run that a play action or or what is it called? RPO RPO. Yep Kill him cuz now you don't got him going left you got him going right you hit one in the middle So soon as he's handing it sucks that guy in pause it out quick pass Killing Kobe Kobe Tomkins 15 for 18 hundred fifty-five yards one touchdown and it wasn't even I'm gonna tell you it wasn't a long It was him getting the quick shorts and then oh Five Chance chance Peterson get him on the wing get him a quick one. Now. It's a 15 yard pass 15 yards, that's how they were eating up the eating it up then every now and then they take a shot deep Like it was they just had him on the hills the whole game And I and like I said, it was a quiet del state team I had never seen I shouldn't say I never I haven't seen that in the last two years You could talk about William and Mary you could talk about Albany not Albany First game of the season stony brook stony brook. We could talk about Towson Booey all of that They were quiet on the sideline. I had never I hadn't seen that in two years man And so when people talk about the team is increasingly going backwards did right now So I don't know what's happening or what's going on Coach didn't show up for the me act media call You know, so I don't know what that's surprising. That's the prize cuz he had a lot He had a lot spiciness to say at me act media day He said he walked in the central strap and took it over and coach Oliver knew what it was And it seemed like coach Oliver remember that Coach I know I'm gonna tell you this coach probably watching this show on replay at some time to look for some nuggets Jordan yeah, he probably He take anything and you know, he's petty he gonna hold on to it. Oh, yeah, put it in a ball He ain't gonna forget it and he gonna plan his tail off to get you back. He always gonna want his leg back I don't care what nobody say that man could take a loss He gonna put something on you and he could take it too, but he gonna hold it He gonna put it in a little box sit it in the freezer until it's just enough time to thaw it out Cuz I know he waiting to get Howard next week For sure waiting to get Howard next week cuz you remember it in this and I Really don't think he like Larry Scott either, but that's a whole whole nother thing going because if you remember Kobe, um The last time Howard played at Central was that Thursday night prom time? Oh, yeah, all happened that big What the easy What What is going on Rashad McCants, we are Rashad McCants trying to join in so but hold up I want to go back. I'm gonna find a clip because didn't I tell y'all Coach Oliver which coaches to players up and it was just the beginning with all those young players I said don't count them out sure they was bad. We kept saying that they this is the worst team I self care. I mean, North Carolina's surgery team. I ever I said, trust me. I never caught I'm gonna say this and y'all know coach Oliver can sometimes say stuff to you do stuff But I'm gonna tell you this he's a good and excuse my language for all those people out there. He's a good goddamn coach Yeah, he's a great. What I question I was in If you remember the celebration bow today won against Jackson. Mm-hmm I was in the tunnel coming out with North Carolina Central and Trey was sitting there They had him waiting for an extra little bit of time in a tunnel before they would let him out And I could see that he was irritated by it and he used it and I guarantee you he used that with the team They don't respect us and we got to get out here and show him how to respect us That's the kind of coach he is he takes it in terms of in the motivation for his team Which is why North Carolina Central came out hot and won that celebration ball I'm telling you that was one of the things he did for sure was used. He used what's there? I told y'all I never I never fully doubted. I said I doubt at the quarterback play I didn't like the quarterback playing the I'm gonna tell you he found that daggone offensive coordinator And put that that QB in it cuz he to me he doesn't look like the best QB in the beginning They want the ball some things together But I'm gonna tell you that the OC the OC put it together He put a plan together and they wore Dell stayed out Jack. I was I was Listen, I watched the game. I couldn't even get the hope my battery My car died on in a minute end of the game couldn't record no more and and and and Listen, they ain't do nothing No, it was bad man, I was that was a del stay team. I had never seen before This is your combination. They could just keep running the ball and you know that they're running the ball You knew that they were Delaware State knew that they didn't know where they was running the ball Cuz they will run it to the outside right run it to the outside left then a gacha in the middle It was 20 20 and 25. I got to get 20 or 22. I got to get his name, too But so I ain't gonna sit here on this too long cuz now they might not let me back in this in the game But I'm gonna tell you cuz I love Del State you hold up y'all know how much I talk about Only keep me with you about what I saw and I'm not going to sugarcoat it And I'm gonna move on from this anybody got any questions. You want to ask me about Del State or Central right now I do I have a question about Do you think? Now with the conference opener the winner of the with a with the loser of the game this coming up week Will they finish last in the Mia? Oh, that's easy. That's easy. They could That's all I'm gonna say Well, you know, I see this is it. So but here's the trend Delaware State is trending backwards for sure They're regressive focus trending up, right? You got to see this game You got to make sure if Delaware State can stop the bleeding right, or if North folks stay hit his peak Right. That's what we got to see Because because Deshaun Jackson got to stop the bleed, you know what I mean? He hasn't found the rhythm of a quarterback or a good cool QB, which I know affects the offense They got good running back. They got skills players. Um Tazado is one of the best rival receivers in the conscience. I don't care what his numbers say whatever I seen him play in different levels of talent. I mean in games and he's cooking Tazado number zero for Delaware State the defensive line Normally is played well in linebacker, you know, so I like that game. Like I said, they were lost I had never seen them not play is that well never Not in the years they've been coaching the defense is normally in the game and you got to worry about this secondary a little Bit but you know, it is what it is You know what I'm saying? So hopefully they get it together because I would love to see a great game I do not want to go to do the link and have to be in it Eagle State He's fan. So I don't want to be in Eagle Stadium Watching Delaware State get shell at I don't want to do it I'm doing right now. I think they're going to lose. I think not in St. Luke's if it's a good game I'll enjoy it. But if it's like the game that we said once last week Ain't nobody got time for that What is that's Rashad McCain Steve is our Rashad McCain Script he does off script not don't you ever say that them two words together Just just keep just keep moving. Just keep moving. So now so check this out We're gonna move because because the next day that was Friday the next day I met up with Steve to what what the heck I met up with Steve to What is going on here, I don't know I put him in time out keep talking Jesus Christ anyway Me and Steve met up for the Morgan State game the next day beautiful day outside We had 15 fans And it was Morgan State versus Howard. Wait, I'm beautiful day. Everybody was a brunch. Everybody was a brunch 15 and Erica was out there shot at every I'm gonna tell you here come was there if you gotta if they had a fan base of Erica's They'd be the best fan base. They'll be like Jackson State. They'll be better than Jackson State family Steve Get your beard out the camera dog Yeah, and then you know now I'm moving on I'm gonna just tell my story There's a little sex appeal for the ladies keep going Hey, they say that they say they like that. They say they like the salt and pepper keep going. Just keep going So hold I got to get my whole thoughts together because I'm trying to figure out what ladies that you talking about We do have we do have a we do have an audience of women I believe that but I'm trying to find out which ones find you sexy. That's the struggle. I'm happy Keep going. Yeah, I'm glad it is. There's some things that God tells me I'm just supposed to be faithful and keep it moving. Anyway, anyway, we're at Morgan State. It is a beautiful day outside and they look, Morgan State looked like they were in control of the game for three quarters and what, six minutes, literally. It was six, six and a half, but Morgan State literally blew a bunch of opportunities. I think they even missed a field goal once. I could be wrong or something, but they missed a lot of opportunities. They had Howard under control. Jason Scroggins gets hurt. They put in another QB. Still nothing happening. It's nine minutes. So in the third quarter, they scored twice. Like KMS drives it down the field, throws two passes, touchdowns. They could have had more. Morgan State could have put it on more points. And then all of a sudden, I hear the Rocky music playing. That's what it felt like. Isaiah Freeman goes in the game. He was warming up. I'm like, they got him warming up. He must be going to, you know how you see it happening on the sideline, but you don't think, you think he been sitting on the bench so long, he just warming up to be warming up. So number, I believe it's 12, almost throws an interception. It's nine minutes left in the game. They stop him, then Isaiah comes in, drives him down, score. Now it's 20 to 12, 13, they scored extra point. It's 2013. Now, this is what happened. Morgan State gets the ball, they get stopped. They punt the ball. And when they punt the ball, they call it interfering with the return. Now, Steve, me and Steve disagree on that. I thought it was a BS call because the returner ran towards the player. He tried to get out of the way and he caused a late fair catch. Steve said it wasn't that bad. I thought it was egregious, right? Because he called it late. You know one of these, that's how he called a fair catch. Guy runs past him, he didn't hit him or nothing. He runs past him. Said it was interfering, 15 yard penalty. Now they're inside. It's a new rule now that you don't have, you can be as close as you want. There's no bubble space that you have now. That's the new rule this year. That really shouldn't be bad. So then that made the call even bogus. So then, they get 15 yards. He drives again. This time he throws a little, he throws the ball to, I can't even think of his name, 24. Now all of a sudden, everything is crazy, right? They go from comfortable in the league to now they can't get nothing going. They get the ball back, they punt again. Isaiah got the ball driving, they stop. Time runs out. It was a little funny business. He gets tackled, he scrambles, gets tackled. It's about five seconds left. They lay on him, you know, keeping from getting up. You're just smart, you're smart. And the time runs out. It was bad. It was bad cause on both sides, you know. Right, it was smart. Time runs out. I didn't, well, I didn't, well, me personally, I mean, nobody's gonna talk about it because they won the game. I didn't like that play. Like, I didn't like you trying to run it and you, yeah, you don't have any more time outs. Like for me, I think they had 11 seconds left. That's enough time, you know, that's enough time for them to at least try to throw, get back and throw the ball. I mean, don't take a sack, but you know, if it's incomplete, then fine. But if you get the first, it's gonna stop anyway. So I didn't, I didn't like that trying to run. I just didn't, I just didn't. But I think nobody's gonna remember that now. Yeah, I think that's been the problem with Freeman sometimes. Hero ball in the situations playing like that. But, you know, then Morgan State gets the ball first. They get a penalty. And this is, this is something I'm gonna say this, I'm gonna come back at the end. But you're gonna remember this, this number seven on Howard's defense. That brother, I mean, Gabe Stevens, if he continues to play like he's been playing, cause he's a dog. Every game I seen him and he's causing problems. Number seven, I'm gonna say he's gonna be all on the act defense at linebacker. Him and another guy make a sack. Now they're at fourth and 19. They go forward to win the game. Offensive line, pass protection breaks down. He scrambles to the right, throws a wild Aaron ball. They got to convert here. And it's great. Gonna be real tough to win this game. KMS to throw, steps up in the pocket. He'll bring it down field. Gonna be intercepted by the Bison. They're coming back the other way. A score would win the game. We would never expect this to happen. The 20, the 10, the five ball game. All over. Pick six, it's him. The Howard University Bison put the game on ice. On a pick six. Has Kevin Edge. Under all kinds of. Oh, pick six. The funniest part, the funniest part is the announcer. Oh, no. Oh, no. That's the funniest part. Because they knew what they knew it was over. They knew, oh, no. They knew it was over. And like, I'm not, when I was looking at it, I was like, are they gone for it? They're gone for it. But I truly believe that their defense had the possibility to stop their offense. To stop Howard's offense. Even though they didn't, I knew they had the capability. And coach trying to win the game. Nobody in their right mind thought that would happen. And thought that would happen that way. You know what I mean? So. You let a team hang around. I mean, if they would have did what they had to do, hell, in the first quarter, they probably could have put it out of reach. I don't know that Howard had it. I mean, I don't know that they would have scored. I don't know that they would have scored. They could have scored 30 in regulation. But they had one, what was it? It was a drop pass on third down. That killed them, too. One of the drives. Killed one of the drives. You know, so I'm going to just tell you, man. Morgan State still got people going to have to beat them. Now, I'm going to tell you that. People are definitely going to have to beat them. They're going to have to come to play. There's not going to be an easy win. I don't care what team they're going to play. And so they got to be ready to play. And I'm going to tell you this. Howard's defense can ball, man. But they got to play four quarters. People like Jason Scroggins. I don't like Scroggins that much. Because he's hit or miss. It's like he's bipolar, right? One game, he could throw. He's going to throw you great passes. He's going to throw the beautiful deep ball. And then the other parts of the game, he's going to give you the Donovan McNabs. You know, the dirt balls. Dirt balls. So I ain't hating, because his consistency, you never know what you're going to get when you go into a game. You know what I mean? They should have beat U Penn. He fell apart in that game. They could have beat Richmond, but I started playing late. You know who he reminds me of? And people aren't going to say this. Quentin Williams. If you think about Howard's quarterback, Quentin Williams. And I love Quentin, but he's playing half the game. He were number one, right? He were number one, right? Yeah, he literally was good for half a game, every game. So he either played good in the first half, or he played good in the second half. Lord have mercy. So that's how I feel. I'm not going to beat your ears up, because you know I can talk forever about my boys up north. You know what I'm saying? But that's how I'm going to end it tonight. I know one team from up north that didn't win. Who you talking about, Lincoln? Yeah. Happy homecoming, Lincoln. Well, you needed that. You know what? You needed that win more than they needed that win. Not wrong. That is very true. We're going to take everyone we can get. You need to, because it ain't going to be a whole lot more. We putting the wins back in Winston. Line them up. Line them up. Yeah, we coming to East City this week. We're going to finish out 4 and 0, watch. Jesus Christ. 4 and 0? Yo, listen, I'm not even. Yo, so anyway. In two weeks, Steve. Yeah, we're going to beat them too. Steve, yo, Josh, Josh. You know what those things are called, he talking about? Delusions of grandeur. He's having delusions of grandeur. It's all good. It's all fine. Let them have fun. That's the one thing I love about Winston fans. They put themselves so high on that cuddle stool. Because why would we not? Because I want to be nice. They fall so high. Hold up. Now look, Josh, hold up Josh. You can only fall so far when you have when you six inches off the ground. Josh, Josh. We say hi, baby. Listen. Listen to me for a second, Josh. Now, you know I've been cool about my rundown, and I've been laid back. We not letting this conversation just brag on my rundown. Listen, I understand there was one team in the North that did not win. So let's go. Three winners this weekend. Look at that. Three winners, three different identities. North Carolina Central, South Carolina State, and Howard won. Which team do you think looks more prepared to win the MEAC? Looks more prepared to win the MEAC? I would say South Carolina State. I feel like they are the most complete team in the conference. And whenever they are able to find the consistency in the offense, now that Mason Pickett. I keep saying his name wrong. The Mason injury definitely does concern me for how long he's going to be out and how many games. That definitely does concern me because whenever Shaw came in at running back, the backup running back, it didn't look good at all. So I don't know how that's going to go and how long he's going to be out. And that brings me to concern. But outside of that, Central, like I said, I know they look a little bit better. The defense is very young. So they probably can contend. I think this week will really tell us how Central is. But then Howard, Howard to Morgan is like Grandma State to Jackson State. It's just their boogie, man. They always catch him every year. I would agree. I'm going to surprise you with who I think looked, and we're just talking about this weekend, who look more prepared to win than me at Central. I'm telling you, they look good. Central look prepared. And they're starting true freshmen. They got a safety or a cornerback that caught an interception in that game. Two of them, didn't he? I'm not sure. I know definitely one because I got that on camera. Well, one thing Trey Oliver does is develop talent. He can develop players out of high school probably better than any other coach we have out there right now in HBCU's fair. He depends on high school players, and he develops them. The problem now is keeping them once they get up. But he doesn't have quite as much turnover as a lot of schools, but he is great at developing high school talent. And with him developing high school talent, just me being tied into the high school scene out here in North Carolina football, because I cover a lot of it, he has two of the top five safeties committed to Central in North Carolina, and second best running back in the state of North Carolina committed to North Carolina Central currently right now. So he's going to recruit. He's going to recruit. He does a great job of recruiting. And then he develops very, very well as well. Yeah, they look like they're going to beat some people. And honestly, because Coach Tennis Berry talked about a little bit as well in the post-game press conference, the charts of Southern and the Citadel lost were two bad losses. But the losses that matter most now are in conference, because all it takes is one game. You get caught slipping and tiptoeing one week, you look like a whole different team. So the out-of-conference losses look bad for Central. The Elizabeth City game looked bad. They weren't able to score in the second half. The Woes versus going to Webb. But it doesn't matter until the MIAC play comes. And whenever MIAC play comes, Coach Oliver's shown, you're in and you're out. No matter how good you think, how bad we're going to be, we're going to come and play. You're going to have to play us in four quarters. Well, I mean, I would say the last couple of years, you're always thinking that they're going to be. I mean, they've been picked to be number one. And a lot of them, I mean, I think not after last year. But so it would be interesting. Their thing was, every year, they would find a way to lose one game now, the one year. The one year that they did play Jackson State in the celebration bowl that year, they lost to South Carolina State. But they got lucky because South Carolina State just coughed up their lunch. But wouldn't it be interesting that the year that nobody, everybody finally says that they're done for a stick of pork in them. And they win it. We'll see. I'm not saying it's going to happen. But I mean, it's crazy things have happened. And also, Steve, that year, they were supposed to win. They went up to Howard and lost. And they had that co-championship with Howard. Yeah. Who also told you they weren't big enough up front against Howard. But I'm going to leave that go. But all right, we're going to move on for a second. So do you think Morgan State is still a serious contender? No. OK. I feel like they're not because of the run game. I feel like them not being able to stop the run is very, very, very concerning. Very good. Delaware State? No. I said, Morgan State. You don't think Morgan State? I know. They didn't have a lot of running yards against Howard. I know. But what I'm saying, from the defensive side of the ball, for them to let them come back like that in the four quarter is disgusting. You shouldn't see that. That should happen. I'm going to say that, honestly, Morgan State, yeah, you're disappointed at this. But again, you can lose one game in the MIAC and still not be mathematically eliminated. Sometimes it matters who it is, because I feel like this is a year where everybody might get got. And so if everybody loses one game, or if, you know, then it might depend on who you lost to. You probably won a team that's going to mess around and win and lose that second game. So if there's anybody in the MIAC that you want to lose to, for me right now, you would want to lose to Howard, because my thing is, look, if y'all are tied, I mean, no, I'm sorry. If you come, if both of y'all have the same record and they beat you, then they're going to get the tie record, right? But if they drop their second game, if they drop their second game, and it's between the two of y'all, you're going to get it. So I would rather lose to Howard, and then there's a good chance that Howard's going to lose two games in the MIAC. Versus if you lose the South Carolina State, they haven't lost a lot of games in the MIAC. So I wouldn't, the odds are not going to be as good that they're going to lose two. Because if you lose to somebody, you need them to lose two. Yeah. Otherwise, you're not going. And I'll also say that because it looked, I'll also say that because it looked disgusting versus Tennessee State as well. That's also pointed out. Yeah, I mean, a lot of people, hey, people was trying to, people was trying to settle us on the fact that Howard, that I'm sorry, Morgan State's offense was better. And it looked better for Howard. I think the offense looks a lot better, but the defense, I think they, it's like they sold themselves out to have a good offense before the defense to come back down. It's so crazy. So before that, part of the thing is three things happen when we talk about that game, too. Like the offensive players and a few defensive players were hurt, you know what I mean? So when they go in there, their offensive line isn't where it's supposed to be, and their defensive line isn't completely where it's supposed to be in that game. Now, I'm not making the excuses for the loss, but how things look and what we're talking about, that was a big reason. Their offense is a lot better, but their offense missed some things. Like I told you, that third down pass, that was missed. And it was a couple of scores that were missed early in the game. They could have put the game away. I think they could have had two more touchdowns. If F's and butts were candy and nuts, we'd all go. No, I agree with you, but we're talking about my candy. Because I still think that with the explosive offense, I still think they can give South Carolina state trouble. But is it explosive? It can be. It can be. It can be. Last two weeks, they've averaged 18 points. I hear that. Versus a bad Tennessee State football team. Yeah, and a Howard M. I mean, you know. So we'll see. Well, I wouldn't say, see like Howard isn't winning. I think they're young and haven't learned how to win all those games yet. That was the first thing. Because if you look at it, except for all the FCS teams that they've played, they've been competitive in those games or found a way to win. And the ones that they've lost, they found a way to lose. Like if you look at Richmond, they found a way to lose. If you look at U Penn, they were winning and found a way to lose. So I don't think Howard is as good as those wins. Make them look against Alabama A&M and Morgan, right? But I don't think they're as bad as people are putting them out to be, too. That's my opinion on that. They got Central this week, so we'll see. Yeah. And if Coach comes in with a game plan like he did against Delaware State, I heard everybody in the maniac better pay attention. I'm telling you, because it wasn't something where the players just looked better, right? It didn't look like the players were just that much better than Delaware State, because the game didn't really get out of hand until you could tell Delaware State was just done by the end of the third quarter, because that's when they put up most of their points, put up two more touchdowns, shut them down. I'm saying, man, if Mason doesn't play Thursday, which I'm suspecting that he's not, I don't know if that run game is that suck. The whole line play is amazing. Honestly, that right now, their whole line moves people. But the explosiveness, the change of direction that Mason has, the- The ability to find the holes to find the small holes and get thrown because the mace is not mace is not a tall big guy He's he's probably like 5 9 max 5 9 5 10 max and he's but he's able to fit into the small hole If he's not there, I don't know if I trust the soccer out of state run game fully You know, but Keeley does a great job of passing the ball though I feel like Keeley does a real good job of passing the ball through the air So I don't know Mason is they can't get the run game going and they can yeah They can attack and they can run a nickel or some sort of yeah, it's not gonna be die defense It's gonna be it is gonna be tough for them to to do what they need to do But I just wanna I'm I know you know, I'm gonna talk about the maniac. I love my spot Yeah, yeah stop being a hater man, so now we gonna move down to the CI double-a We got five teams We got five teams for four spots right, you got Virginia State Virginia Union Johnson C Smith Bowie State Right and Fayetteville State. How did Bowie's went over Johnson C Smith changed the race? I Mean it changed a lot cuz if they went Saturday well, so Bowie, you know the thing about Bowie is they they're out even if they Well, let me say this. No, I guess it's still it's still kind of open. I mean if you're Bowie You cheer now for Virginia State. Thank you. Because they beat you you cheer for them to be Smith Smith. No, no, wait a minute. Wait a minute. You cheer for them to be You cheer for them to be no you cheer for Virginia you cheer for Smith to beat you. Yeah. No, no, no, you know because you know, so you got the upper hand on Johnson C Smith beat them and Virginia State has the upper hand on you because they beat you you right So you want Johnson C Smith to win? You want the Virginia State to get their first loss and then I guess you probably want I guess both of those teams beat Both of those teams beat You Bowie both of those things beat Bowie. So, you know Bowie I guess do they still have a chance to get in the championship game if they win out they need help They need help. They need a lot of help This weekend settles a lot of it Bowie plays It could be chaos Right, and it can be because say this say this the two the first two games may be easy to figure out That's second that Friday game Can be tricky because if Johnson C Smith loses to um, if Johnson C Smith loses the Virginia State Yeah, boy might be stuck in that third fourth game No matter what happens if they lose the favor or not, but nobody saw them come in into that game Anyway, you know, I mean and we saw I mean I think every year to see every year in the CI double-a the last couple years There's been this one game pretty much has been like Whoa, nobody saw that one coming and it changes the race like two years ago When Johnson C Smith lost to Fayetteville and then they turn around and lost to their real rivals the baby stone Yeah, yeah those two that their rivals that peas in the pie But you know, so so yeah, and so and then what to the year before that Virginia State was rolling and here they come losing to Elizabeth City State so every year in the CI double-a you think you got the teams that's out in the front and then Around this and we talked about it on the D2 show We try to find if there's gonna be one and you say no, I don't think so and then here it comes So right now Virginia State they got I mean so much has arrived on them They played they played Johnson C Smith this week and then they got view you if they went out there in if they split They might only have one loss and still be sitting Outside and sit and still be sick and still be locked in the third. Yeah, so here's the thing That's interesting this weekend settles a lot Right or could settle a lot, right? Virginia Union wins against Lincoln there in a championship game no matter what happens Cuz they only have one conference loss if they lose the Virginia State. Oh Yeah, we know that buddy system now. Yeah, they'll let us you beat them. All right Thank you, so they'll keep it in the end in the state, but now I'm Kidding. I'm kidding. I know I know so so we know that right then you had fair bill and buoy Right. Yeah, Virginia State and Johnson C Smith. There you go Four out of the five four out of the top five teams are in head-to-head match ups Virginia Virginia Union is it in and we I'm gonna win and we in that's what we looking at Right now because we know this if Johnson C Smith beats Virginia State now the waters is super muddy If Bowie loses the Fairville Right, that's probably it for them more than likely. Yeah, who did they play the last game of the season? Elizabeth City, I think I just had this It's Lincoln is Lincoln, okay And who does who does a They've been playing Winston Winston for homecoming for Winston's homecoming and that's we Important because they should probably both teams should be BTA to the last game. Exactly Right, so so look at that the the last game the biggest game of the last what Virginia's Virginia, I mean, just to see Smith place who last game Oh Okay living stone VU you at Virginia State, right Johnson C Smith has to win this weekend. Yeah. Yeah, I Don't we has to win this weekend. I don't see Parker at Virginia Union giving a darn who he played He don't care if it's Virginia. He gonna try to win out and who take whoever come they don't care about that Virginia thing I'm It's a conspiracy theory Beat that one game and they smack them around the next game So listen Virginia State has to win one of these last two games They really need to win both both really truth. Yeah, but if they win one of them to end the player I mean in a championship game Not technically no not technically because if they lose Saturday to Smith and then in beat union union is still in Depending on viewing wins the versus Lincoln because it'll be union. Well, I know that we said that Yeah, I'm a third place third and fourth place. Yeah, but not set not they have to win this weekend Right, they have to win this weekend if they want to stay if they want to stay in the state in the relationship game Mm-hmm Johnson C. Smith is playing fighting for their life. Now. They're both fighting for their life. They both. Yeah, for sure If they lose they're not in the championship game and they may not be in the third place game They would be in the third place game because they beat They probably they might play buoy again. They might that might have to beat Livingstone. Yeah Right. So now it both of those games are gonna mean something But that last game is gonna have more meaning if they lose and livingstone ain't bad this year But we have to win out no matter what for sure and guess and get a lot of help Yeah, but we talking about this is chaotic boy Whoa Down there in the south Whoa. Yeah Lord have definitely that definitely is something else. So real quick Swack race Josh talk to me. Jackson State lost who has the advantage with Jackson State losing It really gives the advantage to Alabama a and him it does cuz like now they're in the driver's seat I don't know. They just got a win. They just got a win. They control their destiny. So it's like Jackson State is Banking on a prayer. I mean they still got to go to eat a dinner in a dinner You see how they slipped up and got some people too. So Rough for them right now. Yeah. Hey, don't fall. Y'all y'all think you slid on for screaming. I get them Jackson So, so what you telling me Alabama a and m is the team to beat in the East for sure Oh, yeah, so who's the team to beat in the West? I mean Pb gremlin, oh, I mean the field They're still in it like the whole West is wide open it's Crazy like it's wild over there like like for example the magic city closet of this weekend Imagine if Alabama State goes out there and beat Alabama A&M That's gonna cause all cut utter chaos. Yes, that's gonna cause all Utter chaos. I don't even want to think about it So I got some news. Somebody hit me up. Oh Oh So, oh Jc Js Johnson C Smith. Okay lost So if all three three and a step off all three teams Have one loss at the end of the year JCSU was out. Why are you celebrating that? What's the balloons? I didn't do this I don't even know where the balloons So that's that Virginia bias that's that nor bias Virginia's not the north but they got they got common opponents, but also didn't Johnson C Smith did or they played Virginia State this weekend Yeah, but they're common opponents Lincoln Bowie and Lemmy stone, so they lost to a common opponent You know, I mean chaos man. It's a lot of chaos right now. Yeah, so they got to run the table Yeah, I mean I think I'll be meaning them as a team to beat right now If you all of these conferences are causing us to watch all the games cuz yeah, there's no There's no clear front runner in a single conference. Not a single one Nope, but that's what that's to me what makes football fun Exactly I'm like, what's game do I go to? Really? I want to see Howard play Central, but I gotta go check out Delaware State Exactly. That's interesting. I want to go. I want to go to the Howard City game, too But it's like do I go to Jiho or do I go to do I go to Charlotte? Well, my dog Wylie with Smith and you like I mean Smith Virginia State. Yeah, that's all the games are important We at Fayetteville like this this man that's when the best football come out. That's why I love November, baby That's why these last four weeks are beautiful Every game really matters now cuz in the sweat cuz in the sweat it's normally like oh you drop a game It's like okay, you feel bad, but like not like okay. We still in it Everybody is like oh No, you're a little tight right now, yeah, that's my issue, but I know one game I'm gonna go to I think I'm definitely gonna go to Thursday, Virginia Union in Virginia State. Oh, yeah for sure down the Etcher for sure That game no matter how many times I go to it never gets old the trash talking and the physical play for sure It is what makes football fun. And that's when I go to South Carolina. Well, I mean, that's that's like weeks from now That's one week from now. That's like the 21st Okay, but now but then the hard part about that is that's the tight part of the me axis Yep. Now the thing that's going to really be interesting is if Central if Howard beat Central Let's go back to the swag, man So talk to me how but Thun's victory over Jackson State changed the conference Wow, you can go ahead. Well, it it took Jackson State out of the driver's seat first off That doubt now Jackson State me is gonna need a lot of help To Make it out of the East and So, you know out like I say Alabama A&M with their veteran quarterback there. They just continue to roll on It's not flashy, but they're winning, you know I'm saying and they're continuing to win Bethune is the is the wild card because they are a scrappy team You know, they're never out of it they play behind behind the emotions of coach Woody and it's just amazing to see that In some situations you feel they shouldn't even be there But they play behind his emotions and he has the pulse on that team and they scrappy that's the that's the scariest team Sometimes it's not the one that's the the biggest or the most technical but a team that scrappy and they just don't give up That's what that's what got the Jackson State this weekend. They just scrap it So they could cause some trouble down the way and find themselves In that in there running in that East so, you know right now they position themselves really really well Yeah Which are the remaining games that will determine the championship matchups? It's a lot Yeah, it's it's it's still a lot because it's so close. I mean, it's so many scenarios going down Magic City classic just like you said if if Alabama State's able to pull a rabbit out of the hat that really sends everything in the chaos Cuz then you got a really Jackson State still got to go to all corn In the open looking good. So it's like yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's Coming down the wire. It's so tight. Every every game is important Every single game coming down the stretch is important, you know, maybe not FAMU Southern this weekend so much but For the most part all of the teams in that upper air up in that upper section of the East Is very important because that thing could shift man Literally team one through four got a chance of taking that title because just hypothetically real quick Alabama State beats Alabama A&M this weekend Then Jackson State comes out and beats Alabama State the very next weekend Then you got PV floating right there too cuz PV played Jackson and Alabama State last two games of the season And then you got all corn you got Jackson going like it can get so crazy if Alabama State does the impossible Not the impossible, but the unthinkable Saturday it can get whole crazy. It can get wild Well mention speaking of wild, right? So was the SIAC Lord have mercy just as crazy That's why I said all the conferences I was talking about the SIAC as well. It's just like You you got to keep your pulse everywhere, man. Every game Score changes the standings dramatically. So where do Edward Waters Central State and Kentucky State stand? I'm gonna volunteer Edward Waters can say that Edward Waters is at the mercy of Benedict because Benedict keep them head to head So they had the mercy of Benedict, you know, that's what it matters who you lose to yeah It does and that and like Vaughn said earlier. I was I was at that game. I would never Forget the disappointment that I had when I seen Benedict put the belt to Edward Waters office like that So, I mean Edward Waters gonna do I have to do a lot I don't think another 50-piece platter could help me out change the image that I've seen on my own two eyes and Benedict right cuz they scored 60 this week didn't me. Yeah, it just don't seem the same. It don't have the same Like I like I see the real you Like I seen the real you I've seen the real you two weeks ago With the makeup off It's not right and I know y'all know better than that, please stop Please Real quick. I'm gonna put Josh and Vaughn on the spot for your championship picks For as I see. Yeah Who needs to play teams you want me in that you you want to see in that game? Yes, I see. Yeah Go ahead. Go ahead. They played three times last year No, I mean already state and Benedict played three times last year. I think this year as I see you get Edward Waters in Benedict again. That's my pig I was gonna say the same thing like I would love to see that match up cuz it's like Like I told y'all last well two weeks ago on Works y'all Roadrunners. I feel like Edward Waters just had too many turnovers early in the first half that messed them up that like They weren't able to really get into that rhythm that they feel like they could have got into it It was homecoming. It was turned at Benedict. So, you know, if that game is played of Jacksonville And let me say this too I know Brian Jenkins and we talk about how Trey Oliver is able to take things and turn them into motivation Brian Jenkins does the same. He's that same kind of guy and That motivation from that last game will be plastered all over that locker room and and play a big part in practice that week That's another reason. I really want to see that rematch that rematch Would you Gary safety talk to us? Oh, no, I was uh, they want bond noted that we're already rolling it So I'm going to let it, I'm going to let it go. You sure? Yeah. Yeah, because we know Winston-Salem's offense ain't rolling. All right, so Josh, you got to bring us the Brick by Brick Player of the Week. Sponsored by Wiley Pins Brick by Brick. It's a documentary series on YouTube where it highlights Johnson C. Smith, rise from worst to first, and following the team. It is a great Cinderella story. So Josh, give us your pick this week. Yeah, but first off, my condolences to our guy, Wally Pitt, man, and his family with his father, you know, condolences to him and just staying strong with him. So I've been keeping checking on him and praying on him. So everybody, if y'all could just send your condolences out to him, that'd be greatly appreciated. But for the Player of the Week, man, Kobe, you kind of touched on it a little bit earlier, you know. I had two guys that I was battling between two of them, a guy that Kobe seen and a guy that Vaughn seen, you know. I'm like, ah, which one do I go with? Do I go with the guy at Central or the guy at FAMU? You know, both freshmen, both freshmen. I mean, you got Armin Parker, 23 for 37, 300 and 19 y'all for two tuds, but an L on homecoming. And it's like, ah, I want to show love, but I can't because he took the L on homecoming. But that was a great game, Armin. And I got to give it to my guy Geno Addison from North Carolina Central running back. Boy had 31 carries. Like, I heard Kobe, run left, run right, run middle, run left, run right, run right, run outside, run inside. Go over the pal. He was doing everything. Geno Addison, 31 carries, 216 yards, two tuds to lead North Carolina Central to a victory over Delaware State. He is the player of the week. And like I said, Armin Parker, you almost got it. You almost got it. If you just would have pulled out the win, I probably would have gave it to you, but had to go with my guy Geno Addison, man, keep balling. Both of y'all keep balling for real for y'all. Both true freshmen rocking out for y'all's scores, man. Definitely keep balling for sure. All right. I got it. I made an adjustment. We standing on this. And I'm standing on it, so I don't want to hear nothing from nobody else got to say. Okay. Let's stand on it. I'm going to go around and ask a few questions, all right? North Carolina Central made the biggest statement this weekend. Josh, you standing on that? Yes, I am. Vaughn, you standing on that? Yep. Steve, you standing on that? Nah. Okay. Okay. Who do you think made the biggest impact? All right. Well, I hope he enjoys this, but Bowie State? Oh, Clarence, where you at? Clarence? Well, you know, I'll give it to him. You know, he's been delusional. You know, y'all think I'm delusional. This man would say they were going 8 and 2 back to back, you know, but hey, they beat, they beat, they beat Johnson C. Smith. Where's my button? Do you believe that? Who believes that? I need the button for that. Who believes that? Thank you. Because of you. So, yeah, I think, I think, yeah, I think, I think you could say, I mean, you could maybe say Jackson State, but then we could win Jackson State, but I don't, I mean, Jackson State already had a, already had a swag loss where Johnson C. Smith did not have a CIA AA loss. So, yeah, and I don't, and I was like, and I was like, yeah, I'm going to, I was like, yeah, I'm going to, to, to Baltimore and I don't need to go to, to Bowie to see them get smacked on their homecoming, but hey. So, shout out to teams that people don't think they're going to win at their homecoming winning. I like that trend in a couple weeks. Right. I didn't believe it until the, after the halftime of the Howard game. I thought they was lying to me. No, man. But, yeah, so, we'll see. So stand on this. We're going to see. Shucks, I was guessing. Jackson State has the most approved next week. Stand on that, Vaughn. You standing on it? Absolutely. Um, they went down to Bethune Cookman and, and just, they, they just got beat. I mean, it was no trickery, no luck. They got beat. Bethune played a solid game and really was in control of the game, the whole game, to be honest. And every, they ain't even a coach. How about that? Josh, you standing on it? Can I say, can I say this? Can I say something that you just brought something up? There's still those people that were pissed off that Ed Reed is not their coach. Listen, you got an alum and Coach Woody. You ain't never heard nothing about Coach Woody that's not on the field. Lord have mercy. You got an alum. The team is improving. So all y'all, Ed Reed, I love watching him play. A fan of his. But y'all got to let that go. That's in the past. It's not right. And I know y'all know better than that. Please stop. Well, I'm going to keep the jokes coming. So it's like, I love Ed Reed too. But that whole scenario was like that song. The scenario. The scenario. What's the scenario? Bo knows this. The Bo Cam Rap. All right, Josh, you standing on that? No. Who has the biggest thing to prove then? I think Alabama A&M has the biggest thing to prove that they are for real. Who they say they are? Yeah, they are for real. Because, I mean, we've already seen Jackson State lose twice now. Even if they beat Mississippi Valley, I mean, you're supposed to. I mean, we're not expecting that. Now, if Alabama A&M goes and shits the bed to Alabama State, we're going to be like, what's going on? So I feel like they have the chance to really prove like, yes, we are who we say we are. That COVID championship that we won in 2020, we're getting it back this year in blood. So, yeah, they got the most to prove. I hear that. Steve, you standing on that? Jackson State got the most to prove? Yeah, I mean, yeah, I don't know. You got to pick somebody, right? Yeah, Jackson State. Fellas, we're definitely getting to the point of the season where standings are starting to tell us who can play, but the games are definitely telling us who can finish. Morgan State learned the hard way, huh? It's about finishing those games. Johnson Smith messed around and found out, and Jackson State had too much fun at the beach. They ate too much wings at Bethune Grill. Yes. But here's what I'm watching going into next weekend, right? Got Morgan State versus South Carolina State. Johnson C. Smith has to face Virginia State, and we know that the MEAC and the CIAA races are going to be harder next week. So what I want y'all to know now we're in November, or we're getting into November. Who can handle the pressure? Who you think can honestly handle the pressure in November before we get out of here? Josh? I think who can handle the pressure most is the battle-tested teams, and I feel like that would be Coach Oliver at North Carolina Central, even though they've had a rough non-conference for the first time in years, truly. I feel like this year, they're looking a little bit different, but like we all said, Coach Oliver is always going to find a way to get his team to play in conference play, so I feel like, you know, North Carolina Central is definitely a team that can definitely two things up in MEAC play. Vaughn? I got to go with North Carolina Central too for exactly the same reasons Josh said. He's a real verse coach. He understands the MEAC, and he knows how to push the buttons on his team. Steve? I'm going to agree this time, why not? And I'm going to go with, I really don't know who I'm going to go with. I'm like Josh this week, the field. Everything is kind of wide open. The field, man. When you look at it, right, like to be honest, we've been talking about Virginia State. We got Henry Frazier there. Ever since he got there, they've been looking pretty good, and they're always in the mix. They just can't get over the hump, which is Virginia Union, and last year, Johnson C. Smith. I don't know if Johnson C. Smith is in that place, the same type of team they were last year, I'm not sure, or was it a fluke what happened last week at Blue? The swag is like wide open. We can say whatever we want about every team in the swag, but it's wide open, especially in the East. And the MEAC, Central and South Carolina State are the only teams that have proven they can win at the end of this season, and we were hoping and we thought Morgan State could get over the hump this year. I still got it. We got two more games to find out, definitely what they're going to be able to do. They got a hot one on Thursday. That's their season right there. I'm going to say, after Thursday, we'll know. We'll know. We'll know. Well, we got to see, because you don't know what Howard's going to do against Central. I mean, but two, two Miac losses out of five games, you're probably not getting in. You're not getting in. Then on top of that as well, like now you've been a mess of stuff up for even a playoff bit now. Yeah, playoffs. That's what I'm saying. You're messed up for a play. I mean, the loss to the system. OK, cool. All right. But then you lose to Howard or, you know, even if they won out from here on out and they still don't. Well, even if they somehow or somebody don't make the celebration bowl, but they went out, well, that's an impossible concept. So in their mind. So anyway, the teams that beat weren't that good. Yeah. Yeah. In hindsight. But that's I mean, if you look, I mean, I'm not saying it's not good for them. I mean, I'm just saying they they they wouldn't. They wouldn't. They don't give you a playoff beating resume. Bill and over Bill and over though. Bill and over was a good man. But the outside of top 25 now though. But still, yeah, and when you lose Tennessee State and when you lose Tennessee State, you kind of neutralize that anyway. Yeah. And you played VUL, so. And you lost to Howard, who? God. Yeah, I got to keep saying, I'm telling you, I got to quit saying it like that. Howard is a better team than people look at. Man, come on, Kobe. Man, you sat there for three quarters and almost went to sleep. No, they're not, man. Come on now. Their offense, I didn't say their offense was great. Their defense played well and they've been in game. So I'm going to leave it go. Vaughn, Josh, and Steve, appreciate y'all. I'm Kobe Simmons. This has been the Road Warriors. We'll see y'all next week.