No one not named North Carolina A&T has represented the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in the Cricket Celebration Bowl in consecutive seasons … yet.
If the Eagles can, according to head coach Trei Oliver, do a better job of doin’ what they do, maybe that team can be North Carolina Central. But, when league play is a five-game sprint without a title game, every week is a conference championship game.
2022 co-champion Howard is intent on winning an outright title this season. In his second year as head coach in Baltimore, Damon Wilson had an entire offseason to get Morgan State more comfortable within his system. Meanwhile, South Carolina State is looking to return to Atlanta after missing out last season.
Here’s a look ahead at the top returning players and our predicted order of finish.
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Returning All-Conference Players
From last season’s All-MEAC Team. Players in italics received Preseason All-MEAC Honors in 2023.
Howard – 15: TE Brennan Brown (1st Team), OL Anim Dankwah (1st Team), DL Jevin Jackson (1st Team), DB Kenny Gallop, Jr. (1st Team), QB Quinton Williams (2nd Team), RB Jarett Hunter (2nd Team), C Deshawn Ingram (2nd Team), OL Darius Fox (2nd Team), DL Darrian Brokenburr (2nd Team), DB Robert Jones III (2nd Team), RS Ian Wheeler (2nd Team), RB Eden James (3rd Team), WR Kasey Hawthorne (3rd Team), LB Christian White (3rd Team), P Phillip Richards (3rd Team)
North Carolina Central – 12: QB Davius Richard (1st Team), RB Latrell Collier (1st Team), C Torricelli Simpkins III (1st Team), DB Khalil Baker (1st Team), PK Adrian Olivo (1st Team), WR Devin Smith (2nd Team), DL Jaden Taylor (2nd Team), LB Jaki Brevard (2nd Team), DB Manny Smith (2nd Team), RB J’Mari Taylor (3rd Team), DL Christian Smith (3rd Team), RS Brandon Codrington (3rd Team)
South Carolina State – 10: OL Nick Taiste (1st Team), DL Patrick Godbolt (1st Team), OL Cam Johnson (2nd Team), DL Jared Kirksey (2nd Team), LB Aaron Smith (2nd Team), P Dyson Roberts (2nd Team), TE Khalil Ellis (3rd Team), C Eric Brown, Jr. (3rd Team), DL Octaveon Minter (3rd Team), PK Gavyn Zimmerman (3rd Team)
Norfolk State – 7: LB Marquis Hall (2nd Team), DB R.J. Coles (2nd Team), OL Vincent Byrd, Jr. (3rd Team), OL Lamar Robinson (3rd Team), DL Anthony Blume (3rd Team), DL Amadeu Vital (3rd Team), DB Joseph White (3rd Team)
Delaware State – 6: DB Romell Harris-Freeman (1st Team), RB Marquis Gillis (2nd Team), OL Sam Pearson (2nd Team), QB C.J. Henry (3rd Team), OL Isaiah Cook (3rd Team), LB Maurio Goings (3rd Team)
Morgan State – 6: DL Elijah Williams (1st Team), DB Jae’Veyon Morton (1st Team), RS Keith Jenkins, Jr. (1st Team), OL Marvin Atuatasi (3rd Team), LB Lawrence Richardson (3rd Team), DB Carlvainsky Decius (3rd Team)
Teams Bringing In The Most D1 Transfers
Norfolk State — 10 (5 FBS, 5 FCS)
Morgan State – 6 (2 FBS, 4 FCS)
North Carolina Central – 5 (2 FBS, 3 FCS)
Delaware State – 4 (2 FBS, 2 FCS)
South Carolina State – 3 (3 FCS)
Howard – 2 (2 FBS)
Names To Know
TOP OFFENSIVE PLAYER: Davius Richard, North Carolina Central QB — A finalist for the Walter Payton Award and winner of the MEAC Offensive Player of the Year last season, Richard finished the year ranked nationally in total offense (287.4 ypg, 10th) and passing touchdowns (25, 15th) while leading NCCU to one of the best offensive outputs in the history of the program. With Richard under center, the Eagle offense was the best in the nation on third down conversion percentage (55.8%), finished 5th nationally in scoring offense (38.6 ppg), 13th in Team Passing Efficiency (155.31), and 15th in total offense (445.3 ypg).
Other players to watch: RB Latrell Collier (North Carolina Central), RB Jarett Hunter (Howard), QB Quinton Williams (Howard)
TOP DEFENSIVE PLAYER: Khalil Baker, North Carolina Central S — The MEAC Defensive Player of the Year and Buck Buchanan Award finalist in 2022, Baker was a member of the Eagle Defense that ranked 20th in scoring (21.5 ppg) and total defense (333.7 ypg), and finished tops in FCS in red zone defense (65.8%). Baker tied for the team lead with 61 total tackles and tallied four interceptions and five pass breakups last season.
Other players to watch: DE Patrick Godbolt (South Carolina State), LB Lawrence Richardson (Morgan State)
THE NFL PROSPECT: Anim Dankwah, Howard OT — The massive-sized Ghanian (6-8, 362 lbs.) didn’t play football until his junior year in high school in Watertown, CT, but his skill set has continued to ascend rapidly. The First Team Preseason All-MEAC selection is an integral part of the Bison offensive success, which was second-best in the conference last season.
Other Players to Watch: S Khalil Baker (North Carolina Central), S Kenny Gallop (Howard)
2023 FCS Preseason Preview Central
HERO Sports’ Predicted Order of Finish
1. Howard
2. North Carolina Central
3. South Carolina State
4. Morgan State
5. Norfolk State
6. Delaware State
NC Central is entering the 2023 season with the confidence of a champion, and rightfully so.
Last season’s HBCU National Champions are returning 12 all-conference players that helped lead the Eagles to their best win percentage as an FCS program ever. But NCCU’s lone intraleague loss came at the hands of SCSU, who struggled through an injury-plagued 2022. And, with 10 all-conference performers of their own returning to Orangeburg, the Bulldogs are looking to earn at least a share of the MEAC title for the third time in the last four seasons if they can avoid what head coach Buddy Pough called “having a little bit of the big head (after winning the 2021 Celebration Bowl).”
But there is a trend going on in the MEAC that you may not be aware of.
In recent years, whoever finished the previous second has gone on to win the conference title the following year. In 2019, it was Corey Fields and South Carolina State. 2021’s runner-up North Carolina Central, led by Davius Richard, would go on to win it all in Atlanta last year.
2022’s second-place team in the MEAC … Howard.
Going into his third season as the starter in D.C., Bison QB Quinton Williams is more confident and comfortable within Howard’s offensive system and his supporting cast. But if the Bison, who are returning 15 all-conference performers of their own, expect to win their first outright conference title since 1993, they’ll have to go through last year’s MEAC champions. A task that’s easier said than done, with the Eagles not losing to Howard since rekindling their conference rivalry in 2013.
