Week 1 of the college football season is a wrap, and the storylines are aplenty.
Are the teams that won that good? Is it time to hit the panic button if your team lost this weekend?
While there are so many plots and narratives that could be examined after this week’s action, here are my top five takeaways from Week 1 in HBCU FCS football.
1. Jackson State Was Dominant
The Tigers from Jackson, MS, displayed a momentous performance at the Orange Blossom Classic. JSU’s defense — which helped hand Florida A&M their most lopsided loss to an HBCU in 16 years (Hampton, 2006: 59-7) — allowed nine drives of four plays or less. Of those nine drives, four were 3-and-outs, while the other five were four forced turnovers and a blocked punt which led to 24 points.
Shedeur Sanders, last year’s Jerry Rice Award winner, passed for a career-best 29 completions on 33 attempts while tallying 339 passing yards and five touchdowns, also a career-high.
2. The MEAC’s Old Quarterbacks
The two longest-tenured signal callers in the conference, NCCU’s Davius Richard and Howard’s Quinton Williams, had outstanding performances in rivalry games.
In Central’s first win over North Carolina A&T in six years, Richard proved to be a dual threat in the Duke’s Mayo Classic. The junior from Belle Glade, FL, amassed a total of 254 yards of offense while accounting for all four of the Eagles’ touchdowns.
Despite coming up short against Hampton, Williams tied his career high of four touchdown passes while going 21-of-31 and compiling 339 yards in the air.
3. Last-Minute Losses To Top 15 Opponents
Alcorn State and Tennessee State gave it everything they had this past weekend against ranked opponents on the road, but they would come up short, allowing game-winning touchdowns in the final minutes of their respective matchups.
However, both programs would have outstanding performances from their running backs.
Braves RB Jarveon Howard ran for a game-high 199 yards and added a touchdown in a near-upset of 10th-ranked Stephen F. Austin.
Tigers RB Devon Starling rushed for the most yards against a Division I opponent this season (FBS or FCS) with 207 yards. He finished the game with 230 all-purpose yards against 13th-ranked Eastern Washington. Starling averaged 8.3 yards per carry.
4. The Dooley Era Starts With A Bang
86-0. Yeah, you read that right. Southern scored 86 points against NAIA member Florida Memorial on Saturday. Forty-two of which were scored in the first quarter.
Their largest blowout since 2009, a 68-0 win over Division II Central State, the Jags have never scored 69 or more points in this millennium. During that time frame, Southern has racked up 60 or more points on five different occasions.
In contrast, SU scored a total of 81 points in their last four losses last season.
5. The Fall Of A&T
Expectations were high for the Aggies entering this season, only to lose to your rival, a letdown that no one on your current roster has ever experienced until Saturday.
Contrary to their usual run-first philosophy, A&T would attempt 48 pass plays versus running the ball 16 times. In recent years, this practice has only failed the Aggies, who are 0-5 when they pass more than they run over their last three seasons.
The road doesn’t get any easier for the Aggies. Their next four games are on the road against top-ranked North Dakota State and Duke followed by home games against the 2021 Black College Football Champions South Carolina State and new Big South member Bryant. If Coach Washington isn’t careful, A&T could start the year 0-5, a feat they haven’t accomplished in 12 years.
Honorable Mention: How does Coach Hue Jackson and his Grambling State Tigers earn more penalty yards (132) than they would gain offensively (102) in their 58-3 loss to Arkansas State?
