Another week into the season, but do we truly know how good – or bad – anyone is at this point of the season?
Several teams are starting the season 0-2, but South Carolina State won the Celebration Bowl after starting last season 0-3.
Jackson State, UAPB, and North Carolina Central are the remaining undefeated teams in HBCU FCS Football, but North Carolina A&T is the only team to start the season 2-0 and win the Black College Championship in the Celebration Bowl era, twice.
No matter what end of the spectrum your team is currently on, don’t overreact, there’s still a lot of football left to be played. And with that said, here are my top five takeaways from Week 2 in HBCU FCS Football.
1. Jackson State Was Dominant
2-0 in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 1994 … impressive. Shedeur Sanders completed at least 29 passes to 11 different receivers in back-to-back games, stellar, but this Tigers’ defense is playing like it’s 1999.
Led by LB Nyles Gaddy’s career-best four sacks, JSU held Tennessee State to three points at this year’s Southern Heritage Classic. For the first time in 23 years, a JSU defensive unit has held an opponent to six points or less in successive weeks.
2. Eagle’s Ascension
NCCU has started a season 2-0 for the first time as a Division I-FCS program. The last time NCCU opened a season with consecutive wins was in 2006, back when current Central head coach Trei Oliver was the DB/WR coach for the Eagles.
As opposed to last week, NCCU leaned heavily on their running attack. Behind RB Latrell Collier’s career-high 118 yards rushing and two touchdowns, the Eagles totaled 260 yards on the ground and six touchdown runs against in-state rival Division II Winston-Salem State.
3. Tiger Turnaround
Down 7-0 in the first quarter, Grambling would go on to score 41 unanswered points to give head coach Hue Jackson his first collegiate coaching victory with their 47-21 win over Northwestern State in the Shreveport Classic.
Thanks to QB Quaterius Hawkins, who threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, and RB Maurice Washington’s three rushing touchdowns, GSU would earn its first win over a non-HBCU FCS opponent since 2017 and score 40 or more points against anyone since 2019.
4. A Win Is a Win
For the second straight week, a SWAC team would score more than 75 points.
With 10 different players reaching the end zone on Saturday, Arkansas-Pine Bluff defeated North American 76-3. It was be the first time the Golden Lions reached 70 points since 1990, a 79-6 defeat over Division II Miles College, and the 76 points are the fourth most points scored in UAPB history.
5. FBS Woes
Alabama A&M (Troy), Alabama State (UCLA), Alcorn State (Tulane), Howard (South Florida), Norfolk State (James Madison), Southern (LSU), and Texas Southern (North Texas) all had tough outings this past weekend facing FBS opponents.
Even though they would all collect a check, these seven schools would lose by a combined score of 364-95.
Honorable Mention: The Streak continues for Florida A&M at Bragg Stadium. With their 23-13 victory over Division II SIAC champion Albany State, the Rattlers extended their home win streak to 11.
