As the college football season draws to a close, arguably the biggest game on the MEAC schedule is upon us: South Carolina State versus North Carolina Central. For years, the path to the conference title and the Celebration Bowl berth has run squarely through Orangeburg and Durham, with these two teams winning the MEAC championship and clinching the Celebration Bowl in three of the last four seasons. This year is no different, but the championship picture has become far more complicated.
The matchup between the Eagles and the Bulldogs historically determines the conference’s final outcome. Last year’s contest delivered, with Chennis Berry’s Bulldogs pulling off a resounding wire-to-wire victory to hand NCCU its only conference loss and ultimately claim the MEAC title.
However, this year’s championship race was thrown into scramble mode when DeSean Jackson and his insurgent Delaware State Hornets pulled off a massive upset over NCCU during their homecoming, winning 35-26. That loss has forced the Eagles to go perfect in the rest of their games just to keep pace. It certainly is possible for such a talented team, although their predicament was made even harder last Friday when Delaware State survived a scare against Morgan State, keeping the Hornets undefeated in conference play…