Date: Saturday August 23, 2025
Time: 7:30 PM (ET)
TV: ESPN
The Quick Hits
Nothing signals the start of the football season in the FCS quite like the annual MEAC/SWAC Challenge in Atlanta. This year’s game pits SWAC runner-up Southern against the MEAC team that finished in the same position; North Carolina Central. The Jaguars were on the rise in a big way last year but couldn’t quite get over the hurdle to reach the Celebration Bowl. They won’t enter this season as the conference’s favorite either but they’re as dangerous as anyone in the race and will be looking to make
a statement against a program that’s won it all not so long ago.
The Eagles are trying to return to the top of the mountain and, had it not been for a mid-season loss to SC State last year, they may have done it. Although they’ve lost a significant amount, NCCU does bring back its quarterback and one of its top offensive lineman. This first challenge, though, proves to be a lofty one and they’ll need to figure things out in a hurry to go toe to toe with an ascending team from the rival conference.
The Coaches
There hasn’t been a year in recent memory in which NCCU wasn’t at least in the MEAC race right at the end and that’s because Trei Oliver is one of the best coaches in the conference. Oliver has been leading the Eagles for seven years now and, in that time, he’s taken home a pair of league titles, a Celebration Bowl trophy and a MEAC Coach of the Year award. Oliver has only delivered one losing season and that was his first one calling the shots. North Carolina Central has gone 37-21 since he took over and 2025 should see more of the same.
Terrance Graves will head the Southern unit and, whereas Oliver has been around for quite sometime and seen what it takes to go all the way, Graves is just in his second season but there’s already promise. Last year he got the Jaguars to the SWAC Championship with 7-2 conference record before ultimately falling to the Jackson State team that took home the HBCU national title.
North Carolina Central Offense vs. Southern Defense
Walker Harris is set to pilot the NCCU offense again this season after stepping up and taking the mantle last year under center. Harris threw 18 touchdowns last fall with only six interceptions while going for nearly 1,900 yards through the air. He’s efficient and productive; something the Eagles will need against a Southern defense that ranked near the top of the SWAC in several stat categories in 2024.
Harris and company will need to adjust to life without Markell Quick and Joaquin Davis on the outside. The star receiving duo is no more for North Carolina Central and that means that it’s time for someone else to fill those shoes. That someone looks to be senior Chauncey Spikes. Spikes hauled in 18 passes for 267 yards and three touchdowns last year but with the leading pass catchers that were in front of him now gone, he’ll be one of the feature guys in the passing attack.
Another one will be Quentin McCall who is back from an injury that sidelined him for all of last season, McCall is expected to help quell the loss of Davis and Quick. In 2023 he caught 18 passes for nearly 300 yards and a touchdown.
If the Jaguars have anything to say about it, though, that passing attack will never get off the ground and one man might be able to do that on his own. Defensive lineman Ckelby Givens is one of the top FCS players in the country right now and is a legitimate Buck Buchanan Award hopeful in 2025. Givens comes into this season with staggering career numbers on the defensive front including 22.5 sacks and 56 tackles for loss. He is also a turnover machine with eight forced fumbles. NCCU needs to have an answer for #1 because if they don’t it’ll be a long night.
Givens isn’t the only one who might be able to wreak havoc on the Eagles offense. Linebacker Vincent Paige Jr. is also back after leading the squad in tackles (84) last year. He also got in on 10.5 TFLs and 5.5 sacks. The Jaguars can throw a lot out there defensively and North Carolina Central cannot allow its offense to become one-dimensional.
That means they’ll need to find some traction in the ground game but who is going to help them do that now that star running back J’Mari Taylor is gone is anyone’s guess at the moment. Redshirt senior Chris Mosley seems like the most probable option as he finished behind Taylor last season with 262 yards and three scores. Mosley did not receive a ton of touches a year ago but did average over 10 yards per run.
Southern Offense vs. North Carolina Central Defense
For Southern there is only one quarterback on the roster with any playing experience at the moment and that is redshirt sophomore Jalen Woods. Woods appeared in six games last year, starting the final two for the Jaguars and threw for 541 yards and four touchdowns. It is not the guarantee that he’ll get the nod on Saturday night but if he does get thrown into the fire as the guy to begin the season, fortunately for him, he’ll have a talented group around him to work with.
Both wide receivers Darren Morris and Dupree Fuller along with running back Mike Franklin look to alleviate some of the pressure off the young signal caller. Morris and Fuller led the team in receiving yards last fall with 434 yards and 370 yards respectively. The tandem also combined for five TDs. Then there’s Franklin who transferred in from FBS Jacksonville State where he ran for 55 yards as a rotational piece.
NCCU will look to combat those weapons with some of their own on the other side of the ball. Led by a new defensive coordinator in Jesse Thompson, the Eagles look to retain their distinction as one of the FCS’ better defenses and they will have just the guys to do it. Defensive back Malcom Reed is one of the best there is at his position and, after two interceptions and nine PBUs last year, he seems primed for a terrific senior season. Woods will need to be careful if he looks Reed’s way.
Linebacker Max U’Ren will be another one Woods will need to have an eye on. He posted 56 stops a pair of sacks and a pick a year ago. He will be flying around the field and can make plays in both the passing and running games as needed.
Prediction
Experience will trump roster turnover in this one and, while both teams face a lot of the latter, the Eagles just feel as though they’re built better to handle a game of this magnitude. Oliver knows what it takes to win and that will show through on Saturday night in the ATL. Harris will make enough plays down the stretch to outlast Givens and that tenacious Southern front and someone new will stamp themselves as a need-to-know playmaker for NCCU by the time the evening comes to an end. Woods might have a chance late to make it interesting but ultimately it will come to avail. The Jags fall by less than a score to North Carolina Central to get the HBCU season rolling.
Score Prediction: Southern: 19 – North Carolina Central: 25
