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NCCU Women Looking To Garner Wins and Recruits
When North Carolina Central women’s head coach Vanessa Taylor helped put together her team’s 2012-13 schedule, she did so with a purpose. Coming off a season where her team finished 1-15 in the MEAC and 3-27 overall, Taylor knows recruiting efforts will be vital to her team find the talent necessary to help them find Division I success.
“We are playing a lot of regional teams to begin to assist us in area recruitment,” Taylor said. ““We think the schedule we put together will give us the opportunity to play in some highly-competitive games.”
Of the 13 non-conference games, all played before the New Year, three are at home and eight will be held in North Carolina. The other two contests are in South Carolina and Virginia. Non-conference games of note include the season-opener on Nov. 10 against UNC-Charlotte, East Carolina and North Carolina on Dec. 12.
The Eagles will kickoff their second season in the MEAC on the road against rival North Carolina A&T and close on the road against Hampton on March 7.
Reid Takes Over As Eagle QB
Redshirt junior quarterback Jordan Reid will start against Savannah State on Saturday.
Three games into the 2012 season, Jordan Reid is back where he anticipated being this season–starting at quarterback for North Carolina Central. The redshirt junior from High Point impressed NCCU head coach Henry Frazier with his performance in Saturday’s 54-17 loss to Duke.
“Man, if I don’t put Jordan out there, they’re going to run me out of town,” Frazier said. “I was born at night, not last night. We’ll throw Jordan out there, we’ll hand the ball to him and give him a week of running with the starters and let him have his opportunity.”
Reid threw for 218 yards after replacing Matt Goggans in the first quarter against Duke. He completed 17 of his 26 passes and also rushed for a score.
“That was the best I’ve seen him look,” Frazier said. “He came in, he was composed; he ran the ball a little bit, he threw some strikes. I was happy for him. You could see the confidence.”
“My confidence is always high,” Reid said. “You have to have that at the quarterback position, because it’s contagious throughout the team.”
The High Point native is in his third year at NCCU. He arrived in Durham in 2009 after redshirting his freshman year at Winston-Salem State. Saturday will be his second collegiate start, both of them coming at Savannah State.
MEAC Games To Watch: The Battle In Orangeburg and Big Non-Conference Games
Richard Cue and South Carolina State have a tough task in front of them as they host Bethune-Cookman in Orangeburg on Saturday
Bethune-Cookman at South Carolina State
Out of all the marquee games in the conference this week, this battle in Orangeburg may have the most impact come the end of the season. SC State and BCU were predicted to finish second and third in the conference respectively and both are coming off impressive non-conference wins.
SC State dominated Georgia State last week, picking up a 33-3 win in the Georgia Dome. Redshirt junior quarterback Richard Cue threw for three touchdowns and a career-high 300 yards. BCU trailed Alabama State 21-0 in the first half before reeling off 38 unanswered points to take home the MEAC/SWAC Challenge crown.
As spectacular as last week’s win was, BCU cannot get down three touchdowns in Orangeburg and expect to win the game. SC State’s defense stifled GA State and will look to do the same against BCU.
Bottom Line: Whoever wins this game will have a huge leg up come playoff time.
Old Dominion at Hampton
Hampton returns to the confines of Armstrong Stadium to find itself jumping out of the frying pan and into the fryer as it hosts local rival Old Dominion. Looking to rebound from last week’s 41-31 loss at Tennessee Tech, Hampton finds itself up against one of the FCS Division’s top teams from its backyard in ODU. The Monarchs are currently ranked fifth in the country and have supplanted the Pirates as the Tidewater’s premiere team in the division by defeating them both times the two teams have met.
Last week ODU defeated Duquesne 57-23 in it’s home opener as quarterback Taylor Heinicke threw for nearly 500 yards and four touchdowns. Not good for a Hampton team that allowed Tennessee Tech to throw for 339 yards and four touchdowns. Heinicke did, however throw three interceptions, so there may be some opportunities to take advantage of there.
Hampton’s offense will also be under the microscope to produce better numbers all around. They gained only 89 yards rushing against Tennessee Tech, averaging a scant three yards per game. The offense played better in the second half, but was still out-gained nearly 3 to 1 last week.
Bottom Line: If the Pirates hope to have any chance at an upset, the running game must be more productive and keep the ODU offense and their own defense off the field for the majority of the game.
Norfolk State at Liberty
No offense to Virginia State, but the Spartans season starts here. NSU was simply dominant defensively against VSU, recording seven sacks, 17 tackles for loss and four takeaways. Linebacker Jamal Giddens was named the NCAA’s FCS Defensive Player of The Week despite not playing in the game’s second half.
They will face a much tougher opponent this week as they travel to Lynchburg to take on Liberty. The Flames came very close to upsetting the ACC’s Wake Forest in Winston-Salem last week, eventually losing 20-17. They out gained the Demon Deacons by 70 yards Simply put– the Spartan defense will be in for a test.
Offensively, the Spartans will need more out of quarterback Nico Flores if they want to pick up the win on the road. Flores was 13 for 24 passing for just 93 yards against VSU, also throwing two interceptions. The running game was solid with 223 yards, but 64 of those yards came on one run by Brendon Riddick.
Bottom Line: Flores and the offense will have to do better if Norfolk State wants to defeat Liberty and stay ranked in the FCS Top 25.
Delaware State vs. Delaware
Delaware State definitely turned some heads last week when it defeated Virginia Military Institute 17-10 last week. This week the Hornets take on their in-state rival, Delaware. Delaware has won all three meetings between the state’s only Division I schools. The have outscored DSU 116-14 in those matchups. The Hens are ranked 15th in the FCS and are coming off a 41-21 win over West Chester.
North Carolina Central at Elon
North Carolina Central comes into this game high off of last week’s 54-31 win over Fayetteville State, their first at home since 2010. Conversely, Elon must have had a long ride down I-40 last week after the 62-0 beating they took at the hands of North Carolina.
Eagles showed some flashes on offense last week as new starting quarterback Matt Goggans continued to build a repoir with his teammates. The transfer completed 15 of 26 passes for 223 yards and one touchdown in his NCCU debut. The Eagles ground game was solid, gaining 197 yards as a collective unit.
Two areas of concern for NCCU: Tackling and special teams. Several FSU drives were prolonged by missed tackles last week and the special teams unit had both punts and kicks blocked.
Bottom line: Fundamental tackling and crisp special team play will be needed to ensure NCCU gets off to a 2-0 start.
Savannah State at Florida State
This one makes the notable list for all the wrong reasons. One week after an embarrassing 84-0 loss, Savannah State is listed as a 70 1/2 underdog to Florida State. On the bright side, at least the ride to Tallahassee to pick up the check is closer than the flight out to Oklahoma last week.
Bottom line: SSU can’t lose any worse than last week. Can it?
Other Games:
Howard At Rutgers
West Va. State at NC A&T
FAMU at Oklahoma
Aggie Twins Named JET Beauties Of The Week
Former A&T volleyball players Darlene and Arlene Mitchell will be featured as JET “Beauties of The Week.”
GREENSBORO, N.C. – North Carolina A&T graduates and former student-athletes Arlene and Darlene Mitchell will appear in Jet Magazine as the publication’s Jet “Beauties of the Week.” The magazine is scheduled to be in stores on Monday, August 20.
The two women still live with one another, but they coach at rival schools. Arlene is the assistant volleyball coach at A&T, while Darlene is an assistant volleyball coach at N.C. Central.
Both women played volleyball for the Aggies from 2003-06, and both are considered two of the best players to ever play at A&T. Arlene still owns seven school records, including the most kills in a single set, match and career. She is also the only player in school history to record 1,000 career kills and digs. Darlene ranks among the top five in many of the same statistical categories. They led A&T to the MEAC championship match in 2005.
Jet has marketed its weekly toward African Americans for more than 60 years. It’s “Beauty of the Week” feature has been in existence almost as long. Each week an African American female, photographed in a one-or-two piece swimsuit, appears midway through the publication. The feature includes her name, profession, hobbies and a personal statement.
“Jet Magazine is a phenomenal magazine for people of color! It not only shows who we are as black people, but also how far we’ve come,” said Arlene. “I have always looked at the Jet Beauty of the Week for as long as I can remember. To me, it shows black women can be successful, influential and beautiful all at the same time. The women are usually the black community’s future leaders or brightest students. Why wouldn’t I want to be a part of something so empowering?
Frazier Reinstated As NCCU Coach
NCCU coach Henry Frazier was fully reinstated on July 23. Frazier had been on paid leave since his arrest in late May.
DURHAM, NC– North Carolina Central’s coaching situation just got clearer as the school reinstated Henry Frazier as head football coach. Frazier was put on paid administrative lead by the school this past may after being arrested and charged with assaulting his wife, LaNier.
“Coach Frazier is remorseful for the distraction to the university,” NCCU Chancellor Charlie Nelms said in a statement. “North Carolina Central University stands on century-old values and high standards that we expect and require from all members of our community. These core principles include mutual respect and the absence of violence in resolving conflict.”
According to the media release, the legal matter has been resolved. However, the Associated Press’ calls to the Morrisville Police Department went unanswered.
Frazier lead the Eagles to a 2-9 season their first season as full member’s of Division I’s MEAC Conference. The Eagles were predicted to finish ninth in the conference during Friday’s conference Media Day.
