Week 3: MEAC Football - Battle of the Real HU, Spartans' Big Win, and NCCU Prevails

MEAC football scores and recaps in Week 3 of the college regular season schedule.

MEAC football scores and recaps in Week 3 of the college regular season schedule.

The Battle of the Real HU occurred at the inaugural 'Truth and Service Classic.'

MEAC Football Recaps from Sept. 18

NORFOLK, Va., Sept. 18, 2021 – All six Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) teams took the field on week three of the 2021 season.

Running Back White (32); Credit: Audi Field

Hampton 48, Howard 32

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Howard fell 48-32 to Hampton in the Truth and Service Classic on Saturday at Audi Field. The Bison fall to 0-3 on the season with the loss.

Vice President of the United States and Howard alumna, Kamala Harris, was in attendance and participated in the pre-game coin toss.

Sacred Heart 21, Morgan State 7

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (Sept. 18, 2021) -- Despite a strong defensive outing for the Morgan State football program, the Bears were unable to come up with the win against Sacred Heart, falling 21-7. Morgan is 0-3 this season and enters the bye week.

Morgan was able to hold Sacred Heart to 155 rushing yards with the Pioneers entering the game averaging 204.0 to rank No.1 in the Northeast Conference and No. 20 in the FCS -- Elijah Williams and Lawrence Richardson led the defense, both finishing with double-digit tackles at 11 and 10, respectively.

Neil Boudreau was 12-of-25 passing for 109 yards (1 INT) with Thomas Martin (35 rec. yds), Isaiah Gerena (33 rec. yds) and Romel Kimbrough (18 rec. yds) leading the Bears with three catches apiece.

Jabriel Johnson led Morgan in rushing with a season-high 16 carries for 76 yards (4.8 avg).

Norfolk State 63, Elizabeth City State 26

NORFOLK, Va. – Juwan Carter led a record-setting Norfolk State offensive barrage by throwing five touchdown passes to lead Norfolk State to a 63-26 win over Elizabeth City State on Saturday night at Dick Price Stadium.

In Norfolk State's first home game in nearly two years, and the first home contest for new head coach Dawson Odums, Carter completed 23 of 30 passes for 353 yards and five touchdowns to tie the school's Division I single-game record for TD throws. The 675 yards of total offense are a school record, and the 63 points are also a school Division I-era record.

The Spartan pass rush also came up strong, sacking ECSU quarterbacks eight times (tied the most in the D-I era) and holding the Vikings to negative-49 yards rushing, the fewest in a game by a Spartan opponent all time.

Carter's five touchdown passes tied Maurice Selby for most in a Division I game in school history. Selby accomplished the feat in 1998 vs. Morgan State. Carter had thrown four TD passes in a game three times previously.

The 63 points surpassed NSU's 61 scored in a four-OT loss to Bethune-Cookman in 2005 as the most points NSU has scored in its history as a Division I program.

Defensive ends Chris Myers and Sage Beuchert-Irvine both recorded two sacks of NSU's eight total. The Spartans tallied 13 tackles for loss with 13 players having at least half of a TFL.

North Carolina Central 20, Winston-Salem State 13

DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina Central University overcame a 10-point second-half deficit, powered by a pair of rushing touchdowns by Latrell Collier and a career-long field goal by Adrian Olivo, to defeat Winston-Salem State University, 20-13, in the Eagles' home-opener inside O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium on Saturday night.

NCCU (2-1) tallied the only points in the first 15 minutes with a 30-yard field goal off the foot of Olivio with 51 seconds left in the first quarter.

Collier finished with a team-high 53 ground yards, averaging 5.9 yards per run, while Jamal Currie-Elliott collected 40 yards rushing on seven carries.

In his first college action, starting quarterback Harris completed 16 of 26 passes for 134 yards, while adding 24 rushing yards. His favorite targets were Treveyon Pratt, who had six catches for 45 yards, and McDaniel with five receptions for 61 yards.

East Tennessee State 38, Delaware State 6

Johnson City, Tenn. (Sep. 18, 2021) – East Tennessee State played up to its nationally-ranked status in a convincing 38-6 victory over visiting Delaware State in the first meeting between the teams at William B. Greene Stadium Saturday evening.

The Buccaneers, ranked 16th and 17th in the major Football Championship Subdivision polls entering the weekend, improved to 3-0 this season, while the Hornets dropped their second straight game to fall to 1-2.

Wide receiver Trey Gross had five receptions for 59 yards and the lone touchdown, while Kwannah Kollie returned six kickoffs for 167 yards (27.8 ypr) to stand out for the Hornets.

Esaias Guthrie picked off a third quarter pass for his team-leading third interception of the season, the most by a Hornet since Jahad Neibauer had three in 2018. Guthrie was tied for the MEAC lead with two INTs entering this weekend and has three for his career.

Linebackers Brooks Parker and Kamari Jackson led the Hornets with seven tackles each vs. East Tennessee State. Fellow backer Maurio Going had five tackles and an 11-yard fumble return on a ball pried loose by Isaiah Williams in the fourth quarter.

New Mexico State 43, South Carolina State 35

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Redshirt sophomore Corey Fields, Jr. posted a career day throwing 30-of-47 for 352-yards and four touchdowns, but South Carolina State fell short, 43-35, to host New Mexico State Saturday at Aggie Stadium.

Senior Will Vereen led the way in receiving nine catches for 118-yards and a touchdown, while redshirt freshman Kendrell Flowers controlled the ground attack with 13 carries for 58-yards and a touchdown.

The Bulldog defense was spearheaded by senior linebacker Chad Gilchrist with eight tackles, while Jaylen Evans, BJ Davis and Octaveon Minter all added six each in the loss.

Despite the loss, South Carolina State offense led the way with 428 total yards on offense along with 24 first downs. Freshman kicker Dyson Roberts had a solid day punting with four kicks for 184-yards (46.0 yards per punt) with a long of 58-yards, one inside the 20 and two touchbacks.