HBCU Football's Games of the Week, Players to Watch | Week 7
HBCU football has zoomed past midway into the 2022 season, and the head-to-head conference battles are showcased in Week 7.
CIAA
Virginia Union (4-0; 6-0 CIAA) vs. Bowie State (3-1;4-2 CIAA)
The undefeated Virginia Union Panthers will take on the reigning CIAA champions, the Bowie State Bulldogs, in the 38th meeting. Although the Panthers have the all-time series on lock, the Bulldogs have had the upper hand in the last ten matchups with a 7-3 record.
Bowie State, ranked 10th in total defense, will have its hands full with the nation's rushing leader Jada Byers. Byers has 1,096 rushing yards on 145 rushes and 13 TDs, thus being named the CIAA's Offensive Back of The Week for six weeks. Defensively, all hands are on the deck leading in conference rankings in multiple categories.
Credit: Juan McCall, VA Union Athletics
Bowie State defeated Virginia State to put a damper on the Trojans' homecoming beating this by a score of 41-14. Bulldogs QB Dion Golatt Jr. had himself a game throwing for 242 yards, 17 passes, and three touchdowns. Defensively, Shaun Tolbert had eight tackles and a forced fumble that helped hold the Trojans to only 14 touchdowns.
Players to watch
Jada Byers (RB, VUU): Byers has been named the CIAA’s Offensive Back six weeks consecutively, leading with 1,096 rushing yards on 145 rushes.
Shaun Tolbert (LB, Bowie): Tolbert aided the team’s win with eight tackles and a forced fumble. He has 18 tackles and five tackles for a loss on the season with one interception and one forced fumble.
Credit: Nate Salley, Benedict Athletics
SIAC
Benedict College (4-0; 6-0 SIAC) vs. Albany State (3-0; 5-1 SIAC)
Benedict College (4-0; 6-0 SIAC) vs. Albany State (3-0; 5-1 SIAC)
The reigning SIAC Champions, Albany State, are taking on undefeated Benedict College and battling for the top conference in the east division.
The Golden Rams annihilated the Edward Waters Tigers with a final score of 55-7 for their fourth straight wins. The Rams could dominate offensively with a great running game for Marcius Fulks, the team's best rusher with 421 yards and six touchdowns on the season. The Rams average 390 yards per game, and the Tigers aren't far behind, averaging 350.8 yards per game.
Although the Golden Rams have a great run game, the Tigers only allow their opponents 211 yards per game. Additionally, they are very efficient in passing yards allowed (77.7 yards per game) and are second in the SIAC in sacks. John Hannibal and Brandon Lane both have 31 tackles on the season. Offensively, they're led by running back Noah Zaire Scotland, who has 420 yards and six touchdowns on the season.
Players to watch
Marcius Fulks (RB, ASU): Leading rusher for Albany State with 80 rushes for 421 yard and six touchdowns.
Eric Phoenix (QB, Benedict): Completed 65 passes in 106 attempts for 736 yards and 8 touchdowns with a 61.32% efficiency.
Credit: NSU Athletics
MEAC
Norfolk State (1-0; 1-5 MEAC) vs. Delaware State (0-0; 3-2 MEAC)
Norfolk is coming off their first win of the season against Morgan State in the last five seconds of the game. Delaware State has started the season 3-2, their last win being Robert Morris, and is coming off a bye week. Norfolk is led defensively by Tyler Long, who has 57 tackles in six games and 2.5 sacks on the year.
The Hornets are sitting atop the MEAC defensively only allowing opponents 298.2 yards per game and 96.0 rushing yards per game. Offensively, they've got two backs ranked top 10 in the MEAC in rushing. Delaware State leads the all-time series against Norfolk State with a record of 17-6.
Players to watch
Tyler Long (LB, NSU): Sixth in the MEAC with 2.5 sacks on the year, leads the MEAC with 57 total tackles in six games.
Omakus Langley (DL, DSU): Has 15 total tackles, 6.0 tackles for a loss and 4.0 sacks.
SWAC
Alcorn State (2-0; 3-2 SWAC) vs. Southern (2-0; 3-2 SWAC)
A highly-anticipated SWAC battle as the Jags and Braves look to become the SWAC West division frontrunners. Alcorn leads the all-time series against Southern with a record of 40-28-2.
Alcorn State's three running backs have 1,014 yards combined this season and an efficient quarterback.
Signal-caller Aaron Allen has completed 70 of 116 passes with 762 yards and three touchdowns. In the last outing, Allen passed for 300 yards last week, completing 22 of 29 passes with zero interceptions, his best career game thus far.
Defensively, the Braves boast the top-ranked defense in the SWAC and crack FCS rankings in quarterback sacks. Malachi Bailey and Chris Ballard are ranked in the FCS for quarterback sacks, with Bailey at 24th and Ballard at 33rd.
Southern is led by Besean McCray, who just earned SWAC Newcomer of the Week honors after his performance against Prairie View A&M. He completed 16 of 22 passes for 275 yards and touchdowns while rushing for 85 yards and adding two rushing touchdowns.
McCray and company want to be impactful on the other side of the ball. So far, they've allowed opponents only 118.2 rushing yards per game and 182.80 passing yards per game.
Players to watch
Besean McCray (QB, SU): SWAC Newcomer of the Week Honors has completed 64 of 98 passes for 819 yards and eight touchdowns.
The “Trident” Offensive Backfield (RB, Alcorn): Jarveon Howard, Niko Duffey and Javonta Leatherwood have combined for 1,014 yards this season.
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