Powerhouses Winston-Salem State and Tuskegee Clash; Other HBCU Football Action

By ADD SEYMOUR JR.

Told you there would be another game of the year.  But this one sets up to be a doozy.

Tuskegee, the best team in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, faces Winston-Salem State, perennially the top squad from the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, in today's Cleveland Classic at FirstEnergy Stadium.  Both teams are nationally ranked headed into today's contest.

Tuskegee has dominated Division I-Football Championship Series team Alabama A&M and knocked off SIAC rival Albany State so far this season.  Winston-Salem fell to UNC-Pembroke in their opener, but took out their frustrations on Virginia-Lynchburg in a 62-8 shellacking.

Quavon Taylor leads a stiff Tuskegee defense as he has already racked up 27 tackles in just two games.  Tuskegee has only allowed 10 points a game so far this season.  Winston-Salem's calling card is offense. They have averaged more than 300 yards passing and 100 rushing in two games behind new quarterback Anthony Carothers and All-CIAA running back Maurice Lewis.

"Hopefully, we can make it a good football game," Tuskegee coach Willie Slater told goldentigersports.com. “They are a very good football team, and we will have to play our very best in order to stay on the field with them. They played Morehouse in Cleveland last year, so they are more familiar with the stadium, and this is our first time playing in it. So, we know that we have work to do.”

Winston-Salem coach Connell Maynor told the Winston-Salem Journal this week that the game promises to be a big one for both teams.

"It’s going to be a playoff-type of game, and it should be exciting,” Maynor said. “Tuskegee is well coached, and they have a lot of good players. They’ve won a lot of games through the years.”

Bethune-Cookman Faces Test At Florida State

Everyone knows that Bethune-Cookman is one of the toughest teams in Division I-FCS football.  But now, everyone will find out how good the Wildcats are against the big boys when they visit Florida State.  

The Wildcats are fresh off their first-ever win over an FBS team after defeating Florida International last week.  But this isn't Florida International.  The Seminoles are ranked eighth nationally after walloping Pitt 41-13 and destroying Nevada 62-7. 

Still, Bethune-Cookman sports FCS' number-one defense, allowing only 219 yards and 9 points a game so far this season.

Photo by Calvin Ferguson

Johnson C. Smith Looks to Go 3-0

Johnson C. Smith is flying high these days.  The Golden Bulls' offense is clicking offensively on all cylinders as they are averaging 46 points a game this season in wins over Livingstone and Bowie State.   They average more than 300 yards passing each game and 110 yards rushing. 

They host Division I-FCS team Davidson, a team searching for their first win of the season.  While Johnson C. Smith is rolling on offense, the defense is a different story. They have given up 315 yards per game in the air and on average have given up 404 offensive yards in both games.  That doesn't bode well for the Golden Bulls as Davidson quarterback Jonathan Carkhuff needs only 309 yards passing to become their program's all-time leader in passing yardage.


 In Other HBCU Football Action.....

SIAC

- Morehouse tries to get on the winning side when they take on Central State in the Chicago Classic
- Lane visit Taylor University
- Kentucky State tries to stay undefeated as they try to spoil Virginia State's home opener
- The Iris City Classic in Griffin, Ga., features Fort Valley State and Clark Atlanta
- Benedict faces the MEAC's South Carolina State in the Palmetto Capital City Classic
- Miles hosts Concordia-Selma
- Albany State hosts Elizabeth City State
- Stillman visits St. Augustine's

SWAC

- Mississippi Valley State heads to Southern
- Grambling heads to Alabama State in search of their first win
- Prairie View hosts Alabama A&M
- A hot Alcorn State team visits slumping Arkansas-Pine Bluff

CIAA

- Fayetteville State visits Virginia Union as both teams search for their first wins of 2013
- Lincoln visits winless St. Francis
- Shaw heads to Wilmington, N.C. to take on fellow-undefeated UNC-Pembroke in the Cape Fear Classic
- Bowie State hosts Concord
- Chowan visits 3-0 Sacred Heart
- Winless Livingstone visits winless Edward Waters

MEAC

- Savannah State faces the scary task of visiting Division I-FBS power Miami of the ACC
- Florida A&M may not fare much better as they visit one of the nation's top FBS teams, Ohio State
- A stout North Carolina Central faces a big test against Towson
- On Community Day, Norfolk State hosts Charleston Southern
- Delaware State visits the winner of the last two FCS championships, North Dakota State
- Hampton looks for their first win at undefeated Coastal Carolina
- Morgan State visits offensive-minded Western Kentucky 

OTHERS 

- Tennessee State jumps into Ohio Valley Conference action when they head east to visit Tennessee Tech