NC Central’s quest to play in Celebration Bowl looks strong thanks to rushing offense
To improve its offense and reach its goal of winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, N.C. Central football needed more production in its running game.
Latrell “Mookie” Collier knew he could be that player. Though he led the Eagles with a modest 399 yards last season while they went 6-5, he sought more production.
A meeting between Collier and NCCU coach Trei Oliver a few months back set the team on a successful path.
“He came to my office and we sat and had a long talk in the preseason about his goals,” Oliver said. “He had a chip on his shoulder. He said he had a lot to prove to folks this year and he wasn’t gonna do a whole lot of talking about it. He was just gonna let his work show for himself. And, you know, he’s definitely had a great season thus far.”
Collier’s production combined with quarterback Davius Richard’s play have made the Eagles (5-1, 1-0 MEAC) the league’s best rushing offense as they head into a showdown at reigning MEAC champion S.C. State (2-4, 0-0) on Saturday.
The Eagles average 199 rushing yards per game, up from their 132 yards per game last season, to lead all MEAC teams. That per-game average puts NCCU No. 17 nationally among Football Championship Subdivision teams.
Collier, a redshirt junior from Bluefield, West Virginia, ran for 112 yards and a touchdown, averaging 7 yards per carry, when the Eagles opened MEAC play by hammering Morgan State 59-20 last Thursday night.
“He’s a true blue collar type guy,” Oliver said.
The Eagles have scored 20 rushing touchdowns in their six games, with Richard (eight), sophomore running back J’Mari Taylor (five) and Collier (three) leading the way.
Richard, who also threw for four touchdowns against Morgan State in a spectacular performance, leads the Eagles in rushing (352 yards) just ahead of Collier (264).
“You gotta watch out for him,” Collier said of Richard. “He can run. He can do it all.”
But Richard knows NCCU’s pass offense benefits greatly from the work done in the running game.
“That’s how the passing game opens up,” Richard said. “Once you establish the running game it’s kind of hard for defenses to defend both the pass and run. They never know what’s coming, especially with RPOs (run-pass option plays). You make the defense cover the whole field and it’s just a lot of guessing in a matter of seconds.”
That rushing offense played a big role in a win that showed just how good the Eagles can be this season.
Back on Sept. 17, NCCU traveled north to play New Hampshire, which was ranked No. 25 nationally in FCS. The Eagles ground out 205 rushing yards, producing three touchdowns, in a 45-27 upset win.
NCCU ran for 292 yards against Morgan State last Thursday night.
“It’s important to us,” NCCU lineman Robert Mitchell said. “We feel like we have the best vibe in HBCU football. It’s a tight-knit group. We worked together all summer. We’ve all got experience.”
Now comes a major challenge on the schedule.
S.C. State beat NCCU, 27-24, last season on its way to winning the MEAC championship and qualifying for the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta, where the Bulldogs beat Jackson State, 31-10.
The Eagles want that experience this season and have put themselves in position to achieve it. This will be the second of five consecutive MEAC games NCCU plays.
“I think guys have done a really, I guess, decent job of handling all the success that we’ve had,” Oliver said. “But for us, we’ve only won one football game in the conference. So we have a long way to go.”
Richard, Collier and the Eagles running game give them a chance to keep finding success on that journey.
This story was originally published October 20, 2022 at 5:10 AM with the headline "NC Central’s quest to play in Celebration Bowl looks strong thanks to rushing offense."