2018 North Carolina Central Eagles football team

The 2018 North Carolina Central Eagles football team represented North Carolina Central University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year interim head coach Granville Eastman. The Eagles played their home games at O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium. They were a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). They finished the season 5–6, 3–4 in MEAC play to finish in a tie for sixth place.

2018 North Carolina Central Eagles football
ConferenceMid-Eastern Athletic Conference
2018 record5–6 (3–4 MEAC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorT. C. Taylor (4th season)
Defensive coordinatorGranville Eastman (5th season)
Home stadiumO'Kelly–Riddick Stadium
(Capacity: 10,600)
2018 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 12 North Carolina A&T $  6 –1     9 –2  
Bethune–Cookman  5 –2     7 –5  
Florida A&M  5 –2     6 –5  
South Carolina State  4 –3     5 –6  
Howard  4 –3     4 –6  
North Carolina Central  3 –4     5 –6  
Morgan State  3 –4     4 –7  
Norfolk State  2 –5     4 –7  
Delaware State  2 –5     3 –8  
Savannah State  1 –6     2 –8  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Eagles finished the 2017 season 7–4, 5–3 in MEAC play to finish in a tie for fourth place.

On December 8, head coach Jerry Mack resigned to become the offensive coordinator at Rice.[1] He finished at North Carolina Central with a four-year record of 31–15.

Preseason

Award watch lists
Award Player Position Year
Buck Buchanan Award[2] Davanta Reynolds S SR

MEAC preseason poll

In a vote of the MEAC head coaches and sports information directors, the Eagles were picked to finish in third place.[3]

Predicted finish Team
1North Carolina A&T
2Howard
3North Carolina Central
4Bethune–Cookman
5Florida A&M
6Norfolk State
7South Carolina State
8Savannah State
9Morgan State
10Delaware State

Preseason All-MEAC Teams

The Eagles had nine players selected to the preseason all-MEAC teams.[4] Defensive back Davanta Reynolds was selected as the preseason defensive player of the year.

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 212:00 p.m.vs. Prairie View A&M*
ESPN2L 24–4010,274
September 86:00 p.m.Saint Augustine's*
NSNW 51–146,142
September 223:30 p.m.at Duke*
ACCN ExtraL 13–5530,477
September 294:00 p.m.Florida A&M
  • O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium
  • Durham, NC
ESPN3L 14–558,451
October 62:00 p.m.Howard
  • O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium
  • Durham, NC
ESPN3W 40–356,702
October 202:00 p.m.at Norfolk State
W 36–613,186
October 272:00 p.m.at Delaware State
L 13–281,466
November 32:00 p.m.Edward Waters*
  • O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium
  • Durham, NC
ESPN3W 52–1211,968
November 84:00 p.m.at Bethune–Cookman
ESPNUL 25–28 2OT3,145
November 172:00 p.m.No. 12 North Carolina A&T
  • O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium
  • Durham, NC (rivalry)
ESPN3L 0–4511,055
November 24[lower-alpha 1]12:30 pmat South Carolina State
W 21–173,996
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time
  1. Game originally scheduled for September 15, but moved in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.

Game summaries

vs Prairie View A&M
1 2 3 4 Total
Panthers 20 3 3 14 40
Eagles 0 7 14 3 24
See also: 2018 Prairie View A&M Panthers football team and MEAC/SWAC Challenge

Saint Augustine's
1 2 3 4 Total
Falcons 0 7 0 7 14
Eagles 14 9 14 14 51

at Duke
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 7 6 0 0 13
Blue Devils 20 7 21 7 55
See also: 2018 Duke Blue Devils football team

Florida A&M
1 2 3 4 Total
Rattlers 24 17 7 7 55
Eagles 7 0 7 0 14
See also: 2018 Florida A&M Rattlers football team

Howard
1 2 3 4 Total
Bison 5 14 7 9 35
Eagles 7 17 7 9 40
See also: 2018 Howard Bison football team

at Norfolk State
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 0 0 0 6 6
Spartans 3 9 7 17 36
See also: 2018 Norfolk State Spartans football team

at Delaware State
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 0 7 0 6 13
Hornets 14 7 0 7 28
See also: 2018 Delaware State Hornets football team

Edward Waters
1 2 3 4 Total
Tigers 0 0 0 12 12
Eagles 14 3 21 14 52

at Bethune–Cookman
1 2 3 4OT Total
Eagles 6 10 0 63 25
Wildcats 2 6 7 76 28
See also: 2018 Bethune–Cookman Wildcats football team

North Carolina A&T
1 2 3 4 Total
No.12 Aggies 14 10 14 7 45
Eagles 0 0 0 0 0
See also: 2018 North Carolina A&T Aggies football team and North Carolina A&T–North Carolina Central rivalry

at South Carolina State
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 0 0 7 14 21
Bulldogs 0 10 0 7 17
See also: 2018 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team

References
  1. http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/article188884189.html
  2. "FCS football: 2018 Buck Buchanan Award watch list announced". August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  3. "North Carolina A&T State Picked To Win 2018 MEAC Championship". Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. July 27, 2018.
  4. "NCAT's Raynard, NCCU's Reynolds Headline 2018 All-MEAC Preseason Football Team". Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. July 25, 2018.
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