RICHMOND, VA – North Carolina Central saw its 2022 season end with confetti on the field at Mercedes Benz Stadium after beating Jackson State and winning the Celebration Bowl. The end of the 2023 season was a stark contrast as it saw its season come to an end under the moonlight of E. Claiborne Stadium following a 49-27 loss to the University of Richmond.
Richmond head coach Russ Huseman was very familiar with NC Central even before his team was set to match up with them. He said he had watched NCCU four or five times this year and liked what he saw.
“I said, Man, it’s a good football team. Well-coached team. And we knew we had to play well,” Huseman said after the game. “We knew we had to do things the right way to have a chance to win this game. So I think Central and their coaches, they do an unbelievable job. I know they’re not happy right now but (they had) a really good year and they do a great job there.”
Huseman was asked whether or not the fact that North Carolina Central had never been to the playoffs before play a role in its loss after leading 20-7 in the first half. He hesitated to speculate whether or not it did publicly.
“I can’t really get into the psyche… “ I can’t say this for sure, but the Celebration Bowl was a huge deal for them. And for us the playoffs, man, we’re doing backflips. For us it’s how can we get in there,” he said. “For them, it’s how do we get in the Celebration Bowl? All right, we’re in the playoffs. I shouldn’t put words in your mouth to be honest with you. But I know how important Celebration Bowl is. And it’s a huge game. And I watched it last year and I was rooting for Central last year. So it’s big. It’s a big game.”
Celebration Bowl provides a championship atmosphere that is unmatched by FCS playoffs
North Carolina Central was just the second MEAC team to appear in an FCS playoffs game since the Celebration Bowl was created after the 2014 season. The other team was North Carolina A&T who went to the playoffs with an at-large bid following a 9-2 regular season. NC A&T, like its archival, went up to Richmond and came back with a big loss a year after wining the Celebration Bowl.
There has been an on-going debate regarding whether or not giving up the automatic bid to the FCS playoffs for the Celebration Bowl was the right move nearly a decade ago. Since that time, both MEAC teams that have gone to the playoffs did so after going to the Celebration Bowl. Neither of them were able to get a win as the MEAC remains winless in the FCS playoffs since 1999.
As someone who has been around since before the Celebration Bowl, it has been an amazing evolution to watch. Many MEAC fans scoffed at the thought of playing for an “HBCU national championship” instead of pursuing the glory of the FCS National title. Never mind the fact that the league had only won six playoff games in nearly 40 years. Then the inaugural game happened and tunes began to change as wins began to pile up. Now a large segment of those fans will take the Celebration Bowl over the playoffs 10 times out of 10. I was initially skeptical but the game’s growth year after year eventually won me over as well.
And if that didn’t do it, watching the end of the North Carolina Central-Richmond game did it for sure.
Ending the season with a big trophy on national television in front of a thick crowd in a state-of-the-art NFL stadium will always beat out losing to a (likely) better-funded program on the road in the cold. Even a win (or two, or three) would pale in comparison to the build up and anticipation of coming into Atlanta and getting the bowl game experience.
This NCCU team beat three CAA teams in the regular season and played against a team that lost to two HBCUs, but it found out that the playoffs are a different animal from the Celebration Bowl where the MEAC team gets basically a month between games to heal up and prepare for its SWAC opponent.
That is why the FCS playoffs is a consolation prize to the Celebration Bowl. Just ask your local FCS coach – if they are as candid as Russ Huseman.