“I thought we had a good clean scrimmage today…. We just have to clean some things up,” said North Carolina Central University (NCCU) head coach Trei Oliver after the Eagles’ first open scrimmage of the 2024 fall camp. Coach Oliver made it clear there are still some things that need to be worked on before their HBCU Football season opener in Miami against Alabama State in the Orange Blossom Classic.
One of the things the Eagles are focused on this off-season has been being better on the defensive side of the ball. NCCU is in the process of integrating new faces on defense while trying to get back into MEAC Championship form. The Eagles did a lot of recruiting and replacing in the defensive backfield. When asked about the defense, Coach Oliver answered “We got a lot of young guys in the backend so we are preaching to have a lot of communication.”
While Trei Oliver stated that there were things that needed to be cleaned up from the scrimmage, he did emphasize some positives from the scrimmage.
The NCCU WR room looks healthy and explosive. There were multiple moments throughout the scrimmage when a big play needed to be made through the air, and the wide receivers stepped up and made a play. From the first team to the third team the receivers were making big catches and getting a lot of yards after the catch during the open practice session.
Another big takeaway from the scrimmage was the NCCU run game. The Eagles lost a top HBCU Running Back in Latrell Collier, but Redshirt Junior J’Mari Taylor and Redshirt Senior Chris Mosley looked ready to pick up where Collier left off. It didn’t take long for them to let their presence be known in the scrimmage. After a quick 3 and out at the start of the scrimmage Chris Mosley got a handoff on an outside zone, found the hole, hit it, and ran for a 60-yard TD. Another moment J’Mari Taylor received a handoff, slipped 3 tackles, and raced a defender to the endzone.
Redshirt Junior Linebacker Max U’Ren took questions from the media after the scrimmage and was asked “What is one thing that you guys have to immediately improve on to be great this season?” Without any thought or hesitation U’ren responded, “Tackling, we had too many broken tackles for explosive plays that can’t happen.”
Overall, NCCU had a clean scrimmage but showed that it had some things to improve on in the eyes of its head coach. The Eagles have another 2 weeks to prepare before they take on Alabama State at one of the biggest HBCU Football games of the year, the Orange Blossom Classic at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, in a matchup between the preseason favorites in the MEAC and SWAC.