North Carolina Central University (NCCU) secured a win against Alabama State in the unofficial second MEAC/SWAC Challenge, as the Eagles and Hornets met at Orange Blossom Classic, in Miami Gardens, FL but the restored HBCU football Classic wasn’t without controversy for NCCU, even in victory. Head coach Trei Oliver expressed his frustration over an incident where he says an Alabama State player spat in the face of an NCCU player.
Trei Oliver was seen being held back from storming the field at one point during the Orange Blossom Classic and he still felt a way about it on Monday when asked what happened by Lut Williams of the Black College Sports Page.
“The kid spit in my kid’s face, and the refs don’t do anything about it,” Oliver said in frustration during the weekly MEAC coaches call. “They were quick to get on me when one of my guys used profanity, but come on, man. We don’t want our guys to use language like that, but come on man.” Oliver continued to emphasize his perceived disparity in how the game was called. “I mean come on he spit in my kid’s face and the refs don’t throw a flag… And then, you know, yeah, a lot of stuff happened throughout the game, you know, they muffed a kick off on the hash, the ball hits the returner, it goes out of bounds on the four-yard line, they tried to say we kicked the ball out of bounds. Then they make me have to replay it.”
Despite the officiating issues, Oliver was still pleased with his team’s performance in the HBCU Classic, though he noted they need to improve on tackling and maintaining leads “We didn’t tackle well at all,” Oliver admitted. “I thought we could have put the game away a lot earlier.”
NCCU prepares for its next game at home against Elon University, an FCS football clash that could have FCS playoff implications.