Make no mistake about it — Saturday night’s 66-24 dismantling of archival North Carolina A&T by North Carolina Central was personal for Trei Oliver in an HBCU FCS matchup.
Saturday night, in the bowels of O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium, Oliver recalled his first game against NC A&T as a head coach in Greensboro back in 2019.
“I am definitely pleased to see this,” Oliver said. “My first year here was the worst loss in school history. So for us to come back a couple years later for the most points they’ve ever had scored on ‘em. You know, that kind of rights the ship a little.”
That was a 54-0 loss to North Carolina A&T to close out the 2019 season in what would be its last game as a MEAC member before the HBCU left for the Big South and landed in the CAA. But North Carolina Central has now won three consecutive games over its rival, which fell to 1-3 on the season.
Oliver was asked why his team continued to throw the ball well into the fourth quarter as third-string quarterback Joshua Jones threw a touchdown pass to Aleni Mageo with less than two minutes to go.
“They should have run the ball. They threw the ball the whole fourth quarter,” Oliver said. “The quarterbacks are running the ball, getting hurt. Run the ball. Get out of here. But they want to play for 60, we can play for 60.”
“Coach (Brown) talked last year about a little school down the road, and we’ll never have whatever they have and whatever it takes,” Trei Oliver. “They can take that 66 and take it back to Greensboro.”