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ATLANTA – The HBCU National Championship is at stake Saturday when the Alcorn State University football program clashes with North Carolina A&T in the 2019 Celebration Bowl at 11 a.m. (CT) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The game will be nationally televised on ABC. Mark Jones, Dusty Dvoracek and Jay Walker are on the call, with Roddy Jones and Tiffany Greene on the sidelines. It can also be heard on 91.7 FM or wprl.org with Charles Edmond on the call.
Alcorn (9-3, 6-1 SWAC) is playing for its sixth HBCU Championship in school history and the first since 2014. The Braves have won four SWAC Championships in the last six years, are the two-time reigning SWAC Champions and six-time defending SWAC East Division champions.
Alcorn earned its 2019 bid after defeating Southern 39-24 in the SWAC Championship. The Braves outscored the Jaguars 23-7 in the fourth quarter, including the final 17 points of the game.
The Braves are coached by
Fred McNair, who won his second straight SWAC Coach of the Year award this season. He carries a 30-18 record in four years, and 22-8 against the SWAC.
Junior Felix "Triggerman" Harper, the SWAC Offensive Player of the Year, has thrown for 2,613 yards, 30 touchdowns and just eight interceptions this season. He took over as the starter after senior
Noah Johnson, the SWAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, went down with an injury in the third game at McNeese State. Harper is one of four finalists for the HBCU Player of the Year award.
Senior wide receiver
LeCharles Pringle was named the SWAC Championship Offensive MVP. He hauled in a career-high 145 yards and a touchdown against the Jaguars. Pringle has tied the school's all-time record for touchdown catches in a season with 14, which also ranks third in the FCS. It matched Tim McNair Sr.'s mark set in 1994 with Steve McNair at quarterback.
The SWAC Championship Defensive MVP went to junior defensive back
Juwan Taylor. He matched his career-high with 11 tackles and also tallied an interception, forced fumble and tackle for a loss. Taylor is second on the team in tackles this year with 80.
The Braves landed six All-Conference selections and four HBCU All-Americans. On both the HBCU All-America and SWAC All-Conference First-Team were Harper, senior linebacker
Solomon Muhammad, senior offensive lineman
Michael Ajumobi and junior defensive back Qwynnterio Cole. Included on the All-Conference Second-Team were senior offensive lineman
Kevin Hall and senior punter
Corey McCullough.
Alcorn leads the FCS in both interceptions (21) and turnovers gained (34). In the SWAC Championship, the Braves forced six turnovers including three interceptions. Additionally, Alcorn ranks third in the FCS in both red zone defense (.650) and fourth down conversion percentage (.800).
In addition to those categories, Alcorn led the SWAC in scoring defense (19.7 ppg) and total defense (328.5 ypg).
Senior
Chris Blair ranks top-five in the nation in yards per reception (21.1). The big-play threat is the team's leading receiver with 781 yards on the year and has hauled in six touchdowns. Fellow senior
Raidarious Anderson also ranks top-15 in the country in yards per reception (19.8).
North Carolina A&T (8-3, 6-2 MEAC) is paced by one of the top running backs in the nation Jah-Maine Martin. He ranks third in the country in rushing yards per game (121.5) and first in yards per carry (7.8). He broke the school's single-season record for rushing touchdowns with 21, previously held by Tarik Cohen from the Chicago Bears.
The Aggies also rep one of the top defenses in FCS, limiting the opposition to just 18.6 points and 270.1 yards per game. Five NC A&T student-athletes made the All-MEAC Second-Team on defense.
At quarterback is Kylil Carter. He's throw for 1,856 yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions this year. Carter is also a threat on the ground and is second on the team in rushing with 483 yards.
Saturday marks a rematch from last year's Celebration Bowl. In that game, the Braves nearly erased a 17-3 deficit, but the comeback fell just short 24-22.
NOTES
- Alcorn is ranked No. 1 in the national HBCU Coaches Poll, by BOXTOROW. NC A&T is No. 2.
- The Braves have outscored the opposition 99-51 in the fourth quarter this year. It came after they outscored the opposition 102-42 in the fourth quarter in 2018.
- Alcorn has won 21 straight games when leading at halftime.
- The Braves are playing for their second 10-win season in school history. They were 10-3 in 2014.
- Harper ranks sixth in the country in passing efficiency (163.9), seventh in points responsible for (18.7 ppg), eighth in yards per completion (14.6 ypg) and top-10 in passing touchdowns (30).
- Muhammad, a STATS FCS Third-Team All-American, is the team's leading tackler with 81 on the year. He also has 9.5 tackles for a loss, 2.0 sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
- Cole leads the defense with five interceptions on the year and is third in tackles with 78. His 0.4 interceptions per game ranks 13th in the FCS.
- The Braves continued their dominance over the league. They are 18-2 against the SWAC East Division over the last five seasons and were a perfect 4-0 this year. The Braves have won eight of their last nine games against SWAC West Division opponents.
- As a team, Alcorn has won 12 SWAC Player of the Week awards this year. Harper has won SWAC Offensive Player of the Week three times, while McCullough has won SWAC Special Teams Player of the Week three times. Muhammad has won SWAC Defensive Player of the Week twice, Taylor once and junior
Malik Holbert once. Freshman
Niko Duffey won SWAC Newcomer of the Week twice.
- Duffey, a HERO Sports Freshman All-American, is the team's leading rusher with 790 yards and six touchdowns. He and senior
De'Shawn Waller have flip-flopped in the starting running back role due to injuries to both student-athletes. Both of them played in the SWAC Championship and combined for 115 yards and a touchdown.
- McCullough, the kicker and punter, is the all-time leader in field goals made in school history with 44. He broke the record in the season-opener with a 44-yarder at Southern Miss. McCullough made the go-ahead field goal, a 23-yarder, in the SWAC Championship to put Alcorn up 25-24.
- Senior
Darrell Henderson has been a Team Captain in all 12 games this year. As the leader of the defense, he's wrapped-up 41 tackles and 8.0 tackles for a loss.
- Alcorn is the only institution to ever host a SWAC Championship, and did so for the second year in a row.
- The Braves posted their first 7-0 home season in Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium history. It was their fifth undefeated home season in the stadium and first since 2002. Alcorn will carry-over a 10-game home winning-streak into next season, which is the fifth-longest active streak in FCS. Alcorn is 86-53 all-time at the stadium in 28 seasons.
- The Braves announced their 2020 schedule. It includes non-conference games against Auburn, Fort Valley State and Virginia-Lynchburg. The SWAC will play an eight-game conference schedule.
Quoting SWAC Coach of the Year Fred McNair
On what it means to play in the Celebration Bowl
"It means a lot. The school gets so much recognition just by coming here with all the publicity and the nationally televised game. Alcorn will receive so much just by playing in this ball game and it has a lot of effects. It helps with recruiting and helps the University with enrollment numbers. It's a recruiting tool for both the school and the football team. It also means a lot to the players – this is where they want to be, on a big stage like this. So, it means a lot to everyone."
On the team's preparation for the Celebration Bowl
"The biggest thing I always tell the kids every week is to come in and compete for a full 60 minutes. I think these guys are prepared to do that from the way they've been practicing this whole year and we're excited about playing. Our intention is to come and win the football game, that's the ultimate goal. I told them that this is a business trip so I think their mindsets are to be set to play a really tough football team. It's going to be competitive and we're just going to come out and fight to try to win this ballgame."
On Felix Harper
"This will be his first time starting a bowl game and he's done a great job throughout this whole season. He's fought through adversity and has played the game the way it's supposed to be played. He's been very humble, nothing ever bothers him and he leads by example. This game will be a homecoming for him since he's from Georgia. It's going to be a hard-fought ball game and we'll need to execute and play at a high level."
On Atlanta hosting the Celebration Bowl
"The preparation for hosting this game in Atlanta is phenomenal. I think Mr. [John] Grant does a great job of promoting it with his guys and just being able to play here in Atlanta and the venue that they have here is phenomenal. It's been great for the kids and there's been a lot of excitement the whole week up to game day."
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