Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl: Alcorn State Braves vs. North Carolina A&T Aggies
Date: Dec. 19, Noon ET on ABC
Location: Atlanta | Georgia Dome
Alcorn State and North Carolina A&T: not the typical teams we see in bowl games, in fact they are not even FBS schools.
That’s right, the Air Force Reserve has partnered with the Celebration Bowl to bring the champions of the MEAC (North Carolina A&T) and SWAC (Alcorn State) together for a bowl game.
The game is being played to celebrate historically black schools in college football, and will continue to be played each of the next six years. It will kick off the bowl season this Saturday at Noon EST on ABC.
This means that the conferences by could not participate in the FCS 24-team playoff bracket.
That is just one of the FCS rules regarding post season play. Another rule includes that conferences can not have a championship game or they will forfeit their bid to the playoffs. Since the SWAC had already forfeited their bid, they were able to host a Conference Championship game.
Celebration Bowl Preview: North Carolina A&T vs. Alcorn State
Alcorn State
A conference championship game is a big reason Alcorn State found it’s way into the postseason in 2015. The Braves lost 35-34 in overtime against Grambling (went 9-0 in conference play) from the other division. That set up a championship matchup between the two teams in which Alcorn State pulled away and won by a margin of 49-21.
Another big factor on Alcorn State’s season is quarterback Lenorris Footman. The scrambling quarterback got the starting nod in the SWAC Championship after regular QB John Gibbs Jr. – an all conference player – was injured in late October. The sophomore Footman has taken over ever since, throwing for 12 touchdowns, and running for 11.
The question remains however who will get the start for Alcorn? Although, it does not seem like the Braves could go wrong with either of the two.
The one constant Alcorn State has going for itself is their weapon at running back, Darryan Ragsdale, who has taken off for 1,144 yards this season, averaging 8.2 yards per carry.
North Carolina A&T
NCA&T has a much different approach than Alcorn State, however. The Aggies use a shifty running back in Tarik Cohen to weave in and out on the ground game. Cohen rushed for 1,248 yards, but only averaged 5.2 per carry. That’s been the Aggies’ kryptonite in 2015 – Cohen being limited in a game and not having as good of a receiving group to fall back on.
Cohen posted 242 rushing attempts this season, so saying they pound the rock is an understatement.
Quarterback Lamar Raynard has thrown for just seven touchdowns, further exemplifying the heavily favored ground game for NCA&T.
What to Expect
Alcorn State will be one week fresher coming out of their conference championship game and they are leaning on a hot streak. However, the Braves’ defense will have to contain Tarik Cohen, if they want to pull away.
Alcorn State gets the win in, what to most fans, will be a surprising kickoff to the 2015 bowl season.
Score Prediction: Alcorn State 35, North Carolina A&T 24
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