Plauderkasten^^ » thought about his big day.ZAYS BIG DAYEast Carol

(STATS) -- North Carolina A&T and North Carolina Central have shared the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title in each of the past two seasons. On Saturday, one of them will be the outright champion.The ninth-ranked Aggies make the short 55-mile trip from Greensboro to take on the No. 24 Eagles in Durham in a winner-take-all season finale with a trip to the Celebration Bowl on the line.North Carolina A&T (9-1) has won all seven of its conference games following its only loss, 58-21 at FBS member Tulsa on Sept. 17. North Carolina Central (8-2) is also unbeaten in seven MEAC contests and has won eight in a row overall, leading to the program entering the STATS FCS Top 25 for the first time Monday.That means there can be only one MEAC champion after the Aggies and Eagles were part of a five-way tie in 2014 before both shared the title with Bethune-Cookman last season. North Carolina A&T won the tiebreaker in 2015 and went on to beat Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Alcorn State 41-34 in the inaugural Celebration Bowl.The Eagles have won the past two meetings in this series -- both in the season finale -- to earn a share of the MEAC title.Its going to be a big one, said North Carolina A&Ts Rod Broadway, a finalist for the STATS Eddie Robinson Award as FCS Coach of the Year. Were going up against a 7-0 team and theyre our biggest rival. We have to be better prepared to play well.The Eagles have managed to beat the Aggies twice in a row despite Tarik Cohen combining for 315 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Cohen, a finalist for the STATS FCS Walter Payton Award as Offensive Player of the Year, is second in the FCS with 1,436 yards and 17 TDs on the ground.The senior recorded his fourth 200-yard game of the season last Saturday, rushing 13 times for 221 yards -- an average of 17 per carry -- and two scores in North Carolina A&Ts 45-14 win at Delaware State.North Carolina Central does most of its damage through the air. The Eagles lead the MEAC with 225 passing yards per game behind redshirt senior Malcolm Bell, who tops the league with 2,007 yards and 15 passing TDs and is tied for second with seven rushing scores.North Carolina A&T also has a star quarterback in redshirt sophomore Lamar Raynard, who ranks first in the MEAC in completion percentage (64.6) and pass efficiency (140.8 rating) and second behind Bell in passing TDs (14).Both squads have solid receiving corps. The Aggies are led by senior Denzel Keyes and freshman Elijah Bell, who have combined for 15 TD catches, while senior LaVontis Smith and sophomore Jalen Wilkes have five each for the Eagles.I think everybodys getting what they always wanted, theyre gonna get an outright champion this year, said North Carolina Central coach and Eddie Robinson Award finalist Jerry Mack. Everythings on the table and we want to be greedy this year. We want to have a chance to take an outright championship and go to a bowl game, so its right there before us. Jimmy Butler Heat Jersey . 9. Price, heading to the 2014 Olympics for Canada, was named the First Star after posting wins in three starts with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .971 save percentage. 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Three minutes after the break, a simple through pass from Paulinho freed Oscar and the Chelsea star rounded goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong to extend Brazils lead. COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina `s defense accepted coach Will Muschamps challenge and his freshman quarterback made his coachs decision to start him look good as the Gamecocks beat East Carolina 20-15 on Saturday.After last weeks loss, Muschamp said he had to find players who could tackle. His defense did him even better, picking off a pass and recovering a fumble in its own end zone and had another interception at the Gamecocks 1. The Pirates only scored on two of six trips into the red zone and didnt have a play longer than 28 yards.All that was enough to take the pressure off Brandon McIlwain in his first start. It wont be his last. Muschamp is turning the Gamecocks (2-1) over to the freshman.Hes got a lot of poise about him, said Muschamp, who decided it was McIlwains time after the Gamecocks offense looked listless in a 27-14 loss to Mississippi State last week. Hes got a lot of the `it factor you look for at that position.McIlwain ran for 34 yards and two touchdowns and was 16-for-28 for 195 yards passing.And dont go telling Muschamp how East Carolina (2-1) gained 519 yards to South Carolinas 312 yards or how Zay Jones caught 22 passes for the Pirates, setting a school record and finishing just one reception away from the Football Bowl Subdivision record.I dont look at the stat sheet and see how many yards they have. I only care about the score, said Muschamp, emphasizing what he thought were even more important statistics for Jones -- the senior had 190 yards receiving and his longest catch was for 15 yards.The Pirates turned the ball over four times and, after committing just seven penalties in their first two games, committed eight penalties Saturday.What I saw in this game is too many penalties. What I saw was too many turnovers. I saw a team that outgained another and a defense that outplayed the other defense. We didnt pull it through at the end, East Carolina coach Scottie Montgomery said.THE TAKEAWAYEAST CAROLINA: The Pirates have no one to blame but themselves. They allowed a South Carolina team that hadnt scored a point in the first half in its first two games to jump too a 17-0 lead after an 80-yard kickoff return by A.ddddddddddddJ. Turner to set up the game-opening score and an 84-yard drive on the Gamecocks second possession. Philip Nelson was 44-for-58 for 400 yards, but South Carolina had four sacks as he sometimes stayed in the pocket too long.We dont look at moral victories. Were going back to work, said Montgomery, hired at the end of last season.SOUTH CAROLINA: McIlwain looked like a freshman at times with several underthrows and overthrows. But he put two passes in just the right spots on a key fourth-quarter drive that ended with a 39-yard field goal from Elliot Fry -- South Carolinas only points in the final 52 minutes of the game. The freshman also made a key choice, pitching to David Williams on a fourth-and-1 option that sealed the win.Muschamp isnt letting his freshman quarterback talk to the media, so we dont know what he thought about his big day.ZAYS BIG DAYEast Carolina lined Jones up all over the field and he got open wherever he was. But after the game, he said he had no idea how many catches he had or how close to the record he was. Instead, he couldnt believe all the chances his team blew.It hurts to put great drives together and you get to where the money is and you cant cash it in, Jones said.Jones came into the game needing 130 catches to break East Carolinas career record held by Justin Hardy. That seems more likely to be obtainable after Saturdays performance.UP NEXTEAST CAROLINA: The Pirates finish a run of three straight games against Power 5 opponents by traveling to Virginia Tech. East Carolina has beaten the Hokies the past two years and Montgomery expects his team to shake off this loss quickly.We dont look at moral victories. Were going back to work, said Montgomery, hired at the end of last season.SOUTH CAROLINA: The Gamecocks play at Kentucky. Its likely the loser ends up near the bottom of the Southeastern Conferences Eastern Division.---AP college football website: collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '