Ricorian Brown, a Freshman, Just Saved South Carolina State's Perfect Run

South Carolina State’s season was 74 yards from trouble.

Howard had just tied the game at 28 with 1:31 left on Thursday night in Washington — a 51-yard strike from Isaiah Freeman to CJ Neely that finished a comeback from 14 points down and had Greene Stadium believing. The Bulldogs are the defending HBCU national champions, ranked No. 24 in the FCS, and unbeaten in the MEAC. All of that was sitting on one drive.

The freshman handled it. Ricorian Brown capped a seven-play, 74-yard march that took just 65 seconds, scoring from nine yards out with 17 seconds left to give South Carolina State a 35–28 win — its 13th straight victory in MEAC play.

Brown’s night was the game. He ran 15 times for a season-high 143 yards, averaged 9.5 yards a carry, and scored both of his touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The first, also from nine yards with 10:21 remaining, finished a 90-yard drive he had cracked open himself with a 64-yard run. He added two catches for 22 yards and finished with 165 all-purpose yards. South Carolina State piled up 479 yards of offense, went 6-for-6 in the red zone, and did not turn the ball over.

It should not have needed saving. The Bulldogs led 21–7 at halftime behind two Jett Jackson field goals, a 14-yard touchdown pass from Keely Watson to Jahzae Kimbrough, and a 3-yard scoring run from Ronnie Robinson. Watson was clean all night — 21 of 29 for 241 yards, a touchdown, no interceptions. But Freeman threw two third-quarter touchdown passes to Antonio Hunter to tie it at 21, and after Brown’s first score, Freeman and Neely tied it again. Howard outplayed the champions for most of the second half. It just left 91 seconds on the clock, and Brown only needed 65 of them.

The MEAC has no title game — Nov. 14 is the title game

The MEAC crowns its champion in the standings, not in a championship game, which makes the head-to-head games the whole season. South Carolina State is 3–0 in the league and 8–2 overall, and both of its remaining conference games are at home in Orangeburg: North Carolina Central on Nov. 14 and Delaware State on Nov. 21.

North Carolina Central is the one team still level with the Bulldogs — 2–0 in the MEAC, and coming off a 34–0 shutout of this same Howard team. The Eagles play at Norfolk State on Saturday (noon ET, ESPN+). Win, and Nov. 14 in Orangeburg is for the Celebration Bowl berth. Lose, and South Carolina State can start packing for Atlanta.

Saturday decides the other half

The SWAC side of Atlanta runs through Prairie View, Texas, on Saturday.

Alabama A&M — 7–2, leading the SWAC East at 4–1 — visits defending SWAC champion Prairie View A&M at 3 p.m. ET on SWAC TV. The Bulldogs took the East lead by winning the Magic City Classic, 31–28 over Alabama State on Oct. 31 — their first win in the rivalry since 2021. Prairie View, 4–5 but tied atop the West at 3–2, has won two straight and had last week off to get ready.

The quarterbacks explain the matchup. Alabama A&M’s Cornelious Brown IV has thrown for 2,374 yards and 23 touchdowns against five interceptions, and the Bulldogs average 478 yards and 39.1 points a game — sixth in the FCS. Prairie View’s Tevin Carter is the counter: 1,516 passing yards and 13 touchdowns, and four total scores the last time the Panthers played a game this big, the 41–38 win over Alcorn State.

The coaches have met with a season on the line before. In the 2024 Division II playoffs, Tremaine Jackson’s Valdosta State beat Sam Shade’s Miles College team 33–17. Shade then built Alabama A&M into the East leader in two years; Jackson won the SWAC title in his first year at Prairie View. Saturday, one of them takes a real step toward the Dec. 5 SWAC Championship Game (2 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

The numbers people who simulate this race like the symmetry. The Nov. 4 Toyota Championship Projections give South Carolina State a 75.97% chance to win the MEAC and Alabama A&M a 64.02% chance to win the SWAC — and a 48.79% chance the two Bulldog programs meet in the Cricket Celebration Bowl, the highest of any pairing in the model. Alabama A&M was picked to finish fifth in its own division in the preseason. Both schools are nicknamed the Bulldogs. Atlanta would not mind the confusion.

The Celebration Bowl itself is set: Saturday, Dec. 12, noon ET, Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, on ABC — the MEAC champion against the SWAC champion for the HBCU national championship. South Carolina State took care of its half on Thursday night. Saturday tells us how close the other half is.

One more win-and-in, in Division II

The SIAC settles its own race Saturday in Columbia. Benedict (8–1, 6–1 SIAC) hosts Central State (6–3, 6–1) at 2 p.m. ET at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium, and the winner goes to the SIAC Championship Game on Nov. 14. Benedict owns the conference’s best scoring defense and its first shutout of the season, a 23–0 blanking of Savannah State last week. Central State beat Edward Waters 35–28 to set this up. Kentucky State, the third 6–1 team, hosts Morehouse and waits on the result.

Saturday’s HBCU watch list

• North Carolina Central at Norfolk State — 12:00 p.m. ET, ESPN+
• Central State at Benedict — 2:00 p.m. ET, Charlie W. Johnson Stadium, Columbia, S.C.
• Alabama A&M at Prairie View A&M — 3:00 p.m. ET, SWAC TV