GREENSBORO, N.C. – With the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season title on the line, North Carolina Central University knocked off nationally-ranked rival North Carolina A&T to earn a share of the conference championship for the second straight year, as the Eagles beat the Aggies 21-16 for their seventh win in-a-row.
In front of a near-capacity crowd of 18,409 inside Aggie Stadium, the visiting Eagles amassed 393 yards of total offense, including 193 yards on the ground against the No. 1 rushing defense in the nation.
Entering Saturday's contest, NC A&T, ranked 13th in the FCS coaches poll, had allowed opponents only 73.7 rushing yards per game to top the NCAA Division I-FCS. NCCU redshirt freshman running back
Dorrel McClain had 74 yards rushing in the first half, and finished with a season-high 167 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
NCCU junior quarterback
Malcolm Bell also ran for a score, while completing 14-of-28 passes for 200 yards through the air. His favorite target was junior receiver
LaVontis Smith, who caught seven passes for 123 yards, a season-best for any Eagles' receiver. Smith also ignited the NCCU faithful with a 67-yard punt return touchdown.
Senior safety
Theo Livingston enjoyed a career day to top the Eagles defense with a career-best 13 tackles (12 solo), including 3.0 hits for a loss, and a forced fumble. Junior linebacker
Jordan Miles tallied nine stops with 2.5 tackles for a loss and a forced fumble, and senior cornerback
Ryan Smith added seven takedowns and a pass break-up. Senior defensive end
Richard Mitchell only made two tackles on the afternoon, but they were big ones – both sacks – while also recovering a fumble.
Senior safety
C.J. Moore contributed seven tackles with 2.5 hits for a loss and two pass break-ups for the Eagles. Moore finished his NCCU tenure with 301 tackles to rank third on the school's career tackles list.
NCCU wraps up the 2015 season with an overall record of 8-3 and a conference mark of 7-1 to share the MEAC title with NC A&T (9-2, 7-1 MEAC) and Bethune-Cookman (9-2, 7-1). The eight victories are the most by the Eagles in their Division I era dating back to 2007.
Jerry Mack became the first head coach in NCCU history to win 15 games in his first two seasons.
