Funny how logic usually gets upended by fate. Coaches and SID’s picked Elizabeth City State and Shaw to finish behind Fayetteville State University in this season’s CIAA preseason predictions.
And as fate would have it, ECSU and Shaw will open up this season this Saturday in a rematch of last year’s conference championship game, and in what may be the biggest game of the year in the CIAA.
Shaw was dominant on both sides of the ball in 2008, and their drumming of the Vikings in the title game was nothing pretty to watch. The Vikings have a lot of promise on defense returning, but still have questions at offensive line and receiver, which won’t bode well against a Bears defense that paced the CIAA in sacks last year with 47.
“It’s more personnel than position,” Tillar explained. “There are a couple people vying for the receiver position, seeing who is going to be the No. 2 and No. 3 receiver. We want to look at who is going to be that starting five on the offensive line. We’ve been playing musical chairs with about eight guys.”
Yikes. On the other hand, you get the feeling that the Vikings style of defense won’t let them down, and could keep them close enough to opponents for their evolving offense to have a chance to win it. ECSU led the conference in interceptions and INT returns for touchdowns, with 20 and four, respectively.
It should be a good showdown, and Lord knows the two schools need it. This game could take a lot of minds off of the Bears’ drama of playing at a high school, and the Vikings’ drama of possibly changing the name of the institution.
Technorati Tags: Elizabeth City State University, Shaw University
The Pioneer Bowl was canceled in 2008, with both conferences citing a desire to develop better planning for the event. Translation – the price wasn’t right; either for the conferences, or for the City of Columbia.
