By Roscoe Nance
In this era of spread offenses and wide open attacks, a number of college football teams seemingly give a wink and nod to their defensive units.
You won't find any of those teams in MEAC, however.
Defensive football is a way of life in the MEAC. Eight of its nine teams are ranked in the top 30 of at least one defensive category of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) statistics.
"We play some great defense in this conference,'' says North Carolina A&T coach Alonzo Lee, who for many years was widely recognized as one of the top defensive minds in the MEAC before he took over the Aggies this season. "Everybody is stepping up. You to have bring your A game every week. If you don't, you can get your face kicked in. That speaks highly of the conference and where we're going.''
Half of the conference members - No. 5 Norfolk State (243.5), No. 18 South Carolina State (277.0), No. 19 North Carolina A&T (278.0), No. 20 Bethune-Cookman (279.8) and No. 30 Hampton (301.3) - are in the top 30 in total defense. Florida A&M (304.0) isn't far behind at No. 31.
"That says this that this is not a run-and-gun conference where you're going to outscore opponents week in and week out,'' Morgan State coach Donald Hill-Eley says.
Hill-Eley's Bears lead the MEAC in scoring defense, allowing just 14.3 points a game - ninth-best in the FCS - while allowing just 11 touchdowns in six games. Only seven teams have allowed opponents to get into the end zone less often.
No. 17 North Carolina A&T (17.5), No. 26 Norfolk State (18.5) and No. 27 South Carolina State (18.6) also allow fewer than 20 points a game.
Hill-Eley says the steady diet of strong defenses that MEAC teams face tends to make coaches cautious - not necessarily conservative. They realize points are likely to be at a premium and try to avoid giving opponents easy scores.
"It's all about patience,'' Hill-Eley says. "If 14 points wins the game, you take it.''
Perhaps the conference's most impressive showing is in pass defense. Seven MEAC members allow fewer than 175 yards a game through the air. Morgan State leads the group at 119.5 yards a game, which is tops in the FCS.
"With all the spread offenses that teams are using and to still have that many ranked so high is phenomenal,'' says former South Carolina State and Howard University coach Willie Jeffries, who is a member of the MEAC Hall of Fame. "It goes back to what I've said all along. Coaching is getting better. We don't want to say this because of lack of offense. Coaching has improved all around.''
MEAC schools have had some of the most dominant defensive performances in the FCS this season.
- South Carolina State held Bethune-Cookman to 14 yards on 34 rushes.
- Norfolk State held Bethune-Cookman to 27 yards on 34 rushes.
- North Carolina A&T held Winston-Salem State 90 total yards.
- South Carolina State held Florida A&M to 35 yards on 25 rushes.
- Norfolk State held Virginia State to 40 yards on 26 rushes.
Howard coach Carey Bailey was a defensive lineman for Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference and has been an assistant at schools in the Big 12, Big Ten and Big East Conferences. He says there is little difference in the caliber of defense that teams in the bigger name conferences and the caliber that MEAC teams play. He says those teams have a size edge on MEAC teams along the defensive line. Beyond that, Bailey says, they are just about equal.
"One thing you have in this conference is outstanding skill personnel,'' Bailey says. "From the linebackers on back you have good skill. Only few have Division I fronts. (MEAC) Coaches do a great job understanding talent. Other places have great skill but they don't necessarily understand talent, but they are able to overcome that and win.
Coaches in this conference are very capable and very sharp. They understand the game and do a good job of putting kids in good position.''
To Bailey's point, Morgan State linebacker George "Hit Man'' Howard leads the FCS in solo tackles (.7.7 a game) and is second in total tackles (14.0). South Carolina State linebacker David Erby is 13th in solo tackles (5.8). Terrell Whitehead of Norfolk State is among the premier free safeties in the FCS. Whitehead, who has two interceptions and 37 total tackles, is on the watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award, which goes to the top defensive player in the FCS.
