Allexus KillianN.C. Central is now 1-1 after a crushing 41-19 loss to Elon during Saturday’s home opener leaving Eagle fans stunned.
“We had issues blocking them and creating holes for our run game,” Eagles Head Coach Trei Oliver said. “Defensively they kind of kept us on the heels with a few things, and the quarterback made some great throws, and we didn’t get off to a fast start like we wanted to.”
After NCCU’s first two drives ended with three and outs, Eagle quarterback Walker Harris threw a 39-yard pass to wide receiver Joaquin Davis at the end of the first quarter. It appeared the Eagles had gained some momentum after that play, but that drive ended with a punt.
Harris then threw the first of his three interceptions with 6:47 left in the second quarter and two more in the fourth quarter, including a pick 6.
“We had way too many turnovers. I think we had three interceptions today,” Oliver said. “You can’t play a really good football team and turn the ball over.”
By halftime, NCCU trailed 21-0 and didn’t score until running back J’Mari Taylor charged into the endzone for a 2-yard touchdown with 2:29 left in the third quarter. A failed 2-pt conversion followed making the score 24-6.
Eagle running back Chris Mosley’s 51-yard kickoff return preceded Taylor’s touchdown.
In the fourth quarter, Harris threw a dime to Davis for a 30-yard touchdown and Mosley sprinted down the field for an 80-yard touchdown run at the 2:36 mark.
Despite the loss, the Eagles had 336 total yards of offense. 155 of them were rushing yards and 181 were passing yards.
“I was pleased to see that the guys played hard and played for 60 minutes. We didn’t give up,” Oliver said. “We gotta play much better down the stretch. We gotta play much better.”
With the purpose of moving on from this game and getting better, the Eagles will travel to Chapel Hill to play North Carolina on Saturday.
“We lost one game,” Oliver said. “It hurts, but you know we have to move on and look towards next week.”
