Bowl season will start and end at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which hosts this season’s CFP national championship game.
The games kick off Saturday with the Celebration Bowl, which features North Carolina A&T and Grambling State playing for the black college national championship at noon. Both schools won the first two Celebration Bowls, respectively. The event has drawn 66,000 fans, and last year’s ranked as the 19th most-watched bowl of 41 games.
Here are five things to know about Saturday’s game:
1. History on the line: Either Grambling State becomes the first repeat Celebration Bowl champ, or North Carolina A&T completes the first undefeated season in MEAC history (and its third overall).
One of the teams will become the first multi-time Celebration Bowl champion. The Tigers won last year’s game, 10-9 over North Carolina Central. The Aggies won the inaugural game, 41-34 against Alcorn State, a game that showcased current Chicago Bear Tarik Cohen, who went for 295 yards and three scores.
“Not a lot of people outside our conference knew of (Cohen),” coach Rod Broadway said. “But after the game, he was national. And now he's up in Chicago doing the same things he had an opportunity to do for us.”
"I'm glad he's in Chicago," Grambling State coach Broderick Fobbs said, smiling.
The teams have met seven previous times, but the last was in 1996. Grambling holds a 4-3 all-time advantage.
2. Star quarterbacks: There's a reason these teams combined for a 22-1 record. It starts with quarterback play.
Grambling quarterback DeVante Kincade embodies what coaches want from their signal-caller. He’s posted 27 total touchdowns to three interceptions and hasn’t lost a SWAC game in two seasons as a starter.
Fobbs said it was important to get Kincade some rest after putting so much wear on his tires this season.
“We still have to put our work in, be prepared and ready to go,” Fobbs said. “We’re expecting him to be DeVante Kincade. We’re expecting him to lead our ballclub like he’s always done for the last two years. As he goes, we go. And I’ve never seen a championship team that didn’t have a great quarterback.”
North Carolina A&T’s Lamar Raynard has 26 touchdowns against five interceptions. He’s out-passed Kincade by 27 yards (2,707-2,680).
“He’s really grown,” Broadway said. “We’d seen some change last year before he’d gotten hurt. He was completing 74 percent of his passes, and we were a really good football team.”
3. Relationships abound: The teams have common ties.
Fobbs’ father coached at A&T from 2005-08. While the program was unsuccessful in that time, the family will always have a bond with the school.
“I've also been a part of North Carolina A&T, because my dad was there for a couple seasons,” Fobbs said. “That Aggie Pride, that's real. You're talking about two storied programs."
On the other side, Broadway has coached at A&T for seven seasons, but came over from Grambling. He posted a 35-12 record with three division titles in four years coaching the Tigers.
"When you think of black college football, that's what you think of," Broadway said of Grambling. "It means a lot to have coached at a place like that, where football is king. But it means a lot to coach at a place like A&T, too. We've brought this program a long way, from 0-27 to black college national champions.”
4. Fun with numbers: Whoever wins the game will have won along the lines.
The Aggies boast a strong offensive line anchored by NFL prospect Brandon Parker. They’ll face a defensive line that’s accrued 45 sacks, most in the FCS, and 97 tackles for loss (second-most in FCS). The Aggies have 35 sacks, putting them in a similar stratosphere.
On offense, the teams stack up closely. A&T puts up 36.4 points per contest against Grambling’s 32.7. The Aggies do have a larger advantage in yards per game, 429-374. But the Tigers’ key stat is a phenomenal plus-21 in the turnover margin. A&T fared well there too with a plus-16 margin.
5. The biggest honor: Both coaches made it clear: Playing in the Celebration Bowl is the best accomplishment their teams can achieve (besides winning it, of course).
“It’s an honor to be here,” Broadway said. “I spent 26 years in Division I, and every year we started with the same goal: to make a bowl game. Now our kids have an opportunity to play in a bowl game. We played in one, and last year we played in a playoff. If you ask our kids, it’s 100 percent that they’d rather be here than a playoff.”
But A&T fell short last year, battered by injury as they watched Grambling skate by their rival North Carolina Central.
“Our focus is straight ahead, not what happened last year,” Broadway said. “Our goal is this year and to try to win a national championship for North Carolina A&T.”
Fobbs echoed similar sentiments while praising the man who once held his position.
“This is the place we want to be,” Fobbs said. “This is where every school in our conference wants to end up. … I really admire coach Broadway and what he’s been able to accomplish over the years. He’s one of the pillars of black college football. It’ll definitely be a pleasure to compete against him.”
