Inside the MEAC · preview

Delaware State is 4-0 in Dover and North Carolina Central has not won on the road

Delaware State has played four games at Alumni Stadium this season and won all four: 41-34 over Stony Brook, 21-6 over Bowie State, 33-28 over Towson and 34-0 over Franklin Pierce.

North Carolina Central has played three games away from Durham and lost all three: 42-30 at Texas Southern, 44-20 at Gardner-Webb and 42-9 at East Carolina.

Friday is in Dover. It is also the first MEAC game of the season for both of them, and nothing either team has done so far counts in the standings.

The team we picked second

In our MEAC preview in August, North Carolina Central was picked second in the conference poll with 42 points and a first-place vote. We said we would take Delaware State over them anyway.

The Eagles are 2-5. They beat Elizabeth City State and North Carolina A&T in September and have lost four in a row since, which the school says is the first four-game losing streak for the program since 2011.

The last of those was the closest. William & Mary won 17-14 in Durham on October 10, and North Carolina Central outgained them 439 to 221 and ran for 282 yards, its best rushing day of the season. The Tribe's first touchdown came on a blocked punt.

Two weeks before that, Campbell came to O'Kelly-Riddick and won 38-31. Campbell led 24-14 after the first quarter, and North Carolina Central came back to tie it at 31 before losing it in the fourth.

Who throws for North Carolina Central

In August we wrote that the quarterback job was less settled than the preseason honors suggested. Joshua Jones was the preseason all-conference quarterback, Trei Oliver had said he was fairly certain Jones would start, and then at media day Oliver said transfers Nelson Layne and Cobey Thompkins were in it too.

Layne won the job and played the first six games. He threw for 781 yards and four touchdowns and ran for two scores in the opener at Texas Southern, where he went for 116 on the ground.

He did not play against William & Mary. Jones and Thompkins split it, and Thompkins ran for 98 yards and a touchdown. This week North Carolina Central's game notes list Thompkins first on the depth chart and Jones second. Layne is not on it. The school has not said why.

Chance Peterson, the preseason MEAC Offensive Player of the Year, has 33 catches for 348 yards and one touchdown in seven games. Last year he caught passes for 134 yards against Delaware State.

Who throws for Delaware State

We asked the same question about the Hornets after homecoming and we still do not have the answer.

Ui Ale played in each of the first six games. He has thrown for 1,050 yards and four touchdowns, and he ran in the winner against Towson with 42 seconds left. He did not play against Franklin Pierce. Jayden Sauray, a senior who had five carries all season, ran for 292 yards and three touchdowns instead.

Delaware State has not said why Ale did not play. As of Wednesday night the school had not published a depth chart or game notes for this game, and North Carolina Central's own notes still describe Ale as the Hornets' quarterback.

What decides it

The run game, on both sides. Delaware State has run for 255, 174, 224, 103, 105, 29 and 419 yards this season. The 29 was the 28-3 loss at UAlbany and the 419 was the next game.

North Carolina Central's run defense has the same kind of range. Elizabeth City State managed 39 against it and North Carolina A&T managed 102. Texas Southern ran for 277 and Campbell ran for 262.

The ball. North Carolina Central has forced 16 turnovers this season and has taken it away at least once in every game. Delaware State has turned it over 11 times, six of them in one afternoon at William & Mary, and at least once in every game since the opener.

The series. North Carolina Central leads the series 23-8 and has won 10 of the last 12. Oliver is 5-1 against Delaware State. The one loss was last October in Durham, 35-26, the year Delaware State went 8-4. The last time the Eagles came to Dover, in 2024, they won 52-10.

So what happens Friday

Delaware State has alternated wins and losses all season. The Hornets have not lost at home and they have not won on the road, and this one is at home.

North Carolina Central was tied with Campbell going into the fourth quarter and outgained William & Mary by 218 yards in a three-point loss. It is also 0-3 away from Durham and has given up 42 or more in all three.

We said in August we would take Delaware State over North Carolina Central. We still would.

Kickoff is 5pm Friday at Alumni Stadium on ESPN2. Duke at Virginia follows at 7pm on ESPN, and we have a separate preview for that one.