2018 North Carolina Central Eagles football team

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2018 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 12 North Carolina A&T $		6	–	1					9	–	2
Bethune–Cookman		5	–	2					7	–	5
Florida A&M		5	–	2					6	–	5
South Carolina State		4	–	3					5	–	6
Howard		4	–	3					4	–	6
North Carolina Central		3	–	4					5	–	6
Morgan State		3	–	4					4	–	7
Norfolk State		2	–	5					4	–	7
Delaware State		2	–	5					3	–	8
Savannah State		1	–	6					2	–	8
$ – Conference champion Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2018 North Carolina Central Eagles football team represents North Carolina Central University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They are led by first-year interim head coach Granville Eastman. The Eagles play their home games at O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium. They are a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).

Previous season

The Eagles finished the 2017 season 7–4, 5–3 in MEAC play to finish in a tie for fourth place.

On December 8, head coach Jerry Mack resigned to become the offensive coordinator at Rice. He finished at North Carolina Central with a four-year record of 31–15.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Award	Player	Position	Year
Buck Buchanan Award	Davanta Reynolds	S	SR

MEAC preseason poll

In a vote of the MEAC head coaches and sports information directors, the Eagles were picked to finish in third place.

Predicted finish	Team
1	North Carolina A&T
2	Howard
3	North Carolina Central
4	Bethune–Cookman
5	Florida A&M
6	Norfolk State
7	South Carolina State
8	Savannah State
9	Morgan State
10	Delaware State

Preseason All-MEAC Teams

The Eagles had nine players selected to the preseason all-MEAC teams. Defensive back Davanta Reynolds was selected as the preseason defensive player of the year.

Offense

1st team

Isaiah Totten – RB

Nick Leverett – OL

2nd team

Josh McCoy – TE

Andrew Dale – OL

3rd team

Xavier McKoy – WR

Defense

1st team

Kawuan Cox – DL

Davanta Reynolds – DB

2nd team

Randy Anyanwu – DL

3rd team

De'Mario Evans – DB

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	12:00 p.m.	vs. Prairie View A&M*	Georgia State Stadium Atlanta, GA (MEAC/SWAC Challenge)	ESPN2	L 24–40	10,274
September 8	6:00 p.m.	Saint Augustine's*	O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC	NSN	W 51–14	6,142
September 22	3:30 p.m.	at Duke*	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	ACCN Extra	L 13–55	30,477
September 29	4:00 p.m.	Florida A&M	O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC	ESPN3	L 14-55	8,451
October 6	2:00 p.m.	Howard	O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC	ESPN3	W 40-35	6,702
October 20	2:00 p.m.	at Norfolk State	William "Dick" Price Stadium Norfolk, VA
October 27	2:00 p.m.	at Delaware State	Alumni Stadium Dover, DE
November 3	2:00 p.m.	Edward Waters*	O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC
November 10	4:00 p.m.	at Bethune–Cookman	Daytona Stadium Daytona Beach, FL
November 17	2:00 p.m.	North Carolina A&T	O'Kelly–Riddick Stadium Durham, NC (rivalry)
November 24		at South Carolina State	Oliver C. Dawson Stadium Orangeburg, SC
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

vs Prairie View A&M

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	20	3	3	14	40
Eagles	0	7	14	3	24

See also: 2018 Prairie View A&M Panthers football team and MEAC/SWAC Challenge

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Saint Augustine's

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	0	7	0	7	14
Eagles	14	9	14	14	51

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
26–0–1	2016	NCCU, 65–7

at Duke

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	7	6	0	0	13
Blue Devils	20	7	21	7	55

See also: 2018 Duke Blue Devils football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–6	2017	DUKE, 60–7

Florida A&M

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rattlers	24	17	7	7	55
Eagles	7	0	7	0	14

See also: 2018 Florida A&M Rattlers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–7–1	2017	NCCU, 21–14

Howard

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bison	5	14	7	9	35
Eagles	7	17	7	9	40

See also: 2018 Howard Bison football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
12–9–1	2017	NCCU, 13–7

at Norfolk State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles					0
Spartans					0

See also: 2018 Norfolk State Spartans football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–6	2017	NSU, 28–21

at Delaware State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles					0
Hornets					0

See also: 2018 Delaware State Hornets football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
18–6	2017	NCCU, 42–14

Edward Waters

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers					0
Eagles					0

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–0	2010	NCCU, 20–7

at Bethune–Cookman

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles					0
Wildcats					0

See also: 2018 Bethune–Cookman Wildcats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–7	2017	BCU, 13–10

North Carolina A&T

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies					0
Eagles					0

See also: 2018 North Carolina A&T Aggies football team and North Carolina A&T–North Carolina Central rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
33–49–5	2017	NCAT, 24–10

at South Carolina State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles					0
Bulldogs					0

See also: 2018 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
11–13	2017	NCCU, 33–28

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV	—	—	—
Coaches	—	—	—	—