The 2025 MEAC/SWAC Challenge was wild — here are 5 big takeaways

The MEAC/SWAC Challenge has concluded with North Carolina Central coming out victorious, defeating Southern 31-14.

This ends a three-game losing streak for the MEAC in this series, improving the conference’s all-time record to 12-7.

Here are 5 Takeaways from the 2025 MEAC/SWAC Challenge.

1. Running wild in Atlanta

The running game was the star of the show in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, with both teams producing their biggest plays on the ground.

Both teams combined for 481 rushing yards on 65 attempts, marking the most combined rushing yards in MEAC/SWAC Challenge history.

In addition, five of the six touchdowns in the game came on the ground, the third time both teams have scored at least two rushing touchdowns in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge.

2. A Star Among Stars

Any questions about how the North Carolina Central offense would fare with All-MEAC running back J’Mari Taylor being gone were put to rest following a masterful performance by Christian Mosley.

Mosley carved up Southern for 174 rushing yards on 15 attempts, including a 49-yard touchdown run that gave the Eagles the lead for good.

Having been with the Eagles since 2022, Mosley played well with the limited touches he received, amassing 502 rushing yards on 70 attempts and scoring seven touchdowns.

This included averaging over 10 yards per carry on 24 attempts and scoring three touchdowns last season.

In his first career start, Mosley established himself as a threat to not only win the MEAC Offensive Player of the Year award, but maybe even to claim the Deacon Jones trophy.

3. Southern Quarterback Controversy

Despite the loss, Southern got an impressive performance from starting quarterback Cam’Ron McCoy, finishing with 71 passing yards on 9/14 passing and a 69-yard rushing touchdown (98 rushing yards total).

However, his great play took a backseat to the bigger story that he was not supposed to be the Jaguars’ starter in this contest.

Southern entered the game listing redshirt sophomore Jalen Woods as its starting, but to the surprise of everyone watching, it was McCoy in the game to take the first snaps.

McCoy started the game well, helping the Jaguars build a 14-10 lead. However, Southern could not keep up with North Carolina Central’s high-powered offense, only managing 91 offensive yards outside of their two touchdown plays.

This led to questions surrounding Jaguars head coach Terrance Graves’ decision to go with McCoy over Woods.

When asked about this in the postgame presser, Graves said, “We had some things that we had to deal with, and that’s why we made this decision,” with no further explanation.

4. Walker Harris quietly plays well

In a game dominated by the run game, North Carolina Central quarterback Walker Harris quietly put together a strong, efficient showing.

He completed 19-of-24 pass attempts for 183 yards and a touchdown, giving him his highest completion percentage (79%) he’s had in a game with at least 20 attempts.

Harris’ greatest asset was his ability to make quick decisions, getting the ball out of his hands before the defense could penetrate the line of scrimmage.

The Eagles’ offensive line deserves a lot of credit for Harris’ play, only surrendering one sack and no pressures to a Jaguars defense headlined by reigning SWAC Defensive Player of the Year Ckelby Givens.

5. Attendance takes a dip

The attendance figures for this year’s MEAC/SWAC Challenge were reported at 16,191, a slight dip from previous years.

This ends a three-year streak of 20,000 attendees, including a drop of over 6,000 from the previous year.

That being said, since the MEAC/SWAC Challenge was moved to Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta in 2018, attendance has only reached below 15,000 once (10,274 in 2018).

While the attendance showed a slight decline over figures from the past three years, they received a strong silver lining in this being the longest streak (6) of attendance reaching over 15,000.