Black Athletes in the Spotlight: HBCU Sports & Local Highlights
- Tarik Cohen game: Cohen’s 295 rushing yards and three long touchdowns showcased HBCU talent and boosted Celebration Bowl prestige.
- Jackson State upset: South Carolina State’s 31-10 win over Deion Sanders’ team proved HBCU parity and bowl unpredictability.
- Explosive A&T performance: North Carolina A&T’s 64-44 win set offensive records and highlighted dynamic playmaking.
- FAMU’s return: Florida A&M’s 2023 title win signaled their resurgence and renewed prominence in Black College football.
The 10th anniversary of the Cricket Celebration Bowl takes place on Saturday.
The game that determines the HBCU football national champion began as a risky alternative to the FCS playoffs but has become the official kickoff for college football’s bowl season.
To celebrate a decade of the Celebration Bowl, we’ve compiled a list of the game’s top 10 moments.
10. A Broadway finish ends Grambling’s repeat hopes
Grambling won the Celebration Bowl in 2016 and returned in 2017 to face North Carolina A&T, looking to win its second HBCU national championship in three years. A tight game tilted in favor of the Aggies on quarterback Lamar Raynard’s quarterback sneak with 38 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
A&T won 21-14, and head coach Rod Broadway walked off into the sunset with another trophy, as he retired following the 2017 season
9. Mr. Washington goes to Atlanta
Broadway’s replacement, Sam Washington, wasted little time in continuing A&T’s Celebration Bowl tradition, defeating Alcorn State 24-22 in a back-and-forth contest that was decided on a two-point conversion stop by the Aggies.
Washington and Broadway each won two Celebration Bowls as the head Aggie in charge.
8. The “Dynamic Duo” debuts
There are certain broadcast teams you associate with certain sports – Jim Nantz and Tony Romo for the NFL on CBS, Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith for Inside the NBA…you get the picture.
For the 2022 Celebration Bowl, ABC/ESPN debuted the tandem of play-by-play announcer Tiffany Greene (a proud FAMU Rattler) and legendary Howard quarterback Jay “Sky” Walker as the color man.
Greene and Walker have become the undisputed voices of Black College athletics, and their good-natured banter and enthusiasm in the booth make the game fun to watch or listen to.
7. Alcorn State and N.C. A&T broke the scoreboard
The fifth edition of the Celebration Bowl, believe it or not, saw a 3-0 lead for Alcorn State over North Carolina A&T.
Apparently, both teams needed that first 15 minutes to warm up as 105 combined points were scored from that point forward, a true video game numbers experience.
A&T did most of the scoring, winning their fourth – and for the moment, final – Celebration Bowl 64-44 over the Braves.
The Aggies set a game record with 574 yards of total offense, led by quarterback Kylil Carter’s 364 passing yards and six touchdowns, also Celebration Bowl records.
6. Buddy Ball takes down Prime Time
The 2021 Celebration Bowl looked like a mismatch on paper as South Carolina State, led by longtime coach Buddy Pough, won the MEAC with a 5-0 mark, but had a 7-5 overall record.
SWAC champion Jackson State, led by “Coach Prime” Deion Sanders and current Cleveland Browns starting quarterback Shedeur Sanders, came into the game with an 11-1 record and was unbeaten in conference play.
A funny thing happened on the way to that blowout people were predicting; It was South Carolina State who dominated to the tune of 31-10, winning their first Celebration Bowl and giving Coach Pough his third HBCU national championship.
5. North Carolina Central is the 1 in 12-1
Jackson State returned to the Celebration Bowl in 2022 with a perfect 12-0 record and an even more dominant team. Shedeur Sanders was in his second year at quarterback, and freshman receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter Jr. was the first five-star recruit to commit to an HBCU out of high school.
North Carolina Central had a great team itself, led by quarterback Davius Richard and running back Latrell Collier. The Eagles and Tigers traded scores, including a Sanders to Hunter connection from 19 yards out as time expired in the fourth quarter. That tied the game at 34 and led to the first overtime game in the Celebration Bowl’s history.
Richard did the honors himself on a one-yard touchdown, and that was all the scoring Central needed as a goal-line defensive stand gave the Eagles their first Celebration Bowl win.
4. It’s T.C. Time
T.C. Taylor is one of the most beloved athletes in Jackson State history, and the entire Tiger community was thrilled when he was named Deion Sanders’ replacement as football coach.
In the 2024 Celebration Bowl, Taylor defeated MEAC champion South Carolina State 28-7 to win JSU’s first Celebration Bowl in three tries.
The game was never in doubt, leading to a long celebration for one of Jackson State’s favorite sons.
3. North Carolina Central loses a helmet and the Celebration Bowl
The second-ever Celebration Bowl was a low-scoring affair that ended with one of the most unfortunate finishes in recent memory.
Trailing SWAC champion Grambling 10-3 late in the fourth, North Carolina Central was in position to tie thanks to a 39-yard touchdown pass from Malcolm Bell to Quentin Atkinson.
An exuberant Atkinson removed his helmet to celebrate while still technically in the field of play, an automatic unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
That 15-yard penalty cost the Eagles big as the tying kick was blocked, and the Tigers held on to become the first SWAC team to win a Celebration Bowl.
2. The Rattlers return to the top
Florida A&M moved to the SWAC just before the pandemic, and after a 9-win 2021 season (which included an FCS playoff appearance), the Rattlers were focused on winning a national championship in 2023.
They finally were able to defeat Jackson State for the SWAC East crown and rolled to a 35-14 win over SWAC West champ Prairie View to get to Atlanta.
Standing on the other side was an old MEAC rival, the Howard University Bison, winners of their first outright conference title since 1993.
The game did not disappoint as FAMU and Howard punched and counterpunched until the Rattlers finally nailed the knockout blow with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Jeremy Moussa to Jah’Marae Sheread in the fourth quarter.
Finally, Florida A&M returned to the top of Black College Football after a long wait.
1. The Tarik Cohen game
The North Carolina A&T do-everything running back played himself into heavy NFL attention with a memorable performance in the first-ever Celebration Bowl.
Cohen rushed for 295 yards (still a Celebration Bowl record) on 22 carries and three touchdowns; scoring runs of 74, 83, and 73 yards as the Aggies edged Alcorn State 41-34.
Cohen’s virtuoso performance and subsequent NFL career served as the prime example of the tradition and talent that make up HBCU football. When given the chance, Black College players have shown they can compete at the highest level.
That is what makes the Celebration Bowl so important and a must-watch and support event for the HBCU community.
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