Southern football understands the magnitude of its season opener.
Coach Terrence Graves’ team is playing the first HBCU football game of the year and is among the first FCS squads playing in Week 0.
Southern won’t be short of eyes for their game against North Carolina Central, which will air on ABC at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta.
The Jaguars are also ready to see how they fare against the No. 2 team in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference preseason poll. To come out victorious, playing sound football isn’t optional.
Southern has arguably the best player in the game in defensive end Ckelby Givens. The 6-foot-2, 245-pound senior will lead the charge in terrorizing the backfield of the opponent after leading the FCS in tackles for loss (27 ½) and finishing third in sacks (12).
Graves said that it must create a “new line of scrimmage.” The importance of competing well in the trenches on defense is heightened due to North Carolina Central returning all five of its starting offensive linemen.
“We have to schematically do things to give ourselves an advantage,” the second-year coach said. “Nothing beats experience, so we have to win the battles that we have a chance to win. When we get a one-on-one, we got to win … When we bring pressure, we gotta get there.”
North Carolina Central coach Trei Oliver said on a virtual press conference Monday that his team is prepared for Givens and the rest of the front four.
“Givens is a great, very good defensive end, very athletic, does a great job getting off the ball,” Oliver said. “He puts a lot of pressure on the tackles, but our tackles have spent a lot of time breaking him down.”
If the Eagles' offensive line can put out the fires Givens creates, they feel confident in their returning redshirt senior quarterback Walker Harris, who made the preseason MEAC first-team offense. Last year, he threw for 1,882 yards, 18 touchdowns and six interceptions, completing 61% of his passes.
“We have to make sure that we don't give him the same look twice,” Graves said.
Southern’s offense will need to be adequate as its defense tries to keep scoring drives to a minimum. The Jaguars will reveal their starting quarterback on Saturday. On Tuesday, Graves said again it’s still Woods’ job to lose, as the lone returner.
Whoever is under center, Southern will be happy with him being more of a game manager rather than dynamic in the opener.
Starting fast would be ideal for Southern, emphasizing a positive first seven minutes. Graves said he’s confident in his team’s ability to progress down the field.
“Last year, we moved the ball down the field; it was just putting the ball in the end zone that was the Achilles heel during the first part of the year,” Graves said. “But I think those guys have done a really good job of not having that problem, and I tell you, in camp, we've had a lot of explosive plays.”
Besides whoever is the lead running back for Southern, which hasn’t been officially decided, the skill player they want to involve most is wide receiver Darren Morris.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound redshirt junior is adept at vertical plays and is the leader of the position that has grown noticeably during the preseason, Graves said.
Before Southern can imagine the highlights its stars can make, it’ll need to limit self-inflicted errors and be able to make the proper mid-game changes.
“It's not going to be easy whatsoever, because, again, (Oliver) has a good football team,” Graves said. “So the challenge for us is to work hard, to be focused, to be disciplined, to be physical and to not get behind the chains, not to shoot ourselves in the foot.”