North Carolina Central will travel to Pasadena, California to face of against the Pac-12's UCLA Bruins in a rare matchup between arguably the best team in HBCU Football and a Power 5 FBS contender. Many FBS/FCS matchups are often considered cupcake or money games as the teams get a significant payout but lose decisively to teams that appear to be either better coached or appear to have more of an abundance of talent.

We saw Eddie George's Tennessee State team be competitive against Notre Dame in Week 1 for a few snaps in the first quarter before the Fighting Irish took control of the game and won 56-3. Grambling faced off against LSU this past weekend and looked rather competitive, putting together a touchdown drive to tie the game 7-7 in the first half and getting in red zone territory again, kicking a field goal to put 10 points on the scoreboard. However, LSU regained control of the game and put up 58 unanswered points, including 28 points in the second quarter, to win 72-10. What would make this North Carolina Central matchup against a contending UCLA team any different?

There's a glaring weakness in UCLA that leaves them open to a possible upset. It's a weakness that showed itself last year multiple times and could be exploited to make this a more competitive game than many believe it could be: UCLA's troubled passing defense.

Alabama State passed over their average against UCLA last season

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwH7VMo-KH0

Unlike Notre Dame who never faced an FCS opponent or HBCU in the history of the program, or LSU who played Grambling for the first time in program history, UCLA played an HBCU last year. Alabama State headed west to the Rose Bowl for last year's Black Excellence game. The Hornets were soundly dominated by UCLA's high-powered offense, as the Bruins passed for 265 yards and rushed for 220 yards, including running the ball in 5 times for a touchdown. But, the passing yards that the Bruins gave up really stuck out to me.

UCLA allowed starting quarterback Myles Crawley, now at Grambling, to throw for 177 yards and a touchdown in the 2nd quarter. Crawley only threw one interception and was only sacked three times. Backup quarterback Nyqua Lett came in and threw a 45-yard completion before throwing an interception. In total, the three quarterbacks (including Joe Owens Jr. who completed 1 pass for 1 yard) threw for 223 yards.

It seemed as if the Hornets didn't have too much of a problem moving the ball down the field in spurts during the game, they just couldn't find the end zone or get their field goal kicker in a good position to put three points on the scoreboard. Crawley's touchdown drive was 8 plays and 60 yards and Alabama State started the game with a 10-play 53-yard drive.

If North Carolina Central can duplicate sustained drives against a Bruins defense that was 6th in the conference in 2022, giving up 403 yards on total offense and 273 passing yards, they have a great chance in this game.

Can Davius Richard lead an effective eagle passing attack?

Davius Richard is arguably the best quarterback in HBCU football. Last season, he finished the year passing 2,486 passing yards (averaged 226 passing yards per game) and on 63% completions and threw for 24 touchdowns. However, Richard's ability to run the ball is what made him a difficult opponent to scout for. Richard rushed for 691 yards and scored 13 touchdowns with his legs.

He was able to outduel former Jackson State QB Shedeur Sanders who is now attracting significant Heisman buzz with Colorado to start the season in the 2022 Celebration Bowl Richard finished the game throwing for 175 yards on 15/20 passing and one touchdown, including an early first quarter 42-yard pass caught by EJ Hicks on Travis Hunter. But, his ability to run the ball is what won the game. Richard ran for 98 yards and the game-winning touchdown in overtime that secured the game.

UCLA will test out the arm talent of Richard. UCLA gave up only 130 total rushing per game last season and held Alabama State to 87 rushing yards in their matchup. Richard's most recent game vs. North Carolina A&T last weekend saw him throw for 127 yards but no touchdowns. Richard rushing talent was on full display, as he finished the game running for 95 yards on 17 attempts and 2 touchdowns. His attempts and total rushing yards equaled that of starting running back Latrell “Mookie” Collier.

If Richard is able to take advantage of UCLA's pass defense deficiencies, who has started the year effectively passing the ball and not allowing a touchdown in their first two games vs. San Diego State and Coastal Carolina but still giving up a large amount of passing yards, this game could be winnable.

The Eagles will play UCLA on Saturday at 5 PM EST. The game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.