WSSU Rams will have to make history another day

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  Devout Winston-Salem State football fans are very likely still feeling the nagging numbness of last weekend’s 35-7 loss to Valdosta State (Ga.) in the NCAA Division II championship game. Watching your favorite team go into out-of-sync mode in the biggest game of the year can be a hard pill to swallow.

It wouldn’t be surprising to learn there are still folks out there who are endlessly analyzing what transpired in Florence, Ala. a few days ago. From the WSSU perspective, the game certainly had its share of what ifs and would’ves and could’ves and should’ves. Nevertheless, no amount of conjecturing can erase reality.



For now, history will have to wait. Florida A&M still has bragging rights as the only black college to ever win an NCAA football championship. It’s still true that no HBCU has ever won it all in Division II football.

The outcome of Saturday’s game is not the end of the line. It’s really a continuation of a vision that Connell Maynor brought to Winston-Salem State when he assumed command as head football coach three years ago. The Rams seem to be well on their way to firmly establishing themselves as possibly the Alabama of Division II.

Maynor’s playoff resume (5-2) against the nation’s best says a lot. Keep in mind that the two losses came in the national semifinals and the national championship game in back-to-back years. You can’t come much closer to winning a national title than that.

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