The Fayetteville State Broncos continue their 2022 season in a Week 8 road contest against the Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls. This is the third road game of the season and the third divisional conference game for FSU.
 
The Broncos are currently on a three-game winning streak and prepare to play consecutive road games for the first time this season following a 44-7 win at Livingstone last week. This is the 28th all-time meeting between the two schools dating back to the 1993 season. FSU is 20-7 all-time against JCS and is currently on a five-game winning streak in the head-to-head.

THE GAME: Fayetteville State University "Broncos" at Johnson C. Smith University "Golden Bulls"

THE RECORDS: Fayetteville St. (5-2 Overall, 4-1 CIAA, 2-0 Southern Division); Johnson C. Smith (2-4 Overall, 2-3 CIAA, 1-1 Southern Division)

THE KICKOFF: Saturday, October 22, 2022 - Kickoff at 1:00 pm

THE SITE: Irwin Belk Complex (4,500 Capacity / Natural Grass Field) - Charlotte, NC

MEDIA COVERAGE: TV/Video: ASPiRE TV (Scott Pryzwansky, play-by-play; Stan Lewter, color analyst) 
 
SCOUTING THE BULLS: Johnson C. Smith hosts FSU with a 2-4 overall record and is coming off a loss last Saturday to St. Augustine's (28-25). The Golden Bulls rank second in the conference in passing and are led by wide receiver Brevin Caldwell, averaging 85.8 receiving yards per game with five touchdowns. Under center, two quarterbacks have taken snaps for JCS over their first six games, with Tyrell Jackson ranking as the top thrower (100-181, 6 TD). On the defensive side, JCS is seventh in the conference with 13 sacks, 2.5 coming from senior defensive end Jamonte Gray. Sophomore linebacker Benari Black leads the team with 4.0 tackles for loss.
 
ALL-CIAA PRESEASON PLAYERS: The Broncos had four players this year named to the All-CIAA Preseason team. Second-year transfer quarterback K'Hari Lane earned the honor along with kicker Elton Andrew on the special teams unit. A pair of defensive players in junior defensive end Devin Cowan and graduate student cornerback Brandon Barnes-Brown were also named All-CIAA Preseason players. Barnes-Brown will also participate in the 2023 Reese's Senior Bowl on February 4th, 2023
 
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: The Broncos had one of the lower-scoring offenses in the CIAA over the first five weeks of the season, but have completely bucked the trend, scoring a combined 98 points in the last two games against St. Augustine's and Livingstone. The huge scoring metrics have jumped FSU from a bottom-three offense, based on PPG, to the fifth-best scoring offense in the conference at 25.1 PPG.
 
UNDER CENTER: The uptick in scoring for FSU has corresponded with a change in quarterback strategy over the last two weeks from Head Coach Richard Hayes. On the October 8th homecoming game vs. St. Augustine's. FSU used a platoon of two freshman QBs, Caden Davis and Demari Daniels, who led the Broncos to a 54-0 runaway victory. Daniels was especially impactful, throwing three touchdowns on seven passes and rushing for a score in his debut. Davis also threw for his first career touchdown in the game. Last week, upperclassman and 2021 starter K'Hari Lane also took snaps with Daniels and Davis, as the Broncos used a three-QB game plan to defeat Livingstone 44-7.
 
BARRY ELITE: Wide receiver Barry Elliot is setting FSU records in his first year with the program as a grad transfer from Charleston West Virginia. He has scored at least one touchdown in each of FSU's last four games and racked up a total of six touchdowns over the last two games (5 receiving, 1 rushing). His big game of the season came at home vs. St. Augustine's on 10/8, scoring 3 TD throw the air on 141 yards receiving. His 7 receiving touchdown in 2022 tie him with Tyeous Sharpe's season total from 2021, while his 8 total TD are the most by a Bronco since Stevie Green's 14 rushing scores in 2019.
 
BIG MAN UP FRONT: The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) named Michael Todd (SO - Lumberton, NC) as the week seven Food Lion Offensive Lineman of the Week in an announcement on Monday. It marks back-to-back weekly awards for Todd, who also received the honor following FSU's week six matchup with St. Augustine's. On Saturday at Livingstone, Michael Todd and the Fayetteville State offensive line plowed the way for the Broncos' 44-7 conference win over Livingstone. FSU had 510 yards of total offense, 21 first downs, and averaged 8.6 yards per play. The Broncos gained 309 yards on the ground and averaged 8.1 yards per carry. On third and fourth downs, FSU converted six of 11 attempts.
 
TWO-MAN WRECKING CREW: Defensive ends Devin Cowan and Cameron Merrell have led an FSU defense with the second most sacks (29) and fewest PPG (12.7) allowed in the CIAA. Cowan's 11.5 TFL leads the team while Merrell's 8.0 sacks are the tops for the Broncos.