Eagles fly far from home

DURHAM -- Three years ago, as freshmen at N.C. Central, Brandon Gilbert and Alex Winters didn't have to leave the state for a football game. Saturday, the Eagles will go across the country for one.

They'll travel to San Luis Obispo, Calif., to take on Cal Poly, a four-day journey of more than 5,000 miles, round trip. That's a little different than 2005, when all 12 of the Eagles' games were played within the confines of North Carolina.

So, for Winters, this trip really stood out when he got his first look at the schedule.

"I was pretty excited," said Winters, a linebacker from Burlington. "I really didn't know too much about Cal Poly. I just knew they were a really strong team. It's my first trip to California. I'm excited to see it."

As the Eagles make the move from Division II to what used to be known as Division I-AA and is now known as FCS, the circumstances surrounding the football program are changing.

No longer can the Eagles look exclusively to their neighbors for competition. Last year, they played in Giants Stadium, which for a few players was their first trip on a plane. This year, they've been all over the place. Last Saturday's homecoming win was their first home game in eight weeks.

They've gone to Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut and South Carolina (twice) -- and now California. The bus ride to Connecticut took them through the heart of New York; this weekend's trip offers the potential for even more sightseeing.

"We've been on the road pretty much all season," said Gilbert, the Eagles' kicker. "It's exciting to get on the plane and go fly, especially to California. Most of us have never been across the country. Especially playing a good team. It gets all the guys excited."

And this isn't cushy charter travel, either, the way an ACC team would travel. The Eagles left Durham at 4:30 a.m. Thursday, flying commercial via Atlanta to Los Angeles, where a four-hour bus ride up the coast awaited.

"Any time you go across country, it's a long trip," Central coach Mose Rison said. "It's one you have to make special preparations for, because it is different. We're going to fly five hours away from here, and that's a long trip. We're having to make some adjustments, no doubt."

This is all part of Central's five-year transition to Division I, an ambitious move from a comfortable spot in the CIAA to a tenuous position at the next level while awaiting admission to the MEAC.

That could come as soon as the 2011 football season, but the MEAC sits at 12 teams (after adding Winston-Salem State) and has declared a moratorium on expansion for the moment. So for now, the Eagles are in limbo.

It's been harder on the basketball team, which went 4-26 last season while playing all but seven games on the road, as an independent. (The Eagles have 10 home games scheduled this season.)

The football team has gone from 11-1 and a second straight CIAA championship in 2006 to 6-4 a year ago to 2-6 this season as the level of competition has increased. Among Central's six losses was a visit to No. 1 James Madison; Cal Poly is ranked No. 3.

It's a long process, and not an easy one. The Eagles went from a Division II powerhouse to an FCS minnow quite literally overnight. Everything from expectations to recruiting had to be recalibrated. Travel, too.

But not all the growing pains hurt. With these loftier goals comes a broader schedule, and Saturday the Eagles will make the broadest jump yet -- all the way across the country, all expenses covered by the appearance fee Central is getting from Cal Poly.

"Everybody's looking forward to this game," Gilbert said.

Three years ago, the Eagles never left the state. Saturday, they'll be three time zones away. The distance cannot be measured in miles alone.