Press Conference Video:  http://youtu.be/M9oIPrx8Qg8

Complete Game Notes 

THE GAME
North Carolina Central University "Eagles" vs. Duke University "Blue Devils"

THE KICKOFF
Saturday, August 31, 2013 – Kickoff at 4:00 p.m.

THE SITE
Wallace Wade Stadium (33,941 capacity/Natural Grass) - Durham, N.C.

THE RECORDS
N.C. Central (0-0 overall, 0-0 MEAC); Duke (0-0 overall, 0-0 ACC)

MEDIA COVERAGE
Audio: NCCU Sports Network mobile app (iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android, Kindle Fire HD); "GameCentral" at NCCUEaglePride.com (audio internet stream); Satellite radio: XM 190/Sirius 110. Broadcast starts at 3:30 p.m. (Chris Hooks, play-by-play; Joe Simmons, color analyst; Anthony Sharp, sideline reporter)
Video: ESPN3 (http://es.pn/NCCUvsDUKE) #NCCUvsDUKE

QUICK HITS
• Saturday will be the third meeting between Durham foes NCCU and Duke.
• NCCU's projected starting quarterback Jordan Reid performed well off the bench in last year's game against Duke, earning the starting job the rest of the season and breaking the NCCU single-season record for pass completion percentage (62.3%).
• Both NCCU and Duke are coming off notable seasons, with the Eagles posting their first winning season since 2007 and the Blue Devils playing in their first bowl game since 1994.
• NCCU has three student-athletes from Durham that are expected to suit up against hometown opponent Duke on Saturday: Zachary Giles (Hillside H.S.), Micah Martin (Southern H.S.) and Jeremy Thompson (Southern H.S.).
• NCCU and Duke cross country teams will start Saturday's dual meet inside Wallace Wade Stadium at approximately 3:45 p.m., 15 minutes prior to the kickoff of the football game.

THE SERIES
This will be the third meeting between the Eagles of NCCU and the Blue Devils of Duke University. Duke leads the series 2-0 after a 49-14 win on Sept. 26, 2009 and a 54-17 victory on Sept. 15, 2012, both played inside Wallace Wade Stadium.

NCCU EAGLES NO STRANGERS TO WALLACE WADE STADUIM
Durham neighbors North Carolina Central University and Duke University will meet on the gridiron for just the third time on Saturday inside Wallace Wade Stadium, but the Eagles are no strangers to Duke's home field. NCCU has played football contests at Wallace Wade Stadium on five occasions, boasting a record of 2-3. The Eagles made their first known appearance at Wallace Wade Stadium on Nov. 18, 1972, in a game against rival North Carolina A&T that determined the MEAC championship. NCCU edged the Aggies 9-7. Two weeks later (Dec. 2, 1972), NCCU returned to Wallace Wade Stadium for the first Pelican Bowl against Grambling, in an event that was tagged as the National Black Championship game. The Tigers cruised to a 56-6 victory. On Nov. 23, 1974, the Eagles once again defeated rival North Carolina A&T, this time by a score of 29-18. NCCU faced Duke for the first time inside Wallace Wade Stadium on Sept. 26, 2009, which the Blue Devils won 49-14. Last season on Sept. 15, 2012, Duke beat the visiting Eagles on its home field 54-17.

ABOUT NCCU FOOTBALL
North Carolina Central University enters its third season of full NCAA Division I (FCS) athletic competition as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Eagles won back-to-back football conference championships and a Black College National Championship in their final two years in the Division II ranks (2005 and 2006) before starting the transition to Division I in 2007. During its storied gridiron tradition, NCCU has produced 131 all-conference selections, 64 all-Americans, 40 NFL draft picks, 10 conference championships and two Black College National Championships.

THE COACHES
North Carolina Central: Dwayne Foster (Delaware State, 1993) joined NCCU in 2011 as assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator and offensive line coach, before being elevated to interim head coach prior to the 2013 season. Previously, he served as running backs coach at Prairie View A&M University (2005-10), tight ends and running backs coach at Catholic University (2004), and offensive line coach at Bowie State University (2003). Foster made his name on the high school level in Washington, D.C., as the head coach of Archbishop Carroll High School from 1997-2003. At Archbishop, Foster received coach of the year honors by the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Committee in 1998. Foster played college football at Delaware State University from 1989-93 and helped the Hornets capture two MEAC Championships during his freshmen and junior seasons before graduating in 1993. Foster is a member of the Black Coaches and American Football Coaches Associations, was part of the NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship Program in 2010 with the Buffalo Bills and in 2012 with the Cincinnati Bengals, and participated in the NCAA Men's Football Coaching Academy in Indianapolis, Ind., in June 2006.

Duke: David Cutcliffe (Alabama, 1976), who was voted 2012 ACC Coach of the Year after leading the Blue Devils to the program's first bowl game appearance since 1994, was named Duke University's 21st head football coach on December 15, 2007. Cutcliffe is 21-40 in five seasons at Duke and owns an overall head coaching ledger of 65-69 in 11 seasons. Cutcliffe, born September 16, 1954, came to Duke after serving the previous two seasons as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee. His head coaching experience includes a six-year stint at the University of Mississippi from 1999-2004, where he compiled a 44-29 (.603) ledger with five winning seasons, five bowl game appearances and a share of the SEC Western Division championship in 2003. Cutcliffe was named the SEC Coach of the Year in 2003 after leading the Rebels to a 10-3 record, including a 31-28 victory over Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl. Cutcliffe has participated in 22 bowl games including the 1982 Peach, 1983 Florida Citrus, 1984 Sun, 1986 Sugar, 1986 Liberty, 1988 Peach, 1990 Cotton, 1991 Sugar, 1992 Fiesta, 1993 Hall of Fame, 1994 Florida Citrus, 1994 Gator, 1996 Florida Citrus, 1997 Florida Citrus, 1998 Orange, 1998 Independence, 1999 Independence, 2000 Music City, 2002 Independence, 2004 Cotton, 2007 Outback, 2008 Outback and 2012 Belk. He owns a 4-2 record as a head coach in bowl tilts with victories over Oklahoma, Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. As a member of the coaching staff at Tennessee from 1982-98, Cutcliffe helped the Volunteers to four SEC championships, 16 bowl games in 17 seasons and the national title in 1998. His first tenure with the Vols featured the mentoring of quarterbacks Andy Kelly, Heath Shuler, Tee Martin and Peyton Manning.

THE LAST MEETING
(Sept. 15, 2012 - Duke 54, NCCU 17 - Durham, N.C.) North Carolina Central University junior quarterback Jordan Reid came off the bench to spark the Eagles with a career-best passing effort, but it was not enough as ACC foe Duke University scored touchdowns in all three phases of the game for a 54-17 win inside Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday night. An announced crowd of 22,829 witnessed the second meeting between Durham's  Eagles and Blue Devils in a game tagged as the Bull City Gridiron Classic. NCCU's offense struggled early, failing to achieve a first down in its first three possessions with a total of negative-four yards in nine plays. With Duke up 10-0, NCCU senior Arthur Goforth returned a kickoff 59 yards to the Duke 41-yard line, jolting life into the NCCU fans and the Eagles on the gridiron. Reid replaced starting quarterback Matt Goggans and completed 2-of-3 passes for 25 yards, converted two first downs and set up a one-yard touchdown run by sophomore Andre Clarke at 3:24 of the first quarter. Thanks to Reid's 121 passing yards in the first half, NCCU boasted 200 yards of total offense compared to 198 for Duke, even though the Blue Devils held a 27-10 halftime advantage. Reid later led the Eagles on a 10-play, 73-yard scoring drive with the quarterback passing for 51 yards and ending the drive with a one-yard dive into the end zone at 11:54 of the fourth quarter. The High Point, N.C., native finished the contest with a career-high 218 yards on 17-for-26 passing. Reid's favorite target proved to be junior Marvin Poole, who posted career-highs of six receptions for 83 yards, while senior Decona Roberts added four catches for 62 yards. Clarke charged the NCCU ground game with 59 yards and a score on 14 carries. Sophomore kicker Oleg Parent accounted for five NCCU points with a 33-yard field goal and a pair of extra-point kicks. NCCU amassed 337 yards of total offense, an average of 4.8 yards per play. Even though Duke out-scored the Eagles by 37 points, the Blue Devils only had 71 more total yards (408) than their cross-town opponent. NCCU junior linebacker Tyriqe Williams recorded a career-best 11 tackles to lead all defenders, while redshirt freshman linebacker Matt Willison chipped in eight takedowns, including a hit for a loss of six yards and a pass break-up. Duke passed for four touchdowns, ran for one score, returned a punt to the end zone and took an interception back for six points, while adding a pair of field goals. Senior quarterback Sean Renfree completed 24-of-34 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns to top the Blue Devils' offense. Duke cornerback Ross Cockrell collected six tackles and four passes defended, including two interceptions with one of them going 32 yards for a score.

NCCU PICKED TO FINISH FOURTH IN THE MEAC
NCCU was picked to finish the upcoming season in fourth place in the 11-team Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, according to a poll of league head football coaches and sports information directors. NCCU is coming off its first winning season since 2007 with a 6-5 overall record and a 5-3 conference mark. The Eagles tied for third place in the MEAC standings a year ago. With a fourth place prediction for 2013, NCCU is listed behind No. 3 North Carolina A&T, No. 2 South Carolina State and No. 1 Bethune-Cookman, the defending conference champion, on the preseason predicted order of finish.

FIVE EAGLES EARN PRESEASON ALL-MEAC HONORS
Five NCCU Eagles were named to the preseason all-conference team, as voted by the league's head football coaches and sports information directors. The five Eagles named to the All-MEAC Second Team are senior quarterback Jordan Reid, senior offensive tackle Charles Goodwin, sophomore safety Ryan Smith, senior punter Matthew Cornelius and junior kicker Oleg Parent.
•  Reid (High Point, N.C.) threw for 1,594 yards and 13 touchdowns, while breaking the NCCU single-season record by completing 62.3 percent of his pass attempts.
•  Goodwin (High Point, N.C.) started every game at left tackle for the Eagles last season, while recording an average grade of 89 percent with 19 pancake blocks and 28 knockdowns in 11 games.
•  Smith (Upper Marlboro, Md.) finished his rookie season as NCCU's second-leading tackler with 65 total takedowns. He also ranked second on the team with three interceptions and third on the squad with eight passes defended (three interceptions, five pass break-ups), while leading the MEAC and tying for second among NCAA-FCS leaders with four fumble recoveries.
•  Cornelius (Charlotte, N.C.) averaged 35.9 yards per punt with a long of 58 yards. He also placed 16 punts inside the 20-yard line with only two touchbacks.
•  Parent (Lake Forest, Calif.) was the No. 1 scoring kicker in the MEAC last year with an average of 6.2 points per game. He converted 11 field goals, including 3-of-6 from 40 yards or beyond with a career-long boot of 46 yards.

2012: NCCU LEADS NATION IN PUNT RETURNS The 2012 Eagles boasted the No. 1 punt return average in the NCAA Division I-FCS with an average of 24.5 yards per punt return (16 punt returns, 392 yards, 5 TDs). That average ranks as the highest in the Division I-FCS record books (records listed since 1992).  NCCU also led the nation with five punt return touchdowns, which is the most by an FCS team since Florida A&M also had five in 2009.

2012: EAGLES SCORE 10 NON-OFFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS The 2012 Eagles had a knack for finding the end zone when the offense was off the field. NCCU scored 10 touchdowns on defense and special teams. The Eagles made trips to the end zone on five punt returns, a kickoff return, a blocked field goal return, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

2012: REID SETS NEW NCCU STANDARD FOR PASSING ACCURACY Redshirt junior quarterback Jordan Reid completed 154 of his 247 pass attempts in 2012, breaking NCCU's 43-year-old single-season record by completing 62.3 percent of his pass attempts. Reid removed Herman Mathews (61.1% in 1969) from the top spot. Reid finished the season by passing for 1,594 yards and 13 touchdowns.

LISTEN TO NCCU FOOTBALL ON NCCU SPORTS NETWORK MOBILE APP
For fans interested in listening to North Carolina Central University athletic events on their mobile device, there is an app for that. The NCCU Department of Athletics has partnered with StepLeader, a digital solutions provider located in Raleigh, N.C., to create an app that is available as a free download on iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch) and Android (including the popular Kindle Fire HD) platforms through the App Store or Google Play (search for "NCCU"). "Our fans no longer have to be tied to their radio or computer to listen to our live game broadcasts," said NCCU sports information director Kyle Serba. "The app allows fans to take the NCCU Sports Network broadcasts with them wherever they go." Besides live audio game broadcasts, the app offers recorded interviews with NCCU coaches and student-athletes, and provides news updates, schedules, results and team rosters. The app also encourages fan interaction by integrating the primary social media outlets used by NCCU Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, as well as a feature to submit fan photos. "Our mobile products are designed to service local communities by providing timely and relevant news stories, including audio and video, so partnering with NCCU, who produces very rich sports content, was a very natural fit," said Brian Handly, StepLeader CEO. "Thousands of students and alumni will now be able to access sports information from their smartphone or tablet, and we're excited about the opportunity to work with other universities in the future." The NCCU Sports Network app was officially unveiled at halftime of the NCCU men's basketball game against South Carolina State University on March 4.