Nov. 11, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

THE GAME: Winston-Salem State Univ. "Rams" vs. North Carolina Central Univ. "Eagles"

THE KICKOFF: Saturday, November 15, 2008 - Kickoff at 1:30 p.m.

THE SITE: O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium (10,000 capacity / natural grass) - Durham, N.C.

2008 RECORDS: Winston-Salem State (3-6); North Carolina Central (2-7 overall)

THE EVENT: Rivals North Carolina Central University and Winston-Salem State University meet for the 42nd time. The Eagles will be attempting to even the series, which currently favors the Rams 21-20. Both teams are in the transition period of moving from Division II to Division I (FCS) in the NCAA ranks. NCCU returns to Durham for the first of two home games to close out the season.

THE SERIES: This will be the 42nd meeting between NCCU and WSSU since the two teams first met in 1945. The visiting Rams hold a one-game edge in the series, 21-20. NCCU has won two of the last three contests, but WSSU defeated the Eagles last season 35-10 in Winston-Salem, N.C. NCCU snapped WSSU's six-game win streak in 2004 when the Eagles scored on the final play of the game for a 35-33 victory in Durham. In 2005, NCCU scored the game-winning touchdown with 1:38 remaining to defeat the Rams 20-17 in Winston-Salem. Last season on Nov. 10, 2007, WSSU ended the Eagles' first Division I season with a bitter taste, handing NCCU a 35-10 setback. The Eagles started the series by winning the first 10 games, but the Rams have won 17 of the last 24 match-ups.

THE LAST MEETING: (WSSU 35, NCCU 10 - Nov. 10, 2007 - Winston-Salem, N.C.) North Carolina Central University surrendered 470 yards of total offense, including 336 yards rushing, during a 35-10 loss to Winston-Salem State University inside Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Nov. 10, 2007. WSSU senior quarterback Monte Purvis amassed 268 total yards with a perfectly balanced attack. The shifty quarterback rushed for 134 yards and a score, and threw for 134 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown bomb, on 8-of-13 passing in his final home game. Senior running back Jed Bines contributed 93 yards and two touchdown runs to the Rams' dominant ground attack, while junior Roderick Fluellen rushed for 107 yards and a score. WSSU held the Eagles to only 67 yards rushing and 278 total yards. NCCU sophomore quarterback Stadford Brown threw a career-high four interceptions, while managing 211 yards and a touchdown on 17-of-38 passing. NCCU's top receiver was junior Wayne Blackwell with six catches for 75 yards and a score. The Eagles' defense, which spent more than 38 minutes on the field, was topped by senior lineman Courtney Coard and linebacker Eric Ray with 12 tackles each. NCCU scored first courtesy of a season-long 33-yard field goal by rookie kicker Taylor Gray at the 12:19 mark of the first quarter. WSSU then rolled off 21 unanswered points with consecutive touchdown runs by Bines followed by an end zone dive by Fluellen to put the Rams ahead 21-3 with 5:53 left before intermission. NCCU gathered a little momentum heading into the locker room with a 9-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 29-yard connection from Brown to Blackwell with just three seconds on the second quarter clock to make the score 21-10 at the break. The Eagles, however, managed only 113 total yards in the second half and Purvis' 22-yard touchdown scamper with 3:30 remaining in the contest was the exclamation point in the Rams' sixth win of the season.

LAST WEEK FOR NCCU: (#3 Cal Poly 49, NCCU 3 - San Luis Obispo, Calif.) North Carolina Central University found out the hard way why Cal Poly is the third-ranked team in the nation (NCAA Division I-FCS), as the Mustangs amassed 508 total yards during a 49-3 victory over the visiting Eagles inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium in San Luis Obispo, Calif. No. 3 Cal Poly (7-1) rushed for 386 yards and five touchdowns on 55 carries, while throwing for 122 yards and two scores in the homecoming win. NCCU (2-7) managed 123 total yards with 82 yards rushing and 41 yards passing, the Eagles lowest total through the air since Oct. 13, 2001 at Winston-Salem State (14-0 loss; 2 passing yards). In the loss, NCCU senior kicker Brandon Gilbert connected on a 39-yard field goal to tie the school record for career field goals with 40, equaling Kevin Houston's (1992-95) standard. Cal Poly quarterback Jonathan Dally had a hand in four touchdowns, including two through the air and two on the ground, with 101 yards passing and 44 yards rushing. Ten different Mustangs ran for 20 yards or more, topped by James Noble with 64 yards and two trips to the end zone. Cal Poly's top receiver and NFL draft prospect Ramses Barden caught three passes for 36 yards and two scores. NCCU sophomore running back Justin Campbell came off the bench to run for a team-best 31 yards on six attempts. Sophomore Keon Williams also came off the bench to throw for 40 yards on 5-of-15 passing with an interception. Williams replaced rookie signal caller Michael Johnson, who completed just 1-of-6 passes for 1 yard and an interception. Will Scott and Wayne Blackwell caught two passes each for the Eagles. The NCCU defense was topped by senior linebacker Alex Winters with eight tackles, while lineman Teryl White, safety Jeffrey Henderson and linebacker Calvin Hillie contributed seven takedowns each. California native Troy McConico finished with four tackles in his return to his home state.

LAST WEEK FOR WSSU: (Winston-Salem State 27, Delaware State 26 - Dover, Del.) The Winston-Salem State University Rams shut out the Hornets of Delaware State for the final 30 minutes of play on Saturday afternoon as WSSU earned their second consecutive win with a 27-26 victory over the defending MEAC Champion Hornets at Alumni Stadium in Dover, Del. as WSSU head coach Kermit Blount became the all-time WSSU football wins leader with 90 career victories.

THE COACHES: Mose Rison is in his second season as head coach at NCCU after finishing the 2007 campaign with a 6-4 record. Rison was announced as the school's 19th head football coach on Feb. 6, 2007, assuming the role of head coach for the first time in his 25-year coaching career. Rison served as assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach during the Eagles historic 11-1 campaign in 2006. He continues calling plays as the offensive coordinator and working with the quarterbacks. With Rison directing NCCU's offense, the 2006 Eagles scored 371 points (30.9 per game), the most in school history. Under Rison's tutelage, freshman quarterback Stadford Brown was named as the "SBN Sports Doug Williams Offensive Player of the Year," the 2006 CIAA Offensive Player of the Year and CIAA Rookie of the Year. A 1978 graduate of Central Michigan University, Rison spent the 2005 season as the Quarterbacks Coach/Passing Coordinator at Davidson College, where the Wildcats averaged more than 200 yards passing per game running a West Coast offensive system. He has also held positions at Livingstone College (Offensive Coordinator, 2004), the University of Arizona (Wide Receivers/Passing Coordinator, 2003), Stanford University (Wide Receivers, 1995-2000), Rutgers University (Wide Receivers/Tight Ends, 1991-94), the U.S. Naval Academy (Wide Receivers, 1988-90), and Central Michigan University (Wide Receivers, 1981-87). During his tenure at Stanford, Rison coached in three bowl games, including the 2000 Rose Bowl. Rison, the cousin of five-time NFL All-Pro receiver Andre Rison, spent two seasons (2001-02) in the National Football League coaching ranks as the wide receivers coach with the New York Jets, helping to develop Laveranues Coles and Santana Moss. He has also held NFL summer internships with the Baltimore Ravens (2000), Chicago Bears (1999), New York Jets (1993) and Detroit Lions (1988). A standout running back for Central Michigan from 1974-77, Rison helped the Chippewas to a 13-1 record and a Division II national title as a freshman. He rushed for 1,283 yards and scored 12 touchdowns as a senior to earn all-conference and team MVP honors. Rison and his wife, Marilynn, have two children, Dominique (22) and Tara (19). Dominique lives in Charlotte, N.C. and attends Johnson & Wales University. Tara is a sophomore at North Carolina Central University majoring in business.

Kermit Blount is in his 16th season as the head coach at WSSU and his Rams have earned a 3-6 record with two games remaining in 2008 as the team continues to transition from NCAA Division II to Division I classification, a process that Blount has been a part of since the beginning. Blount has been responsible for 90 of WSSU's 342 wins all-time as he has accounted for 26.3 percent of the wins in WSSU program history. He has also led the Rams to 25 percent of their conference championships as he led the Rams to two of their eight conference titles as a head coach and led the Rams to two more conference titles as a quarterback on the Rams `1977 and 1978 title-winning squads. Blount has amassed a coaching record of 90-75-3 (.536), including three CIAA Championship appearances, a pair of CIAA titles, and two Pioneer Bowl appearances. In addition, he was honored as the 1999 and 2000 CIAA Coach of the Year, the 1999 and 2000 D.C. Pigskin Coach of the Year and was honored as the 2000 100% Wrong Club Coach of the Year during a two-year span in which he led Winston-Salem State University to back-to-back conference titles.

BLOUNT BECOMES WINNINGEST COACH IN WSSU GRIDIRON HISTORY: The Rams' 27-26 victory over Delaware State University on Saturday (Nov. 8) was more than just another win for WSSU as 16th-year head football coach Kermit Blount rewrote the record books at his alma mater as he moved into first place all-time with 90 career victories. Blount's 90th career victory is one more than legendary WSSU head coach, current Florida A&M University Director of Athletics and NCCU graduate William "Bill" Hayes and his 89 career WSSU coaching victories.

EAGLES END SEASON'S LONG ROAD JOURNEY: NCCU played its seventh and last road game of the season on Saturday (Nov. 8) in San Luis Obispo, Calif. NCCU's seven total road games this season took the Eagles to five different states, including Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, South Carolina and California. The Cal Poly trip was NCCU's first journey to California in 20 years, when the Eagles played Cal State Sacramento in the second round of the NCAA playoffs on Nov. 27, 1988. In contrast, just three seasons ago in 2005, NCCU played 12 football games and never left North Carolina.

GILBERT TIES SCHOOL RECORD WITH 40TH CAREER FIELD GOAL: NCCU senior place-kicker Brandon Gilbert made a 39-yard field goal at Cal Poly on Saturday, Nov. 8 for his 40th career field goal, equaling the school record set y Kevin Houston (1992-95). GILBERT INCREASES SCHOOL SCORING RECORD: NCCU senior place-kicker Brandon Gilbert made a field goal at Cal Poly on Saturday, Nov. 8 to increase his school scoring record to 264 career points.

GILBERT CONTINUES EXTRA POINT STREAK: NCCU senior place-kicker Brandon Gilbert has made 101 consecutive extra-point kicks, dating back to Sept. 5, 2005 versus North Carolina A&T when a celebration penalty forced a lengthy try. In fact, Gilbert has not missed an extra-point kick against a Division II opponent during his collegiate career. He is 144-of-146 in PAT kicks, with both misses coming against Division I-AA teams (at Delaware State on Sept. 11, 2004, vs. North Carolina A&T on Sept. 5, 2005).

LISTEN TO NCCU FOOTBALL ON WRJD 1410 AM OR VIA THE INTERNET: Every game of the 2008 North Carolina Central University Eagles football season will be covered by WRJD 1410 AM. Play-by-play announcer Chris Hooks will call all of the live action, starting with the pre-game show a half-hour prior to kickoff. Fans may also listen to the broadcast via the internet by visiting the NCCU Athletics web site at www.NCCUEaglePride.com. Archived audio game broadcasts, interviews and highlights can be found at iTunes.com by searching for NCCU Athletics.