Complete Game Notes (PDF)    

THE GAME
North Carolina Central University “Eagles” vs. Savannah State University “Tigers”

THE KICKOFF
Saturday, September 22, 2012 – Kickoff at 7:00 p.m.

THE SITE
Ted A. Wright Stadium (8,500 capacity/Field Turf) - Savannah, Ga.

THE RECORDS
N.C. Central (1-2 overall, 0-0 MEAC); Savannah State (0-2 overall; 0-0 MEAC)

MEDIA COVERAGE
Radio: WNCU 90.7 FM (Durham, N.C.); “GameCentral” at NCCUEaglePride.com (audio internet stream). Starts at 6:30 p.m. (Chris Hooks, play-by-play; Joe Simmons, color analyst)

QUICK HITS
• This is the third of five straight road games for NCCU.
• Saturday will be the MEAC opener for both NCCU and Savannah State.
• Savannah State is 2-24 in its last 26 games. Both wins were against NCCU.
• NCCU redshirt junior quarterback Jordan Reid, who is the projected starter for Saturday, had his lone start under center on Nov. 13, 2010, at Savannah State.
• After travelling just 41 miles to get to Elon and 3.5 miles to Duke, NCCU faces its first long-distance road game by driving 352 miles to Savannah State University.

THE SERIES
This will be the eighth football meeting between Savannah State University and North Carolina Central University. NCCU leads the series 4-2-1, but the Tigers have won the last two games. In the first contest between the Tigers and Eagles, the two teams played to a 0-0 tie to open the 1974 season (Sept. 14, 1974) in Savannah, Ga. The following year in Durham, N.C., NCCU defeated the Tigers 30-0 in another season-opener on Sept. 13, 1975. Three years ago, NCCU earned a 30-14 road victory over Savannah State on Oct. 20, 2007. On Nov. 22, 2008, NCCU edged the Tigers 10-7 in Durham, N.C. On Nov. 21, 2009, the Eagles celebrated senior day with a 35-14 win over SSU in Durham, N.C. On Nov. 13, 2010, the Tigers captured their first series win over NCCU with a 28-21 victory in Savannah, Ga. Last season on Sept. 24, 2011, Savannah State edged the Eagles 33-30 in Durham, N.C.

Sept. 24, 2011 - SSU 33, NCCU 30 (Durham, N.C.)
Nov. 13, 2010 - SSU 28, NCCU 21 (Savannah, Ga.)
Nov. 21, 2009 - NCCU 35, SSU 14 (Durham, N.C.)
Nov. 22, 2008 - NCCU 10, SSU 7 (Durham, N.C.)
Oct. 20, 2007 - NCCU 30, SSU 14 (Savannah, Ga.)
Sept. 13, 1975 - NCCU 30, SSU 0 (Durham, N.C.)
Sept. 14, 1974 - NCCU 0, SSU 0 (Savannah, Ga.)

THE LAST MEETING
(Sept. 24, 2011 - Savannah State 33, NCCU 30) North Carolina Central University amassed a season-high 420 yards of total offense, but the Eagles committed three turnovers resulting in 13 second-half points for the visiting Tigers, as Savannah State University captured a 33-30 victory at O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium in Durham, N.C. It was a career night for NCCU senior quarterback Michael Johnson, who established new career-highs with 28 completions on 52 pass attempts for 315 yards, while also throwing three touchdowns. However, it is not a night he would like to remember. And while Johnson posted the most passing yards for the Eagles since the 2007 season (372 vs. Presbyterian on Sept. 29, 2007), the Durham native reflected back to one key play in the fourth quarter when he misfired to an open receiver in the end zone on a fourth-down play. Instead, NCCU trailed 27-15 with 6:28 left in the contest. The Eagles defense forced Savannah State to punt on the ensuing possession, allowing Johnson to engineer a seven-play, 66-yard scoring drive in just 1:35. Johnson completed his fourth pass of the drive to senior receiver Demario Lackey, who finished with nine catches for 104 yards, for a 16-yard touchdown. Oleg Parent’s extra-point kick narrowed the deficit to 27-22 with 2:42 remaining. Needing to get the ball back, the NCCU defense rose to the occasion once again, forcing a three-and-out by the Tigers. Trailing by five points with 1:29 on the game clock, Johnson completed back-to-back first down passes to move to the NCCU 38-yard line. But after two incompletions, Johnson’s third down pass sailed over the intended receiver and into the hands of SSU senior Byron Leggett, who returned the interception 50 yards for a touchdown. Just when all hope seemed lost for Eagles fans, NCCU junior Geovonie Irvine returned the ensuing kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown. Johnson tossed a fade pass to Andrew Johnson in the corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion to trim the margin to just three points with 35 seconds left. Needing a field goal to even the score, NCCU attempted an on-side kick, but the Tigers recovered to seal their second-straight win in the series against NCCU. Savannah State recorded a season-high 385 yards of total offense. Sophomore quarterback Antonio Bostick ran for 33 yards and two touchdowns while throwing for 200 yards and a score. Nearly half of Bostick’s passing yards came on one critical play in the third quarter. Taking a first-down snap while standing in his own end zone, Bostick tossed the pigskin down the sideline and found an open receiver in Brian Lackey, who raced the rest of the way for a 99-yard touchdown. That score gave SSU a 20-15 lead with 6:45 left in the third quarter. Another game-changing play took place early in the second quarter. With the score tied at 6-6 and facing a fourth down and 15 yards to go from the NCCU 41-yard line, SSU punter Derek Williams faked the punt and threw a 26-yard strike to a diving Leggett for a first down. Two rushes later and Justin Babb was in the end zone for a 13-6 Tigers advantage. Defensively, NCCU was topped by senior linebacker Brandon Outlaw with 12 tackles, including 2.0 stops behind the line of scrimmage. Senior safety James Reese contributed nine takedowns with 1.5 hits for a loss and two pass break-ups, while junior lineman John Drew chipped in seven tackles, 2.0 hits for a loss and a fumble recovery. NCCU receiver Jonathan Nicely had eight catches for 85 yards and a touchdown, while Irvine caught three balls for 43 yards with a score.

LAST WEEK
(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.

(Savannah State - Bye Week) After enduring a much-publicized, season-opening 84-0 loss to No. 19 Oklahoma State, followed by a week-two 55-0 setback to No. 6 Florida State, the Savannah State Tigers had a well-deserved bye week in week three of the college football season.

NCCU RUN DEFENSE TOPS IN MEAC, AMONG BEST IN NATION
Through three games, the NCCU defense has allowed just 79.7 rushing yards per game, which ranks first in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and ninth among the statistical leaders of the NCAA Division I-FCS. The Eagles also rank seventh in the nation (FCS) in tackles for loss with an average of 9.0 per contest.

PUNT RETURN PROWESS 
NCCU leads the MEAC and ranks third among NCAA Division I-FCS programs with a punt return average of 24.4 yards. The Eagles have returned five punts for 122 yards and two touchdowns.

IRVINE IS SIXTH EAGLE WITH 2,000 RECEIVING YARDS
After tallying 53 receiving yards at Elon, senior Geovonie Irvine became just the sixth Eagle in NCCU history to record 2,000 receiving yards. The redshirt senior now has 2,052 career receiving yards to rank fifth on the school’s all-time list. Irvine needs 78 receiving yards to pass Terrence McNeill (1983-86; 2,129 yards) into the fourth spot.

IRVINE RANKS FOURTH AMONG NCCU RECEIVERS
Senior receiver Geovonie Irvine ranks as NCCU’s fourth all-time leading receiver with 146 career catches for 2,052 yards and 15 trips to the end zone. Up next on the list in the third spot is Antoine Calloway (1993-96) with 153 receptions for 1,920 yards and 17 touchdowns. Robert Clark (1983-86) is NCCU’s career leader in receptions with 210 for 4,231 yards and 38 touchdowns.

PIN-POINT PLACEMENT BY NCCU PUNTER CORNELIUS
Dating back to the Elon game in 2011, NCCU punter Matthew Cornelius (R-Jr., 6-0, 163, Charlotte, N.C.) has placed 20 punts inside the 20-yard line without a touchback. In 86 punts during his NCCU career, Cornelius has knocked 26 punts inside the 20-yard line with only one touchback. He also has blasted five punts 50 yards or better with a career-long boot of 66 yards.

ARTHUR GOING FORTH IN KICKOFF RETURN YARDAGE
NCCU senior running back and return specialist Arthur Goforth (Sr., 5-8, 171, Columbia, S.C.) has moved passed Montez Patterson (1998-2001 / 1,658 kickoff return yards) into second place on the Eagles’ career kickoff return yards list with 1,766 yards (21.5 avg.). Goforth boasts two of the longest kickoff returns in NCCU history, ranking third with a 97-yard score against Winston-Salem State on Sept. 11, 2010, and eighth with a 92-yard trip to the end zone at Appalachian State on Sept. 18, 2010. During his career as an Eagle, he has amassed 2,838 all-purpose yards (533 rushing, 131 receiving, 408 punt return, 1,766 kickoff return).

THE COACHES
North Carolina Central: Henry Frazier III (Bowie State, 1993) is in his second season as head coach at NCCU. Prior to his arrival in Durham, N.C., Frazier spent seven seasons (2004-10) at the helm of the Prairie View A&M University Panthers football team. He took over a program that experienced the nation’s longest losing streak, dropping 80 straight contests from 1989-98, and transformed the Panthers into SWAC champions in 2009. Among his many coaching honors is the 2009 Eddie Robinson National FCS Coach of the Year award. Frazier also served as head coach at his alma mater, Bowie State University (1999-2003).

Savannah State: Steve Davenport (Georgia Tech, 1990) was announced as the Tigers new head football coach on Jan. 7, 2011. The Decatur, Ga., native previously served as running backs coach at the University of Alabama-Birmingham since December 2006. Davenport spent two years (2005-06) as the offensive coordinator at Rockdale County High School in Conyers, Ga. He was the head coach at Decatur High School for two seasons (2003-04) and in 2003 was named the Georgia Class AA State Coach-of-the-Year as his team finished 13-1, losing in the state semifinals. Davenport also spent four seasons (1997-2001) as the head coach at Redan High School in Lithonia, Ga., and served as the offensive coordinator at Southwest DeKalb High School in Atlanta from 1994-96, when the school won the 1995 Georgia State AAAAA state championship. Davenport was a graduate assistant coach at Georgia Tech during the 1992 and 1993 seasons. He was a four-year letterwinner as a player at Georgia Tech from 1985-88. He was a member of the Yellow Jacket team that defeated Michigan State in the 1985 All-American Bowl played at Legion Field. A three-year starter at wide receiver, Davenport earned his undergraduate degree from Georgia Tech in 1990 and his master’s degree from Tech in 1994.

ABOUT NCCU FOOTBALL
North Carolina Central University enters its second 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 129 all-conference selections, 63 all-Americans, 40 NFL draft picks, 10 conference championships and two Black College National Championships.

NCCU RECEIVER NICELY PULLS DOUBLE-DUTY
NCCU senior receiver Jonathan Nicely (R-Sr., 6-4, 197, Augusta, Ga.) is also a forward on the NCCU men’s basketball team. Nicely, who was also a two-sport standout at Evans High School (Ga.), came off the Eagles bench in 17 games during the 2011-12 season, averaging 1.9 minutes of action. As a sophomore in 2010-11, he appeared in 27 contests, averaging 6.8 minutes per game.

PRESEASON INJURIES HURT NCCU
NCCU’s offense took a hit in the preseason with two season-ending injuries. The Eagles’ leading rusher Idreis Augustus and veteran redshirt senior receiver Andrew Johnson are out of action for 2012 after suffering knee injuries.

NCCU’S IRVINE, PROCTOR EARN PRESEASON HONORS
NCCU seniors Geovonie Irvine and Xavier Proctor were selected to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Preseason All-Conference Football Team. Irvine, a 5-7, 161-pound native of Durham, N.C., was named to the All-MEAC First Team as a return specialist. Last season Irvine garnered All-MEAC Second Team recognition in the postseason after returning 18 kickoffs for 400 yards (22.2 avg.), including an 81-yard touchdown scamper, and six punts for 54 yards (9.0 avg.). He also led the Eagles with 47 receptions for 580 yards and five touchdowns. Irvine enters his final season as NCCU’s fourth all-time leading receiver with 138 career catches for 1,920 yards and 13 trips to the end zone. Proctor, a 6-6, 272-pound native of Ellicott City, Md., earned All-MEAC Second Team honors as a defensive lineman. In 2011, he tallied 37 tackles with 7.5 hits for a loss and 3.5 sacks, along with two quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and a blocked kick.

NCCU PICKED TO FINISH NINTH IN THE MEAC
Under the direction of second-year head coach Henry Frazier III, North Carolina Central University has been picked to finish ninth in the 11-team Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, according to a poll of league head football coaches and sports information directors. In its first season back in the MEAC, NCCU placed 10th during the 2011 campaign with a 1-7 conference record and an overall mark of 2-9.

LISTEN TO NCCU FOOTBALL ON WNCU 90.7 FM
Thanks to a new partnership between WNCU 90.7 FM and the North Carolina Central University Department of Athletics, the 50,000-watt Durham radio station will air the broadcast of NCCU football games during the 2012 season. The 90.7 FM signal encompasses a coverage area of more than 100 miles, reaching listeners in Durham, Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill and beyond. WNCU, a non-commercial public radio station, last carried NCCU football games during the regular season in 1997. “I am excited about this revitalized collaboration with NCCU Athletics and the football program,” said Lackisha Freeman, WNCU General Manager.  “Additionally, I am glad to have the football games back on our airwaves and hope this will demonstrate the true meaning of ‘Eagle Pride, Amplified.’  I am optimistic that this partnership will be rewarding for all parties involved, most importantly, our student-athletes.” According to Freeman, WNCU plans to have a presence at all NCCU home football games, giving fans the opportunity to listen to its programming and meet the station’s on-air personalities and staff. “I am truly excited about our new partnership with WNCU,” said Dr. Ingrid Wicker-McCree, NCCU Director of Athletics.  “The opportunity for NCCU Athletics to be a part of the WNCU family of loyal followers will enhance our constituent-base and that of WNCU.  General Manager Lackisha Freeman has been tremendous in this collaborative effort and we look forward to the marketing potential this partnership will bring to the Department of Athletics and WNCU.” Chris Hooks, entering his fifth gridiron season as the play-by-play voice of the NCCU Sports Network, will continue to announce the live action. The broadcasts will begin with a pre-game show 30 minutes prior to the scheduled kickoff time. For more details about WNCU 90.7 FM, visit www.WNCU.org.

EAGLES’ EQUIPMENT RIDES IN STYLE
North Carolina Central University and Tru-Pak Moving Systems, Inc., partnered to unveil a brand new truck with NCCU style on Aug. 1, 2011, in front of McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium. Tru-Pak Moving Systems, Inc., “The Official Mover of NCCU Football,” uses the 28-foot truck to transport the Eagles’ gridiron equipment to road games and is part of Tru-Pak’s fleet of more than 200 trucks. “I can’t think of a finer institution to give this gift to than NCCU,” stated Allyson Siegel, Executive Vice President of Tru-Pak Moving Systems, Inc. “Producing leaders in the world for years in both the classroom and on the athletic field, NCCU is leading the way for other institutions. I am very excited about the upcoming season and look forward to being part of their success in years to come.” The truck is used primarily to aid the NCCU football program move its equipment to and from the site of competition, which enhances the travel experience for the student-athletes and support staff; while also giving the institution visibility not only across North Carolina, but nationwide as the truck is used as part of the normal fleet during the week and the rest of the year. “I’m so excited about our new partnership with Tru-Pak Moving Systems,” said NCCU Athletics Director Dr. Ingrid Wicker-McCree. “As our program grows, we are looking to form great corporate sponsorships such as this. Ms. Allyson Siegel has been wonderful in her support of our athletics program, and most importantly, our student-athletes. We will move in style this season.” Tru-Pak Moving Systems, Inc., has been a family owned and operated full-service moving and storage company for more than 50 years. This company averages 4,500 moves annually. Eagle fans are encouraged to check out their website at www.Tru-Pak.com or call 1-800-659-122 ext. 211.