Complete Game Notes (PDF)
Press Conference Video:  http://youtu.be/5c2Ifd2zy_c

THE GAME
Bethune-Cookman University "Wildcats" vs. North Carolina Central University "Eagles"

THE KICKOFF
Saturday, November 2, 2013 – Kickoff at 12:00 p.m.

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

THE RECORDS
Bethune-Cookman (7-1 overall, 4-0 MEAC); N.C. Central (4-4 overall, 2-2 MEAC)

MEDIA COVERAGE
Audio: NCCU Sports Network mobile app (iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android, Kindle Fire HD); "GameCentral" at NCCUEaglePride.com (audio internet stream). Broadcast starts at 11:30 a.m. (Chris Hooks, play-by-play; Joe Simmons, color analyst).
Television: Live television broadcast on ESPNews. Broadcast starts at 12:00 p.m.

QUICK HITS
• Bethune-Cookman, the defending MEAC champion, is the second nationally-ranked team to visit O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium this season. The Wildcats are ranked No. 13 in The Sports Network FCS Top-25 poll and No. 12 in the FCS Coaches poll.
• Game televised live on ESPNews.
• Bethune-Cookman has the second-best defense in the nation (Division I-FCS), holding opponents to just 263.4 yards of total offense per game. The Wildcats rank third in the FCS in scoring defense, allowing only 15.0 points per contest.
• NCCU has been out-scored 62-19 in the first quarter this season, while Bethune-Cookman has out-scored its opponents 72-17 in the opening 15 minutes of play.
• NCCU redshirt freshman quarterback Malcolm Bell (Richmond, Va.) threw for a touchdown and rushed for another score to help lead the Eagles to a road win over Savannah State last week in his first career start.
• NCCU sophomore Adrian Wilkins (Forest City, N.C.) tops the MEAC in both kickoff returns (29.1 yards per return) and all-purpose yards (139.1 yards per game), and has scored touchdowns on two kickoff returns (100, 91 yards), two punt returns (89, 73 yards) and two receptions. He is the only Eagle in the NCCU record books with a kickoff return touchdown, a punt return touchdown and a receiving touchdown in the same season. Wilkins is the only student-athlete in the NCAA Division I-FCS with four special teams return touchdowns.
• NCCU senior linebacker Tazmon Foster (Henderson, N.C.), who amassed 80 tackles in eight games last season, is the second-leading tackler in the MEAC with 92 takedowns (5th in FCS).

THE SERIES
This will be the fifth football meeting between NCCU and Bethune-Cookman since the teams first met in 1994. Bethune-Cookman leads the series 3-1, including three straight victories. In that first match-up on Sept. 24, 1994, the Eagles captured a 24-5 road victory in Daytona Beach, Fla. Three years ago on Oct. 23, 2010, B-CU, as the 14th ranked team in the nation, earned a 23-10 win in Durham, N.C. Two years ago, the Wildcats amassed 525 yards during a 34-6 victory to spoil NCCU's homecoming on Oct. 29, 2011. Last season, B-CU scored 28 unanswered points to overcome a three-point second-half deficit en route to a 42-17 win on Oct. 27, 2012.
10/27/2012 - B-CU 42, NCCU 17 (Daytona Beach, Fla.)
10/29/2011 - B-CU 34, NCCU 6 (Durham, N.C.)
10/23/2010 - B-CU 23, NCCU 10 (Durham, N.C.)
9/24/1994 - NCCU 24, B-CU 5 (Daytona Beach, Fla.)

THE LAST MEETING
(Oct. 27, 2012 - B-CU 42, NCCU 17)  North Carolina Central University held a slim three-point lead midway through the third quarter, but Bethune-Cookman University scored 28 unanswered points to end the Eagles' four-game win streak with a 42-17 victory inside Municipal Stadium in Daytona Beach, Fla. NCCU quarterback Jordan Reid threw touchdown passes to Detwan Robinson and Decona Roberts in the first half to go into the locker room with the score tied at 14-14. On the first drive of the second half, the Eagles moved the ball inside the B-CU 1-yard line, but committed a false start penalty on third down and had to settle for a 26-yard field goal by sophomore Oleg Parent to give NCCU a 17-14 edge at 7:23 of the third quarter. Bethune-Cookman responded by moving the pigskin 63 yards on five consecutive run plays, capped by a 8-yard scamper by Rodney Scott, to take a 21-17 advantage at 5:28 of the third quarter. After the Wildcats forced an NCCU punt, B-CU running back Isidore Jackson took the first play 93 yards to the end zone to put the home team up 28-17. NCCU posted a 12-play, 52-yard drive in an attempt to answer the challenge, but Parent's 36-yard field goal try was blocked to keep the gap at 11 points. With less than six minutes remaining in the game and needing two scores, NCCU had to force the action, which resulted in two interceptions and a fumble by the Eagles in their final three possessions. Jackson scored his second touchdown of the game with 4:14 remaining to put the Wildcats up 35-17, then B-CU opted to post more points on the scoreboard with a 1-yard touchdown run by Angelo Cabrera with 58 seconds remaining. Jackson finished the evening with 158 rushing yards to help the Wildcats amass 443 yards of total offense, including 274 yards on the ground. NCCU recorded 234 total yards, including 154 yards through the air by Reid on 15-of-28 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Running back Arthur Goforth collected 142 all-purpose yards, including a team-high 43 rushing yards, 28 receiving yards on a team-best four catches, and 71 kickoff return yards. Redshirt freshman safety Ryan Smith tallied at game-high 12 tackles (8 solo) and a fumble recovery to lead the Eagles.

LAST WEEK
(NCCU 24, Savannah State 10) North Carolina Central University sophomore Adrian Wilkins amassed 241 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, including a 73-yard punt return touchdown late in the second quarter to put the Eagles on top and sap the energy from the Savannah State Tigers and their homecoming crowd.  NCCU held the Tigers scoreless the rest of the way to snap a two-game losing skid with a 24-10 road victory inside Ted Wright Stadium in Savannah, Ga.  A sophomore out of Forest City, N.C., Wilkins caught nine passes for 105 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown from redshirt-freshman quarterback Malcolm Bell in the third quarter, while also tallying 82 punt return yards and 54 kickoff return yards. Wilkins is the first 100-yard receiver for NCCU since Demario Lackey tallied 100 yards receiving against Hampton in 2011. Bell, making his first career start under center, completed 14-of-30 passes for 174 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, while also running for 33 yards with a 6-yard touchdown scamper in the first quarter. NCCU junior Andre Clarke pounded out 140 ground yards on 20 carries to become the first Eagle running back to reach the century-mark since he accomplished the feat against Savannah State last season. A stingy NCCU defense was topped by senior linebacker Tazmon Foster with 11 tackles, while junior linebacker Tiron Guion added eight stops with an assisted sack and a pass break-up. Two first-year NCCU defensive backs, Cam Sullivan and Hakiem Swann, each intercepted passes in the second half to help shut down the Tigers. In the first half, Savannah State quarterback Antonio Bostick threw for 209 yards and a score on 22-of-31 passing. He was just 2-of-18 for 10 yards with two interceptions after intermission. NCCU recorded 411 yards of total offense, including 237 yards rushing. Savannah State finished with 382 total yards, but only 90 of those yards came in the second half.

(Bethune-Cookman 14, South Carolina State 3)  Quentin Williams threw one touchdown pass and rushed for another, and the Bethune-Cookman defense contained South Carolina State for a 14-3 homecoming victory before an overflow crowd of 10,421 at Municipal Stadium in Daytona Beach, Fla. The victory gave the Wildcats sole possession of first place in the league standings, while extending Bethune-Cookman's conference winning streak to 17 consecutive games. In addition to giving up just 143 total yards of offense, the Wildcats defense denied South Carolina State a touchdown in five penetrations of the B-CU 25-yard line.

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.

Bethune-Cookman: Brian Jenkins is in his fourth season with the Bethune-Cookman University football program. The Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., native led the Wildcats to a 10-2 record, a share of the MEAC championship and a spot in the NCAA playoffs in his first season as a college head coach in 2010. He followed that effort with an 8-3 campaign in 2011. In 2012, B-CU posted a 9-3 overall record, including an 8-0 mark in the league to win the conference title and advance to the NCAA playoffs for the second time in three years. Jenkins was an assistant coach at Rutgers University in the 2009 season as wide receivers coach on Greg Schiano's Scarlet Knights' team that was the St. Petersburg Bowl champions. Prior to Rutgers, Jenkins served as running backs coach and special team's coordinator at Louisiana-Lafayette for seven seasons (2002-2008). Jenkins joined UL from the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe. Prior to his stint in NFL-Europe, Jenkins was the running backs coach at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Before joining the BGSU Falcons, Jenkins spent five seasons with Eastern Illinois University. From 1995-98 he served as running backs coach and was named the receivers coach in 1999. In 1994, he was the receivers coach at Western Kentucky University. Jenkins played college football as both a wide receiver and running back at the University of Cincinnati. He was the Bearcat record holder for kickoff return yards in a season and in a career before those records were surpassed in 2009. He graduated in 1993 with an associate's degree in education and bachelor's degree in social work.

WILKINS TOPS MEAC IN ALL-PURPOSE YARDS; KNACK FOR BIG PLAYS
NCCU sophomore receiver and return specialist Adrian Wilkins (Forest City, N.C.) leads the MEAC with an average of 139.1 all-purpose yards per game. He is the only student-athlete in the NCAA Division I-FCS with four special teams returns for touchdowns (2 kickoff, 2 punt). Wilkins also leads the league in kickoff return yards with an average of 29.1 per return. Wilkins has a knack for making big plays. He owns the second-longest kickoff return (100 yards at Charlotte, Sept. 14, 2013) and punt return (89 yards at Howard, Oct. 5, 2013) in school history. As a receiver, Wilkins has caught 30 passes for 350 yards and two touchdowns. He is the only Eagle in the NCCU record books with a kickoff return touchdown, a punt return touchdown and a receiving touchdown in the same season.

NCCU'S FOSTER CONFERENCE'S SECOND-LEADING TACKLER
NCCU senior linebacker Tazmon Foster ranks second in the MEAC with an average of 11.5 tackles per game (92 total tackles). A 5-10, 215-pound native of Henderson, N.C., Foster amassed a career-high 17 tackles (eight solo) along with a forced fumble against No. 4 Towson. In just 16 games with the Eagles, the linebacker has totaled 171 tackles and has two touchdowns to his credit with fumble and interception returns to the end zone.

EAGLES TURNING DEFENSE, SPECIAL TEAMS INTO POINTS Since the start of the 2012 season, the Eagles have demonstrated a knack for finding the end zone when the offense is off the field. In the past 19 games, NCCU has scored 16 touchdowns on defense and special teams, including six this season and 10 in 2012. In that time, the Eagles have made trips to the end zone on seven punt returns, three kickoff returns, two blocked field goal returns, three interceptions and a fumble recovery. NCCU's 10 special teams touchdowns in the past two seasons (7 PR, 3 KOR) are more than the amount by the Eagles in the previous seven seasons (eight from 2005-11).

EAGLES AGAINST NATIONALLY-RANKED OPPOSITION
Since the start of the transition to NCAA Division I-FCS in 2007, NCCU is 0-7 against nationally-ranked FCS opponents. The Eagles have been out-scored 297-84 (42.4-12.0 avg.) in those contests.
9/21/2013 - #4 Towson- 17-35 L
10/23/2010 - #14 Bethune-Cookman - 10-23 L
9/18/2010 - at #1 Appalachian State - 16-44 L
10/10/2009 - at #9 Appalachian State - 21-55 L
9/12/2009 - at #24 Liberty - 10-35 L
11/8/2008 - at #3 Cal Poly - 3-49 L
9/6/2008 - at #8 James Madison - 7-56 L

EAGLES ON NATIONAL TELEVISION
In the past 10 years, NCCU football has played on national television (including ESPN3) six times, with only one win to show for it. The Eagles are 1-5 on the national stage, and have been out-scored 258-57 (an average outcome of 43.0 to 9.5) in those contests.
10/10/2013 - South Carolina State, L 3-44, (ESPNU)
08/31/2013 - at Duke, L 0-45, (ESPN3)
10/18/2012 - Hampton, W 37-20 (ESPNU)
09/15/2012 - at Duke, L 17-54 (ESPN3)
09/01/2011 - at Rutgers, L 0-48 (ESPN3)
10/25/2003 - at Winston-Salem State, L 0-47 (BET)