Complete Game Notes (PDF)    

Video:  NCCU Football Weekly Press Conference:  http://youtu.be/kQVVOjT1Hhs

THE GAME
Norfolk State University "Spartans" vs. North Carolina Central University "Eagles"

THE KICKOFF
Saturday, November 16, 2013 – Kickoff at 2:00 p.m.

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

THE RECORDS
Norfolk State (3-7 overall, 3-3 MEAC); N.C. Central (4-6 overall, 2-4 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 1:30 p.m. (Chris Hooks, play-by-play; Joe Simmons, color analyst).
Video: "GameCentral" at NCCUEaglePride.com (pay-per-view video internet stream/$8.95). Broadcast starts at 1:30 p.m. (Chris Hooks, play-by-play; Joe Simmons, color analyst).

QUICK HITS
• Saturday marks the final home game for 18 NCCU seniors, who will be recognized prior to the game as part of "Senior Day" celebration.
• NCCU needs to win its last two games to finish the season with a non-losing record.
• Norfolk State is coming off its biggest win of the season, a 27-24 upset of nationally-ranked Bethune-Cookman.
• This is Norfolk State's first trip to NCCU's O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium since 1993.
• NCCU is the only team in the nation (FCS) with four kickoff return touchdowns, and the Eagles are the national FCS leader in kickoff returns (27.79-yard avg.).
• NCCU's 12 special teams touchdowns in the past two seasons (7 PR, 5 KOR) are more than the amount by the Eagles in the previous nine seasons combined (11 from 2003-11) and are more than any other team in NCAA Division I-FCS.
• The Eagles have scored a special teams touchdown in four consecutive games.
• NCCU sophomore Adrian Wilkins (Forest City, N.C.) tops the MEAC in both kickoff returns (31.2 yards per return), punt returns (15.4 yards per return) and all-purpose yards (141.8 yards per game), and has scored touchdowns on three kickoff returns (100, 96, 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 five special teams return touchdowns.
• NCCU senior linebacker Tazmon Foster (Henderson, N.C.), who amassed 80 tackles in eight games last season, is the leading tackler in the nation (FCS) with 123 takedowns (12.3 per game).

THE SERIES
This will be the 11th football meeting between North Carolina Central University and Norfolk State University since the teams first met in 1981. Norfolk State won the last meeting with the Eagles 27-6 in 1995.

11/4/1995 - NSU 27, NCCU 6 (Norfolk, Va.)
9/10/1994 - NSU 26, NCCU 24 (Norfolk, Va.)
9/11/1993 - NCCU 30, NSU 20 (Durham, N.C.)
9/17/1988 - NCCU 10, NSU 7 (Norfolk, Va.)
9/19/1987 - NCCU 28, NSU 20 (Durham, N.C.)
10/12/1985 - NSU 32, NCCU 14 (Durham, N.C.)
10/6/1984 - NSU 29, NCCU 26 (Norfolk, Va.)
10/8/1983 - NCCU 47, NSU 6 (Durham, N.C.)
10/9/1982 - NSU 14, NCCU 9 (Norfolk, Va.)
11/14/1981 - NCCU 27, NSU 20 (Durham, N.C.)

LAST WEEK
(Hampton 29, NCCU 21) It all started so well for North Carolina Central University. Sophomore Adrian Wilkins returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, his third of the season and the fourth game in-a-row NCCU has scored a special teams touchdown. However, Hampton University amassed 482 yards of total offense, including 256 rushing yards, to earn its fourth win in the last five games with a 29-21 victory over the visiting Eagles on Saturday inside Armstrong Stadium in Hampton, Va. Hampton's dominant ground attack was topped by the one-two punch of Marcus Hampton and Jorrain Washington, who combined for 232 yards and three touchdowns. Hampton accounted for 166 rushing yards and a score, while Washington added 72 yards and two scores. NCCU, which managed 294 total yards, was led offensively by senior quarterback Jordan Reid, who completed 15-of-35 passes for 203 yards with two interceptions and a rushing touchdown. Tyron Harris, Thomas Dixon and Wilkins caught a team-best three catches each. Eagles' running back Deyonta Wright tallied a team-high 48 rushing yards with a touchdown. NCCU senior linebacker Tazmon Foster, the leading tackler in the MEAC, amassed a game-high 13 stops with a hit for a loss. Safety C.J. Moore collected 12 tackles with a pass break-up to save a touchdown.

(Norfolk State 27, #12/10 Bethune-Cookman 24)  After four consecutive disheartening losses, Norfolk State pulled off the shocker of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference season to date, scoring a 27-24 upset of first-place Bethune-Cookman at Municipal Stadium in Daytona Beach, Fla.  The Spartans sprinted out to a 27-7 lead after three quarters behind a big-play defense and a ball-control offense, then held on down the stretch to send the Wildcats to their first MEAC loss since a 22-3 defeat to North Carolina A&T on Oct. 8, 2011. Ranked No. 10 in the FCS Coaches Poll and No. 12 in The Sports Network Top 25 coming into the game, the Wildcats represent the highest-ranked team the Spartans have ever beaten.

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.

Norfolk State: Pete Adrian is in his ninth season as the head coach at Norfolk State. Adrian guided the Spartans to the first MEAC football title and Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoff berth in school history in 2011. NSU finished with a 9-3 overall record and posted a 7-1 conference mark, both of which stand as the best in the school's Division I history. NSU finished the 2011 season ranked 18th in the FCS Coaches Poll and 19th in The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Poll, the highest rankings the Spartans have garnered in those respective polls. Adrian was tabbed MEAC Coach of the Year by his peers, the Washington, D.C. Pigskin Club's MEAC Coach of the Year, and was named national FCS Coach of the Year by the College Sporting News. Adrian became the first NSU football coach to earn MEAC Coach of the Year honors in 2007, when the Spartans posted the school's first winning season in its Division I history. That team went 8-3 and came within an overtime loss to Delaware State from capturing the program's first MEAC football championship. Adrian came to NSU after serving as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for seven seasons at one of the Spartans' MEAC rivals, Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach, Fla. Adrian joined the Wildcats' staff in 1997 after serving as head coach and athletic director at Deltona High School in Deltona, Fla., from 1993-96. Adrian left Bethune-Cookman briefly to serve as defensive coordinator of the XFL's Chicago Enforcers in 2001, and returned to his post at B-CU in 2002. During his tenure at Bethune-Cookman, Adrian helped the Wildcats to the most successful period in school history to that point. In his seven seasons, the Wildcats went 54-25 and had winning records in each of his last six years there. B-CU made the first two Division I FCS playoff appearances in school history in 2002 and 2003 and won a MEAC title in 2002. Adrian has 44 years of coaching experience, 39 at the collegiate level. He has held assistant coaching positions at West Virginia, Rhode Island and Idaho State. At Rhode Island, he was on staff for three Yankee Conference championships and NCAA playoff teams. He was also the head coach at Division II Bloomsburg (Pa.) University from 1986-92, compiling a 36-37-1 record. A native of Brilliant, Ohio, Adrian lettered in five sports at Brilliant High School before attending West Virginia. At WVU, he played one year of freshman football (1966) before playing parts of three seasons on the varsity squad in 1967-69. An injury cut short his playing career in Morgantown, W.Va., but he coached the Mountaineers' freshman football team as a senior in 1969. He earned his bachelor's degree from WVU in 1970 and received his master's from Rhode Island University in 1972.

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 141.8 all-purpose yards per game. He is the only student-athlete in the NCAA Division I-FCS with five special teams returns for touchdowns (3 kickoff, 2 punt). Wilkins also leads the league in kickoff returns (31.2 yards per return) and punt returns (15.4 yards 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 33 passes for 387 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 NATIONAL LEADER IN TACKLES
NCCU senior linebacker Tazmon Foster leads the NCAA Division I-FCS with an average of 12.3 tackles per game (123 total tackles). A 5-10, 215-pound native of Henderson, N.C., Foster amassed a career-high 18 tackles (12 solo), including 2.0 hits for a loss with a solo sack, along with a forced fumble against No. 13 Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 2. In just 18 games with the Eagles, the linebacker has totaled 203 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 21 games, NCCU has scored 18 touchdowns on defense and special teams, including eight this season and 10 in 2012. In that time, the Eagles have made trips to the end zone on seven punt returns, five kickoff returns, two blocked field goal returns, three interceptions and a fumble recovery. NCCU's 12 special teams touchdowns in the past two seasons (7 PR, 5 KOR) are more than the amount by the Eagles in the previous nine seasons combined (11 from 2003-11) and are more than any other team in the NCAA Division I-FCS.

ABOUT NCCU FOOTBALL
North Carolina Central University is in its third season of full NCAA Division I (FCS) athletic competition as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Eagles have won 10 conference championships as members of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1953, 1954, 1956, 1961, 1963, 1980, 2005, 2006) and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (1972, 1973), and have made three appearances in the NCAA playoffs (1988, 2005, 2006). 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 first Eagle selected in the NFL Draft was Matt Boone, who was taken by the Giants with the eighth pick in the 18th round in 1956. The latest Eagle announced during the NFL Draft was Greg Peterson, who was chosen by the Buccaneers in the fifth round in 2007. NCCU's highest draft pick was Doug Wilkerson, who was selected in the first round with the 14th overall pick of the 1970 NFL Draft by the Oilers. The Eagles have also had three second-round NFL draft picks, including Robert Massey in 1989 by the Saints, Charles Smith in 1975 by the Broncos and Chuck Hinton in 1962 by the Browns. Two Eagles have represented NCCU on the National Football League's grandest stage - the Super Bowl. The first NCCU Eagle to make a Super Bowl appearance was Richard Sligh, who was a reserve tackle with the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl II against the Green Bay Packers on Jan. 14, 1968. Sligh, who holds the distinction as the tallest player in NFL history (7'0"), played at NCCU from 1962-64 and was later drafted by the Raiders in the 10th round of the 1967 NFL draft. On Jan. 24, 1982, former NCCU Eagle Louis Breeden was a starting cornerback for the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI against the San Francisco 49ers. Earlier in the season (Nov. 8, 1981), Breeden intercepted a pass thrown by San Diego Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts and returned it a team-record 102 yards for a touchdown. The following year, he was selected as a First-Team All-Pro. A two-time all-conference pick during his NCCU career from 1973-76, Breeden was chosen by the Bengals in the seventh round of the 1977 NFL draft. He completed his 10-year NFL career with 33 interceptions for 558 return yards and two touchdowns. HBCU football pioneer John Brown, who represented NCCU (then North Carolina College) on the gridiron in the 1940s, was one of the first to play professional football out of a historically black college or university. Brown shares the honor with Ezzret Anderson of Kentucky State and Elmore Harris of Morgan State, who all began their professional football careers in 1947. Brown and Anderson were teammates on the Los Angeles Dons, while Harris was a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers. According to NCCU records, Brown was the first of the three to sign a professional football contract. He played center and linebacker with the Dons from 1947-49, before moving to the Canadian Football League.