Video: NCCU Football Weekly Press Conference
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
THE GAME
North Carolina Central University "Eagles" vs. Charlotte "49ers"
THE KICKOFF
Saturday, September 14, 2013 – Kickoff at 12:00 p.m.
THE SITE
Jerry Richardson Stadium (15,314 capacity/Turf) - Charlotte, N.C.
THE RECORDS
N.C. Central (1-1 overall, 0-0 MEAC); Charlotte (2-0 overall)
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)
QUICK HITS
• The Charlotte 49ers are playing their inaugural season of football.
• Saturday's double-overtime victory over Saint Augustine's marked the first college head coaching win for NCCU interim head coach Dwayne Foster.
• Charlotte has outscored its two opponents 99-14 (52-7 vs. Campbell; 47-7 vs. Chowan), including 41-0 in the first quarter and 38-0 after halftime.
• NCCU has 11 student-athletes on its football roster that call Charlotte home: Ty Brown (LB), Allonte Tuppins (LB), DeMario Johnson (WR), Cameron Hughes (CB), Deyonta Wright (RB), Matthew Cornelius (P), Sayyid Muhammad (DB), Tommy Wallace (DL), Reginald Baker (RB), Kennedy Barkley (WR), and Daniel Rhodes (DL).
THE SERIES
This will be the first meeting between NCCU and Charlotte, which is in its first season of football.
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 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.
Charlotte: Brad Lambert (Kansas State, 1987) is in his first season as a college head coach with the first-year Charlotte 49ers. Lambert spent 10 years as an assistant coach at Wake Forest, and also had coaching stints at Georgia and Marshall. He served as defensive coordinator for the Demon Deacons the last three years. He served as linebackers coach and special teams coach at Wake Forest from 2001-2009. He served as secondary, linebackers, special teams and defensive ends coach while at Georgia and a secondary and defensive ends coach at Marshall. A 1987 graduate of Kansas State, Lambert was a four-year letterwinner who earned second-team all-Big Eight honors as a defensive back in 1984. He was an Academic all-Big Eight choice from 1984-86.
LAST WEEK
(NCCU 23, St. Augustine's 20 - 2OT) North Carolina Central University scored a touchdown in the final minute of regulation to force overtime, then made a 19-yard field goal in double overtime to beat visiting Saint Augustine's University 23-20 inside O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium on Saturday (Sept. 7). NCCU (1-1) lit the scoreboard first with a 32-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jordan Reid to senior receiver Lamar Scruggs with 3:51 remaining in the third quarter. Reid was injured on the play and could not perform his typical holding duties for the extra-point kick, which ended up failing because of a bobbled snap. St. Augustine's (0-1) answered on its next drive, using six plays to move 66 yards, capped by a 25-yard pass from A.J. Gilford to Herman Reaves at the 2:42 mark of the third quarter. The extra-point kick by Michael Lima put the Falcons on top 7-6. The visitors extended their lead when Gilford found Brian Richards for a 6-yard touchdown connection with 6:18 left in the fourth quarter. After two penalties on the extra-point try, the Falcons mishandled the snap from center and could not get off a kick, keeping the score at 13-6. After the NCCU defense forced a critical three-and-out, the Eagles took over on offense with 2:34 remaining in regulation at their own 46-yard line. After being sacked back to the 40-yard line, Reid engineered a 10-play drive, completing 6-of-8 passes (including one to himself on a deflected pass), capped by a fourth-down, rollout completion to Adrian Wilkins with just 29 seconds on the clock. Oleg Parent's extra-point kick tied the score at 13-13 to force overtime. The Falcons struck first in overtime with a 25-yard touchdown catch by Jermaine Jones from Gilford to move ahead 20-13. Needing a touchdown to extend the game, Reid completed a 13-yard pass to Marvin Poole, then the quarterback scrambled for 12 yards to the Falcons' 4-yard line. On the next play, Reid again found running room and the end zone to send the game into double overtime. At the start of the second overtime, Gilford's first pass was deflected and nearly intercepted by NCCU linebacker Demontray Ryland. On the next play, Gilford's pass was intercepted by freshman corner back Michael Jones, who appeared to be heading for a game-winning touchdown, but was tackled two yards shy from the end zone. On NCCU's possession, sophomore running back Idreis Augustus caught a 14-yard pass from Reid and ran for seven yards to the 2-yard line to set up the game-winning 19-yard field goal by Parent. NCCU amassed 424 yards of total offense, compared to 345 by the Falcons. Reid completed 24-of-43 passes for 253 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while also rushing for 45 yards and a score for the Eagles. Augustus topped the Eagles in rushing (66 yards) and receiving (six catches, 65 yards), finishing the contest with 131 all-purpose yards. The NCCU defense was led by sophomore safety Ryan Smith and senior lineman Aaron Wallace with eight tackles each. Senior linebacker Tazmon Foster added seven stops.
NCCU KICKER OLEG PARENT EARNS WEEKLY MEAC AWARD
North Carolina Central University junior kicker Oleg Parent has been named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance during a double-overtime victory over Saint Augustine's, the conference office announced Monday. Parent, a 5-10, 160-pound native of Lake Forest, Calif., kicked the game-winning field goal in the second overtime to secure the Eagles win over the Falcons on Saturday. He also made an extra-point kick to tie the game at the end of regulation and another in overtime to force the second extra-session. Parent averaged 39.2 yards per punt (6 punts, 235 yards) with a long of 54 yards and a punt downed at the opponent's 1-yard line. This is Parent's second weekly conference award during his career, as he shared the honor during the 2012 season.
EAGLES POST FOURTH OVERTIME VICTORY
NCCU's 23-20 double-overtime victory over Saint Augustine's on Sept. 7 was the program's fourth overtime win and the second in double-overtime. The Eagles now have a record of 4-9 when the game is tied at the end of regulation, including a 2-3 record in double overtime. NCCU has yet to go into a third overtime since the rule was instituted in 1996.
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.
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.
