(Complete Game Notes as PDF)

THE GAME
North Carolina Central University "Eagles" at Norfolk State University "Spartans"

THE KICKOFF
Saturday, November 15, 2014 – Kickoff at 2:00 p.m.

THE SITE
William "Dick" Price Stadium (30,000 capacity/natural grass) - Norfolk, Va.

THE RECORDS
N.C. Central (5-5 overall, 4-2 MEAC); Norfolk State (4-6 overall, 4-2 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 1:30 p.m. (Chris Hooks, play-by-play; Kyle Serba, color analyst).
Video: NSUSpartans.com

QUICK HITS
• NCCU visits Norfolk State for the Eagles' final road game of the regular season.
• Both teams enter the contest with 4-2 records in the MEAC.
• Saturday's match-up features the conference's second-ranked scoring offense (NCCU with 29.2 points per game) against the league's second-ranked scoring defense (Norfolk State with 16.2 points allowed per game).
• Norfolk State has scored more than 20 points once this season (a 21-13 win over Hampton), yet has not allowed a MEAC opponent to score more than 14 points.
• NCCU's last win in Norfolk was on Sept. 17, 1988, by a score of 10-7.
• Next week (Nov. 22), NCCU hosts rival North Carolina A&T (2 p.m. kickoff).

THE SERIES
This will be the 12th football meeting between NCCU and Norfolk State since the teams first met in 1981. Thanks to a 24-13 last season, NCCU leads the series 6-5. Norfolk State won the last meeting in Norfolk 27-6 in 1995.

11/16/2013 - NCCU 24, NSU 13 (Durham, N.C.)
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.)

THE LAST MEETING
(NCCU 24, Norfolk State 13) North Carolina Central University used a dominant run game and a special teams touchdown for the fifth straight week to defeat Norfolk State University 24-13 inside O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium. NCCU amassed 163 yards on the ground with touchdown runs by senior quarterback Jordan Reid and junior running back Andre Clarke, who led the way with 93 rushing yards. Reid also completed 8-of 16 passes for 103 yards with two interceptions. The play of the game took place near the start of the fourth quarter with Norfolk State lining up for a field goal that would make it a one-possession game. Instead, NCCU junior Sayyid Muhammad blocked the field goal and teammate C.J. Moore scooped up the loose ball and raced 70 yards for a touchdown, giving the Eagles an 11-point cushion. It was the second blocked kick of the contest for Muhammad, who blocked a punt in the third quarter. Moore enjoyed a huge afternoon for NCCU. In addition to his game-clinching touchdown, the junior out of Raleigh, N.C., finished with a game-high 12 tackles and three passes defended, including an interception in the end zone to prevent a Spartan score at the end of the first half. Norfolk State out-gained the Eagles 396 total yards to 266, but the Spartans scored only once on three trips into the red zone and missed three field goals and an extra-point kick.

LAST WEEK
(NCCU 47, Hampton 13) NCCU took advantage of five Hampton turnovers and scored in all three phases of the game to earn a convincing 47-13 homecoming victory over the Pirates.

(#20 Bethune-Cookman 13, Norfolk State 7) Bethune-Cookman registered a pair of fourth-quarter safeties to help the Wildcats defeat Norfolk State 13-7 in a defensive battle at Norfolk, Va.

THE COACHES
NCCU: Jerry Mack (Arkansas State, 2003) is in his first season as a college head coach. At age 34, he boasts 10 years of coaching experience, including stints with five NCAA Division I programs and two conference championship teams. A native of Memphis, Tenn., Mack has held positions as wide receivers coach at the University of South Alabama (2012-13) and the University of Memphis (2011), as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (2010), as passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at the University of Central Arkansas (2008-09), as wide receivers and tight ends coach at Jackson State University (2006-07), and as an offensive graduate assistant at Delta State University (2004-05). Mack began his collegiate playing career at Jackson State before transferring after one season (1999) to Arkansas State University. He lettered three years at Arkansas State (2001-03) before earning his bachelor's degree in management information systems in 2003. Mack completed his master's degree in physical education from Delta State in 2006.

Norfolk State: Pete Adrian (West Virginia, 1970) is in his 10th 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 athletics 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. 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. 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. He earned his bachelor's degree from WVU in 1970 and received his master's from Rhode Island University in 1972.

MARTIN NAMED MEAC SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
North Carolina Central University freshman Mykael Martin (Greensboro, N.C.) was selected as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance during the Eagles' 47-13 homecoming victory over Hampton. A graduate of Dudley High School, Martin returned a blocked punt 20 yards for a touchdown during the pivotal second quarter, when NCCU posted 23 points on the scoreboard. He also had an assisted tackle.

EAGLES' FOURTH QUARTER WOES
Against MEAC teams this season, NCCU has out-scored the opposition 152-71 in the first three quarters of play. However, the Eagles have been out-scored 68-52 in the fourth quarter.

EAGLES TOP MEAC, RANK SECOND NATIONALLY IN PUNT RETURNS
NCCU's special teams play continues to be special. After leading the nation (NCAA Division I-FCS) in kickoff returns (26.5 yards/return) and kickoff return touchdowns (4) in 2013 and punt returns (24.5 yards/return) and punt return touchdowns (5) in 2012, the Eagles are once again near the top of the FCS ranks in punt returns. NCCU is second in the country with an average punt return of 19.7 yards, which leads the MEAC.

FUMBLE! EAGLES RANK THIRD IN NATION IN FUMBLES RECOVERED
NCCU has recovered 14 fumbles this season, which ranks third in the NCAA Division I-FCS behind Tennessee Tech (16) and Albany-NY (17). NCCU senior defensive end Felix Small (Brooklyn, N.Y.) tops the MEAC and ranks third in the nation (FCS) with five forced fumbles. Linebacker Jordan Miles (Woodbridge, Va.) and safety C.J. Moore (Raleigh, N.C.) rank third in the FCS with three fumble recoveries each.

CLARKE REACHES CAREER RUSHING STANDARD
Redshirt senior running back Andre Clarke (Mauldin, S.C.) collected 67 rushing yards at Morgan State (Oct. 18) to become the 12th Eagle in school history to rush for 1,500 career yards. He currently ranks 10th at NCCU with 1,717 career rushing yards. Clarke's 28 career rushing touchdowns ties for second at NCCU with Joe Simmons (1990-93), and trails Gerald Fraylon (1981-84) with 31. Clarke is the fourth Eagle to reach double-digit rushing touchdowns in a season. Joe Simmons holds the NCCU single-season record with 16 rushing touchdowns in 1993, followed by Clarke with 13 this season.

EAGLES TURN 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 32 games, NCCU has scored 23 touchdowns on defense and special teams, including four this season, nine in 2013 and 10 in 2012. In that time, the Eagles have made trips to the end zone on eight punt returns, five kickoff returns, three blocked field goal returns, five interceptions and two fumble recoveries. NCCU's 12 kick return touchdowns (both punt and kickoff) in the 2012-13 seasons (7 PR, 5 KOR) were more than the amount by the Eagles in the previous nine seasons combined (11 from 2003-11), and were more than any other team in the NCAA Division I-FCS.

NCCU PICKED TO FINISH EIGHTH IN MEAC
The Eagles, under the direction of first-year head coach Jerry Mack, are predicted to finish eighth in the MEAC standings, according to a poll of the conference head coaches and sports information directors. Last season, NCCU tied for eighth place with Norfolk State after finishing with a 3-5 conference record and a 5-7 overall mark.