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THE GAME                                                                                                                                
North Carolina Central Univ. "Eagles" vs. #13/16 North Carolina A&T State Univ. "Aggies"
 
THE KICKOFF                                                                                                                          
Saturday, November 21, 2015 – Kickoff at 1:00 p.m.
 
THE SITE                                                                                                                                   
Aggie Stadium (21,500 capacity/natural grass) - Greensboro, N.C.
 
THE RECORDS                                                                                                                       
N.C. Central (7-3 overall, 6-1 MEAC); #13/16 N.C. A&T (9-1 overall, 7-0 MEAC)
 
MEDIA COVERAGE                                                                                                                
Audio: NCCU Sports Network "GameCentral" at NCCUEaglePride.com (audio internet stream). Broadcast starts at 12:30 p.m. (Jonathan Duren, play-by-play; Joe Simmons, color analyst).
Video:  NCATAggies.com (pay-per-view $7.95)
 
QUICK HITS                                                                                                                             
•   For the second straight year, the Eagles and Aggies will meet on the gridiron with the MEAC Championship on the line. A win by N.C. A&T gives the Aggies the outright conference title, while a NCCU victory provides the Eagles with a share of the league championship for the second year in-a-row.
•   North Carolina A&T leads the series 49-32-5. The Aggies have won three of the last four meetings, but NCCU beat its rival last year 21-14 to earn a share of the MEAC championship and capture its first win over a nationally-ranked FCS opponent.
•   With a 9-1 overall record, North Carolina A&T is ranked No. 16 in the STATS FCS Top-25 poll this week, and No. 13 in the FCS Coaches poll. NCCU is 1-9 against nationally-ranked opponents since reclassifying to Division I-FCS in 2007, with its lone victory coming in last season's meeting with No. 24 N.C. A&T.
•   N.C. A&T boasts the No. 1 rushing defense in the nation (FCS), allowing opponents just 73.7 ground yards per game.
•   Former NCCU head football coach Rod Broadway is in his fifth season as the head coach of the Aggies. Broadway led the Eagles to back-to-back CIAA championships in 2005 and 2006.
•   NCCU's six-game win streak is the longest by the Eagles in the program's Division I-FCS era. The last such streak took place in 2006, NCCU's final season in Division II, when the Eagles posted an undefeated regular-season to repeat as CIAA champions.
•   Jerry Mack is the first NCCU coach to win 14 games in his first two seasons since Willie Smith in 1973-74. No Eagles coach has ever won 15 games in initial two years.
•   Among 665 NCAA football teams (all divisions), NCCU is the only team not to allow an opponent to convert on fourth down (0-for-10).
•   With 41 takedowns behind the line of scrimmage in the last three weeks, including 16 sacks, NCCU ranks fourth in the Division I-FCS with 92 total tackles for a loss.
•   NCCU freshman kicker Nigel Macauley is the NCAA-Division I-FCS leader in field goals made with an average of 2.00 per game. He is also the conference's No. 1 scorer at 9.6 points per contest.
•   With two field goals against Howard, NCCU freshman kicker Nigel Macauley broke the school's single-season record with 18 field goals made, passing the standard of 16 set by NCCU hall of famer Brandon Gilbert in 2005.
 
THE SERIES                                                                                                                             
This will be the 87th meeting between the Eagles and Aggies, dating back to 1924 when NC A&T tied NCCU, 13-13, in Durham, N.C. The Aggies lead the series 49-32-5.  NC A&T has won 18 of the last 24 meetings. NCCU has won five of the last eight contests, including a 21-14 win over the 24th-ranked Aggies on Nov. 22, 2014 in Durham, 27-16 victory on Sept. 25, 2010 in Durham, a 28-27 win on Oct. 4, 2008 in Charlotte, a 27-22 victory on Sept. 22, 2007 in Greensboro, and a 23-22 win on Sept. 5, 2005 in Raleigh. (Game-by-game series on last page of notes)
 
THE LAST MEETING                                                                                                              
(Nov. 22, 2014 in Durham, N.C. - NCCU 21, #24 NC A&T 14) NCCU earned a share of the MEAC football championship, as the Eagles battled the Aggies of North Carolina A&T State University in a 21-14 victory in O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium. With a packed-out stadium, attendance at 13,326, and screaming Eagle fans, NCCU produced its first MEAC co-championship win since transitioning to Division I athletics in 2007 and the Eagles first win against a nationally-ranked FCS opponent.
 
LAST WEEK                                                                                                                             
(NCCU 41, Howard 6 - Washington, D.C.) The Eagles of North Carolina Central University defeated the Howard University Bison 41-6 to keep their MEAC championship hopes alive. NCCU finished the game with 424 yards of total offense. Quarterback Malcolm Bell accounted for 333 yards of it, gaining 41 on the ground and 292 through the air. On defense, NCCU stopped all four of Howard's fourth down conversion attempts, remaining the only team in the NCAA to not allow a fourth down conversion. Senior safety C.J. Moore led the way with 11 tackles. The Eagles also intercepted four passes, with picks by Davanta Reynolds, Reggie Hunter, Cyrus Stanback and Tre'Von King.
 
THE COACHES                                                                                                                       
NCCU: Jerry Mack (Arkansas State, 2003) is in his second season as a college head coach. At age 35, 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.
 
North Carolina A&T: In his fifth season as the head coach of the Aggies football program, Rod Broadway (North Carolina, 1977) is no stranger to NCCU. He was head coach at NCCU from 2003-06, guiding the Eagles to 33 victories with the best winning percentage in school history (.750), back-to-back CIAA championships in 2005 and 2006, and a 2006 Black College Football National Championship with an 11-0 regular-season record. Following NCCU, Broadway spent four seasons as the head coach at Grambling, where the Tigers posted a 35-12 record.
 
EAGLES AGAINST NATIONALLY-RANKED OPPOSITION                                            
Since the start of the transition to NCAA Division I-FCS in 2007, NCCU is 1-9 against nationally-ranked FCS opponents. The Eagles have been out-scored 383-139 (38.3-13.9 avg.) in those contests.
11/22/2014 - #24 North Carolina A&T - 21-14 W
11/1/2014 - #20 Bethune-Cookman - 20-34 L
11/2/2013 - #13 Bethune-Cookman - 14-38 L
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
 
MACK OFF TO FAST START AS NCCU HEAD COACH                                                 
Jerry Mack is the first NCCU football head coach to win 14 games in his first two seasons since Willie Smith won 14 in 1973 (7-4) and 1974 (7-2-2). After the Eagles went 7-5 in his first season for a share of the MEAC title, his squad is now 7-3 with one game remaining in the regular season. No NCCU football coach has ever won 15 games in his first two seasons.
 
NCCU ROOKIE NATIONAL LEADER IN FIELD GOALS                                                 
NCCU freshman kicker Nigel Macauley (Fayetteville, N.C.) ranks No. 1 in the NCAA Division I-FCS in field goals made with an average of 2.00 per game. Macauley is also the leading scorer in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with an average of 9.6 points per game, which ranks fifth in NCAA Division I-FCS.
 
NCCU SAFETY RANKS FOURTH IN CAREER TACKLES                                            
NCCU senior C.J. Moore's 11 tackles versus Howard moves the safety to within two takedowns of the third spot on the Eagles' career tackles list with 294 stops. Moore ranks third in the MEAC with an average of 9.3 tackles per contest this season.
 
BELL BECOMES EIGHTH EAGLE WITH 4,000 YARDS OF TOTAL OFFENSE         
NCCU redshirt-junior quarterback Malcolm Bell accounted for 281 yards of total offense against Norfolk State to become only the eighth Eagle in school history to amass 4,000 yards of total offense. The Richmond, Virginia native ranks seventh on NCCU's career total offense list with 4,643 yards.
 
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 45 games, NCCU has scored 29 touchdowns on defense and special teams, including five in 2015, five in 2014, nine in 2013 and 10 in 2012. In that time, the Eagles have made trips to the end zone on 11 punt returns, six kickoff returns, three blocked field goal returns, seven interceptions and two fumble recoveries.
 
THREE STRAIGHT 200-YARD GROUND GAMES                                                           
After amassing 324 rushing yards versus Bethune-Cookman on Oct. 3, the most ground yards by NCCU since tallying 349 at Livingstone College on Oct. 23, 2004, NCCU ran for 214 yards at Florida A&M on Oct. 10 and 291 yards at Savannah State on Oct. 17, marking the first time since 1999 that the Eagles have rushed for more than 200 yards in three straight games.
 
BELL FIRST NCCU QUARTERBACK TO RUN FOR 100 YARDS SINCE 1999        
NCCU redshirt junior Malcolm Bell rushed for 101 yards at Florida A&M on Oct. 10 to become the first Eagles quarterback to amass 100 yards on the ground since 1999, when Darrell Nesbitt ran for 156 yards against Benedict College (Sept. 25, 1999).
 
NCCU SCORES HISTORIC 72 POINTS IN WEEK ONE WIN                                         
The 72 points scored by NCCU in its season-opening shutout of Saint Augustine's University were the most tallied by any team in NCAA Division I-FCS in the first week of the season. The scoring output ranks second in school history, trailing an 85-point explosion by the 1946 Eagles against Fort Jackson (Sept. 21, 1946).
 
FLASHBACK TO 2014                                                                                                           
•   NCCU won a share of the MEAC Championship with a 6-2 conference record.
•   The Eagles posted the most wins as a NCAA Division I-FCS program with a 7-5 overall record.
•   The Eagles earned the program's first win over a nationally-ranked FCS opponent by defeating No. 24 North Carolina A&T in the final game of the season on Nov. 22.
•   NCCU broke the school record for completions in a season with 227, topping the mark set by the 2011 Eagles of 210.
•   The Eagles ranked third in the nation (FCS) in turnover margin at +12.0.
•   NCCU quarterback Malcolm Bell passed for 1,982 yards with 15 touchdowns and just five interceptions, completing 177 of 286 passes as a sophomore.
 
ABOUT NCCU FOOTBALL                                                                                                   
North Carolina Central University is in its fifth season of full NCAA Division I (FCS) athletic competition as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Eagles have won 11 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, 2014), and have made three appearances in the NCAA playoffs (1988, 2005, 2006).