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

THE KICKOFF
Saturday, November 11, 2017 – Kickoff at 2:00 p.m. 

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

THE RECORDS
Bethune-Cookman (5-4 overall, 4-2 MEAC); N.C. Central (7-2 overall, 5-1 MEAC)

MEDIA COVERAGE
Audio/Video: NCCU Sports Network "GameCentral" at NCCUEaglePride.com (internet stream). Broadcast starts at 1:40 p.m. (Jonathan Duren, play-by-play; Joe Simmons, color analyst).

QUICK HITS
• Fifteen NCCU seniors will play in their final home football game on Saturday.
• Saturday will be the ninth meeting between the Eagles and the Wildcats since the teams first met in 1994. Bethune-Cookman leads the series 6-2.
• In the last meeting in Durham (2015), the Eagles held a 26-7 third quarter lead over B-CU, but the Wildcats rallied to go ahead and then blocked NCCU's potential game-winning 18-yard field goal try with just 32 seconds left to edge the Eagles 28-26.
• Bethune-Cookman is the only MEAC team the Eagles have a losing record against (1-2) under head coach Jerry Mack.
• NCCU has a 10-1 record in the month of November since 2014.
• In the last two games, NCCU senior wide receiver Jacen Murphy has 17 receptions for 334 yards and three touchdowns.
• With two interceptions at Hampton, junior safety Davanta Reynolds now has six picks to top the MEAC and tie as the national NCAA Division I-FCS leader.
• NCCU senior Nathaniel Tilque amassed 349 punting yards (43.9 avg.) at Hampton to become the school's career leader with 9,570 punting yards, breaking the record of 9,449 yards held by Eric Hines (1975-78).
• NCCU redshirt-freshman running back Isaiah Totten leads the MEAC and ranks 18th in the NCAA Division I-FCS with an average of 5.9 yards per rush.
• NCCU's defense ranks third in NCAA Division I-FCS and tops MEAC in third-down conversion percentage defense (25.8 percent).
• Since the start of the 2012 season, NCCU has scored 36 touchdowns on defense and special teams, including three defensive scores this year.
• MEAC opponents have rushed for just 65.5 yards per game against NCCU this season, while the Eagles average 146.7 rushing yards per contest in those league outings.
• NCCU had its 18-game conference win streak and its school record 11-game home win streak come to an end on Oct. 21 with a 28-21 loss to Norfolk State.
• In four seasons under head coach Jerry Mack, NCCU owns a 26-4 conference record, earning MEAC co-championships in 2014 and 2015, and the outright league title in 2016.

2016 NCCU HIGHLIGHTS
• Captured the conference's first outright championship since 2012, after sharing the league crown in 2014 and 2015.
• Became first football team in school history to win a third consecutive conference championship.
• Beat nationally-ranked No. 9 North Carolina A&T 42-21 on Nov. 19, 2016, to cap an undefeated conference campaign.
• Earned a trip to the second annual Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl.
• Posted the most wins in the program's Division I era with nine triumphs.
• Broke the NCCU single-season record with 4,614 yards of total offense.
• Received first national ranking as a Division I-FCS program on Nov. 7, 2016, when the FCS Coaches Poll announced NCCU at No. 25. By the end of the regular season, the Eagles jumped to No. 18, and then finished at No. 19 in the final 2016 poll.
• Placed a league-high 17 student-athletes on the All-MEAC teams.

THE SERIES
This will be the ninth football meeting between NCCU and Bethune-Cookman since the teams first met in 1994. Bethune-Cookman leads the series 6-2. In that first match-up on Sept. 24, 1994, the Eagles captured a 24-5 road victory in Daytona Beach, Florida. Seven years ago on Oct. 23, 2010, B-CU, as the 14th ranked team in the nation, earned a 23-10 win in Durham. Six years ago, the Wildcats amassed 525 yards during a 34-6 victory to spoil NCCU's homecoming on Oct. 29, 2011. Five years ago, 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. Four years ago, the 13th-ranked Wildcats pounded out 436 rushing yards to beat the Eagles 38-14 on Nov. 2, 2013, in Durham. Three years ago, on Nov. 1, 2014, the 20th-ranked Wildcats overcame a 14-7 halftime deficit to down the Eagles 34-20. Two years ago, on Oct. 3, 2015, B-CU rallied from a 26-7 third quarter deficit and blocked a potential game-winning 18-yard field goal try with just 32 seconds left to edge NCCU 28-26 in Durham. Last season, NCCU used a dominant second-half performance to finish with 489 yards of total offense in a 31-14 victory in Daytona Beach, Florida.
10/1/2016 - NCCU 31, B-CU 14 (Daytona Beach, Fla.)
10/3/2015 - B-CU 28, NCCU 26 (Durham, N.C.)
11/1/2014 - #20 B-CU 34, NCCU 20 (Daytona Beach, Fla.)
11/2/2013 - #13 B-CU 38, NCCU 14 (Durham, N.C.)
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 - #14 B-CU 23, NCCU 10 (Durham, N.C.)
9/24/1994 - NCCU 24, B-CU 5 (Daytona Beach, Fla.)

THE LAST MEETING
(NCCU 31, Bethune-Cookman 14 - Daytona Beach, Fla. - Oct. 1, 2016) NCCU used a dominant second-half performance to finish with 489 yards of total offense in a 31-14 victory over Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach, Florida, snapping a six-game losing skid to the Wildcats.

THE LAST MEETING IN DURHAM
(Oct. 3, 2015 - Bethune-Cookman 28, NCCU 26) Bethune-Cookman rallied from a 26-7 third quarter deficit and blocked a potential game-winning 18-yard field goal try with just 32 seconds left to edge NCCU 28-26 in O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium. 

LAST WEEK
NCCU 14, Hampton 6 (Hampton, Va.): North Carolina Central University junior safety Davanta Reynolds' second interception of the day came in the end zone with 37 seconds left to preserve a 14-6 road victory over Hampton University at Armstrong Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The NCCU defense also put points on the scoreboard when senior Ja'Quan Smith deflected a pass that was intercepted and returned by sophomore Kawuan Cox for a 6-yard go-ahead touchdown in the second quarter. Just before intermission, the Eagles' offense found the end zone when freshman quarterback Chauncey Caldwell fired a strike over the middle of the field to senior receiver Jacen Murphy for a 27-yard touchdown. Murphy finished with seven catches for 145 yards, his second straight 100-yard receiving game (10 receptions for 189 yards, 2 TD last week vs. Delaware State). Senior linebacker Reggie Hunter collected a game-high 11 tackles with a sack, while senior lineman Roderick Harris tallied six takedowns, including 3.5 hits for a loss with a sack and a forced fumble. Reynolds' added four tackles, including a sack, to go along with his two picks, the fifth and sixth of the season for the junior safety.

Bethune-Cookman 41, Morgan State 28 (Daytona Beach, Fla.): Larry Brihm, Jr. threw for a season- and career-high matching 354 yards and a career-high five touchdowns to lead Bethune-Cookman to a 41-28 win over Morgan State on Saturday at Municipal Stadium.

THE COACHES
NCCU: Jerry Mack (Arkansas State, 2003) is in his fourth season as a college head coach. Mack has led NCCU to three consecutive conference championships and a trip to the 2016 Celebration Bowl. In recognition of his success in 2016, Mack was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Football Coach of the Year, American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FCS Regional Coach of the Year, and as one of 15 finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award as the FCS Coach of the Year. He was also recognized as the HBCU Football Coach of the Year by Black College Sports Page and The Pigskin Club in Washington, D.C., and the HBCU Male Coach of the Year by HBCU Digest. He boasts 12 years of coaching experience, including stints with five NCAA Division I programs and three conference championship teams. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, 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.

B-CU: Terry Sims (Knoxville, 1994) was introduced as the 15th head coach at Bethune-Cookman University on Dec. 22, 2015. The native of Jesup, Georgia took over the program after spending the previous five years as an assistant coach for the Wildcats. Before arriving in Daytona Beach, Sims spent four seasons as recruiting coordinator, special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach at Howard University. Sims has also made assistant coaching stops at the University of Louisville-Lafayette, Prairie View A&M, Texas Southern, and Austin Peay. Sims is a 1994 graduate of Knoxville College, where he was a team captain as a defensive back on the gridiron, while also patrolling center field in baseball. He earned a master's degree from Louisville in 1997.

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 67 games, NCCU has scored 36 touchdowns on defense and special teams, including three this season, three in 2016, six 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 14 punt returns, six kickoff returns, three blocked field goal returns, 10 interceptions and three fumble recoveries. 

NCCU IN MEAC PLAY
Since becoming eligible to compete for a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship in 2011, NCCU has a conference record of 34-19. The Eagles posted league marks of 1-7 in 2011, 5-3 in 2012 and 3-5 in 2013, 6-2 in 2014, 7-1 in 2015, 8-0 in 2016, and 5-1 in 2017. In four seasons under head coach Jerry Mack, NCCU owns a 26-4 conference record.

NCCU CONFERENCE WIN STREAK ENDS AT 18
NCCU's 28-21 loss to Norfolk State on Oct. 21 ended the Eagles' 18-game conference win streak, which matches Bethune-Cookman (2011-13) as the third-longest streak in MEAC history. S.C. State holds the record at 21 from 2008-10, while Hampton won 19 consecutive league games from 2004-06. The Norfolk State setback is NCCU's first conference loss since Oct. 3, 2015, a 28-26 defeat against Bethune-Cookman.

ABOUT NCCU FOOTBALL
North Carolina Central University is in its seventh season of full NCAA Division I (FCS) athletics competition as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Eagles have won 13 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, 2015, 2016), 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 136 all-conference selections, 66 all-Americans, 41 NFL draft picks, 13 conference championships and two Black College National Championships (1954, 2006). 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. He completed his 10-year NFL career with 33 interceptions for 558 return yards and two touchdowns. 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 Ryan Smith, who was chosen by the Buccaneers in the fourth round in 2016. 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. 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.