THE GAME
North Carolina Central University "Eagles" vs. Austin Peay State Univ. "Governors"

THE KICKOFF
Thursday, August 29, 2019 – Kickoff at 7:00 p.m. (CT) / 8:00 p.m. (ET)

THE SITE
Fortera Stadium (8,000 capacity / FieldTurf XT) - Clarksville, Tenn.

THE RECORDS (2018)
N.C. Central (5-6 overall, 3-4 MEAC); Austin Peay (5-6, 3-5 OVC)

MEDIA COVERAGE
Audio: NCCU Sports Network at NCCUEaglePride.com (internet stream). Broadcast starts at 6:30 p.m. (CT). Jonathan Duren (play-by-play). 
Video: ESPN+

QUICK HITS
• Thursday's contest will be the first gridiron meeting between NCCU and Austin Peay. The Eagles have a 2-1 record on Thursday night the past two seasons.
• NCCU opens the season with three straight non-conference road games before its home-opener on Sept. 21 versus Elizabeth City State.
• NCCU is under the direction of first-year head coach Trei Oliver, who was an all-region safety and punter (1994-97) at NCCU, as well as an assistant coach (2003-06).
• Austin Peay was picked to finish fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference by a preseason media poll. The Governors finished 5-6 overall and 3-5 in the OVC in 2018.
• NCCU led the conference and ranked 14th in the NCAA Division I-FCS in tackles for loss with an average of 7.7 per game in 2018.
• NCCU topped the MEAC and finished 21st in the nation (FCS) in turnover margin (+0.55 per game) last season.
• NCCU junior running back Isaiah Totten enters his third season ranked 15th on NCCU's career rushing list with 1,486 ground yards, averaging 5.63 yards per run.
• NCCU redshirt senior defensive end Darius Royster amassed 17.0 takedowns behind the line of scrimmage (T-2nd in MEAC, 15th in FCS) and four forced fumbles (1st in MEAC, 9th in FCS) last season.
• Since the start of the 2012 season, NCCU has scored 38 touchdowns on defense and special teams, including three defensive scores in 2017 and two last season.

THE SERIES
This will be the first football meeting between NCCU and Austin Peay.

THE COACHES
NCCU: Trei Oliver (N.C. Central, 1998) is in his first season as a college head coach. With 20 years of college coaching experience that includes five conference championships and three black college football national titles, Oliver returned to his alma mater as North Carolina Central University's 24th head football coach in December 2018. A native of Yorktown, Virginia, Oliver earned all-conference and all-region honors as a defensive back and punter during his four-year playing career at NCCU from 1994-97. The 1998 graduate later returned to NCCU as an assistant coach from 2003-06, helping the Eagles to back-to-back Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) championships in 2005 and 2006.
Austin Peay: Mark Hudspeth (Delta State, 1992) was announced as the 20th head football coach in Austin Peay program history in December 2018. He joined Austin Peay after spending the 2018 season as the associate head coach and tight ends coach at Mississippi State. Hudspeth has 16 years of head coaching experience at the FBS, NCAA Division II and high school levels, and his teams went a combined 142-60 with him at the helm.

ROYSTER NAMED PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
NCCU redshirt senior defensive end Darius Royster was named as the Preseason Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year by Phil Steele's College Football Preview magazine. In 2018, Royster led the MEAC and ranked ninth in the nation (FCS) with 4 forced fumbles, tied for second in the conference and ranked 15th in the nation with a team-high 17.0 tackles for a loss, and tied for fifth in the league with a team-best 5.0 sacks. He finished third on the squad with 58 total takedowns, 39 of which were unassisted. Royster broke the school record for most tackles for loss in a game with 6.0 TFL among his season-best 10 total tackles versus Prairie View A&M (Sept. 2) in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, and registered 5.0 stops for a loss at S.C. State (Nov. 24) in the final game of last season.

SEVEN NCCU EAGLES VOTED TO PRESEASON ALL-MEAC TEAMS
Seven North Carolina Central University Eagles were named to the 2019 Preseason All-MEAC Football Teams, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference announced on Friday from its annual football media day and luncheon in Norfolk, Virginia. NCCU junior running back Isaiah Totten, redshirt senior defensive lineman Darius Royster, and senior defensive lineman Kawuan Cox were voted to the Preseason All-MEAC First Team. Redshirt junior offensive lineman Andrew Dale was selected to the Preseason All-MEAC Second Team, while redshirt sophomore center Somadina Okezie-Okeke, sophomore offensive lineman Ricky Lee and junior linebacker Branden Bailey received Preseason All-MEAC Third Team honors. Totten (Apex, N.C.) ranked third in the conference in rushing with 768 yards and seven touchdowns in 2018, averaging 5.5 yards per carry to earn All-MEAC First Team recognition. In two seasons, he has amassed 1,486 rushing yards to rank 15th on NCCU's career rushing list, averaging 5.63 yards per carry with 12 career rushing touchdowns. Royster (Chesapeake, Va.) led the MEAC and ranked ninth in the nation (FCS) with four forced fumbles a year ago, tied for second in the conference and ranked 15th in the nation with a team-high 17.0 tackles for a loss, and tied for fifth in the league with a team-best 5.0 sacks. The 2018 All-MEAC Third Team pick finished third on the squad with 58 total takedowns, 39 of which were unassisted. He broke the school record for most tackles for loss in a game with 6.0 TFL versus Prairie View A&M in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, while adding 5.0 stops for a loss at S.C. State. Cox (Summerville, S.C.) tied for sixth in the conference with 4.5 sacks, to go along with 6.5 stops for a loss, 26 total tackles and a forced fumble as a Third Team All-MEAC honoree last season. Dale (Morehead City, N.C.) started seven games on the offensive front last season before being sidelined with an injury. Okezie-Okeke (Woodstock, Ga.) started all 11 games in his first college season as a center, grading out at 85 percent of his blocking assignments with five pancake blocks. Lee (Jacksonville, Fla.) started all 11 games at right tackle as a true freshman, grading out at 83 percent of his blocking assignments with three pancake blocks. Bailey (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) ranked fourth on the team with 51 tackles, including 6.5 hits for a loss with a solo sack, two pass break-ups and two forced fumbles.

ALUMS AS HEAD FOOTBALL COACHES AT NCCU
Trei Oliver is the third alumnus to lead the NCCU football program, following in the footsteps of Bishop Harris, a 1963 graduate who coached the Eagles from 1991-92, and Herman Riddick, a 1933 graduate who guided the Eagles to a school record 112 victories from 1945-1964.

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 80 games, NCCU has scored 38 touchdowns on defense and special teams, including two last season, three in 2017, 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, 11 interceptions and four fumble recoveries. 

ABOUT NCCU FOOTBALL
North Carolina Central University is in its ninth season of full NCAA Division I (FCS) athletics 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, 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 143 all-conference selections (first team), 68 all-Americans, 41 NFL draft picks, 11 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.