THE GAME
North Carolina Central University "Eagles" vs. Gardner-Webb Univ. "Runnin' Bulldogs"

THE KICKOFF
Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019 – Kickoff at 6:00 p.m.

THE SITE
Spangler Stadium (9,000 capacity) - Boiling Springs, N.C.

THE RECORDS
N.C. Central (0-2 overall, 0-0 MEAC); Gardner-Webb (0-2, 0-0 Big South)

MEDIA COVERAGE
Audio: NCCU Sports Network at NCCUEaglePride.com (internet stream). Broadcast starts at 5:30 p.m. Jonathan Duren (play-by-play). 
Video: ESPN+ 

QUICK HITS
• Saturday will be NCCU's third straight non-conference road game to open the season, 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).
• NCCU and the Runnin' Bulldogs have met five times since 1996, with the Eagles holding a 3-2 advantage. From 1996-99, each visiting team won on the road for a 2-2 series tie. That streak ended when NCCU beat GWU 24-17 in Durham on Oct. 14, 2017.
• Gardner-Webb opened the season against two FBS opponents, losing to Charlotte (49-28) and East Carolina (48-9).
• For the second straight week, NCCU graduate Trei Oliver will match wits against a head coach working at his alma mater. (Rob Ambrose, Towson/Carroll McCray, GWU)
• NCCU redshirt sophomore Justin Nicholson's four pass break-ups are the most in the MEAC.
• NCCU junior receiver Nique Martin leads the MEAC with 160 receiving yards, averaging 20.0 yards per catch and 80.0 receiving yards per game on eight grabs.
• 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. The Eagles registered eight tackles for loss in the season-opener at Austin Peay and four TFL at Towson.
• NCCU topped the MEAC and finished 21st in the nation (FCS) in turnover margin (+0.55 per game) last season. The Eagles have four takeaways this season with three interceptions and a fumble recovery.
• NCCU junior running back Isaiah Totten is ranked 12th on NCCU's career rushing list with 1,572 ground yards, averaging 5.5 yards per carry.
• 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 sixth meeting between the Eagles and Gardner-Webb. NCCU and the Runnin' Bulldogs met four times from 1996-99, with each winning on the road for a 2-2 series tie. NCCU won the last contest 24-17 on Oct. 14, 2017, to take a 3-2 series advantage.
10/14/2017 - NCCU 24, Gardner-Webb 17 (Durham, N.C.)
09/11/1999 - Gardner-Webb 16, NCCU 0 (Durham, N.C.)
09/12/1998 - NCCU 15, Gardner-Webb 13 (Boiling Springs, N.C.)
09/06/1997 - Gardner-Webb 20, NCCU 12 (Durham, N.C.)
09/07/1996 - NCCU 31, Gardner-Webb 14 (Boiling Springs, N.C.)

LAST WEEK
#8 Towson 42, NCCU 3 (Towson, Md.): After suffering a 42-3 loss to No. 8 Towson University on Saturday night, first-year North Carolina Central University head football coach Trei Oliver was asked what he has learned about his team following two tough defeats to start the season. "They won't quit," Oliver said with emphasis. "We have a young football team. We have 37 true freshmen on the team," Oliver said. "For us to come in here and play the eighth-ranked team in the country and be down with our backs against the wall, 28-0; the guys came out of the locker room and still fought. I love my guys, and they'll go to war for us." Of NCCU's 281 yards of total offense, 173 were posted after intermission, compared to 159 total yards in the second half by the nationally-ranked Tigers.

East Carolina 48, Gardner-Webb 9 (Greenville, N.C.): East Carolina jumped out to a 17-0 lead early and cruised to a 48-9 win over Gardner-Webb. The Pirates established their ground game early and got 134 yards and two scores on 21 carries from Darius Pinnix to lead a 365-yard rushing effort by the end of the game. ECU finished with 574 total yards, compared to 186 total yards by GWU.

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.

Gardner-Webb: Carroll McCray (Gardner-Webb, 1983) is in his seventh season in charge of his alma mater's football program. McCray's teams have proven to be giant slayers during his time in Boiling Springs, knocking off four teams ranked in the top-15 since 2013. McCray came back to GWU in January 2013, after spending the 2012 season as the head coach at North Greenville University. He has previous stops as associate head coach at Mercer and as head coach at Austin Peay. As an assistant, McCray has an outstanding track record with stops at Furman, Mississippi State, Samford, South Carolina and Appalachian State. He was a three-year letterwinner on the offensive line at Gardner-Webb under coach Tom Moore.

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.

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.

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. 

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 82 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.