NORFOLK, Va. - The NSU football team returns from its lone bye week of the season to face MEAC foe Bethune-Cookman at 1 p.m. Saturday in the 58th Annual Fish Bowl Classic at Dick Price Stadium.
The Series
Bethune-Cookman leads the series with Norfolk State 10-4. The Wildcats have won the last seven meetings between the teams. NSU's last win was a 21-7 victory in 1997, which coincidentally was Pete Adrian's first year as the B-CC defensive coordinator.
The Last Meeting
Norfolk State fumbled three times, threw three interceptions and had a punt blocked for a touchdown in its 43-3 loss to Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 25, 2004 at Municipal Stadium in Daytona Beach.
B-CC won despite committing 23 penalties, which tied the Division I-AA record. NSU lost its school-record 13th straight in a contest that began at 10 a.m. because of the rapidly approaching Hurricane Jeanne.
B-CC took advantage of NSU miscues en route to a 20-point second quarter, extending its lead to 26-3 going into halftime. NSU fumbled on its first drive of the second quarter, and B-CC recovered at the Spartans' 1 to set up a 1-yard TD run by Rodney Johnson. NSU was stopped three-and-out on its next possession, and a punt by Antonio Gomez was blocked by Rodney Hughes and recovered by Nicholas Oliver in the end zone for a Wildcats' touchdown. After NSU was forced to punt again, B-CC drove 69 yards in 13 plays, capped by another 1-yard run by Johnson, for a 26-3 lead.
Two more Wildcat takeaways set them up inside the NSU 20 and led to 14 second-half points for B-CC, which had with 363 yards of offense, 229 rushing. NSU had 234 yards, 156 rushing, but ended 6-of-24 for 78 yards and three interceptions through the air.
The Coaches
Pete Adrian (West Virginia '70) is 0-2 in his first season as head coach of the Spartans, and is 36-39-1 in seven-plus seasons as a college head coach. He served as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for seven seasons at Bethune-Cookman College. Adrian helped the Wildcats to the most successful period in school history. In his seven seasons there, the Wildcats went 54-25 and had winning records in each of his last six years. B-CC made the first two NCAA Division I-AA playoff appearances in school history in 2002 and 2003 and won the MEAC title in 2002. He went 36-37-1 in seven seasons at Bloomsburg (Pa.) from 1986-92.
Alvin Wyatt (Bethune-Cookman '70) is in his ninth year as the head coach at his alma mater. His career record is 62-30. Wyatt has led the Wildcats to two Division I-AA playoff appearances, in 2002 and 2003, and to the MEAC championship in 2002. His option offense, nicknamed the 'Wyatt-bone,' regularly ranks among the toughest to stop in the conference.
The Spartans
The Spartans had their lone bye week of the season last week, following their 16-14 loss at North Carolina A&T on Sept. 10 in Greensboro, N.C. The two-point loss dropped NSU to 0-2 on the season, 0-1 in the MEAC. NSU has now lost seven straight games dating to last year's Fish Bowl Classic, a 27-14 victory over North Carolina A&T.
The Spartans nearly pulled off the win at A&T two weeks ago. Brandon Brooks passed for 165 yards and two touchdowns, one each to tight end Jonathan Allen and receiver James Callaham. But NSU missed two field goals and fumbled a punt in its own end zone, leading to the first Aggies touchdown.
Daryl Jones, NSU's leading rusher through two games (64 yards per game, 8.0 yards per carry) had career highs of 12 rushes for 77 yards against A&T. Callaham had two catches for 89 yards, including his first career TD. Allen has caught seven passes in the first two games, which leads the Spartans.
Linebacker Maguell Davis posted a career-high 14 tackles and has a team-leading 25 through two games. NSU also intercepted two N.C. A&T passes, one each by Daniel Hammett and Andre Twine.
The Wildcats
Bethune-Cookman dropped to 2-1 overall, 0-1 in the MEAC, with a hard-fought 27-24 loss to undefeated South Carolina State last Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla. The Wildcats trailed 20-0 in the first quarter, only to rally for a 24-20 lead heading into the fourth quarter. But SCSU's third touchdown pass of the night midway through the final quarter proved decisive. Jonathan Summers led the Wildcat offense last week with seven catches for 116 yards. He is the team's leading receiver, with 10 catches for 164 yards in three games.
B-CC has used three different quarterbacks this season: Jimmie Russell, Lawrence McCloud and Jarod Rucker. Russell got the start last week, passing for 105 yards and rushing for 37. McCloud leads the team's regulars with a 6.4 average per rush in the two games in which he's played. Eric Weems (four TDs) and P.J. Smith (three) lead the B-CC offense in scoring.
The Wildcat defense is led by University of Florida transfer linebacker Taurean Charles, who has 30 tackles (four for losses) in three games.
