Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - The Spartan football team (2-2, 1-1 MEAC) continues a critical four-game MEAC stretch this Saturday as they take on two-time defending MEAC champion South Carolina State (3-1, 1-0) in Orangeburg, S.C. Kickoff is at 2 p.m. at Oliver C. Dawson Bulldog Stadium.

Prior to enjoying their lone bye week of the season last Saturday, the Spartans had their two-game winning streak snapped in a 21-7 defeat at Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 25. Bethune-Cookman quarterback Matthew Johnson completed 17 of 27 passes for 225 yards and three scores to lead the Wildcats. NSU scored its lone touchdown on a 1-yard run by Takeem Hedgeman (Charlottesville, Va.) with 13:46 left in the game, but two subsequent drives into BCU territory failed to produce points. BCU outgained 392-318 in total offense, though the Spartans held the Wildcats to just 94 yards in the second half. Chris Walley (Tallahassee, Fla.) completed 22 of 42 passes for 196 yards for NSU.

The Bulldogs won their third straight game last Saturday, earning a 19-0 victory over Florida A&M in Tallahassee, Fla. The Bulldogs held FAMU to just six fi rst downs and 106 yards of total offense. SCSU's Chris Massey ran for 110 yards and Malcolm Long passed for 206 and scored a rushing touchdown to supplement Blake Erickson's four field goals. SCSU has now won 20 straight conference games and comes into this Saturday's game ranked ninth in The Sports Network's Top 25 Poll.

MEDIA COVERAGE
• Radio: NSU Sports Network, WNSB Hot 91.1 FM, WXTG 102.1 FM/1490 AM The Game (Play-by-Play: Chris Park; Color: Ross Gordon)
• Audio Stream: Click here (click “Live Audio” link under Inside Athletics tab)

THE SERIES
• SCSU has dominated the series with NSU, winning 13 of the 15 meetings all-time.
• The Bulldogs have won the last two meetings between the teams, a 37-10 win in Norfolk last year and a 24-23 victory in the teams' last meeting in Orangeburg in 2008.
• NSU is 0-6 all-time against SCSU in Orangeburg. Both of the Spartans' victories in the series - in 2000 and 2007 - came at Dick Price Stadium in Norfolk.
• In the teams' last meeting at Oliver C. Dawson Bulldog Stadium, NSU gave the Bulldogs the toughest MEAC game in their undefeated 2008 championship season, losing 24-23. NSU missed a 45-yard
field goal midway through the fourth quarter that would have served as the go-ahead points.

QUICK HITS
• This is the second in a tough four-game stretch for the Spartans, who lost to 4-0 Bethune-Cookman
on Sept. 25. NSU also faces Hampton (3-1) and FAMU (2-3) over the next two weeks.
• The Spartans are 1-21 all-time against teams ranked in The Sports Network's Top 25 Division I
FCS Poll. Three of those losses, including last year's 37-10 defeat, have come to ranked S.C. State
teams. NSU's only win over a ranked FCS team was a 20-19 win over 18th-ranked Hampton on Oct.
17, 2007.
• This is NSU's fifth game all-time against a team ranked in the FCS Top 10. The Spartans are 0-4 in
the previous four games, with two losses to Hampton and one each to Bethune-Cookman and William
& Mary.