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NORFOLK, Va. - NSU caps its 2013 season on Saturday by hosting South Carolina State for Senior Day and Military Appreciation Day. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. at Dick Price Stadium. All military personnel with valid ID will be admitted for just $10.
The Spartans will try to end the year with a victory that would even their record at .500 in the MEAC, while SCSU is still playing for a share of the MEAC title and a possible FCS post-season berth.
The Spartans will recognize their 19 seniors prior to the game. That group has contributed to 22 wins over the last four years, including the program's fi rst-ever MEAC title in 2011.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
NSU dropped to 3-8 overall and 3-4 in the MEAC after a 24-13 loss at North Carolina Central last Saturday in Durham, N.C. The Spartans rolled up a season-high 406 yards of total offense, but missed three field goals – one of which was returned for a touchdown – and committed three turnovers. Rolandan Finch surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season with a 42-yard touchdown run in the fi rst quarter. Tyler Clark threw a 4-yard TD pass to DeAndre Sangster for the Spartans' other TD. But trailing 17-13 in the fourth quarter, NSU had a 29-yard field goal blocked and returned 70 yards for an Eagle score that propelled NCCU to victory.
Finch leads the MEAC with 1,038 rushing yards and is second with 94.4 yards per game. He became the fi rst Spartan since DeAngelo Branche in 2010 to top 1,000 rushing yards in a season. Lynden Trail, who was named last week to the watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award as the nation's top FCS defensive player, had 11 tackles, a sack and a blocked field goal. Fellow linebacker Deon King is tied for fi rst in the MEAC with 18.5 tackles for loss and tied for second with 9.5 sacks. Cornerback Darrin Marrow notched his fifth interception last week, tied for the most in the MEAC.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
South Carolina State (8-3, 6-1 MEAC) won its third straight game last week, routing Morgan State 38-3 in Orangeburg, S.C. If SCSU beats NSU this week and Bethune-Cookman loses to Florida A&M, SCSU would earn the MEAC's automatic berth into the Division I FCS playoffs.
SCSU outgained Morgan State 442-134 in total yards last week. Quarterback Richard Cue passed for 223 yards and a TD, and backup quarterback Adrian Kollock ran for three touchdowns. SCSU has been dominant defensively, leading the conference in both scoring defense (15.0 points per game) and total defense (235.7 yards per game allowed). The Bulldogs had five more sacks against the Bears last week to run their season total to 55, the most in the country. Defensive lineman Andrew Carter has a MEAC-best 10.5 sacks. Offensively, Cue is second in the conference with 14
touchdown passes.
THE SERIES
• This will be the 19th meeting all-time between NSU and SCSU, with the Bulldogs leading 15-3.
• SCSU has won 10 of the last 12 meetings, with the only losses coming in 2007 and 2011 in Norfolk.
• Two of NSU's three wins have come in OT (2000 and 2007) and all three by seven points or less.
QUICK HITS FROM N.C. CENTRAL
More news and notes from the loss to North Carolina Central last week:
• RB Rolandan Finch passed the 1,000-yard mark for the season with his 42-yard TD run in the first quarter. The run is the longest of the year by any NSU player.
• The Spartans had a season-high 406 yards of total offense, including a season-best 260 passing.
• Malik Stokes passed for a season-best 114 yards, all coming in the fourth quarter after Tyler Clark left with an injury.
• Clark had a season-best 19 completions before leaving the game.
• A season-high 10 Spartans made at least one reception.
• NSU, which had missed two field goals all year coming into the game, missed three at NCCU. One was blocked and returned 70 yards for the back-breaking touchdown.
• Leroy Parker (SS) got his first career start. Hughes, the normal starter at free safety, missed the game with illness and Keenan Lambert moved over to FS to begin the game.
• TE James Lynch and OL Cameron Williams (concussions) also missed the game. Williams had his 33-game start streak snapped.
• WR James Church had a career-high four receptions and WR Kelvin Lewis had a season-high three.
• DB Brandon Walker had his fi rst career interception and also his fi rst career pass breakup, a play that prevented an NCCU TD catch by Adrian Wilkins.
• DL Noel Clarke had his first career sack.
• LB Lynden Trail blocked his second field goal of the year in the third quarter. That gave NSU its fifth field goal block of the year and was the second straight game NSU had one.
• NSU forced four turnovers, giving the team nine takeaways in the last two games.
QB IN QUESTION
NSU has used a quartet of quarterbacks this year, with all four starting at least once. Below are notes on all four:
• Redshirt sophomore Tyler Clark, an ODU transfer, has started six games, most of anyone on the squad. He leads the team with 937 passing yards, seven touchdowns and six interceptions. He has been the starter in all three NSU wins.
• Redshirt senior Nico Flores became the fourth Spartan to start a game this year when he got the nod against Hampton on Oct. 19. He left the game in the second quarter due to an MCL injury. Flores returned from a four-game academic suspension against Savannah State, and played off the bench in both that contest and Delaware State before starting
against HU. He is 10-of-22 for 94 yards and one interception through the air, and has run for 32 yards on seven carries. He started all four games that NSU won last year, passing for 1,067 yards.
• Bowling Green transfer Malik Stokes (another redshirt sophomore) played extensively against Maine, but completed just 10-of-29 passes for 104 yards and one TD. He started against Rutgers but went 0-for-10 with an interception. After not playing for four straight games, Stokes provided a spark vs. ODU, passing for 87 yards and rushing for 38 while accounting for two TDs. His 114 yards after Clark's injury last week at NCCU are a season high.
• The third redshirt sophomore, Omari Timmons, started vs. Charleston Southern, completing 10-of-17 passes for 95 yards and a TD. He came off the bench against Hampton to rush for two TDs and pass for 150 yards. He was intercepted three times. Timmons, a transfer from Albright College, started vs. ODU, but hurt his shoulder on the fourth play of the game and did not return. He played sparingly against FAMU.
THE DEUCE IS LOOSE
One of the bright spots for the NSU offense has been the play of Boston College transfer running back Rolandan Finch. More on the graduate student:
• Finch became the first Spartan since DeAngelo Branche in 2010 to top 1,000 rushing yards in a season on a 42-yard TD run at N.C. Central last week. Finch has a MEAC-high 1,038 yards this year.
• Finch is the seventh NSU player to top 1,000 yards in a season. This is the 10th 1,000-yard season in school annals (LaRue Harrington had three and Branche had two).
• Finch also leads the MEAC with fi ve 100-yard rushing games, against Charleston Southern (108), Savannah State (134), Hampton (141), FAMU (151) and B-CU (110).
• Finch is playing this season as a graduate student at NSU. He spent four years at BC, including a redshirt year, and earned his bachelor's degree earlier this year. Finch played in 23 career games at BC and rushed for 1,280 yards.
• He led the Eagles with 705 rushing yards in 2011, which included a 243-yard game at Maryland. Finch, the former Kentucky Gatorade High School Player of the Year, ran for 441 yards in five games last year at BC.
