NORFOLK, Va. - Coming off its best performance of the year, the NSU football team (3-6, 2-3 MEAC) looks to win for a third time in the last four games when the Spartans face North Carolina Central (4-5, 3-2) this Saturday in Durham, North Carolina. Kickoff is at 2 p.m. at O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium.
In its last game, NSU notched its first shutout since 2012, a 48-0 victory over Morgan State on the Spartans' homecoming last Saturday. Meanwhile, North Carolina Central celebrates its homecoming this week. The Eagles are on a two-game win streak after a 28-6 win at Howard last Saturday.
SERIES HISTORY
• Former CIAA rivals NSU and N.C. Central will be meeting for the seventh time as Division I opponents this week.
• NCCU leads the all-time series, 10-6.
• After splitting its 10 meetings in Division II, NCCU has won five of the six meetings since 2013.
• The Spartans did win the last time the teams played in Durham, a 28-21 win over the No. 25 ranked Eagles in 2017. That broke NCCU's 18-game MEAC win streak and 11-game home winning streak.
LAST MEETING
• Visiting North Carolina Central forced Norfolk State into five turnovers and registered six sacks to spoil the Spartans' homecoming, 36-6, on Oct. 20, 2018 in the teams' last meeting.
• NCCU quarterback Chauncey Caldwell ran for one touchdown and passed for another, and running back Isaiah Totten also ran for 108 yards and a TD for the Eagles (3-3, 2-1 MEAC).
NSU BY THE NUMBERS
5 - Interceptions by the NSU defense last week, the most by a Spartan team since a win over Bethune-Cookman in 2009.
19.0 - Yards per completion for the Spartan offense in the last three games (48 completions, 912 yards).
33.2 - Number of points per game NSU is averaging in its five MEAC games to date. The Spartans have topped 40 in two of the last three games.
245 - Rushing yards the last two games for freshman
Rayquan Smith (103 vs. B-CU, 142 vs. MSU).
6,302 - Career passing yards for
Juwan Carter, who became just the second Spartan ever to surpass the 6,000-yard mark in last week's game.
A WIN OVER NCCU WOULD...
A win this week over the Eagles would...
• Give NSU its first two-game winning streak of the year and be the third in the last four games for NSU.
• Be the Spartans' second straight over NCCU in Durham.
• Move NSU back to .500 in conference play and keep alive the chance for a .500 overall record for 2019.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
North Carolina Central improved to 3-2 in MEAC play with a 28-6 win at Howard last Saturday. Leading just 7-0 at halftime, the Eagles pulled away in the second half behind a balanced offense and strong defense. The Eagles ran for 199 yards and passed for 191, and limited Howard to just 39 rushing yards in the win.
Isaiah Totten rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown while Davius Richard threw for 191 yards and a score for the Eagles. Defensively, NCCU notched seven sacks. Totten enters this week second in the conference in rushing, with 591 yards. Richard, a freshman who over the starting QB position early in the season, ranks fourth in the MEAC in passing, with 185 yards per game to go with nine touchdowns. He has also rushed for three touchdowns.
Defensively, the Eagles rank second in the conference in total defense, first in pass defense and fourth in rushing defense. They also rank tied for second in the MEAC with 27 sacks.
