NORFOLK, Va. - After two games on the road to begin the year, the Norfolk State football team (0-2) plays its 2022 home opener this week against Hampton University (2-0) in the Battle of the Bay. It marks the first Battle of the Bay at Dick Price Stadium since 2017.

Kickoff is at 2 p.m. at Dick Price Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and WNSB 91.1 FM.

OPENING KICKOFF
• Norfolk State dropped its first two games to start the year in matchups against FBS teams Marshall and James Madison. 
• The Spartans fell 63-7 at JMU last Saturday, getting their first touchdown of the season on a 90-yard TD pass from Otto Kuhns to Da'Quan Felton in the third quarter.
• NSU is coming off a 6-5 2021 season in its first year under head coach Dawson Odums. Officially, it marked the first winning for NSU since 2007 and included a six-game win streak, tied for the second-longest in school history.
• Hampton has opened the season 2-0 with victories over Howard (31-28) and Tuskegee (42-10). The Pirates are averaging 413.5 yards per game behind a balanced attack.            
• Quarterback Malcolm Mays threw two TD passes to Jadakis Bonds and Mays also ran for a TD against Tuskegee.

SERIES HISTORY
• NSU and Hampton have met 56 times before, with NSU holding a 27-26-1 edge with two Spartan wins vacated. This year marks the first meeting between the teams at Dick Price Stadium since 2017, a game HU won 16-14.
• The teams ended a three-year series hiatus last year at HU's Armstrong Stadium. The game was one for the ages, as Juwan Carter's 1-yard TD plunge in overtime gave the Spartans a 47-44 win in the highest scoring game in series history.
• Carter ran for 92 yards and three touchdowns, both career highs, while passing for 294 yards and two more scores. Wideout Justin Smith snared five passes for a career-high 144 yards and a TD for NSU.
• The Spartans forced Hampton into four turnovers in the back-and-forth affair. NSU registered three interceptions of HU quarterback Jett Duffey, two by cornerback Justin Toler.

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
• NSU was voted to finish third in the MEAC this season in the preseason poll of league head coaches and sports information directors. Reigning champ South Carolina State was picked first, followed by N.C. Central. Delaware State, Howard and Morgan State round out spots four  through six in the poll.
• NSU had seven All-MEAC preseason picks. RB J.J. Davis, C Colby Byrd, DB Brandon Savage and LB Marquis Hall were first-team selections. WR Da'Quan Felton, LB Tyler Long and DB Justin Toler were second-team choices.
• Davis, the MEAC's leading rusher as a freshman in 2021, was voted the preseason MEAC Offensive Player of the Year.
• Davis, Byrd and Savage were first-team All-MEAC picks last year, while Hall and Long were second-team selections.

MORE PRESEASON HONORS
• In addition to his preseason MEAC honor, J.J. Davis was also named a preseason HBCU All-American by BOXTOROW and was selected to the preseason watch list for the Black College Football Player of the Year along with LB Marquis Hall.

BOMB FOR THE BOOKS
NSU's first touchdown of the 2022 season was an eye-opener. Otto Kuhns connected with Da'Quan Felton on a 90-yard scoring strike on the first play of the second half last week at JMU. Based on available records, the play is the third-longest pass in school history, and longest in 11 years. Chris Walley threw a school-record 98-yard TD pass to Derrick Demps in the 2011 FCS playoff game at Old Dominion. In 2003, Dontrell Leonard connected on a 97-yard pass play with Howard Gilmore at Morgan State.