NORFOLK, Va. - The Spartan football team (0-4) plays its second straight Northeast Conference foe this week, traveling to Fairfield, Conn., to face Sacred Heart (2-2). Kickoff is at 1 p.m. at Campus Field.
 
OPENING KICKOFF
• The Spartans fell to 0-4 after a 45-26 loss to NEC member St. Francis (Pa.) on Saturday at Dick Price Stadium.
• The Spartans amassed 396 total yards and 254 rushing yards, both season highs, in the loss. Four different Spartans scored touchdowns.
• Freshman Jordin Lennon rushed 10 times for 80 yards and a TD, and fellow freshman Jason Wonodi scored on an 81-yard TD run.
• Linebacker Tyler Long tied his career high with 12 tackles, including 1.5 sacks.
• Sacred Heart improved to 2-2 on the season with a 38-31 overtime win over Dartmouth on Saturday. SHU trailed 21-3 after one quarter and 31-17 in the third, but Malik Grant scored on three short touchdown runs late in the game, including a 2-yarder in OT, to rally the Pioneers.
• Grant rushed for 103 yards and quarterback Marquez McCray threw for 274 yards.
• Sacred Heart was the preseason pick to win the NEC. Grant, the reigning NEC Offensive Player of the Year, and defensive lineman Kevin Peprah both earned preseason FCS All-America honors this year.
• Among Sacred Heart's early-season opponents was Morgan State. The Bears beat SHU 24-9 on Sept. 17.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• NSU and Sacred Heart have never met on the gridiron before.
• The Spartans had never faced any current NEC member in football prior to last season's meeting with St. Francis. The Spartans and Red Flash have split their home-and-home series the last two years.
 
YOUTH IS SERVED
After losing more than 30 letterwinners from last year's team, the Spartans have welcomed in more than 40 newcomers this season. That has led to a youth movement of sorts for the Spartans.
• To date, 14 true freshmen and 13 redshirt freshmen have played in at least one game for NSU.
• Two true freshmen have started so far in OL Vincent Byrd Jr. and Lamar Robinson.
• Redshirt freshmen to start so far include TE Ikeem Wright, OL Baron Franks, DL Levontae Jacobs and DE T.J. Stevenson.
• True freshmen were NSU's leading rushers last week against St. Francis. Jason Wonodi led the way with 81 yards, all on a third-quarter TD run. Jordin Lennon ran 10 times for 80 yards and one score, while Kevon King ran eight times for 51 yards.
 
LENNON HONORED BY MEAC
Freshman Jordin Lennon parlayed his best game to date into MEAC Rookie of the Week honors.
• The freshman had a team and career-high 10 carries for a season-high 80 yards and one touchdown in the loss to St. Francis.
• Lennon, from York High School, scored NSU's first touchdown on a 26-yard run in the second quarter for his first collegiate touchdown.
 
BIG PLAY OFFENSE
The Spartans are one of three FCS teams nationally to record both a pass play and a rushing play covering more than 80 yards this year.
• Receiver Da'Quan Felton scored on a 90-yard TD reception from Otto Kuhns against JMU on Sept. 10, while Jason Wonodi scored on an 81-yard run against St. Francis.
• Jackson State and Charleston Southern are the other teams to have both an 80-plus yard pass and run this season.