MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Norfolk State closes a two-week road swing Saturday afternoon at Robert Morris, the first meeting between the two programs and the Spartans' second straight game away from William "Dick" Price Stadium.
Both teams arrive off games that told them something. Norfolk State piled up 623 yards and broke a program record in a 43-20 win at Chicago State. Robert Morris went to Buffalo and took an FBS opponent to the final minutes before losing 31-28.
Saturday is Homecoming at Joe Walton Stadium, the first of three consecutive Homecoming games on Norfolk State's schedule.
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About the Spartans
Norfolk State (3-2) got the win Michael Vick had been chasing since his first day on the job.
The Spartans beat Chicago State 43-20 on Sept. 26 at SeatGeek Stadium for the first road victory of the Vick era and the first Division I road win of his head coaching career. At 3-2, Norfolk State owns its first three-win start through five games since 2021, has won consecutive games for the first time since that season, and sits above .500 for the first time in a year.
It was also the most productive offensive afternoon in two decades of Spartans football. Norfolk State piled up 623 total yards, fourth-most in program history, and rushed for 358, the second-highest single-game total ever. The Spartans averaged 7.8 yards per carry and 7.9 yards per play, second and fifth all-time respectively.
Jalyn Daniels supplied the record. Facing second-and-11 from his own 5 in the fourth quarter, Daniels went left and was not touched for 95 yards — the longest run in Norfolk State history, passing J.J. Davis' 88-yarder at North Carolina Central in 2021. He finished with 136 yards on 16 carries.
Freshman quarterback DaJean Golmond made his first career start and accounted for 356 yards of total offense, the 12th-highest single-game figure in program history. He completed 21 of 31 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns and added 91 yards and a score on the ground.
Jason Wonodi took his only handoff of the day 76 yards for a touchdown — the same distance as the punt return he housed against Hampton a week earlier. Elyjah Mitchell caught six passes for 87 yards, Brevin Caldwell four for 76 and a score, and Rocco Ciocca three for 68 with a touchdown and a two-point conversion run.
Three of Norfolk State's six touchdown drives lasted three plays or fewer, covering 212 yards in six snaps.
There is cleanup work, too. The Spartans were flagged 12 times for 136 yards, turned the ball over three times, and allowed a blocked punt that Chicago State returned 50 yards for a touchdown — the first punt Norfolk State has had blocked since Delaware State last October.
Up front. The 358-yard rushing afternoon ran behind an offensive line anchored by fifth-year center Tyler Leinberger, who has graded out as the best offensive lineman in the MEAC this season. Through five games, Leinberger's 75.7 offensive blocking grade from Pro Football Focus leads all conference offensive linemen at a minimum of 150 snaps, ranks fourth among FCS centers, and places 14th among centers across FBS and FCS combined. His 80.2 pass-blocking grade is his strongest mark.
What Coach Vick Is Saying
On playing in front of a Homecoming crowd: "It's not our Homecoming, so we appreciate the fact that we have an opportunity to play them on theirs. I think it'll make for a really good game. To play in front of another team's crowd, on their surface, in front of their fans — when I played in college, that was my opportunity to show that group of fans what I was really about. Hopefully when we leave, they'll be Norfolk State fans to some degree."
On the flight home from Chicago: "I slept really good on the plane, I'll tell you that. I told our team during the week that it was going to feel really good to go on the road together, take care of business like professionals and get on a plane as winners. What surprised me was how quiet it was. They expect to do the things they're doing."
On back-to-back wins and being over .500: "It feels good, but we want more. We're nowhere near satisfied — there's more out there, there's more on the table. I haven't really thought about being over .500. I expect to win every week. I'm a winner at heart, and that's the way our players feel and the way our coaches feel."
On freshman quarterback DaJean Golmond: "You've got to give a lot of credit to DaJean. He played an amazing game for a freshman playing his first game in a tough environment, against a team that was desperate for a win and was going to do everything to negate what we were trying to do. They threw everything at him, every look, and he stood in the fire. He was poised, he was patient, and he made the plays we've seen him make since he got here."
On Jalyn Daniels and the record run: "Jalyn is very talented and he's very tough. He's going to do everything he's asked to do, and what we asked of him last week was to be patient — to let the game happen naturally. We just chipped away at it in the run game and eventually popped one. He's a very talented young man and an even better person."
On what Robert Morris presents: "It's a really good test. I think they have a good quarterback and good receivers. They're just good at what they do. Defensively, they're not going to give you any freebies — you're going to have to work for everything you're trying to get. It's going to be a good game of back and forth. The objective is to make more plays than they make. We've got to eliminate the turnovers, eliminate the mistakes and go play a clean football game."
On the penalties: "Last week the penalties were up. I don't like that, so I have to speak to them about that. We set the goals and what we want to do and how we want to do it, and I think we need to get back to that."
On what Chicago State revealed: "I learned that they can handle difficult situations. The game was way closer and much more competitive than people thought it was going to be. That team was not going to lay down. Our guys stayed locked in and stayed together. When you play together and believe in the person next to you, anything is possible."
About the Colonials
Robert Morris (2-2, 1-0 NEC) is in its ninth season under Bernard Clark Jr., the 2019 NEC Co-Coach of the Year and a former Eddie Robinson Award finalist who won two national championships as a player at Miami.
The Colonials opened with a 28-7 win at Wagner in their Northeast Conference opener and a 29-9 home win over West Virginia State before taking on back-to-back FBS opponents. They lost 45-10 at Akron, then went to Buffalo on Sept. 26 and nearly pulled the upset.
That game is the one to study. Robert Morris led 14-7 in the second quarter, trailed 31-21 with under six minutes left, and pulled within three on a five-play, 81-yard drive that took 46 seconds. Buffalo ran 91 plays and held the ball for 39:02, yet the Colonials forced three turnovers, committed none, and averaged 6.0 yards per play.
Two Colonials were honored by the NEC afterward. Sophomore quarterback Carson Haggard was named Offensive Player of the Week after accounting for 222 total yards and two touchdowns, including a career-long 50-yard scoring run. Sophomore linebacker Jake Lopinto took Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season, posting a career-high 19 tackles — tied for the second-most in a single game in program history — along with an interception on Buffalo's opening possession.
Linebacker Amanuel Dickson was an NEC Prime Performer after his own career day: 18 tackles, third-most in RMU history, plus a tackle for loss and an interception.
The Colonials are 1-0 at Joe Walton Stadium this season and have lost two straight overall.
Series History
Saturday is the first meeting between Norfolk State and Robert Morris.
It continues a long non-conference slate for the Spartans, who have already faced a Sun Belt program, a ranked ACC team, a CIAA opponent and a first-year Division I program. Robert Morris, for its part, plays MEAC opponents in back-to-back weeks — the Colonials travel to Morgan State on Oct. 10.
Joe Walton Stadium is named for Joe Walton, who founded the Robert Morris program in 1994 and coached it for 20 seasons.
Familiar Faces
A coach who knows the MEAC. Before taking over at Robert Morris, Bernard Clark Jr. spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator at Hampton — one year in 2009 and two more in 2012 and 2013 — when the Pirates were still a MEAC program and Norfolk State was an annual opponent. Clark has also coached at Pittsburgh, Albany, Liberty, James Madison, FIU, South Florida and Colorado State.
A former Spartan on the opposite sideline. Robert Morris associate head coach and offensive line coach Rod Holder spent 10 seasons at Norfolk State from 2006-15, serving as offensive line coach and assistant head coach. Holder joined the RMU staff in January 2018 and has helped develop 10 all-conference offensive linemen who have earned 11 total all-conference selections, most recently Mofe Adewole and Yann Lekomo in 2025. Before his time at Norfolk State, Holder also coached at Rutgers and Western Illinois and was part of national championship teams at Miami as both a player and assistant coach.
Up Next
Norfolk State returns to William "Dick" Price Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 10 for Homecoming, the Spartans' first home game since the Battle of the Bay. Kickoff time is set for 2 P.M.
