BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — Jalyn Daniels ran 95 yards for a touchdown, the longest run in Norfolk State history, and the Spartans piled up 623 yards of total offense in a 43-20 win over Chicago State on Saturday at SeatGeek Stadium.
Daniels' fourth-quarter sprint broke a program mark that had stood since 2021, when J.J. Davis went 88 yards at North Carolina Central. He finished with 136 yards on 16 carries, an 8.5-yard average that ranks 13th among individual single-game performances in school history.
Norfolk State rushed for 358 yards as a team, the second-highest single-game total in program history, and averaged 7.8 yards per carry, also second all-time. The 623 total yards rank fourth, and the Spartans' 7.9 yards per play is fifth.
The win moves Norfolk State to 3-2, its first three-win season through five games since 2021, when the Spartans dropped their first two and then reeled off six straight in Dawson Odums' first season. It is also the program's first road win of the Michael Vick era, and Vick's first Division I road win as a head coach. Chicago State, in its first season of football, fell to 1-4.
623 yards, and how fast they came
The Spartans ran 79 plays and averaged 7.9 yards on each of them. Chicago State managed 284 total yards and 53 on the ground, averaging 2.5 per carry.
What made the number remarkable was how little time it took. Three of Norfolk State's six touchdown drives lasted three plays or fewer, and together those three possessions covered 212 yards in six snaps and two minutes, five seconds of clock.
- Second quarter, 12:26 — three plays, 64 yards, capped by DaJean Golmond's 55-yard strike to Brevin Caldwell on third-and-1
- Second quarter, 10:15 — one play, 76 yards, Jason Wonodi untouched down the left side
- Fourth quarter, 10:28 — two plays, 94 yards, Daniels from his own 5
The Spartans also showed they could grind. Their first touchdown came on a 16-play, 93-yard march that ate 6:51 off the first-quarter clock and answered Chicago State's opening score. Their third-quarter touchdown drive went nine plays and 90 yards in 5:34.
Norfolk State held the ball for 33:14 to Chicago State's 23:48 and converted 8 of 16 third downs.
The long one
Facing second-and-11 from his own 5 after a Ravon Moore carry lost a yard, Daniels went left and was not touched. Ninety-five yards later the Spartans led 43-20 with 10:28 to play.
It is the longest run in Norfolk State history, passing Davis' 88-yarder in 2021. Keith Johnson's 85 at Savannah State in 2011 is now third.
Daniels also scored from a yard out in the third quarter to finish a 90-yard drive. Moore added 42 yards on 12 carries and Kiron Benjamin chipped in 12 on three attempts late.
Golmond's debut day
Making his first career start, freshman quarterback DaJean Golmond accounted for 356 yards of total offense — 265 passing and 91 rushing — the 12th-highest single-game figure in program history. He completed 21 of 31 passes with two touchdowns and ran for a third.
His 44-yard run in the third quarter set up Daniels' 1-yard touchdown, and his 10-yard keeper capped the opening drive.
Elyjah Mitchell led the receivers with six catches for 87 yards. Caldwell caught four for 76 and a touchdown. Rocco Ciocca added three receptions for 68 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown catch with six seconds left in the first quarter, after which he ran in the two-point conversion himself.
Wonodi, one carry
Jason Wonodi touched the ball once as a runner and scored. Taking a handoff from his own 24 in the second quarter, he went 76 yards down the left side to put Norfolk State ahead 29-7.
It was the same distance as the punt return he took to the house against Hampton a week earlier, and it came on his only rushing attempt of the afternoon.
Chicago State's points
The Cougars scored on the game's first play, a 30-yard pass from Ashton Pannell to Kymari Gray six seconds in, and added a 7-yard Pannell keeper in the second quarter.
Their third score came on special teams. Tehron Spencer Jr. blocked a Marco Peery punt in the third quarter and Adrian Bowers picked it up at the Norfolk State 50, returning it 50 yards for the touchdown to pull Chicago State within 29-20.
It was the first punt Norfolk State has had blocked since a Delaware State game on Oct. 30, 2025 — also the last time the Spartans allowed a blocked punt to be returned for a score.
Norfolk State answered with the 90-yard drive and the 95-yard run, closing the game on a 14-0 run.
Defense and the flags
Jaco Pegha had the defense's biggest sequence, sacking Pannell for a 7-yard loss and forcing a fumble on the same play in the second quarter, then recovering it. He finished with 1.5 tackles for loss.
Rontravious Perry led the team with six tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. Brenden Thompson added five, and Quintin Goins and BJ Blake had four apiece. Xavier Graham intercepted Jacob Tiberi in the fourth quarter.
Norfolk State was flagged 12 times for 136 yards and turned the ball over three times.
THE RECORD BOOK
| Mark |
Result |
Context |
| Longest run, program history |
Jalyn Daniels, 95 yards — NEW RECORD |
Passes J.J. Davis, 88, at N.C. Central, 11/6/21. Keith Johnson's 85 at Savannah State, 11/5/11, is now third |
| Team rushing yards, game |
358 — 2nd all-time |
Trails only 471 vs. Bethune-Cookman, 9/24/05. Passes 350 at Towson, 9/23/23 |
| Yards per rush, game (team) |
7.8 — 2nd all-time |
Trails 8.33 (39 for 325) vs. Delaware State, 9/18/98 |
| Team total offense, game |
623 — 4th all-time |
|
| Yards per play, game (team) |
7.9 — 5th all-time |
|
| Total offense, individual game |
DaJean Golmond, 356 — 12th all-time |
Passes Juwan Carter's 355 vs. Delaware State, 9/29/18 |
| Yards per carry, individual game |
Daniels, 8.5 (16 for 136) — 13th all-time |
|
| Penalty yards, game |
136 — ties for 11th |
Ties 136 at Delaware State, 11/10/07 |
GAME NOTES
- Jalyn Daniels' 95-yard touchdown run is the longest run in Norfolk State history
- 623 yards of total offense, fourth-most in a game in program history
- 358 rushing yards, second-most in program history, on a 7.8-yard average that also ranks second
- 7.9 yards per play, fifth in program single-game history
- First road win of the Michael Vick era and Vick's first Division I road win
- At 3-2, Norfolk State's first three-win start through five games since 2021
- DaJean Golmond: 356 total yards, 12th-best single game in program history, by a freshman
- Three touchdown drives of three plays or fewer covered 212 yards in six snaps and 2:05
- Six touchdowns despite going 2-for-3 in the red zone — four scores came from outside the 20
- Jason Wonodi scored on his only carry of the day, a 76-yard run — the same distance as his punt return touchdown against Hampton a week earlier
- The blocked punt returned for a score was the first punt Norfolk State has had blocked since Delaware State on Oct. 30, 2025, the same game in which the Spartans last allowed a blocked punt to be returned for a touchdown
UP NEXT
Norfolk State closes the road swing at Robert Morris on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 2 p.m. in Moon Township, Pa. The game streams on ESPN+.
