Game Notes
NORFOLK, Va. - After playing their last three games at home, the Spartans take to the road this Saturday to face MEAC leader Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach, Fla. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. at Municipal Stadium. The Spartans will be attempting to move back to .500 in MEAC play while playing spoiler against the first-place Wildcats.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
NSU (2-7, 2-3 MEAC) suffered its fourth straight defeat last Saturday, dropping a 16-6 decision to Florida A&M on the Spartans' Homecoming. NSU was held to 217 total yards and did not score an offensive point. NSU's lone touchdown came in the third quarter, when Lynden Trail forced FAMU quarterback Damien Fleming to fumble in his own end zone. Trail pounced on the loose ball for the score. That cut FAMU's lead to 9-6, but the Spartans' Malik Stokes threw a costly interception that led to the clinching score for the Rattlers late in the fourth quarter.
Rolandan Finch ran 23 times for a season-high 151 yards for NSU and now has a MEAC-leading 838 rushing yards. NSU's three quarterbacks (Stokes, Omari Timmons and Tyler Clark) combined to complete just five passes for 66 yards. Marcell Coke had a team-high nine tackles for NSU and is seventh in the conference in that category (85 total). Darrin Marrow notched an interception and three pass breakups for the Spartans, who yielded just 253 total yards, including 72 passing, to the Rattlers. Trail had four tackles, half a sack, a pass defl ection, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Bethune-Cookman (8-1, 5-0) remained unbeaten in MEAC play with a 38-14 road win at North Carolina Central last Saturday in Durham, N.C. Isidore Jackson ran for 182 yards to become Bethune-Cookman's all-time leading rusher. The Wildcats finished with 436 rushing yards, fifth-most in an FCS game this year. The B-CU defense, meanwhile, held NCCU to minus-1 rushing yard and 137 yards of total offense.
Jackson, Dre'Sean Nelson, Cary White and Michael Jones all ran for TDs for the Wildcats, and Eddie Poole caught a 31-yard scoring pass from Quentin Williams. The Wildcats enter this week's game on an 18-game MEAC winning streak and are ranked 10th in the FCS Coaches Poll and 12th in The Sports Network poll. Their only loss this season was a 54-6 set-back at FBS No. 2 ranked Florida State. B-CU is ranked fi rst in the MEAC in both total offense (396.4 ypg) and total defense (249.3 ypg).
THE SERIES
• This will be the 24th meeting all-time between NSU and B-CU. The Wildcats lead the series 16-7.
• Since moving to Division I, the Spartans are 3-13 against B-CU, including 0-8 in Florida.
• NSU head coach Pete Adrian (defensive coordinator) and assistant coach Mark DeBastiani (defensive line coach) were on the B-CU staff prior to coming to NSU in 2005.
QUICK HITS FROM FAMU
More news and notes from the loss to Florida A&M last week:
• NSU lost its fourth straight game, all by 10 points or less.
• The Spartans scored their first defensive touchdown of the year on Lynden Trail's fumble recovery in the end zone in the third quarter.
• That defensive TD was Trail's team-leading third score of the year.
• RB Rolandan Finch ran 23 times for a season-high 151 yards. He topped the 2,000 career yard mark (combining his 1,280 yards from Boston College) in the contest.
• Kelvin Lewis caught his first pass of the year (and first since 2011) on an 18-yard grab in the fourth quarter. He missed last year with a thigh contusion and has been slowed by a hip pointer this year.
• Derrick Demps topped the 1,000 career receiving yard mark on his 18-yard catch in the third quarter.
• DB Darrin Marrow had a career-high four passes defended - three breakups plus his third interception,
tied for team-high honors.
• The Spartans dropped to 0-7 all-time against FAMU in games played in Norfolk. The last five meetings have been decided by 23 total points.
• The Spartans forced two turnovers, extending their streak to 16 straight games with a takeaway.
HOME, SWEET HOME - SORT OF
This week's game gives NSU's 10 Florida natives a chance to play in their home state, though none of the 10 are from Daytona Beach. The closest to his hometown would be LB Marcell Coke, an Orlando native. Five of the 10 (Trail, Singleton, Flores, Harris, Parker) are from the Miami area.
