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NORFOLK, Va. - Norfolk State (3-6, 3-3 MEAC) concludes the home portion of its 2015 schedule this week as it hosts South Carolina State (5-4, 4-2) for Military Appreciation and Senior Day. The teams square off at 1 p.m. Saturday at Dick Price Stadium. NSU will recognize 16 seniors prior to the group playing in its final home game. The NSU Department of Athletics will also salute members of the armed forces during pre-game and halftime ceremonies.

RADIO
WGH Star 1310 AM is in its second season as the flagship network for NSU football and basketball games. Ross Gordon will handle the play-by-play duties and Maguell Davis is the color commentator. The game can also be heard online at www.star1310.com.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
Norfolk State (3-6, 3-3 MEAC) snapped its three-game losing streak in dramatic fashion last Saturday, getting two clutch field goals from junior kicker Cameron Marouf to come away with a 20-17 Homecoming win over Savannah State in overtime at Dick Price Stadium. NSU rallied from a 17-7 fourth-quarter deficit to force the extra period. Shakeem Copeland scored on a 2-yard run early in the fourth quarter, and then Marouf drilled a 41-yard field goal with 2:28 to tie the game.

After SSU missed a field goal on the first possession of overtime, Marouf hit a 38-yarder to win the game for the Spartans.

Copeland ran seven times for a career-high 56 yards, all after halftime, for NSU. Greg Hankerson passed for 131 yards and threw one touchdown, a 9-yarder to Isaac White in the second quarter. The TD was the sixth of the year for White.

The NSU defense held the Tigers to just 209 total yards. Deon King tallied a game-high 17 tackles – his eighth double-figure tackle game this year – and defensive end Chris Lee had two sacks among his three tackles for loss. King now has a staggering 131 tackles on the year, including six for loss. King has 42 tackles more than the next-closest competitor among MEAC players.

Lee now ranks in the top six in the MEAC in sacks (5.0) and tackles for loss (12.5).
                
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
South Carolina State (5-4, 4-2 MEAC) suffered a heart-breaking loss last week in Orangeburg, S.C., all but dropping out of MEAC title contention after a 9-6 loss to conference-leader North Carolina A&T. The visiting Aggies, trailing 6-2, scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:39 left. SCSU then drove deep inside N.C. A&T territory in the closing minute, but kicker Tyler Scandrett missed the potential game-tying 33-yard field goal on the final play of the game as the Aggies held on.

A game pitting the league's top two defenses was low-scoring as expected. The Aggies managed just 145 total yards of offense, while the Bulldogs recorded just 242. SCSU quarterback Caleb York threw for 199 yards, but was intercepted once. SCSU leading rusher Jalen Simmons managed just 34 yards on the ground as the Bulldogs had just 43 rushing yards on 40 attempts.

SCSU's defense allows a league-low 14.2 points per game and just 273.4 yards per game, second-fewest in the MEAC. The Bulldogs have a MEAC-leading 38 sacks, led by 8.5 by Preseason MEAC Defensive Player of the Year Javon Hargrave. Teammate Reggie Owens has 6.5 sacks, and both Gregtavious Newell and Darius Leonard have 5.0 apiece.

Simmons leads SCSU with 584 rushing yards and York has passed for 1,723 yards and 11 touchdowns.

THE SERIES
• This will be the 21st meeting all-time between NSU and SCSU, with the Bulldogs leading 17-3. 
• SCSU has won the last three games between the teams, including a 30-20 victory to end the 2014 season in Orangeburg, S.C. 
• SCSU has won 12 of the last 14 meetings, with the only losses coming in 2007 and 2011 in Norfolk. 
• Two of NSU's three wins over SCSU have come in OT (2000 and 2007) and all three by seven points or less.

THIS AND THAT
• ILB Raynard Revels (season-high nine tackles) and SS Brad Bradley (six) made their first career starts against Savannah State.
• DE Chris Lee had at least half a sack for the fifth straight game, this time notching a career-best two. • CB Harry Freeman V had his first career interception. He became the ninth Spartan to intercept a pass this year.
• RB Shakeem Copeland had seven carries for a career-high 56 yards and his first career TD.
• NSU held Savannah State to 16 passing yards, fewest by an NSU opponent since Bethune-Cookman also had 16 on Sept. 27, 2008.