NSU Announces Cancellation of VSU Football Series, Addition of Maine Black Bears

NORFOLK, Virginia  --  Norfolk State University Athletics Director Marty L. Miller announced Wednesday that the Spartans' remaining two-game football series with Virginia State has been cancelled and replaced with a home-and-home series with the University of Maine.

Virginia State recently made NSU aware of an NCAA Division II bylaw which will prohibit the Trojans from playing the Spartans in the teams' customary Labor Day Classic game. The bylaw sets the first date of competition for Division II football teams as the Thursday preceding Sept. 6. NSU and VSU were to play on Aug. 31, 2013 and Aug. 30, 2014.

“It is unfortunate that we will not be able to continue playing Virginia State University in the Virginia Lottery Labor Day Classic in 2013 and 2014. As a result of the notification from Virginia State concerning the NCAA bylaw, we had to find another opponent to play to complete the 2013 and 2014 football schedules,” Miller said. “Due to the timing of the cancellation, it was extremely difficult to find another opponent to play during the Labor Day weekend, but the officials at the University of Maine worked with us to complete a home-and-home series. It is my desire that a date becomes available in the near future for us to continue the series with Virginia State.”

NSU and VSU have met every year since 1963, including 21 of the last 22 seasons on the Saturday prior to Labor Day.

The Spartans will welcome the Black Bears of Maine to Dick Price Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 31, to kick off the 2013 season. NSU will make a return trip to Orono, Maine, on Aug. 30, 2014. The teams have never met before on the gridiron. Maine went 5-6 overall, 4-4 in the CAA last season.

“We're very grateful to the University of Maine for working with us to complete this series,” Miller said. “We are fortunate to have another quality CAA team on our schedule, and we hope that our fans will support what should be an exciting contest to begin the 2013 season.”

Miller added that the entire 2013 schedule will be released in the coming days.

By Matt Michalec, SID
NSUSPARTANS.COM
NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY