NSU Spartans Return from Bye Week, Host Charleston Southern for Community Day

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NORFOLK, Virginia  --  Coming off its lone bye week of the 2013 season, the Norfolk State football team returns home this Saturday to host Charleston Southern for Community Day. The Spartans will be looking to avoid an 0-3 start and hand the Buccaneers of the Big South Conference their first loss of the year. Kickoff is 4 p.m. at Dick Price Stadium.

The game has been designated Community Day. Fans can buy special four-packs which included four general admission tickets, four hot dogs and four drinks for $40.

MEDIA COVERAGE• Radio: NSU Sports Network, 1490 AM The Game/WNSB Hot 91.1 FM
(Play-by-Play: Ross Gordon; Color: Maguell Davis; Pre-Game: Gordon, Davis and Matt Michalec)
• Live Video: www.nsuspartans.com/showcase (requires subscription)
• Live Statistics: http://www.sidearmstats.com/nsu/football/
• Audio Stream: www.nsuspartans.com (click "Live Audio" link under Inside Athletics tab)
• Twitter Updates: @NSUSpartans

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS

 NSU, coming off a bye week last Saturday, heads into this week's matchup at 0-2 on the season following a 38-0 defeat at Rutgers on Sept. 7. The Spartans suffered from poor field position throughout the day, as Rutgers began all five of its touchdown drives in NSU territory. The Spartans finished with just six fi rst downs and 133 yards of total offense in their third all-time meeting with the Scarlet Knights.

Rolandan Finch rushed 13 times for 46 yards and leads NSU with 126 yards (63.0 ypg) so far. Lamar Neal led a game defensive effort with a career-high 10 tackles. Marcell Coke had seven tackles, an interception, a pass breakup and half a sack. The Spartans are attempting to avoid their first 0-3 start since 2005, head coach Pete Adrian's first season at the helm of the program.

SCOUTING THE BUCCANEERS
Charleston Southern is 3-0 for just the second time in school history after a 30-10 win at Campbell University last Saturday. The Buccaneers rushed for 327 yards as a team. Both quarterback Malcolm Dixon and running back Christian Reyes topped 100 yards on the ground and scored a pair of touchdowns apiece. Dixon led the way with 135 yards rushing and also passed for 140.

The Buccaneers, who also have wins over The Citadel and Shorter this year, have been led by Dixon, their senior quarterback. He has passed for 404 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 237 yards. Reyes paces the team with 253 rushing yards and three scores this year. Kevin Glears has been the top receiving weapon, as he has three TD catches among his five receptions. Defensively, CSU is yielding just 18 points and 97 passing yards per game.

THE SERIES
• NSU holds a 1-0 series lead with Charleston Southern. The Spartans won 33-3 at CSU in 2011 during their MEAC championship season.
• The Spartans are 4-4 all-time against teams currently in the Big South Conference, but are 4-0 during head coach Pete Adrian's tenure.

QUICK HITS FROM RUTGERS
More news and notes from the loss to Rutgers on Sept. 7:
• NSU remained scoreless against Rutgers in three meetings. The Scarlet Knights have outscored the Spartans 128-0 in those contests.
• The Spartans are also now 0-6 all-time against FBS schools.
• The following had career highs in tackles: LB Lamar Neal (10), DB Darrin Marrow (nine), LB Deon King (nine) and LB Mike Privott (seven).
• WR James Church (1-5), TE James Lynch (1-8) and Aaron Daniels (2-16) made their first career catches.
• ILB Marcell Coke had his second career interception, which he returned 22 yards into Rutgers territory in the second quarter.
• OLB Jay Anderson saw his first career action and assisted on one tackle.

QB IN QUESTION
Redshirt sophomores Tyler Clark, Malik Stokes and Omari Timmons - three transfers - battled during training camp to take the quarterback spot held most of last year by Nico Flores, a redshirt senior who will not play in the first four games of the year due to an academic suspension. Clark, an ODU transfer, got the start against Maine, but went just 3-of-8 for 40 yards with an interception. He was sacked four times. Stokes played extensively, but completed just 10-of-29 passes for 104 yards. He did account for NSU's lone score on a 34-yard TD pass to Joseph Hawkins in the second quarter.

Stokes, who transferred from Rutgers, started against Rutgers but went 0-for-10 with an interception. Clark and Timmons (a transfer from Albright College) also played. The trio went 8-of-27 for 74 yards. Through two games, the trio has completed 21-of-65 (32.3 percent) for 218 yards with one TD and two interceptions. Timmons has been given the nod to make his first career start this week.

LAST SERIES MEETING
Chris Walley completed 20 of 23 passes for 285 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and the Spartans outgained host Charleston Southern 519-141 en route to a 33-3 non-conference win on Sept. 24, 2011 at Buccaneer Field in the teams' prior meeting. Running back Takeem Hedgeman ran for 105 yards on 15 carries, and receivers Victor Hairston and Xavier Boyce both topped the 100-yard receiving mark and caught a touchdown pass for NSU.

The defense got 12 tackles from linebacker Corwin Hammond and four sacks (from four different players). Marcus Center accounted for the only turnover of the game with a fourth-quarter interception. Walley hit Boyce on a 13-yard TD pass on the first possession of the game. After a three-and-out by CSU, the Spartans needed just one play to score their next TD as Walley found Hairston for a 67-yard TD. Later in the quarter, Ryan Estep hit a 23-yard field goal, the first of his three on the afternoon, to give the Spartans a 17-0 edge.

NSU led 17-3 at halftime and cruised in the second half. The Spartans took their opening possession of the third quarter and drove 80 yards in 12 plays. Nico Flores capped the drive with a 1-yard run, his first TD as a Spartan, to extend the advantage to 24-3. NSU would tack on three more fi eld goals to account for the final margin. Estep connected from 19 and 20 yards out, and Everett Goldberg hit a 47-yarder.

CSU had 55 yards rushing on 45 carries.

SPARTANS IN THE NATIONAL FCS RANKINGS
The Spartans enter this week's game trying to pick up the pace on offense. The Spartans are currently last out of 113 teams in the FCS rankings in both scoring offense (3.0 ppg) and total offense (178.5 ypg). NSU also ranks lower than 100 in rushing offense (106th - 69.5 ypg) and total offense (107th - 109.0 ypg).

By Matt Michalec, Asst. AD/Communications
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