Game Notes: NCCU Football at Towson

Complete Game Notes as PDF       VIDEO: Press Conference with Coach Jerry Mack  

   
THE GAME    
North Carolina Central University "Eagles" at Towson University "Tigers"

THE KICKOFF    
Saturday, September 20, 2014 – Kickoff at 6:00 p.m.

THE SITE    
Johnny Unitas Stadium (11,198 capacity/Field Turf) - Towson, Md.

THE RECORDS    
N.C. Central (1-2 overall, 0-0 MEAC); Towson (1-2 overall, 0-0 CAA)

MEDIA COVERAGE    
Audio: NCCU Sports Network mobile app (iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android, Kindle Fire HD); "GameCentral" at NCCUEaglePride.com (audio internet stream). Broadcast starts at 5:45 p.m. (Kyle Serba, play-by-play).
Video: TowsonTigers.com (Free)

QUICK HITS    
•    After back-to-back home games, NCCU hits the road for a 315-mile trip to Towson, Md., for the Eagles' first appearance at Johnny Unitas Stadium.
•    Both NCCU and Towson have overall records of 1-2. However, NCCU is coming off of a tough 40-28 loss to Charlotte, while Towson returns home after a 21-7 win at Delaware State.
•    Following Saturday's win at Delaware State, Towson has now won four consecutive games against teams from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Towson's last loss to a MEAC opponent was on Sept. 26, 2009, when the Tigers fell at Morgan State, 12-9.
•    In 2013, Towson advanced to the FCS national championship game and won a school-record 13 games.
•    NCCU senior defensive end Felix Small has forced a fumble in each of the first three games, which leads the MEAC and ranks second in the nation (FCS).
•    As a team, NCCU tops the MEAC and ranks fifth nationally (FCS) in punt returns, averaging 24.4 yards per punt return. NCCU also leads the MEAC and ranks sixth in the nation in third down conversion defense, allowing opponents to move the chains on third down only 24.3 percent of the time.
•    In three games, Towson has not committed a turnover.

THE SERIES    
This will be the second meeting between NCCU and Towson. In the first meeting on Sept. 21, 2013, Towson pulled away from NCCU in the second half for a 35-17 win in Durham, N.C.

THE LAST MEETING    
(Sept. 21, 2013) Towson University, the fourth-ranked team in NCAA Division I-FCS, scored on its first two possessions of the second half to pull away from a scrappy North Carolina Central University team for a 35-17 road win inside O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium. After a scoreless first quarter, Towson took a 14-10 lead into the locker room. That's when the rain made its way to Durham and the tide started to change. Towson needed just four plays to light the scoreboard in the third quarter when Terrance West raced 22 yards for a touchdown and a 21-10 Tigers' advantage. On Towson's next possession, the Tigers moved 86 yards on 10 plays for a 28-10 lead. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Reid completed a 40-yard bomb to senior receiver Thomas Dixon to pull to within 28-17. The Eagles maintained the momentum when, two plays later, linebacker Ty Brown stripped the ball from Leon Kinnard and safety Ryan Smith recovered for NCCU. Just when things were getting interesting, Reid threw and interception on third-and-10 to give the ball back to the Tigers. Two drives later, NCCU cornerback Michael Jones picked off his fourth pass of the season to give the Eagles another life. However, facing third down and one yard to go at NCCU's own 37-yard line, Reid threw back-to-back incomplete passes to return the pigskin to the Tigers. With the game in hand, Towson added another touchdown with 1:35 remaining to make the final score 35-17. Towson amassed 444 yards of total offense, including 252 yards through the air. West posted 139 ground yards and two touchdowns. NCCU received a career-high passing performance by Reid with 292 yards and two touchdowns, but the quarterback was sacked six times resulting in only two total rushing yards by the Eagles.
LAST WEEK    
(Charlotte 40, NCCU 28)  North Carolina Central University tied a school record with 28 fourth-quarter points, but a slow start allowed Charlotte to score 40 unanswered to open the contest, as the unbeaten 49ers avenged last season's loss to the Eagles with a 40-28 victory inside O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium in Durham, N.C. NCCU redshirt sophomore quarterback Malcolm Bell came off the bench with 11:36 left in the second quarter to throw for a career-high 337 yards and two touchdowns on 25-of-36 passing with an interception. Bell spread the wealth to a host of receivers. Redshirt junior Adrian Wilkins caught seven passes for 129 yards and a touchdown, while junior running back Deyonta Wright also had seven receptions for 27 yards. Transfer receivers Quentin Atkinson and Jazz King had five catches each, while rookie tight end Jvon Simmons grabbed three passes for 42 yards and his first career touchdown. NCCU senior running back Andre Clarke ran for his fourth touchdown of the season to cap the Eagles' fourth-quarter scoring. The two teams combined for 863 yards of total offense, with NCCU (1-2) collecting 420 total yards and Charlotte (3-0) amassing 443 total yards, including 300 rushing yards. NCCU's defense was topped by redshirt junior cornerback Ryan Smith and senior safety C.J. Moore with nine tackles each. Senior defensive end Felix Small added seven stops and forced a fumble, his third of the season. Redshirt sophomore linebacker Jeremy Thompson contributed to the fourth-quarter scoring by returning an interception 26 yards to the end zone.

(Towson 21, Delaware State 7)  A pair of fourth quarter special teams touchdowns propelled the Towson University to a 21-7 win over Delaware State at rain-soaked Alumni Field on Saturday. Trailing 7-6 in the fourth quarter, sophomore Jordan Mynatt blocked a Delaware State punt that senior Fred Overstreet recovered in the end zone to give the Tigers a lead they would not relinquish. Later in the quarter, senior Derrick Joseph returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown to seal Towson's 21-7 win. Towson outgained Delaware State 221-71 on the ground, averaging 4.9 yards per carry. Sophomore Darius Victor led the Tiger rushing charge with 131 yards on 24 carries, giving him two 100-yard rushing games in just three contests this season. The consistent downpour of rain throughout the game limited Towson's passing attack as junior quarterback Connor Frazier completed 10 of 22 passes for 83 yards. Frazier did run for 84 yards on 17 attempts and for the third straight game threw no interceptions. In fact, through three games the Tigers have yet to turn the ball over.

THE COACHES    
NCCU: Jerry Mack (Arkansas State, 2003) is in his first season as a college head coach. At age 33, he boasts 10 years of coaching experience, including stints with five NCAA Division I programs and two conference championship teams. A native of Memphis, Tenn., Mack has held positions as wide receivers coach at the University of South Alabama (2012-13) and the University of Memphis (2011), as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (2010), as passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at the University of Central Arkansas (2008-09), as wide receivers and tight ends coach at Jackson State University (2006-07), and as an offensive graduate assistant at Delta State University (2004-05). Mack began his collegiate playing career at Jackson State before transferring after one season (1999) to Arkansas State University.  He lettered three years at Arkansas State (2001-03) before earning his bachelor's degree in management information systems in 2003. Mack completed his master's degree in physical education from Delta State in 2006.

Towson: Rob Ambrose (Towson, 1993), now in the sixth season as the head coach at his alma mater, led the Tigers to the FCS championship game and a school record 13 victories in 2013, along with back-to-back Colonial Athletic Association championships in 2011 and 2012. After the 2011 Tigers made their first appearance in the NCAA FCS playoffs, Ambrose was presented with the Eddie Robinson Award as the national FCS coach of the year. He has also served as an assistant coach at Connecticut and Towson, and spent the 2001 season as the head coach at Division III Catholic University.

COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION