Game Notes | Watch Live | Live Stats | Twitter UpdatesNORFOLK, Virginia -- Norfolk State opens the 2015 season and kicks off the Latrell Scott era Saturday, as the Spartans face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway, N.J. Kickoff is at 12 noon. It will be the fourth meeting between the teams, but first since Rutgers moved to the Big 10 Conference. The game will be televised live on ESPNEWS.
TELEVISION
This week's game will be televised live on ESPNEWS. Shawn Kenney will call the action, with Al Groh serving as color commentator. The game can also be seen on watchespn.com and via the Watch ESPN app.
RADIO
WGH Star 1310 AM begins its second season as the flagship network for NSU football and basketball games. Ross Gordon will handle the play-by-play duties, with Terrell Ducre' serving as the color analyst. The game can also be heard online at www.star1310.com, accessible by computers or mobile devices.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
NSU is coming off a 4-8 season in which the Spartans finished 4-4 in the MEAC, sixth in the conference standings. The Spartans return 14 starters and 53 lettermen from that squad but also welcome in a new head coach in former Virginia State and Richmond head man, Latrell Scott. Scott replaces Pete Adrian, who retired following a 10-year run with the Spartans following 2014.
Offensively, NSU welcomes back six offensive linemen with starting experience, including senior right guard Mike Phillips and junior center Louis "Tres" Humphrey. Senior receiver Isaac White (48 catches, 664 yards, 7 TD in 2014), a preseason All-MEAC first team wideout, headlines an upperclassman-heavy receiving corps. Florida Atlantic quarterback Greg Hankerson Jr. will man the controls of the offense, while Old Dominion transfer running back Gerard Johnson leads the ground game.
Defensively, senior linebacker Deon King (106 tackles, 18 TFL, 7.5 sacks) is one of five starters back from a unit which ranked No. 2 in the nation in the FCS in total defense. Linemen Shawn Fauntleroy (33 tackles) and Kevin Williams (19 tackles, 2.5 TFL) bring a veteran presence up front, while safeties Brandon Walker (43 tackles, 8 PBU) and Leroy Parker (29 tackles, 1.5 TFL) and cornerback D'Metrius Williams (22 tackles, 1 INT, 5 PBU) head up a talented secondary.
SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
Rutgers finished the 2014 season 8-5 overall, 3-5 in its inaugural season in the Big 10. The Scarlet Knights beat North Carolina 40-21 in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit.
The Scarlet Knights return three All-Big 10 players from last year, led by first-team all-conference senior wideout Leonte Carroo (55 catches, 1,086 yards, 10 TD). Redshirt senior Paul James, who scored seven touchdowns in four games last season before suffering an injury, also returns. Rutgers is slated to start redshirt sophomore Hayden Rettig, an LSU transfer, at quarterback.
The Scarlet Knights' defense is led by 2014 Big 10 honorable mention picks Darius Hamilton (45 tackles, 1.5 TFL) and Kemoko Turay (7.5 sacks) along the defensive line.
THE SERIES
• This will be the fourth meeting between the teams, with Rutgers leading the series 3-0.
• The Scarlet Knights have outscored NSU 128-0 in those meetings (2007, '10, '13).
• NSU trailed 3-0 after the first quarter of the 2007 matchup, and 6-0 at halftime of the 2010 contest.
SCOTT USHERS IN NEW ERA OF SPARTAN FOOTBALL
NSU hired Latrell Scott as the 17th head coach in Spartan football history on Dec. 16, 2014. Scott comes to NSU following an outstanding two-year run as head coach at Virginia State University. More on the Spartans' new head man:
• Scott directed the Trojans to a 19-4 record and two Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Northern Division regular-season titles in 2013 and 2014.
• The Trojans never lost to a CIAA team under Scott's direction, going a combined 15-0.
• In 2014, VSU went 10-3 overall and won its first outright CIAA championship since 1996.
• Also in 2014, VSU recorded its first-ever NCAA football playoff appearance and victory by defeating Long Island University Post in the first round of the Division II Championship.
• For his efforts, Scott was named the 2014 CIAA Coach of the Year.
• Scott also served as Richmond's head coach in 2010, leading the Spiders to a 6-5 mark.
• He has had winning seasons in all three of his years as head coach, with a cumulative record of 25-9.
• Scott has served as a position coach at James Madison, U.Va., Tennessee, Richmond, VMI and Western Carolina.
• He is a former tight end at Hampton University and a native of Richmond, Va.
SPARTANS PICKED 7TH IN PRESEASON MEAC POLL
The Norfolk State football team was predicted to finish seventh in the preseason poll of MEAC head coaches and sports information directors, and seven Spartans were named to the preseason All-MEAC teams. Senior linebacker Deon King and senior receiver Isaac White were both named to the preseason All-MEAC first team. Senior defensive lineman Shawn Fauntleroy Jr. was voted to the second team, while the quartet of senior defensive lineman Kevin Williams, senior linebacker Lamar Neal, junior safety Brandon Walker and junior kicker Cameron Marouf were all voted to the third team.
North Carolina A&T, one of last season's five MEAC co-champions, was narrowly voted as the favorite to win the conference. The Aggies were followed in the preseason poll by the other four co-champions from last year: South Carolina State was predicted second, Bethune-Cookman third, N.C. Central fourth and Morgan State fifth. Hampton was tabbed sixth and NSU seventh.
LAST MEETING WITH RUTGERS
Paul James rushed for 119 yards and three touchdowns, and host Rutgers took advantage of outstanding field position throughout the day in a 38-0 win over Norfolk State on Sept. 7, 2013 at High Point Solutions Stadium in the teams' previous meeting. In the third meeting between the schools, Rutgers' first five scoring drives all began in NSU territory thanks largely to Spartan miscues. A blocked punt set up Rutgers for a short 15-yard drive which James finished with a 1-yard TD run. An NSU fumble was recovered at the Spartans' 19 later in the first quarter, setting up an 8-yard Gary Nova to Ruhann Peele TD pass. James then capped a 33-yard drive set up by a short punt with a 10-yard TD run on the final play of the first quarter for a 21-0 Rutgers lead.
James (25-yard run) and Savon Huggins (1-yard run) scored on third-quarter TDs for Rutgers.
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