NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State football team (4-2, 0-0 MEAC) looks to extend its winning streak to five games Saturday when it opens MEAC play at Howard (2-4, 1-0). Kickoff is at 1 p.m. at Greene Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and re-broadcast the same evening at 10:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
 
OPENING KICKOFF
• NSU won its fourth straight game last Saturday, a 42-14 Homecoming victory over Virginia Lynchburg at Dick Price Stadium.
• Juwan Carter threw two touchdown passes and ran for one.
• The Spartans held VUL to 184 total yards and forced two turnovers, a pair of interceptions by R.J. Coles and Brandon Savage.
• Justin Smith caught his sixth touchdown pass of the season and four different Spartans rushed for a score.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• Howard leads the series with NSU 18-8, with three NSU wins vacated.
• The Spartans won the last meeting in convincing fashion, 49-21, in 2019 at Greene Stadium in D.C.
• Carter passed for 377 yards and four scores, tying a career high, and rushed for 56 yards and two more TDs.
• The Spartans rolled up 649 yards of total offense, second-most in school history.
 
THE DRIVE FOR FIVE
NSU has won four games in a row, a feat NSU has not achieved since the MEAC championship season of 2011. NSU won five in a row that season and in 2007, when they finished as MEAC runners-up.
 
TRUSTY TRENCHMEN
NSU has won the MEAC Offensive Lineman of the Week award following its last five games. LG Jalen Powell started the streak following the Wake Forest game. C Colby Byrd won it following the Elizabeth City and VUL games, and RG Justin Redd won it after St. Francis and Hampton.
 
That group has helped the Spartans lead the MEAC and rank 13th nationally in rushing so far, at 218.8 yards per game. NSU rushed for more than 300 yards in back-to-back games for the first time since 2010 with 322 vs. ECSU and 323 at St. Francis.
 
NSU IN WEEKLY MEAC HONORS
NSU hasn't just dominated the weekly MEAC OL award. The Spartans have won a total of 12 weekly conference honors. Here are the other winners:
• NSU quarterback Juwan Carter was named the MEAC Offensive Player of the Week after the Wake, ECSU and Hampton games, throwing for a combined nine touchdowns in the three games (five vs. ECSU, a career high).
• RB J.J. Davis was named MEAC Rookie of the Week twice: after rushing eight times for 121 yards and two touchdowns (including a 72-yarder) vs. ECSU, and rushing 14 times for 93 yards vs. SFU.
• DL Chris Myers was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week after the ECSU win after registering two of NSU's eight sacks and helping hold the Vikings to negative-49 rushing yards.
• DB Justin Toler was selected Co-Defensive Player of the Week after notching two interceptions at HU.
 
SMITH CLIMBS THE LADDER
Senior WR Justin Smith moved into 10th place in school history in receiving yards (1,451) and tied for eighth in TD receptions (14) after catching his sixth TD pass of the year vs. VUL. He needs 49 more yards to move into ninth place in that category and one more TD to move into a sixth-place tie in TDs.
 
SCOUTING THE BISON
Howard is 2-4 on the season but has won its last two games, including a 27-0 victory to open conference play against Morgan State on Oct. 8. Quinton Williams threw two touchdown pass, on a 97-yarder to Antoine Murray. The Bison held MSU to 122 yards of total offense. Williams leads the MEAC with 1,451 passing yards. The Bison average 360.8 offensive ypg.
 
CONTROLLING THE LINE
Head coach Dawson Odums emphasizes stopping the run and running the football, and the Spartans have done a good job of both so far. NSU is one of six schools (along with Harvard, Sam Houston State, North Dakota State, South Dakota State and Kennesaw State) that ranks in the top 15 in the FCS in both rushing offense and rushing defense. The Spartans are 15th in rush defense (105.2 ypg allowed) and 13th in rush offense (218.8), tops in the MEAC in both.
 
ON THE OFFENSIVE
NSU's most recent football season was a record-setting one on the offensive side of the ball for the Spartans (see below), and the Spartans are picking up right where they left off. NSU currently leads the MEAC in scoring offense (34.3 ppg), total offense (434.0 ypg) and rushing offense (218.8 ypg) - that despite two of its first six opponents coming from the Football Bowl Subdivision (Toledo, Wake Forest).