Inside the MEAC · recap

Norfolk State did not turn it over once and lost on special teams

We have spent five weeks asking one question about Norfolk State. Six turnovers in two games against Old Dominion and Virginia, then three more against a Chicago State program playing the fifth game in its history. After that one we wrote that the answer was still open, and that ball security against teams they should beat is what turns one good night into a habit.

Saturday at Robert Morris they did not turn it over at all.

They lost 33-31.

What beat them was not the offense

Norfolk State gained 491 yards. Robert Morris gained 366. Da'Jean Golmond went 27-of-45 for 371 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, and then caught a six-yard touchdown from Brevin Caldwell in the third quarter, which makes him the only player on either roster who both threw and caught one.

Elyjah Mitchell had five catches for 81 yards and led the team in receiving for the sixth consecutive game. Jalyn Daniels carried 19 times for 71. Marco Peery, who punts and kicks, ran 19 yards for a first down in the second quarter.

None of that was the problem.

The play that actually decided it

With 49 seconds left in the first half, Norfolk State lined up for a field goal. Robert Morris blocked it, and Tahseen Howard picked it up and ran it back 100 yards for a touchdown.

That is a seven-point swing on a possession that was going to end in three, so call it a ten-point play, in a game Norfolk State lost by two. The Spartans still answered with a 32-yard Peery field goal five seconds before the break to make it 21-10, which tells you they did not come apart. It just meant they spent the second half paying off a debt they did not need to owe.

They did come back

Down 27-10 in the third, Norfolk State scored the next 21 points.

Golmond found Kiron Benjamin for two yards with 7:36 left to make it 27-24, and after a Robert Morris three-and-out he took them 72 yards in four plays and 2:41, finishing with a three-yard touchdown to Paul Billups II. With 3:27 on the clock, Norfolk State led 31-27 on the road.

Robert Morris went 72 yards in five plays and 1:56. Carson Haggard threw his fourth touchdown of the night, a 10-yarder to Jaqai Carter, who caught nine balls for 171 yards and scored three times by himself. The extra point failed, which is the only reason the margin was two instead of three.

Robert Morris missed two extra points on the night and won anyway.

Norfolk State got the ball back with 1:18 and moved 39 yards in eight plays. Peery's 52-yard attempt as the clock hit zero was no good.

Two of these in one weekend

Friday night at Lane Stadium, a 36-yard field goal at 0:00 was ruled no good and Virginia Tech lost by two. Saturday afternoon in Moon Township, a 52-yard field goal at 0:00 was no good and Norfolk State lost by two. Nobody is arguing about this one. It missed.

The Beat's weekend opened and closed on a kick that did not go in.

Where it leaves them

Norfolk State is 3-3 and has not started MEAC play. Robert Morris is 3-2 and 2-0 at home, in front of 3,001 on Saturday.

Here is the honest version of this. The thing we have been tracking since September got fixed, and it was worth tracking, and it did not save them. A clean game is necessary and it is not sufficient, and a team that wants to defend a MEAC title cannot give away ten points on a field goal snap.

Virginia-Lynchburg comes to Dick Price Stadium on Saturday. The MEAC opener is at South Carolina State on October 24, after a bye week.