NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- With 1:34 remaining, Norfolk State was feeling pretty good about picking up its first MEAC victory of 2026.
The Spartans held a 28-23 lead, had the ball and North Carolina Central had used all of its timeouts.
But disaster struck. On second down, quarterback Deljay Bailey took the snap, moved to his left and fumbled the ball when he was hit by an Eagle defender. NCCU recovered the ball, scored a touchdown to take the lead and held on for the 29-28 win.
"I don't know what happened at the end of the game," Norfolk State head coach Michael Vick said. "I put my headset down, I called victory formation and all we had to do was just take a knee, kneel the clock out. That's just situational football. I don't know what happened in regards to that. I looked up and we were running the ball and then I saw the fumble."
By kneeling on second and third down, the Spartans could have run the clock down to less than 15 seconds before potentially punting the ball back to the Eagles and pinning them deep in their own territory with just a few seconds remaining.
Instead, things unraveled. Josh Jones hit Mekhi Wall for a 26-yard touchdown with 27 seconds remaining to give North Carolina Central its first lead of the day at 29-28. The Eagles were flagged for a personal foul on the play, giving the Spartans good field position on the kickoff after NCCU missed the two-point conversion. Another 15-yard penalty on the visitors helped the green and gold move into field goal range and Marco Peery had a chance to a game-winning 36-yard field goal, but missed the kick wide right to seal the win for the Eagles.
The end result spoiled some bright spots for the Spartans. Bailey completed 22 of his 26 pass attempts for 278 yards and two touchdowns while finding the endzone on the ground as well. The defense forced four turnovers, including two interceptions by Jordan Saunders.
Norfolk State scored first and held a 21-7 lead at halftime. A Jalyn Daniels touchdown rush early in the fourth quarter gave the Spartans a 28-17 advantage. After the Eagles trimmed it to 28-23, Jake Walker missed a 25-yard field goal attempt that would have put NSU in front by eight points.
The Spartans fall to 4-6, 0-3 in MEAC play, and return to action next Saturday at Morgan State.
Click here to see how we use AI at WTKR News 3.
