NSU hopes game with Virginia State starts something big

NORFOLK

James Riddick lists the priorities for any Norfolk  State football fan. No. 1 is beat Virginia State in the opener. No. 2: beat Hampton. No. 3 is beat everyone else in the MEAC.

It's a sentiment shared by many Spartan diehards, most of who will fill Dick Price Stadium tonight for the annual Labor Day Classic against the Trojans.

The Norfolk State schedule, toughened with a match-up at SEC foe Kentucky next week and CAA stalwart William and Mary later this month, doesn't have a more attractive date to its fans than today's game. Even talk of a future contest with down-the-road rival Old Dominion doesn't hold the same mystique for Spartans fans, who have made this annual showdown with the Division II Trojans a circle on their calendar since 1963.

Six of Price's top 10 crowds have come with Virginia State in the stadium, including the top attendance of 33,872 exactly 11 years ago in the stadium's inaugural game there. As for today?

"I'm projecting a sellout," said NSU athletic director Marty Miller, whose only reservation about making such a bold statement is the chance of rain dampening the evening.

The Spartans trounced Virginia State 33-7 last year and the expectation is that they should win comfortably today, given NSU's first preseason presence (No. 6) in the Sheridan Broadcasting Network Black College poll and the fact the Trojans are picked to finish fourth in the five-team Eastern Division in the CIAA. But any talk of not playing this game, any discussion that maybe NSU has outgrown this contest in favor of a more competitive Division I-AA foe, is met with disdain.

The Virginia State game is sacred for many of the same reasons NSU fans flock to the CIAA basketball tournament every year and forgo the MEAC event more than a decade after NSU left the CIAA. Norfolk Sate, formerly part of the Norfolk Division of the Virginia State College System, initially was nicknamed "Little State," and its athletic teams were deemed Baby Trojans. It wasn't until 1952 - when it was apparent the Norfolk Division would eclipse the mother institution - that the Spartans were born.

"It's a unique game," Spartans coach Pete Adrian said. "Norfolk State was part of Virginia State. We have husbands that went there, wives that go here, brothers and sisters same deal. It's such a big thing."

Miller sums it up in one word: tradition. The game is a party, a renewal of acquaintances and friendships with the on-field action often just a backdrop. Many NSU fans freely admit that rather than beef up the schedule with a stiffer foe, they'd even prefer NSU play another CIAA rival, Elizabeth City State. NSU can only play one Division II school per season, though.

"It is Division II, but we have such a close relationship with Virginia State," Miller said. "Many of us are in the positions we are in now because we have our roots in these two institutions."

Another sticking point, Adrian reminded: VSU leads the series. Although Norfolk State has won the past two, the Trojans hold a 26-18-1 advantage.

It's a feeling that isn't lost on the players, many who spend the week trash talking via text messages and cell phone calls.

"Being from Norfolk, Norfolk State-Virginia State, there's just that rivalry," said NSU receiver Jamar Johnson, a Lake Taylor High School graduate. "It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth when somebody says Virginia State. You can't sleep that whole week just thinking about it."

As integral as tradition is, the financial implications are just as huge for NSU. The schools have agreed that the game will always be played in Norfolk - Virginia State's s tadium seats just 13,000. The game can generate $150,000 or more in revenue, Miller said. A typical MEAC game, excluding top draw Hampton, generates about $100,000.

Previously every other year, the teams split the gate 60-40, with the "home team" receiving 60 percent. This year, under a new contract, Virginia State, as the home team, will get a $45,000 guarantee. Next year, NSU will keep the entire gate.

"Historically black colleges have some traditional games," Adrian said. "There's not a team in the CAA that wouldn't kill to have a gate like us against Virginia State. It's the same thing with South Carolina State playing Benedict. Tell me who's going to turn there back on 25,000-plus in the stadium? You've got to look at the finances."

But there's also the I-AA playoffs to think about, and the MEAC hasn't had an at-large team picked since 2003. Last year, the 8-3 Spartans hoped to get a bid despite finishing second in the MEAC but were denied.

Miller said playing Virginia State might have had some effect on NSU being left out, but he's also quick to note: "Last year, we had the opportunity to go to the playoffs even playing Virginia State. So I'm not blaming Virginia State.

"In the ultimate end, if they had to weigh significance of the strength of teams we played, that might have an effect, but that hasn't been an issue. We've tried to do our best here to balance our schedule to at least offset some of the effect that might have in regards to the postseason."

NSU plays William and Mary on Sept. 20 in the first of a home-and-home series. The teams have not met since 1985. Rutgers became the first I-A opponent on NSU's schedule when the teams met a year ago, and the Spartans will play Kentucky next Saturday. Miller is exploring options to play another I-A opponent, possibly Rutgers again, in 2010.

Eric Gemunder, editor of The FCS College Football Weekly Preview, sees the financial merits of playing smaller schools but also notes the cost.

"I believe any time a team can give up playing a Division II or lower school is a good thing for them and their playoff chances," he said. "If schools want to not lose money, then games against the Virginia States and Slippery Rocks of the world are fine. If making the playoffs is just the cherry on top of a fine season, the schools should do whatever they can to fund their programs.

"But if the goal is to make the playoffs and the belief is that people will support a winner, then schools need to step up and schedule the James Madisons and Appalachians States of the world."

An expanded MEAC might provide NSU with a way around the issue. With expansion in the works, talks are under way about having conference schools split into divisions. The last seven Saturdays of the season would be devoted to conference play, leaving four, and sometimes five, open dates. That creates opportunities the Spartans don't have with nine league games built in.

"I think you'll see a big change in scheduling then," said Adrian, who doesn't foresee removing the Trojans from the mix in any case.

Neither does Miller, at least not any time in the foreseeable future.

"Everyone looks forward to that game. I can't say it will always be," he said. "But I'm saying as of right now, there are no thoughts of that game going away."

Vicki L. Friedman, (757) 477-6874 VickiL120@cox.net