The Michael Vick period at Norfolk State kicked off below the brilliant lights of William “Dick” Worth Stadium with 19,469 followers in attendance—the biggest non-homecoming crowd since 2023. Whereas the Spartans in the end fell 27-7 to Towson in Vick’s teaching debut, the evening marked a major second in this system’s historical past and gave followers a glimpse of the long run below the previous NFL star.
Right here’s a short have a look at the sport and three takeaways from Vick’s first outing as a head coach.
Recreation Abstract
Norfolk State’s offense struggled out of the gate, going scoreless via three quarters earlier than lastly discovering the top zone within the fourth. Quarterback Jaylen Laudermilk capped a five-play, 43-yard drive with an 8-yard landing run, chopping the Towson result in 13-7 early within the ultimate quarter.
Nonetheless, Towson responded with back-to-back landing passes from Andrew Indorf to Zay Perkins and John Dunmore, placing the sport out of attain. The Tigers outgained the Spartans 323 to 279 in complete yardage and held them to only 39 dashing yards on 31 makes an attempt. Norfolk State had a number of promising drives however got here up empty in three red-zone alternatives.
Regardless of the loss, the electrical environment and defensive grit provided silver linings.
1. Michael Vick Praises Defensive Effort Regardless of Loss
Whereas the scoreboard confirmed 27 factors allowed, Vick had excessive reward for his protection, notably its capability to maintain the sport shut into the fourth quarter.
“The protection performed nice. Protection did plenty of good issues, and I’m very pleased with them,” Vick mentioned. “We had been within the recreation with 10 minutes left… simply wanted a few performs to go our method”.
The Spartans compelled a key fumble, logged three sacks, and broke up 4 passes. Vick additionally famous a number of missed interception probabilities that might have turned the sport.
“We had been banking on getting two turnovers this recreation. That was a second for us, and we didn’t capitalize on it,” he added.
2. Offensive Struggles Begin with the Run Recreation
NSU ran for simply 39 internet yards—a stat that Vick was fast to spotlight postgame.
“You possibly can’t rush for 39 yards and assume you’re going to win plenty of soccer video games. We bought to regulate the road of scrimmage,” he mentioned.
Quarterbacks Otto Kuhns and Israel Carter mixed for 240 passing yards, with DreSean Kendrick and Kam’Ryn Thomas combining for 230 of these. However penalties and red-zone inefficiency killed drives. Vick acknowledged the play-calling must be extra balanced and productive.
“We shot ourselves within the foot… each time we made a play, it was a penalty,” he mentioned. “We’ve bought to self-correct.”
3. Each Quarterbacks Will Play
Vick used each quarterbacks all through the sport, giving followers a style of what might turn out to be a back-and-forth scenario transferring ahead.
“We’ve bought two good quarterbacks,” Vick mentioned. “Israel will likely be again on the market, however Otto got here in and did some nice issues. We’ll preserve evaluating”.
Kuhns threw for 219 yards, finishing 19 of 27 passes, whereas Carter added 21 yards in restricted motion.
Michael Vick seems forward
Regardless of the loss, Michael Vick remained optimistic and reflective.
“I bought a really feel for the move, what to search for… now I do know the place we’ve bought to get higher,” he mentioned. “We’ll be so much higher subsequent week”.
The Spartans (0-1) return to Dick Worth Stadium subsequent week to face in-state rival Virginia State. With opening evening nerves out of the way in which and movie in hand, Vick and Norfolk State look to show classes realized into wins.
