A Battle to Behold: NSU vs. FAMU

Norfolk State University Spartans, the Florida A and M Rattlers 13 News now presents the auto connection a battle to behold NSU versus FA nu preview show. Well, good evening, everyone. Welcome to the, what is it? A battle to behold to be, you know, I'm so excited. I've lost track of where I was. It's almost like we've heard the title too many times. That's it. But guess what? We're here, we're here. I'm Brian Smith. That's kind of real, kind of real. This is the 17th edition of this event. Um First time ever for Norfolk State to be enemy. A challenge, but this isn't the first time that Fu and Norfolk State have squared off. No, actually this will be the 10th overall meeting between these two. The last time they actually met was when they was in the swack at the time and that was 2019 and the fighting Rattlers wound up edging them 30 to 28. But Norfolk State last season give us a review. Not a good 13 and eight to be exact. They had lost four straight games at one point, but of those four losses, all of them by seven or less points. So the Rattlers, on the other hand, quite possibly the best season in school history, 12 and one H BC national champion. So good. Their head coach took a job as the running backs coach at Duke University a lot now, they did lose a lot of talent, but it's starting to look like this might be a program that reloads, not rebuilds. It's a tall task for the Norfolk State Spartans and Jalen Daniels. Of course, Jalen Daniels named the starting quarterback on Sunday by head coach Dawson Odoms and he is a transfer transfer from out of Garden City Community College in Kansas. Now his background just one year. But what impressive numbers 1200 yards, passing nine touchdowns. He is the only numbers exactly 65, 200 plus pounds and he can move size with him, but he's definitely excited about what's to come with tonight's game. I definitely try and visualize it but, you know, not make anything too big, you know, just trust offense, trust my playmakers and I've learned not to do too much. I think, you know, especially coming in. I was kind of, you know, eyes all over the place, but coach Phillips has definitely calmed me down and you just made me trust the process. So definitely learned to not do too much. Don't got to be Superman, just get my guys the ball. Yeah, and calling those plays Daniels, the guy guiding Jalen Daniels, new offensive coordinator, Jason Phillips. Jason Phillips is the fourth offensive coordinator in Dawson. Odom's four years now, part of that is because Ray Pickering did a great job last season and moved on to Buffalo and Phillips. Now, here's the thing, Phillips and they know each other a little bit. Phillips was on the staff at all Corn State for a long time. Odom is of course the long time coach at Southern those two schools faced off often. So there's familiarity there rivals have become teammates. Phillips said this offense good last season, but he wants to insert more explosive plays with this group. No doubt that the strength of the team and the offense last year was running the football and taking care of the ball and getting it north and south and I think it out of watching that and I watched every game before I took the job and you could just see opportunity with some tweaks and additions to create some of those explosives. Certainly does. And speaking of offensive and guys coming home, so to speak, a lot of Georgia players on the Norfolk State. Spartans explain definitely, we got so many players who are leaving home to play this game when it comes to Norfolk State. But there's a select few who this weekend, this Saturday is actually a homecoming the last time Norfolk State defensive lineman Alvin Williams played at center park stadium in Atlanta. He left with a win. I played for the state championship where I won my second one, the second of three Georgia state championships in his time at Cedar Grove High School. This is my first time being back home. So I can't wait to go home and play, winning a big game at home in front of friends and family. That's not an opportunity that comes around often take a deep breath and embrace it because not a lot of people get this opportunity because Williams along with his fellow Spartans from Georgia, Oladapo Salaman and Dawson Rivers is getting another chance to play a big game at home. Excitement, excitement. Just now I get to play for my hometown crowd. My family's gonna get a chance to be there but that also can come with distraction. Like my mom, my dad, my cousins, everybody been trying to come see me and my family. Friends call and say, yeah, we play in Georgia, but the Spartans have priorities. Now. Here we have a process. You do things the right way. It doesn't matter where we are. You don't worry about all the extra stuff. You worry about what you got to get done. It's a business trip. It's not no fun when I did the half fun games, which is good because this game won't just be played in front of Salam Manu Rivers and Williams, friends and family. But rather for a national audience, you've been given a platform to showcase your talents and your skills and they plan on walking out of center park stadium the same way Williams did last time with a win. Everybody wants to win and that's the main mindset around here. And we all love the game and we all want to win more than anything else. And then perhaps a celebration with family. The celebration is a lot better after a victim because these opportunities don't come around often. We will certainly be celebrating as well. This game is over in the great city of Atlanta but make no mistake. There's home grown talent on this Norfolk State team, primarily from the 757 itself. Specifically one young man from the city of Chesapeake. That would be Keyon King. What didn't he do in high school at Oscar Smith first team all state. We're talking Tidewater player of the year. How about not one but two state championships for that house Oscar Smith program. Some decorated teams back then. You remember the state championship? I do as a senior 290 yards, multiple touchdowns. But all of a sudden you look up and he's a junior at Norfolk State. Exactly. And he was kind of like a steal for Norfolk State because he was coveted second on the team in rushing last season. But this season, this season, he's coming for 1000 yard year. That's one of his goals. If he's going to do it, it starts tonight. I was amazed. I'm still amazed. I'm just ready to take the film with my brothers and show the world what we can do. I was gonna meet, meet a lot. I've been dreaming about this day since I was what, 67 years old coming up. We'll talk about the administrative side of Norfolk State. We caught up with their athletic director. She is Melody Webb and we'll tell her story in just a moment. No, I mean, that's it. Don't say, don't say welcome back. Welcome back. We're about 20 minutes from kick off now and the tailgate is still absolutely thriving. It's still festive out here, which is great is the place to be festive food, drinks. But that's today yesterday, we had the pleasure of talking with athletic director, Melody Webb for a while. She was really generous with her time and with us, we talk about her position as an athletic director. She is in a rare position to be at this point at Joe Echo Hall down this narrow hallway room 164 is where Melody Webb is in her fourth year with the Spartans as director of athletics. She understands the significance of the Spartans opening game anytime that you can play a game of this magnitude and on live television. Um and on the national stage and be the only one, the hot ticket in town, I think it's important. Webb is the first woman to ever lead the department taking over for a long time. Ad Marty Miller, she's also one of five women in the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference. Webb says there's a sisterhood amongst the competition. I think it's those opportunities for all women to be able just to celebrate each other, celebrate our journey, celebrate the trials and just the trials that we actually gonna go through as we get into that process. Um being able to be that listening ear. Um we're not only sisters in the ad role necessarily, but all the sisters in our sorority things of this nature. So it's one of those, we have a lot of shared experiences. 15% of women make up the number of athletic directors in the country among division one schools for black women like Webb, it's 4% and as busy as she will be, she'll get the chance to do things her way. I think we carry a different dynamic when we get to this position. Um And that's what probably helped elevate us to the level that we are now, right? We just uh we move differently. Um But I do think it's important that unapologetic is important because you do have to make decisions and make calls sometimes that you unnecessarily wouldn't have to make sometimes, right? Or sometimes you, you put it in the male's perspective. Royal Mail's role, but now you're sitting in the city have to actually make those decisions. This is one of those rare circumstances for Norfolk State as well as a historically black college to be on the national stage like this. We've seen a resurgence of attention to HBCUS like NSU and they definitely want to be a school that's part of those growing schools that everybody needs to know as the Norfolk State Spartans get ready for the bright lights and national stage for the 19th edition of the mi A swack challenge. They know they are part of something greater and the resurgence and attention to football programs like theirs. What H BC U stand for and, and how we carry ourselves and the, the men that come out of these institutions go to prosper in life. They go on to have great NFL careers. It's just that we now have more TV opportunities to showcase our talent and our skill set. Some people may not know enough for state when that game come on. So it's just showing them what we're about and what are we got and what we can do. We're just here to say, hey, we could do it just as good as the next guy. You know, we're still here. It gives us a place to come back to when we couldn't go anywhere else. As a H BC U coach is just the coach of the love is nothing like H BC U. It's just different. The Spartans have had a few players find their way to the ranks of the NFL. Guys like former defensive lineman Lyndon trail who had stops that included Washington or cornerback and Norfolk native Don Carey, who spent a portion of his career with the Lions players. Now say their time at an H BC U like theirs touches them beyond the sport. I just want them to take in the black college vibe man, the unity that we have, the family, the family oriented that we have, man. Just the, the vibes of family. That's the biggest thing. When you at H BC U, you feel like you want to hear and our tradition and our passions that has always been a part of H BC US. And we got platforms now for people to see that and say and recognize that, you know, you could be on the west coast and find out who Norfolk State is now uh with, with our TV presence. And that's the biggest thing about H BC US. We have a presence in the platform like no other. When we got back, Connor, you've got a chance to catch up with one of the great wonders at NSU. Let's get musical after the break. OK. It is undoubtedly a party here in Atlanta has been all weekend. Really crowds are over here, they're over here, I mean, and people start to go to the stadium so far. This isn't the only place where there's a Spartan party going on and I don't think no one's going to see this, right? OK. We can admit that we're going to toss it over to definitely our favorite coworker, Stephanie Johnson Johnson. I love that. I hope you guys are my favorite coworkers as well. Hey B Smith. Hey Connor, I'm here at Blue Moon Tap House in Norfolk. The party has not quite started but people are slowly trickling in. Now, Blue Moons Tap Tap House is hosting a watch party and fans will be able to watch everything at their 360 bar right here. So everyone will be, be able to miss uh see every angle of the game and not miss a moment of the big game. Now in total NSU and bam you have played against 16 times and many people may not know this, but the Spartans and Rattlers used to be conference rivals in the mi. So it's a nice game. We will certainly be an exciting one. Now, the game kicks off at 730. So if you're out and about and you want to come out, just come out and watch it here at Blue Moon Tap House, they will have it playing on their course at their bar at the 360 bar or if you're at home, you can watch the game right here on 13 news now in Norfolk, Stephanie Johnson, back to you guys, Stephanie's favorite co workers. I love it. I love it. You had talked about an issue and it's one of the great wonders musically on campus. No question about it. Here, first quarter, second quarter, huge, third quarter, fourth quarter, massive. But at the Mia Swack challenge, half time is some things just change. You know, this new generation is a little different than when we were in school. It's a little different from wants. They want instant gratification to needs. You have to be more available. You have to 24 hours on your cell phone because they need a little bit more encouragement to the tools we use. They are connected like more than any other generation ever. I think that's a beautiful place and the way we communicate, they probably are more expressive. They really can open up to each other. New generations must adapt to a world they see moving a little slow. You know, you're joining one of the best bands country. So if you understand that it's gonna take time to learn while older generations adjust to one changing fast. I don't know how to turn it off but I can get rid of it. You got to go is this uh uh but there are constants are certain things in life that I don't care when you're bored, it takes the same amount of work to do and that is being a good musician. There are no quick fixes to that. William Bethea and Stephanie Sanders may get new members of their Spartan Legion marching band every year, but their goals are one of those constants. And when we took this job as lead directors, we certainly wanted to have an impact. These are life lessons. In fact, oftentimes those changes we perceive happen on the surface, dig a little deeper and you can find familiarity in connection. You become very close to the students, you're there for them in their darkest moments, you see them very raw, right? Very untrained. Uh And then the finished product is, wow, it's grace, it's beauty, it's excellent. It's not unlike the music. It may sound different generation to generation look different or be created in different ways. But under the surface music has power, music affects your mood and your soul. And so as it has since 1975 the Spartan Legion will bring the mood and the soul to Atlanta. This weekend, we demand your presence and we captivate your when we come back, Connor, some final thoughts. You know, we got a football game to worry about too. There is a football game happening here. I almost forgot about that. That reminder, one last preview of the Spartans and the rallies when we return. Yes, stand by, stand by. So let's talk about coach Dawson Odoms a little Dawson Odoms. This is his fourth year at Norfolk State. He's a known program builder. He did it at Southern, but he's been talking a lot over the last few years. Patience. We need to build depth, we need to build experience. Do you think this is the year that it turns into wins? And talking with several players as well as coach Dawson. You actually see it for the past two years. The core group of this team has been together, which is critical for them to start this season and wouldn't be great for them to be able to knock off the reigning HBCU National champs in F so, yes, I agree. Norfolk state 17.5 point underdogs. So it would be a big upset if they could pull this off, but so much build up so much hype. We're here in Atlanta. The story lines are in place and when we talk to Dawson Odoms, it seems like he thinks that this thing is ready to flip, that they're ready to turn that build into victories. Uh Did we do enough in the off season to say, uh we're a better football team? I believe these guys work their butt off to be a better football team. Did we get strong in all season? I believe these guys got strong in all season. Are we a closer football team? I believe our brotherhood is as close as it's been, but we haven't been tested, we haven't faced any adversity. But when we show up, when we're down, when we continue to compete, when we up, when we step on the gas and that's what we want to challenge ourselves with. And if we're able to do that, I think you will be able to see the next steps unfold right before our eyes. No, man, it certainly is. And for now, but wait a minute, we got more for you later. We got the game at 730. We're not, we're not done. We still hanging out. Yes, we have a post game show coming up right after 13 news now at 11 oclock. So please check that out. Now. Right now, fans are streaming slowly getting through the gates, but they're still over here shopping. It's time for football. I know the 2024 football season is here. It is. Let's get excited and then let's lock in and we'll see you guys at 11. That's it. For Conor Real. I'm Brian Smith. We'll see you later.