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NORFOLK, Va. - NSU faces its third difficult non-conference FCS matchup this year and second against a ranked team when the Spartans travel up Interstate 64 West to face William & Mary this Saturday at Zable Stadium in Williamsburg. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
The Spartans dropped to 0-2 on the year last Saturday with a 17-0 shutout loss to Liberty at Dick Price Stadium in Norfolk. The Spartans' offense struggled for the second straight game, tallying 215 yards of offense and failing to score for the first time since a 38-0 loss at Rutgers in the second game of last season. Freshman quarterback Terrance Ervin, making his first career start, completed 10-of-16 passes for 56 yards and one interception. He gained 81 yards on the ground but lost 54 in sacks, finishing with a net of 27. Isaac White had a career-high five receptions for 25 yards, and Aaron Daniels ran for a career-high 75 yards on 11 carries.

The NSU defense acquitted itself well against a Liberty team that scored 29 points at North Carolina the previous week, holding the Flames to 280 yards of offense. Linebacker Marcell Coke had nine tackles to lead the defensive effort.

SCOUTING THE TRIBE
William & Mary won its first ballgame of the 2014 season last week, winning 42-14 at NSU's chief MEAC rival, Hampton University. Running back Mikal Abdul-Saboor ran for 107 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries, while fellow back Kendell Anderson added two touchdown runs. John Carpenter added a pair of field goals for the Tribe.

The stout W&M defense allowed Hampton 442 yards of total offense, but had six sacks and recovered two fumbles. Airek Green and Mike Reilly each had a pair of sacks. Green finished with four tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a blocked punt. 

W&M rose to No. 16 in The Sports Network Top 25 Poll and No. 19 in the FCS Coaches Poll with the win. The Tribe returns 17 starters from last year's 7-5 team which just missed out on a Division I FCS playoff bid.        

THE SERIES
• This will be the fifth meeting all-time between NSU and William & Mary. The Tribe holds a 4-0 lead.
• The teams have met twice since both schools began playing in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA). W&M won 42-12 in the last matchup in Williamsburg on Sept. 20, 2008. The following season, the Tribe won 27-15 in Norfolk on Sept. 19, 2009.

MEDIA COVERAGE
• Radio: NSU Sports Network, Star 1310 AM
(Play-by-Play: Ross Gordon; Color: Maguell Davis; Pre-Game: Gordon, Davis and Matt Michalec)
• Audio Stream: www.star1310.com (click "Live Audio" link under Inside Athletics tab)
• Live Video: http://www.tribeathletics.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?SPID=80810&db_oem_id=25100 
• Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=55980 
• Twitter Updates: @NSUSpartans

QUICK HITS FROM LIBERTY
• The loss was NSU's first shutout loss since a 38-0 defeat at Rutgers on Sept. 8, 2013.
• QB Terrance Ervin made his first career start and first by an NSU true freshman since 1998.
• Junior WR Isaac White had a career-high five catches for 25 yards.
• Junior RB Aaron Daniels (11-75) and freshman Terry Polk (9-43) registered career highs in rushing attempts and yards.
• Freshman WR Markice Street made his first career catch, gaining nine yards.
• ILB Kyle Archie made his first career start, notching two pass breakups. 
• Liberty did not commit a turnover, breaking NSU's streak of 20 straight games with at least one takeaway. Ohio University (on Sept. 22, 2012) was the last team before Liberty to finish without a turnover against the Spartans.

OFFENSE LOOKING TO TURN A CORNER
The Spartan offense will be looking to pick up the pace heading into this week's ballgame. The Spartans currently rank last in the MEAC in scoring offense (3.0 ppg), total offense (157.5 ypg) and passing offense (44.5 ypg). All three of those rank 111th or worse out of 113 teams in the national Division I FCS rankings.

NSU has been held without a touchdown for consecutive games, the first time that has occurred since Oct. 20 and 27, 2012, vs. Bethune-Cookman and North Carolina A&T, respectively.

DEFENSE STRONG ONCE AGAIN
By contrast, the NSU defense has been as good as advertised to start the season. The Spartans have allowed just 27 points to perennial standouts Maine and Liberty. NSU is currently eighth in the nation in total defense (233.5 ypg allowed), 15th in scoring defense (13.5 ppg) and fifth in third-down conversion defense (allowing 18.5 percent conversions on third down). 

The Spartan defense allowed just 72 yards rushing against Liberty last week and has allowed fewer than 100 rushing yards in back-to-back games for the first time since Sept. 11 and 18, 2010 (vs. North Carolina A&T, Virginia State).