HAMPTON — Frustration was written all over the face of Norfolk State coach Michael Vick on Saturday night, as he sat at the podium to answer questions following a 41-34 loss to Hampton in the Battle of the Bay.
The Spartans, who have lost four in a row, did some good things, including jumping out to a 21-10 lead in the second quarter before a sold-out crowd of 9,222 fans at Armstrong Stadium.
But just like the Spartans (1-5) did the week before against then-winless Wagner, they couldn’t hold the lead as Hampton scored 17 unanswered points to take the lead and never looked back.
Norfolk State didn’t help itself either, as the Spartans had two turnovers and committed a head-shaking 17 penalties for 154 yards.
“Another tough one, man,” Vick said in his opening comments to the media as he shook his head in disgust. “Do so many good things, and have so many yards in penalties, once again, it’s probably the reason I’m sitting here in the mood that I’m in. We gotta find ways to do better. Maybe it starts with us as coaches, and it’s got to stop with us. But we got to find ways to put it all together. I take the blame for this one, for sure. I’m pretty sure a lot of coaches in the locker room will as well.”
Hampton U rallies to beat Norfolk State in 60th Battle of the Bay
Through six games, Norfolk State has committed 65 penalties for 538 yards, compared to 48 for 458 yards for its opponents.
Penalties at any time are bad.
But what had Vick, his coaching staff and even Norfolk Sate fans frustrated was when the Spartans committed them Saturday.
You could hear the annoyance in Vick’s voice.
“We can yell and scream and coach all day, but if they go out on the field and jump offsides on third-and-3, and give them a first down, or illegal use of hands on third-and-10 when we’re getting off the field, that’s on them. It’s not on us as coaches,” he said. “We can tell them not to do it, but if they do it, then …”
Vick’s voice trailed off.
“But eventually we’ll find the guys. Who knows how long this will take?” Vick said. “But we’ll find the guys who can play with discipline.”
Interestingly, Vick said the team focused on being more disciplined for this game.
“Obviously, it didn’t translate over to the field,” he said.
While I commend Vick for taking the blame, there comes a time when the players must be held accountable.
If you’re a parent, sometimes you want to see your child succeed more than they do.
So I posed that exact question to Vick, “Do you think you want it more than the players?”
After a slight pause, he answered.
“The one thing I know about this team is that they want it. They want to win,” he said. “Do I like what I see? No. Can things be better? Yes.”
The good news for the Spartans is there is plenty of football left, including a shot for a MEAC title.
They head to South Carolina this week to play winless Wofford. Then conference play begins with games against South Carolina State (2-3), Delaware State (3-3), North Carolina Central (4-2), Morgan State (2-4) and Howard (3-2).
The chances of winning a title will depend on how quickly the Spartans can clean up their play.
“I know when it’s going great, usually things are clicking and you don’t have a lot of penalties, and you don’t have turnovers, you protect the football, and you do the little things that don’t lose games for you,” Vick said. “They got to learn to do that. And at some point, we’ll have that.”
Larry Rubama, 757-575-6449, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com
