Full Game Notes (PDF)

CAL U (0-0) @ VIRGINIA STATE (0-0)
• When: Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015
• Where: Ettrick, Va.
• Stadium: Rogers Stadium (7,909)
• Kickoff: 1 p.m.
• Live Video: VSU Main Stream Network
• Live Radio: WCAL (91.9 FM) I WVST (91.3 FM)
• Live Stats: Fan Stats I Media Stats

SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Cal U leads 1-0
• First Meeting: Sept 6, 2014 @ California - Cal U won 33-24 I Recap I Box Score
• Last Meeting: Sept 6, 2014 @ California - Cal U won 33-24 I Recap I Box Score
• Streak: Cal U +1

CAL U NOTES
• Cal U opens the 2015 campaign on Saturday afternoon when it travels to Virginia State. The Vulcans have won 11 of their last 14 season-openers, including a 33-24 victory last year over the Trojans at Adamson Stadium.
 
• The Vulcans have tied for third place in the PSAC West standings in each of the last three seasons. Under fourth-year head coach Mike Kellar, Cal U returns 14 starters from last season highlighted by a pair of preseason All-America candidates in junior defensive back Jordan Bowman and junior wide receiver Garry Brown. Brown is one of eight returning starters on an offense that scored over 40 points in four of the last five games last season. The Vulcans also return six starters, including defensive lineman Jawan Turner, from a defense that ranked fifth in the country in rushing defense.
 
• In his first year with the Trojans, Byron Thweatt spent the previous eight years on staff at NCAA FCS Richmond. He coached linebackers, tight ends and defensive tackles, while also serving as the recruiting coordinator, with the Spiders. Thweatt was a standout linebacker from 1996-2000 at Virginia and was a two-year captain.  He played five games with the Tennessee Titans in 2001 and also spent time in NFL Europe. Thweatt started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Virginia in 2006.
 
• Last year, Virginia State qualified for the NCAA Playoffs for the first time in school history and won the CIAA Championship for the first time since 1996. The Trojans boasted a balanced offense last season, but feature a new coordinator in Mark Carney, who spent last season at Baldwin Wallace (Ohio). Junior Tarian Ayers returns at quarterback after passing for over 2,000 yards and 15 touchdowns in his first year as a starter. Classmate Kavon Bellamy nearly rushed for 1,000 yards last season and figures to split carries with Shepherd transfer Trenton Cannon. Senior wide receiver Jaivon Smallwood ranked among the CIAA leaders with 979 receiving yards and seven touchdown on 59 catches. The Trojans lost their top-three tacklers from a unit that led the league with 18 interceptions last year. Senior defensive back Darion Thomas and sophomore linebacker Brandon Lynch pace the returners with 49 stops, while Thomas led the team with five interceptions. Virginia State led the CIAA in both kickoff and punt coverage and return sophomore Mathew Hillquist, who will handle the kick and punt duties again this year. The Trojans ranked third in the country last year in fewest penalty yards/game (34.92).
 
• The Vulcans are 4-1 against schools that are current members of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). Last year marked the first time in program history that Cal U played a regular-season game against a CIAA member. The Vulcans previously faced CIAA-members Elizabeth City State (2011), Fayetteville State (2009) and Winston-Salem State (2011) in the NCAA Playoffs in recent years.
 
• The Vulcans were picked to finish fourth in the preseason PSAC West poll after tying for third place in the divisional standings in each of the last three seasons. Cal U had earned at least a share of the top spot in the preseason divisional poll every year from 2005-12. Meanwhile, Virginia State was picked to finish first in the CIAA North and second overall in the CIAA after claiming the league championship last season.
 
• This weekend marks the first road trip for the Vulcans to the Commonwealth of Virginia since 1976. In its last trip to Virginia, Cal U suffered a 35-17 loss at James Madison when the Dukes were an independent program in NCAA Division II.  However, head coach Mike Kellar posted a 63-10 victory at Southern Virginia while making his debut at Concord in 2009.
 
• The Vulcans own a 54-40-1 (.574) record in season-openers since 1916, winning 11 of their last 14. As a head coach, Mike Kellar has won all five of his season-openers including twice while at Concord (2009-10).
 
• The Vulcans are featuring a new kicker and punter in the same season for the first time since 2011. In fact, no player on the roster has even attempted a field goal, punt, PAT or kickoff at the college level.
 
• Cal U returns three starting offensive linemen that combined to miss only two starts last season. Junior Tyler Peerson is the team's active leader with 21 career starts - all at right tackle - and has moved to left guard, while classmate Zach Morehead has switched to right tackle after starting all 10 games last season at left guard. Senior Jeremy Seaman remains at right guard and is tied for second on the team with 19 career starts.
 
• Senior James Harris returns after a breakout season in which he became the fourth quarterback in school history to eclipse 3,000 passing yards. He ranked among the top 15 in the country in passing yards/game, passing efficiency, yards/completion and yards/attempt. Harris figures to become the first quarterback since Joe Ruggiero (2004-07) to start at least one game in three-straight years.
 
• Virginia State head coach Byron Thweatt was a standout linebacker at Virginia from 1996-2000 and returned to his alma mater as a graduate assistant in 2006 under then-head coach Al Groh. In recent years, three members from the 2006 Cavaliers team transferred and started at Cal U - defensive back Mike Brown (2009-10), defensive lineman Kevin Crawford (2009-11) and quarterback Kevin McCabe (2008).
 
• Junior defensive back Jordan Bowman earned preseason Second-Team All-America laurels this summer from both D2Football.com and Lindy's, the sports annual. Last year in his first season as a starter, he led the team and ranked among the PSAC leaders with four interceptions and also registered 39 tackles (20 solo). Bowman has scored touchdowns on a fumble recovery and a blocked punt during his career.
 
• Senior Kowan Scott and junior Garry Brown are the top returning wide receiver tandem in the PSAC after combining for over 2,000 yards and 100 receptions with nearly 20 touchdowns last season. Brown, who is a preseason D2Football.com All-American, finished sixth in the country with 114.3 receiving yards/game and Scott led the team with 10 receiving touchdowns. The tandem combined for 34 receptions of at least 20 yards and nearly 75 percent of their catches resulted in first downs or touchdowns.
 
• Senior Derrick Fiore is scheduled to play defensive back in 2015 after combining to rush for over 550 yards the last two seasons. He led all running backs last season with 14 receptions, including a pair of touchdowns, while serving primarily as a third-down back. Fiore, who played both ways in high school, started his collegiate career as a defensive back and posted 19 tackles (14 solo) in 2012 as a redshirt freshman.
 
• The Vulcans lost all three starting linebackers from last season that combined for nearly 215 tackles and 10 sacks, plus over 25.0 TFL. Cal U figures to utilize several sophomores who played on special teams at linebacker this fall with Luke Hrapchak and DeVonte Suber earning the majority of snaps during the early portion of the season.
 
• Cal U will also look to multiple sophomores at the running back position due to various factors. John Franklin III and Jordan McCrae enter the weekend with a combined 11 career carries, while Nate Goldsmith was redshirted last season after transferring from Erie Community College, which is outside Buffalo, New York.