CHARLESTON, S.C. - After three weeks on the road, the CSU football team had a tough homecoming as they fell to the Norfolk State Spartans 33-3 on Saturday in the home opener at Buccaneer Field in Charleston, S.C.

The Buccaneers finished the day with 141 yards of total offense to NSU's 519. They were also outgained on the ground 234-55 by the Spartans, and picked up 86 yards of through the air to NSU's 285 passing yards. The Bucs were able to pick up 11 first downs on the afternoon, while NSU came away with 24. Both teams were 100 percent on fourth down conversions, while each converted on five third downs as well.

Quarterback Malcolm Dixon led the Bucs, going 7-of-19 with one interception for a total of 86 passing yards - season high for the sophomore. Teddy Allen led the run with 17 carries for a total of 29 yards, but it was BJ Hackworth who had the longest run of the day at 10 yards. He ended up with 15 yards on eight carries, while Dixon carried the ball 17 times himself. Kirby Broome led the receivers with 28 yards on two catches, while Nathan Perera and Kevin Glears had 19 and 13 receiving yards, respectively.

Once again, Andy Brown was one of the highlights of the day as he punted eight times for 339 yards, averaging a solid 42.4 yards per punt with two inside the 20 and one touchback. He was 1-for-2 on field goals. Chris Kuzdale's career-high 16 tackles led the CSU defense, while Daniel Dieudonne and Matt Hardy each had solid efforts with 12 and 11 stops, respectively. Isaac Lowrance recorded the Bucs' lone sack of the day for a loss of five yards, and totaled two tackles for loss. Zac Johnston, who ended the day with eight tackles, also recorded to stops for a loss of six yards.

NSU's Chris Walley was 20-of-23 for 285 yards and two touchdowns. Xavier Boyce was the most targeted receiver with nine catches for 101 yards and a touchdown, while Victor Hairston's 122 receiving yards led all players. Takeem Hedgeman added another 105 yards on the ground for the Spartans, while Nico Flores picked up 48 yards on 13 carries.

Corwin Hammond had 12 stops for Norfolk State, while Onyemechi Anyaugo had nine tackles and recorded a sack on the day. Seven different Spartans recorded tackles for loss, with Keenan Lambert leading the way with two TFL for a loss of 16 yards.

An 18-yard kickoff return by Kelvin Lewis was nearly negated by an illegal block; though the penalty didn't hamper the Spartans. Walley picked up the first down with consecutive completions of 12 and 14 yards before a 12-yard run by Hedgeman brought the Spartans to the CSU 1-yard line. Walley then competed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Boyce as NSU took a 7-0 lead following Ryan Estep's successful PAT with 10:35 to go in the first quarter.

The Bucs went three-and-out on their first possessions, handing the ball back to the Spartans at their own 33-yard line. NSU made quick work of the field, with Walley throwing a 67-yard touchdown pass to Hairston to put Norfolk State up 14-0 with 8:56 to go in the first quarter.

Neither team picked up a first down on their next drives before the Bucs took over at their own 16-yard line. Hackworth picked up the first down for CSU at his own 29-yard line, but a promising drive was cut short when Dixon was sacked by Anyaugo for a loss of 11 yards to force a punt by Brown. A 45-yard return set up a short field for NSU, who was able to add to its lead with a 23-yard field goal. The Bucs would find themselves in a 17-0 hole less than 15 minutes into the game.

A 4-yard run by Allen picked up the CSU first down, but the Bucs could only make it as far as NSU's 21-yard line. Brown's field goal attempt was blocked by Matthew Grant, and the Spartans took over at their own 21-yard line with 11:28 to go in the first half. However, they were unable to capitalize on the CSU miscue and went three-and-out on the ensuing possession.

It took Dixon just two plays to pick up another first down for the Buccaneers, as they were able to take the ball all the way to the Spartans' 21-yard line. However, another sack by NSU, this time for a loss of 14-yards, once again ended the Bucs promising drive.

After NSU went three-and-out, a short punt gave the ball to the Bucs at the Spartans' 35-yard line. A 28-yard completion to Broome set up 1st and 10 at the NSU 14-yard line, and Hackworth was able to pick up another five yards on back-to-back plays. Brown then made a 25-yard field goal to put the Bucs on the board at 17-3 with 2:45 to go in the half.

Hedgeman ran for 18 yards on the three carries to pick up the first down for NSU, while Walley and Hairston combined for another through the air to set up 1st and 10 at the CSU 48-yard line. Randy Maines picked up another 10 yards on the ground before a CSU penalty pushed the Spartans to the Bucs' 1-yard line. Nico Flores ran the final yard into the end zone for the score as the Spartans went up 24-0 halfway through the third quarter.

CSU gained just a yard on their next drive as the Spartans took over on their own 30-yard line. Walley had two separate completions for 12 yards each to pick up two first downs before a 16-yard toss to Hairston put them at the CSU 29. Maines picked up 19 yards on the ground to bring them to the CSU 10-yard line before Estep was able to kick a 19-yard field goal to add to NSU's 27-0 lead.

The Bucs started the fourth quarter with the ball on their own 40-yard line before Corvaughn Archie caught a 6-yard pass to bring the Bucs to their own 46. A 19-yard completion to Perera put the Bucs on the NSU 35-yard line. However, Marcus Center intercepted Dixon's next pass and returned it 40 yards to cut the Bucs' drive short. NSU make use of the short field as Estep nailed a 20-yard field goal as they padded their 30-3 lead with 10:56 to go in the game.

Dixon was sacked again on CSU's next possession as the Spartans took over at their own 39-yard line. A 33-yard carry by Hedgeman got NSU the first down at the CSU 28-yard line before CSU's Lowrance sacked Walley for a loss of five yards. The Spartans did come away from the drive empty handed, as Everett Goldberg hit a 47-yard field goal to give Norfolk State the 33-3 win.

The Buccaneers will remain in Charleston for CSU's annual Homecoming celebration. They will host Wesley College at Buccaneer Field on Saturday in a 1:30 p.m. match up.

Coach Jay Mills Postgame Interview

General Statement

"This is the first time half the guys dressed for their first home game at CSU and that is about half the squad. So we're making progress I'm sure and confident that film is going to continue to show that. The disappointing thing obviously is that I'd like to make those corrections, make those adjustments after a win. It hasn't come yet but we believe that it's coming in the future."

On starting the season on the road…

"I don't know it's hard to judge. As a coach I gave up on that a long time ago sometimes you see a team all pumped and ready to go a proper circumstance shows and they come out flat. Sometimes you see a team in warm-ups and so forth that are flat and come out with great enthusiasm. So it's hard to judge all I can judge is based on their performance and we did have a slow start but I believe after the first couple of series we settled in and played good football. We really played them even until we got to the 2nd half. Coming out to the 2nd half and not being able to capitalize on good field position offensively then allowing them to drive for a touchdown much like we did the start of the game felt like that put us in a downward spiral that we were never able to get back from."

One what's missing from their game…

"I think its opportunities we have still yet to make. It's mainly inexperience, mainly youthfulness. We're learning lessons unfortunately we're learning them on the field at times as well too. We're progressing. I haven't seen this film obviously but in our first three games we got better each week. I'm pretty confident we're going to see that this week too. But we got to get things rolling. We've got one more game at home then conference play."

On NSU's defense vs. the run…

"No question. I believe their defense was ranked 6th in the country I believe and maybe the top 10 in the country this year and they showed up. We thought we had a chance to get them on their heels a little but some of the heat in the oven did not occur. We just did not have in sync all of the guys playing on every single play on offense. This is a very good football team. This is a team that obviously led West Virginia at halftime and I think they're a forced to be reckoned with in the MEAC the rest of the year out."

On NSU's defense…

"I think they executed and I think that we were tentative. We have a group of young guys who are waiting for somebody to make plays rather than somebody stepping up and make the play themselves. We're kind of in a position right now where there's a momentum factor and somebody's waiting for somebody to provide that and that's just maturity."