Norfolk State head coach Michael Vick and the Spartans suffered a stunning 29-28 loss to North Carolina Central on Saturday after the offense ran a play instead of taking a knee in victory formation, resulting in a costly fumble.
With the Spartans leading late in the game, Vick said he had removed his headset and explicitly instructed the team to line up in victory formation and take a knee to run out the clock.
Instead of lining up in victory formation, offensive coordinator Brian Sheppard and the players appeared to discuss a different play on the sideline. Quarterback Deljay Bailey subsequently kept the ball on a run to the left, losing 13 yards before fumbling it away to North Carolina Central.
The Eagles capitalized on the turnover, with quarterback Walker Jones connecting with Joao Wall for a 26-yard touchdown with 27 seconds remaining to take a 29-28 lead.
Mike Vick’s Reaction
In his news conference, Vick expressed deep frustration and confusion, noting that he did not know why the play call was changed or why they ran the ball instead of kneeling.
“I don’t know what happened at the end of the game,” Vick told reporters after the loss, which dropped Norfolk State to 4-6 on the season.
“I put my headset down. I called victory formation. All we had to do was take a knee, kneel the clock out. That’s just situational football. I don’t know what happened in regards to that. I looked up and we was running the ball, and then I seen the fumble. But my final instructions was victory formation. That’s when you kneel it out. And they had, I think, zero timeouts left and the game was over practically.
“Well, I put my headset down, and I took my headset off because all we had to do was just run it three times, or two times, or kneel it out. That’s called victory. I don’t know what happened. A run play was called. I looked up. I seen us running the ball. I don’t know what happened. I really don’t. I don’t know what the play call was. I don’t know why we even ran that.
“People will look at that, and that’ll go on as a teaching tape for a lot of teams across the country for years to come. I hate it had to be us. But I called victory formation. Just letting everybody know that. I called victory.”
Fans Chime In
College football fans were as bewildered as Vick.
“Ignoring a victory formation call is crazyyyy work!!!!,” a fan said.
“Heads gotta roll,” one user commented.
“I would literally cut players,” another fan said.
“Yup…Mike Vick count your days brother smh,” one netizen commented.
“These mf gonna be RUNNING at practice until they’re all throwing up their lungs. Somebody needs to go film that sh*t because it’s gonna be funny af,” another fan quipped.
“FBI will be there tomorrow,” a fan mentioned.
“Yeesh, Mike still can’t catch a break. Even his players are folding on him,” a fan quipped.
“Sports gambling and betting infected plenty of sports and their players,” a fan spewed.
What Is Next for Vick at Norfolk State?
The former Virginia Tech and NFL star is now focused on managing the fallout after Saturday’s mistake turned an apparent victory into a devastating defeat.
With the Spartans sitting at 4-6 overall and 0-3 in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play, Vick’s immediate priority is securing the team’s first conference victory of the season.
