VIRGINIA STATE (3-0, 1-0 CIAA) at LIVINGSTONE (0-4, 0-1 CIAA)

Alumni Memorial Stadium — Livingstone campus — Tonight, 6 p.m.

Live stats:  www.bluebearathletics.com

LAST WEEK: Livingstone lost at Chowan, 25-12; Virginia State defeated Winston-Salem State, 33-27. A scary fact: Virginia State upset FCS Division I Norfolk State, 14-10, in its season opener on Sept. 2.

COACHES: Livingstone — Daryl Williams’ record is 15-28, in his fifth season. Virginia State — Reggie Barlow is in his second season, after led the Trojans to a 9-2 record in 2016. Prior to that, Barlow was head coach at Alabama State, compiling a 48-42 record in eight seasons.

WORTH MENTIONING: Barlow played in he NFL for eight seasons and was a member of the Tampa Bay Bucs team that won the Super Bowl in 2002. He led the NFL in punt return yards in 1997, playing for Jacksonville. Livingstone’s Williams coached with Barlow at Alabama State.

SERIES: Virginia State leads, 20-9. The last meeting was just last season, a 47-0 win by the Trojans in Ettrick, Va. The first game was in 1975,  a 13-7 Livingstone win. The last time the Blue Bears won in the series was in 1998 (42-29).

KEY PLAYERS: Livingstone — Sophomore running back Justin Ruffin took over the team rushing lead with a 93-yard performance last week at Chowan. Ruffin, of Salisbury, now has 147 yards and averages 49 yards per game. Ruffin also has seven catches out of the backfield for 65 yards, including a long of 22 yards.

Senior running back Jarius Richardson, who has been nursing an ankle injury, averages 47.5 yards per game. Richardson has ran for 95 yards in two games, but missed two games as well.

Quarterback Xavier Longerbeam has missed one game with injury but has thrown for 195 yards while completing 59 percent of his passes (27-for-46). Interestingly enough, Longerbeam has thrown neither a TD pass nor an interception.

Reserve QB Thaddus Bell actually leads the team in passing with 272 yards in four games. Bell has completed 55 percent of his throws (36-for-66).

Spencer Ludin leads Livingstone’s receiving troops with 11 grabs  for 93 yards. Everett Ransom has 10 catches for 129 yards in three games. Ransom also has a 31-yard scoring reception to his credit.

Defensive back Elems Ukwu, safety Elroy Harris and lineman Armond Cox continue to lead the Blue Bears in tackles with 14 each. Ukwu also has two interceptions, including a 34-yard “pick six” at Chowan last week.

“It’s great to to be home this week,” said Williams. “We just want to match Virginia State’s intensity. We’re improving and I like the aggressiveness that we played with last week. We’ve just got to take care of the football and continue to cut down on the number of penalties.”

Virginia State — The Trojans are led by senior running back Trenton Cannon, who is averaging 147 yards per game.   He rambled for 441 yards and four touchdowns thus far. Cannon also leads the receiving corps — eight catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.

The quarterback is Cordelral Cook, a red-shirt sophomore transfer from Alabama State. Cook is completing 55 percent of his passes (33-for-60) for 311 yards in three games. He has thrown for two TDs and three interceptions.

Malik Sexton, a junior linebacker, leads the Trojans on defense, with 17 tackles (14 solo stops).

Overall, Virginia State averages 30 points per game and runs the ball 66 percent of the time.

NEXT WEEK: Livingstone travels to Raleigh to take on St. Augustine’s in a CIAA Southern Division game. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Virginia State travels to Elizabeth City State for a 1 p.m. game.