Fayetteville, NC -- Fayetteville State University (1-1 overall) had a fast start against 19th-ranked Wingate University (2-0 overall), entering halftime tied at 17, but the Broncos were unable to sustain its scoring in the second half. The Bulldogs prevailed 34-24 over FSU in Luther Nick Jeralds Stadium Saturday night.
 
"I told [my players] at halftime, if that's the 15 or 17[th ranked] team in the country, then what are we?" asked head coach Richard Hayes. "Because we were right there with them. And if you really go back in the second quarter, we missed a couple of shots.
 
In the third quarter, Wingate scored 17 points to separate itself from Fayetteville State. On defense, the Bulldogs held the electric Broncos' offense largely in check. FSU had 216 yards of offense on a total of 60 plays. The Broncos only had two drives that spanned more than 50 yards. 
 
On the other side of the ball, the Broncos turned in another good performance, forcing three turnovers, including a 58-yard interception return by Nigel Peele, giving FSU its second defensive touchdown in as many games to start the season. The defense did especially well to bottle up Wingate quarterback Shaw Crocker, who was held to 4-of-16 passing for 86 yards, and two interceptions. He was also sacked twice.
 
Tyeous Sharpe led the offensive attack for the Broncos with nine receptions for 64 yards, four carries for 18 yards, and two total (rushing and receiving) touchdowns. Collyn Anderson was 18-of-36 for 146 yards and a touchdown. Keyshawn James, the CIAA's Defensive Linemen of the Week last week had a game-high nine total tackles and 2.5 tackles for a loss.
 
With 4:57 remaining in the first quarter, Sharpe capped off an eight-play, 80-yard drive with a 17-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-all. Two minutes later, Peele's interception return gave FSU their first lead of the game.
 
In the first half, Wingate's BJ Muckelvene caught touchdown passes of 30 yards and 42 yards. The two teams traded field goals in the second quarter to enter the third quarter with a tie score of 17-17. Jacob Young connected on a 26-yarder for FSU to break the initial 14-14 score.
 
After connecting on a 40-yard field goal in the second quarter, The Bulldogs' McLean Robertson made a 45-yarder for the opening drive of the third. Wingate returned with two more scores in the third in the form of two touchdown runs -- a seven-yard Domineke McNeil run and a 41-yard Nijere Peoples run.
 
Trailing 34-17 in the fourth quarter, the Broncos were not done fighting as Anderson found Sharpe for a 21-yard touchdown pass with five minutes left to play and Brandon Barnes-Brown intercepted Crocker on the ensuing drive to give FSU a fighter's chance.
  
"I didn't want to come up here and talk about a moral victory," said Hayes of his team's overall fight and performance. "I wanted to talk about a victory, but it is a moral victory. We know we can play with a ranked team. We're not going to have another ranked team come in [Luther Nick Jeralds Stadium] this year but we'll hopefully get through the CIAA and get in the playoffs and see somebody else like that and we will be prepared."
 
"The season is not lost because we lost the game. I told the guys the only thing we lost today was an undefeated season. All of our goals are still attainable. We can still win the South, we can still win the CIAA, and we can still go to the playoffs.