Norfolk State needed only to protect a five-point lead. With 1:36 left, North Carolina Central had no timeouts, and head coach Michael Vick believed his team was about to close out the game. He called for victory formation and took off his headset.
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Then the Spartans lined up in the shotgun. Deljay Bailey ran left, lost the ball, and gave the Eagles one last chance. They scored with 27 seconds left. Norfolk State then missed a field goal at the other end and lost 29-28. Shannon Sharpe now has a message for Vick: somebody has to pay.
“See, at this point in time, it’s unimportant who did what,” Sharpe said on the NightCap podcast. “They got to go. Sometimes you must do something bad to ten innocent people so one guilty person doesn’t go free.”
The final sequence against North Carolina Central was bad enough without the postgame confusion. Vick said he had ordered victory formation. His players instead ran a conventional play.
Bailey was stripped by North Carolina Central defensive lineman Khareem Thompson and the Eagles recovered at the Norfolk State 37-yard line. Just five plays later, Joshua Jones found Mehki Wall for a 26-yard touchdown.
North Carolina Central missed the two-point conversion but moved ahead 29-28. Norfolk State still had time to get into field-goal range. However, Marco Peery’s 37-yard attempt sailed wide with four seconds remaining.
Sharpe’s argument was that Vick could not afford to treat the incident as an ordinary football mistake. He suggested that even if the investigation into the play left uncertainty over who was responsible, the program needed a strong response.
“So I got to make an example,” Sharpe added. “I hate it… I hate this with every fiber of my being. But you ain’t playing for this team next year. Offensive coordinator?”
“It’s going to be my recommendation when somebody calls, and they ask me to give what is he like? I’m going to tell them exactly what you did.”
Sharpe’s frustration comes from the nature of the mistake. Norfolk State did not lose because a fourth-and-long pass fell incomplete or because a receiver dropped a difficult catch. It had a chance to end the game without taking another offensive risk.
Vick’s postgame explanation made clear that he believed the decision had already been made.
“I called victory formation,” he told reporters. “All we had to do was take a knee and kneel the clock out.”
He said he had put down his headset and expected the offense to follow the instruction. Instead, he looked up and saw the team running the ball. He later repeated that he did not know why the play had been called.
The sequence has drawn attention to offensive coordinator Brian Sheppard. Video from the final moments showed the offense gathered with coaches near the sideline, while Vick approached the group without his headset.
The Athletic also reported that Vick appeared to gesture toward Sheppard after the play. He never publicly blamed any player or coach by name.
The three-time Super Bowl champion also recalled a coach who once told a player, “You cost me my game.” That player, Sharpe said, never started another game and eventually stopped traveling with the team.
It was the kind of discipline Sharpe grew up around, and he made no secret of wanting Vick to take a similar approach. The loss was particularly stinging because Norfolk State had controlled the game for three quarters.
The Spartans led 21-7 at halftime and were still ahead 28-17 early in the fourth quarter. Bailey completed 22 of 26 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns, without throwing an interception. Jalyn Daniels added 74 rushing yards and a touchdown.
North Carolina Central fought back, cutting the lead to 28-23 before the decisive fumble. The Eagles then took advantage of the extra possession, with Jones throwing for 156 yards and three touchdowns.
The loss now drops Norfolk State to 4-6 overall and 0-3 in MEAC play. It was another setback for Vick, whose first season ended with a 1-11 record. The Spartans have improved their overall record in 2026, but they are still waiting for their first conference win under him.