Michael Vick is heading back to Pittsburgh on Saturday, Oct. 3, and this time he will do it from the sideline. Norfolk State will take on Robert Morris at 2 p.m. at Joe Walton Stadium in a nonconference Homecoming matchup, giving Vick a return to the city where he last played more than a decade ago.
The search interest around Norfolk State Vs Robert Morris comes from that return as much as from the game itself. Vick last played in Pittsburgh in 2015 with the Steelers after earlier stops with the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets, and he now arrives as a head coach who took over Norfolk State before the 2025 season. He also carries the profile of a College Football Hall of Famer, which makes a Saturday afternoon trip to Pittsburgh feel bigger than a standard nonconference date.
Norfolk State enters at 3-2, with wins over Winston-Salem, Hampton and Chicago State and losses to Old Dominion and Virginia. Deljay Bailey has thrown for three touchdowns and 539 yards, Jalyn Daniels has rushed for 312 yards and Brendan Thompson leads the defense with 31 tackles, enough production to give the Spartans a real chance to keep building momentum. That record matters because it sits in sharp contrast to Vick’s first season, when Norfolk State stumbled to a 1-11 overall mark and 0-5 in the MEAC.
Robert Morris, though, is not arriving flat. It nearly knocked off Buffalo last week in New York, taking a 7-0 lead on Xavier Goulbourne’s 29-yard touchdown run before Buffalo tied it at halftime and later pulled ahead. The Colonials kept swinging even after Buffalo moved in front again, with Carson Haggard throwing and running for scores and Noah Schaerli finding the end zone late, but an onside kick recovery helped Buffalo run out the clock. That kind of close call can carry a team into the next week with some edge still intact.
The matchup now turns on the kind of reception Vick gets in Pittsburgh and whether Norfolk State can back up its early-season record on the road. For Vick, the game is both a homecoming of sorts and a test of how far his program has come since that difficult debut season. For Norfolk State, Saturday is less about the symbolism than the result, because a win would say more than any return ever could.
