NORFOLK — First years are supposed to be about growth and laying groundwork. Neither Hampton University football coach Trent Boykin nor Norfolk State’s Michael Vick envisioned theirs ending like this — with both programs riding their longest losing streaks in years and grasping for one last good note before the season closes on Saturday.

Hampton (2-9) has dropped five straight, tying the longest single-season skid the school’s record books list dating back to 1995. A loss this weekend at Rhode Island would also mark the program’s worst season in that same period. And although the all-time record for consecutive losses is a distant 28 from 1968–71, the sudden downturn in Boykin’s first year after dropping the interim tag has carried its own weight.

Norfolk State (1-10), which closes its s

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