The transformation of the Delaware State Hornets football since Head Coach DeSean Jackson arrived has brought something to the program that hasn’t been seen in a very long time. The changes that have been infused into the program with the Hornets’ coaching staff have the team playing at an elite level this season. The team has been able to minimize their mistakes on the field with unnecessary penalties that can be costly to a team is one area where they have made a difference.
Currently, the Hornets are 8-3 overall and 4-0 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). The Hornets have a big game this weekend against the South Carolina State Bulldogs football team is also undefeated has hopes to slow down the Hornets’ rushing attack. The Delaware State Hornets’ rushing attack is ranked number 1 in the Football Championship Series (FCS), averaging 277.5 yards per game.
The addition of former NFL running back Clinton Portis as the Hornets’ running back coach has led to Marquis Gillis currently rushing for 1007 yards and James Jones rushing for 837 yards thus far this season. The Hornets will lean on their rushing attack against South Carolina State’s 16th-ranked FCS Defense that allows 113.5 yards per game, hoping to wear down the Bulldogs’ front seven on defense.
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The success that the Hornets have seen this season isn’t something the team or the fans are accustomed to because their last winning season was in 2012, when the team went 6-5 overall and 5-3 in the conference. The last time the Delaware State Hornets won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship was in 2007, when they were 9-0 in the conference and went 10-2 overall. That year, the Hornets played in-state rival the University of Delaware, whom they lost to in the FCS Division 1 FCS Championship 44-7.
Coach Jackson approach to the start of this season “ they have to worry about themselves and every time they get a chance to play, you have to think a lot of these teams has had success against us they past 3, 4, or how ever many years, so it’s still gonna be a challenge because they don’t care about our record, they feel like they are the big brothers, we beat y’all and we’ve been beating y’all so what makes you think its going to be any different, this week and that’s why they are getting everyone’s best. This is a new era, this is a different era, their mentality and mindset are different, these young men want it, they put in the work during the week, and it shows up on game day”.
This is a winner-takes-all game between Delaware State vs South Carolina State University, with the opportunity to play in the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta, GA, against the winner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. If the Hornets are successful this weekend against the Bulldogs, this will be their first appearance in the Celebration Bowl. South Carolina State Coach Chennis Berry, who led his team to the Celebration Bowl last season, his first season as the head coach, will have his Bulldogs prepared for this game with the hopes of making it back to the Celebration Bowl in back-to-back seasons. Will Coach Jackson and his Hornets coaching staff bring big brother down a size or two, showing a new day has come and the old Delaware State has moved on? We will find out this Saturday at 1 PM in Dover, Delaware.