1 vs. 2 in Hampton; Unbeatens face off in SWAC
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
South Carolina State and Delaware State are the only Mid Eastern Athletic Conference teams to beat Joe Taylor's Hampton squad over the three years that the Pirates have ruled the league. This year, coaches have even picked South Carolina State to unseat the Pirates. But of the two challengers, Al Lavan's Hornets of DelState (2-1, 1-0 MEAC) get the first crack at the champs when they invade Hampton to do battle Saturday at Armstrong Field (1 p.m.). Hampton (3-0, 3-0 MEAC) is ranked 12th in the latest Sports Network FCS poll, while DelState (2-1, 1-0 MEAC) dropped out of the poll after its 38-7 loss to BCS member Kent State on Sept. 15. But the teams are ranked first and second in the BCSP Top Ten headed into Saturday's showdown.
Lavan's troops got a surprise 28-23 win over Taylor's
team in 2004, his first year leading the Hornets. Since then they've lost
to Hampton by scores of 28-8 in 2005 and 29-14 last season.
Those relatively close scores have come as Lavan has crept the
Hornets steadily up the MEAC ladder, finishing third, at 5-2 in conference play,
behind Hampton and SC State in 2005, and tied for second, at 6-2, with the Bulldogs last
year. Lavan believes his team is ready to challenge
the Pirates this year.
"We look forward to meeting the champions on their turf," Lavan said Tuesday on the MEAC teleconference. "They've set the bar. We know they're the same Hampton. They're a fundamentally sound team, with excellent personnel. We're going to have to play well to beat them."
To get a win, Lavan will have to get great performances from his offensive stars QB Vashon Winton, RB Kareem Jones and WR Shaheer McBride and shut down the Hampton running game which is currently eighth (next to last) in the league getting just 149.3 rushing yards per game.
Taylor, meanwhile, wants to jumpstart his running attack which has faltered while starter Van Morgan nursed an injury. Morgan is expected to be at full strength Saturday and ready to compliment QB T. J. Mitchell, who is the conference's highest rated passer while leading in passing yards (773) and TDs (9).
"It would be a tremendous step if we could get a win," Lavan said, whose team already has one win over a ranked team, Coastal Carolina. "It's one of many steps you have to make to get the confidence that you can play and win games against outstanding football teams."
In other big games Saturday, first-year coaches at Grambling State and Alabama State, face challenges to their great starts. Grambling State (2-1, 2-0 SWAC W), fresh off a win for new coach Rod Broadway over defending SWAC champ Alabama A&M, travels to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas to take on Prairie View (2-1, 1-1 SWAC W). In a battle of unbeatens, Southern (4-0, 2-0 SWAC W) tries to end the four-game win streak to start the season for new coach Reggie Barlow at Alabama State (4-0, 2-0 SWAC E) at the Gulf Coast Classic in Mobile, Al (ESPNU, 2:30 p.m.).
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