New No. 1, upstarts on the spot
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
There's a new sheriff in town. And its name is Delaware State.
The BCSP No. 2 Hornets got just the third win for any conference team in the last four years over three-time MEAC champ and BCSP No. 1 Hampton as they knocked the Pirates out of first place in the MEAC and out of the top spot in the black college national rankings Saturday with a 24-17 win at Hampton.
The win Saturday puts Delaware State (3-1,
2-0) atop the MEAC standings with upstart
Norfolk State and gives the Hornets the BCSP No. 1
ranking in head coach Al Lavan's fourth year.
The Hornets were 1-10 in 2003 and at the bottom of MEAC standings before Lavan took over in 2004. He served notice in his first season that he was likely a force to be reckoned with as his team surprisingly handed Hampton its only conference loss. Since then, the former NFL assistant has steadily climbed the ladder and now is in the driver's seat to get the Hornets their first conference crown in 16 years.
But Lavan and the Hornets' work is hardly done. Their newly earned king-of-the-hill status will be tested Thursday (7:30 p.m.) when they host wounded and dangerous Bethune-Cookman (2-3), a former MEAC championship contender who is off to an 0-3 conference start this season. The game will be carried live on ESPNU.
The emergence of Norfolk State, a 50-20 winner over North Carolina A&T Saturday, in head coach Pete Adrian's third season, is indeed a bigger surprise than DelState, who was expected along with South Carolina State to challenge Hampton this season.
Adrian says his recruiting inroads into the talent-rich Tidewater Virginia area are starting to pay off on the field. Just how far the Spartans (3-1, 2-0) have come will be tested this week when they host conference favorite SC State (2-2, 1-0) Saturday at 2 p.m. in Norfolk.
In other MEAC action, Morgan State hosts A&T (4 p.m.), Hampton travels to Princeton in the first meeting ever between the two schools (1 p.m.), Florida A&M meets Winston-Salem State at the Circle City Classic in Indianapolis and Howard hosts Cheyney (1 p.m.). The FAMU/WSSU game will be carried live on the NFL Network at 4 p.m.
In the SWAC, Southern (5-0, 3-0 W) is the only unbeaten team in the league after it ended Alabama State and head coach Reggie Barlow's four-game win streak to open the season with a 21-2 win Saturday in Baton Rouge. The Jaguars have a key match-up this week playing their homecoming game against defending league champ Alabama A&M. Anthony Jones' Bulldogs (4-1, 2-1 SWAC E) are still smarting from their 31-6 loss to Grambling State two weeks ago.
Alabama State (4-1, 3-1 E) has a tough date trying to bounce back from its first loss playing at Jackson State (2-2, 2-0 E), who is now the East Division leader.
In other SWAC games, Grambling (3-1, 3-0 W), tied with Southern at the head of the West Division, hosts Mississippi Valley State (1-3, 1-3 E) and Alcorn State hosts Prairie View for homecoming (2 p.m.).
Morehouse (4-1, 2-1), off to a fine start under first-year coach Rich Freeman, gets a chance to crash the Albany State/Tuskegee party atop the SIAC standings when it meets Tuskegee (4-0, 3-0 ) Saturday in the 72nd renewal of their classic rivalry in Columbus, Ga. (2 p.m.) Morehouse's only loss so far was a last-second, one-point loss to Fort Valley State. Tuskegee, Southern and Virginia Union are the only undefeated teams left in black college football.
Elsewhere in the SIAC, Lane (3-1, 0-1) hosts Kentucky State (1-5, 1-2) Thursday on CSTV (7 p.m.). On Saturday, Miles (1-5, 0-4) hosts Albany State (4-1, 3-0), and Stillman (5-1, 1-1) hosts Fort Valley State (4-2, 2-1) in a battle of teams jockeying for position behind conference leaders Albany State and Tuskegee. Clark Atlanta hosts Concordia (1:30 p.m) for homecoming.
Head coach Arrington Jones and Virginia Union (5-0, 2-0 E) attempt to continue their roll (or stroll) going thru the CIAA Saturday in Charlotte (N.C.) vs. Johnson C. Smith (2-3, 1-1 W). Bowie State hosts Livingstone, St. Augustine's hosts Virginia State, Fayetteville State hosts Elizabeth City State and St. Paul's hosts Shaw in other CIAA games.
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