DelState gets record-setting win, honors MEAC champs it hopes to emulate on homecoming

DOVER – Delaware State beat a Division II foe that was, as expected, quite overmatched at Alumni Stadium on a damp homecoming day Oct. 11.

Now the Hornets will see if they can overcome their own previous inferiority as the most important part of their season looms.

DSU got some good practice for the looming MEAC slate as they overwhelmed Southern Connecticut State 70-23 in a record-smashing final nonconference game with the 1985 MEAC title team watching.

“It was good to get back at home in front of our home fans and put up a great performance,” DSU coach DeSean Jackson said.

“We knew going into this game, we haven't won a homecoming game since 2018, so we wanted to definitely put on a huge win in front of our crowd.”

The Hornets certainly did that. Dominant DSU piled up 791 yards of total offense, including 608 on the ground. Both were the most in a game in school history.

The Hornets made sure the Owls knew who was boss with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Titus Lyles to Jadyn Robinson with 1:54 on the clock.

“Our mentality there was four quarters of football, regardless of the score,” Jackson said. “You got guys that are not playing, you got freshmen guys that need experience going to the MEAC. So we don't ever know when a guy's gonna get his number called and when they're gonna be able to have an opportunity to play in the game.”

A missed extra point there meant DSU’s 70 points tied but did not break the school record, set in a 70-8 win over Bowie State in 1984.  

DSU, which never punted, improve to 4-3. Southern Connecticut State, the second Division II school that DSU has beaten this season, is 1-4.

Born to run

The Hornets have versatility and big-play ability in their running game. They showed early and often why they led FCS nationally in rushing with 281.8 yards per game entering the game.

The Hornets surpassed that in the first half with 344 ground yards.

“I think everybody in America knows we’re gonna run the football pretty damn well,” Jackson said.

Their four first-half touchdowns came on James Jones’s 90-yard gallop, Marquis Gillis’ 55-yard tackle-breaking run, Louisiana-Monrie transfer Jones’ 63-yard scoot down the sideline and quarterback Kaiden Bennett’s 44-yard keeper. DSU led 29-9 at halftime.

Backup quarterback Jayden Sauray, the Maryland transfer, then zipped 81 yards for a touchdown on DSU’s first third-quarter series. Jayden Jenkins’ 59-yard jaunt set up Sauray’s 22-yard TD pass to Maurice Clark as DSU went up 43-16.

Jones’ three carries on the day netted 158 yards. Gillis had 130 yards on nine carries. Jackson State transfer Kobe Boykin gave DSU three 100-yard rushers, his seven carries netting exactly 100 highlighted by a 69-yard fourth-quarter scoring sprint.

“We seen today, what we put on the field, nobody could stop us,” said Gillis, the Milford High grad.

“We just got to keep working. We left a lot of yards still on the field, and we broke records. So I feel like that speaks volumes for the whole team, the offense. We just got to clean things up.”

Room to improve

The Owls did have 314 total yards.

While Amir Anderson’s 26-yard interception return for a touchdown was a defensive highlight, the Hornets know they have to get better there.

“I stress that all the time,” Jackson said. “We're gonna play some teams here that MEAC conference. North Carolina Central, they got a good quarterback, a good running back as well.”

MEAC next

Delaware has an open date next weekend before beginning its five-game Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference schedule that will put a true stamp on Jackson’s rebuilding efforts.

“I know the MEAC is where we got to get our bread and butter at, and we have some tough games,” Jackson said.

The Hornets, who were last in the preseason MEAC poll, visit North Carolina Central on Oct. 25.

They have lost 11 straight MEAC games.

“Personally, I still feel like we haven't done nothing yet,” Jackson said. “I'm happy, appreciative where we're at, but I just know the standard, and I know there’s a lot more for us to accomplish.”

Ex-coach Bill Collick impressed

Delaware State’s 1985 MEAC championship team enjoyed a 40-year reunion this weekend.

Bill Collick, who was in his first of 12 seasons as DSU coach after being elevated when Joe Purzycki moved to James Madison, relished seeing so many who had gone from being successful young athletes to accomplished adults.

“The big thing we were able to do,” said Collick, who led four more teams to outright or shared MEAC titles, “was give people an opportunity to realize the American dream. … I never lost sight of that when I look at these guys now and see what they’re doing and what their kids are doing. This is really exciting for me.”

Certainly, Collick also sees some of the qualities his DSU teams had in Jackson’s first Hornets squad.

“I just look at the personnel he has put together real fast,” Collick said. “… I’m just elated. It is really fun to come and watch and see the competitiveness of this team.

“He’ll tell you they lost one that they shouldn’t have [at Sacred Heart]. I think the sky’s the limit. I expect they will compete in the MEAC. I think they have a chance to win it.”

Contact Kevin Tresolini at [email protected] and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: DeSean Jackson, Delaware State get homecoming football win