A Girl Scouts: Delaware State

Well, it's been a while since a scouting report has been required, mainly because our opponents have been known entities. Not this week though my friends! Hopefully we can get some serious healing done--not only like Andy prescribes, but also from a football fundamental perspective as well!? We need a win and we need some progress!!!

So, just who are these Hornets from Delaware and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference???

First things first, you go to their athletics website and their top story is about...get this...their equestrian team!!! AWESOME. Their football stadium holds a mere 7,000 TOTAL. But, they have a conference championship in 2007 which is sure a whole lot more than we can say....

The Hornets come into Ann Arbor with a 1 - 3 record. They had a decisive win over Hampton (21-6) but losses to Florida A&M (12-21), Delaware (17-27), and a squeeker to Bethune-Cookman (7-9) make it tempting to start counting this one in the win column. But, remember the Appy State.....

DSU is coached by Al Lavan, formerly of EMU fame, with a 5 year record of 34-22. I'm not at all sure how Cap'n Bill found this team for our 12th game, but here they are. They too are stacked with youngins with 30 freshmen and 15 sophomores on the roster. Here's a gauntlet opportunity: the Hornets have not been shut out in 56-straight games. OOOHHH Yeah....bring it!

Anthony Glaud (#8) is their redshirt sophomore QB. His line for this season, is well, as expected: 65 completions with 113 attempts. That's 57.5% for you math majors. 2 TD tosses, although not to his lead receiver--Their #1, Darius Jackson, who is averaging 50 yds/game with no TDs. He's a sophomore waterbug at 5'10-a-buck-85. Glaud got rocked in the head last week so he didn't play much. No injury report available for this week, yet. His back up, Nick Elko is a freshman.... (is it just me or does this sound hauntingly familiar?)

Leading the charge from the backfield is # 32 Tahree McQueen (how great a name is that!!?) he's averaging 4.8 yards per carry on 35 attempts. He has some BooBoo-like issues, and was suspended for the first quarter of last week's game due to "conduct detrimental to the team". He's a transfer from Cincinnati. DSU spreads their run game around though and Jason Randall (#23) has 4.1 yds/carry and Jaashawn Jones (#45) averages 5. 5 yds on a mere 13 touches. Their offense is number 76 in the nation, averaging 298 yards per game. That is like HALF of what we normally allow.......right?? Their O-line averages around 300 pounds and their left tackle, # 78 Nail Nuradymov (FROM!? Kazakstan!) is a monster at 6 foot 7 inches. These beefeaters might push us around at first, but when the Barwis kicks in, it should be all over.
Ok, seriously---if our D can't handle this then Mr. Robinson is going to have some serious 'splainin to do......

Their defense is led by Senior LB Mike Gable, wearing #20. He's got 24 tackles, 12 of them solo, and one sack. Big #95 is Tyron Hurst who is listed at 6'2", 295# but from the looks of him his right thigh accounts for at least 100 of those lbs......The defensive unit has 5 picks, 2 of which were pick-sixes. I couldn't find a whole lot about their defensive scheme or their success in general. The D-unit is coached by Rayford Petty, who used to be the head coach at rival Howard. From what I've gathered, they aren't a defensive powerhouse....

The kicking battle boils down to the best name: Riley Flickinger versus Jason Olesnavage. That's a toss to me. Speaking of names--here's an honorable mention to line backer Eric Sewell (who's pronunciation in the media guide is listed as "Sool, rhymes with tool", not kidding)

So here's my take on this week's game.....on paper, this should be an easy easy win. But let's not start counting chickens. It's a long week and who knows what is going on with Tater and Denard. BooBoo may be a bigger distraction for all-- beyond merely his poor play. Crazy adjustments in the defensive backfield continue to confound. But, on the positive side, the Hornets are going to be pretty darned wide-eyed coming into the Big House. Even if the whole ring tone thing doesn't fly, the place should really be loud and rawkin'. Overall talent should be in our favor, but but but. It's a 12 o'clock game...always annoying in mid-October. Game time weather should be partly cloudy in the crisp 40's. I'm calling for a big win, with the opportunity for some bench-clearing-let-all-in-a-uni-play kinda game. Hell, I won't be surprised if Sheridan also gets some playing time as well. MARK IT. I said it.
I've been tolerant and patient all season long, understanding that we are still in a rebuilding phase....but seriously, if we don't win this one I'm goin' F-lion on Rich Rod and crew!!!