Delaware State Offense

QBs

Vashon Winton was a 4-year starter for Delaware State, and among the school’s all-time leaders in total offense. Replacing him will be Anthony Glaud, a Bowling Green transfer who saw some playing time last year. BC transfer Chris Johnson will also compete with Glaud.

Delaware State QBs Passing 2008
Name	Comp	Att	%	Yds	TD	Int	Yds/Att
Vashon Winton	135	240	56.25	1321	8	14	5.50
Anthony Glaud	47	75	62.67	523	2	3	6.97

Delaware State QBs Rushing 2008
Name	Rush	Yds	TD	Yds/Rush
Vashon Winton	127	486	10	3.83
Anthony Glaud	14	-42	0	-3.00

Analysis

Typically, you’d see “4-year starter departs” and think that the QB situation for Delaware State would be terrible coming into 2009. The situation is helped a little by the fact that Glaud was deemed worthy of 1-A scholarships coming out of high school, and also by the fact that he got some PT last year. He’ll likely be a better passer than Winton (as he was in his duty in 2008), but a far inferior runner. Johnson brings a BCS-level pedigree, but is new to the program.

RBs

The cupboard is nothing if not bare.The top 3(!) rushers for Delaware State are gone (don’t laugh too hard – it’s not impossible for this to happen to Michigan after 2009), leaving only little-used redshirt sophomore Jaashawn Jones. Fullback Jason Randall also worked at running back this spring.

Delaware State RBs Rushing 2008
Name	Rush	Yds	TD	Yds/Rush
Chris Strother	123	577	1	4.69
Kareem Jones	82	407	2	4.96
Phil Morgan	9	33	0	3.67
Jaashawn Jones	18	31	3	1.72

Delaware State RBs Receiving 2008
Name	Rec	Yds	TD	Yds/Rec
Chris Strother	17	99	0	5.82
Kareem Jones	9	66	1	7.33

Analysis

Jones is the only running back on the DSU spring roster, so Jones’s legs will get mighty tired unless there is some help from recruiting. Considering Glaud is not a running threat, Jones will have to do nearly all the lifting. At least, at 6-1 and 225 lbs, he’s a big enough boy to take the pounding.

Receivers

The hits keep coming in terms of offensive losses for Delaware State. Their top receiver, Eddie Brown, is gone, but the two players right behind him are returning, at least. Senior Larrone Moore and sophomore Darius Jackson will carry the majority of the receiving load, with Jackson coming out of the slot. Redshirt senior Erick Jones will be a big outside threat at 6-3.

Delaware State Receivers Receiving 2008
Name	Rec	Yds	TD	Yds/Rec
Eddie Brown	36	369	2	10.25
Larrone Moore	32	319	1	9.97
Darius Jackson	18	300	1	16.67
Derrick McNeil	24	206	0	8.58
Erick Jones	13	167	4	12.85
Zacharri Charles	13	122	0	9.38
John Newman	9	94	0	10.44
Jahmel Bashir (TE)	7	49	1	7.00
William Griggs	3	33	0	11.00

Delaware State Receivers Rushing 2008
Name	Rec	Yds	TD	Yds/Rush
Eddie Brown	3	15	0	5.00
Brandon Hudson (DB)	1	11	0	11.00
Larrone Moore	1	7	0	7.00
Darius Jackson	1	3	0	3.00
Derrick McNeil	1	1	0	1.00
Erick Jones	1	0	0	0.00

Analysis

The losses to this personnel group are not as severe as under center, but they’ll certainly hurt. DSU will count on Jones and Moore to keep defenses spread wide, and Jackson will get his fair share of underneath stuff out of the slot, along with Zacharri Charles. The corps has some depth, but the quality in the starters is questionable.

Offensive Line

Lineup

The Hornets had a fairly young offensive line last year. The only seniors were starting left tackle Adrian Brown who played in 10 games, Darin Giesler who played in 3 games, and Djamal Kirby who played in 2. Senior Kellen Kemp will be the left guard, redshirt senior Nick Richmond will start at center for the fourth straight year, and senior Jermaine Morrison will play right guard. Senior Mike Maloney, who missed portions of last with injury, will start at right tackle. Redshirt junior Chris Sears is likely to fill in at left tackle.

Analysis

The DSU offensive line is pretty experienced, returning four starters. Of course, they were also subpar in rushing offense and sacks allowed last year. With a less-mobile QB and a new RB, that won’t get any easier. Expect the offensive line to struggle a bit, if only because the talent helping them isn’t that good, and they aren’t far off from their peak already.

Offensive Analysis

The offensive line should be something of a strength, though DSU won’t be able to pound the ball with their limited RB options, especially against a bigger, stronger, faster defense like they’ll face in Michigan. The QB situation could be better for the Hornets, as they at least have a number of viable options competing. Don’t be surprised if they try to move the ball through the air, with the strong line protecting the QB.

Delaware State Defense

Defensive Line

Oh. My. God. I don’t even know where to go with this. There is practically nobody left who played a single down for the Hornets along the defensive front last year. I assume redshirt senior tackle Fabian Dunn and true senior tackle Tyron Hurst will be the starters on the inside in 2009. Andre Carroll is a redshirt junior with suspicious little action last year, but for lack of better options, who should I guess will play? Brian Whitmore is a Maryland transfer and redshirt junior.

Delaware State Defensive Line 2008
Name	Tack	TFL	Sack
Ronn Spinner, Jr.	44	4.5	.5
Andre Carroll	43	2	0
Akiel Russell	40	4.5	1.5
Alimayo Wilder	35	7	1.5
Fabian Dunn	23	1.5	0
Tyron Hurst	10	4	0
James Parker	4	0	0
Eric Jackson	3	0	0

Analysis

There is nobody here. I don’t even know what to say. The best they can fill these spots with are either exceptional true freshmen, or a motley host of upperclassmen who weren’t good enough to play at all last year. Michigan’s improved offensive line should be able to shove the hornet DL around all day.

Linebackers

The hits keep coming for the DSU defense. They lost their top 2 linebackers, though the rest return. It appears as though their base set features only 2 linebackers, who will probably be seniors Josh Pope and Joe Mendes. Backing them up are Ahmad Harris and Eric Sewell.

Delaware state Linebackers 2008
Name	Tack	TFL	Sack	Fum
Kevin Conner	95	4.5	1	1
Jackie Watkins	60	8.5	2	0
Josh Pope	32	3.5	2	0
Joe Mendes	21	4.5	3.5	0
Ahmad Harris	6	0	0	0
Eric Sewell	2	0	0	0

Analysis

Only playing 2 linebackers means that DSU only has to have 2 linebackers to fill in spots. It also means that they have to replace all of their tarts at the position from last year. Fortunately, Pope and Mendes are experienced upperclassmen, but they still will have their feet to the fire for the first time in 2009.

Defensive Backs

Finally, a position at which Delaware State returns its leading tackler. Of course, then they have to go and lose 4 of the next 6. It’s hard to tell what positions these guys play, so I’ll just list them. I would guess based on his size that junior Avery Grant is a corner, but he had the most tackles on the team last year, so I assume he’s a safety or rover-type. 5th-year Jerome Strums seems to be a nice big safety, as does his classmate Mike Gable. I assume redshirt sophomore Stephon Hampton is a corner.

Delaware State Defensive Backs 2008
Name	Tack	TFL	Sack	Int
Avery Grant	68	8.5	2	0
James Romain	44	2	0	4
Francis Adjei	40	1	0	3
Jerome Strums	40	.5	0	3
Michael Gable	40	6.5	1	1
Donta Herrod	15	1	0	1
Quinton Brown	11	0	0	0
Stephon Hampton	7	0	0	0
Brandon Hudson	6	0	0	3
Bernard Conley	5	1	0	0
Stan Banks	4	0	0	0
Quentin Ferguson	3	0	0	0
Gerald Bouknight	3	0	0	0

Analysis

Without being able to figure out which positions the Hornets are losing players from, it’s hard to pass serious judgment on how their secondary will perform in 2009. Still, they lose a ton of experience (and most of the team’s total interceptions), so I can’t predict they’ll tear the world apart, especially against guys with D-1 size (Greg Mathews), speed (Darryl Stonum) or moves (Martavious Odoms).

Defensive Analysis

Yikes. This looks like a very poor defensive team. It appears as though Grant will be the main bright spot, and a lot of young players will have to step up if the Hornets want to stop anyone, much less a team with the talent of Michigan. Running the ball and passing should both come fairly easy to the Wolverines.

Special Teams

The Hornets return senior kicker Riley Flickinger and punter Nick Lochner.

Delaware State Kicking 2008
Name	FGM	FGA	%	Long	XPM	XPA	%
Riley Flickinger	10	20	50.00	35	24	25	96.00

Delaware State Punting 2008
Name	Punt	Yds	Avg
Nick Lochner	54	2118	39.22
Riley Flickinger	2	18	9.00

Analysis

Though both Flickinger and Lochner return, neither was particularly good last year. It looks to be tougher sledding for both this year, as Delaware State’s offense looks to have more trouble moving the ball in general, and in the redzone in particular.

Overall Analysis

Bill Martin figured it out this time. If you’re going to play a 1-AA team, you will be expected to win. It doesn’t matter if you play the best team, or the worst team. You do not get any more credit for playing a good 1-AA team and beting them than if you had played a worse team, and it doesn’t matter if you lose to the best 1-AA team, they’re still lower-division. Because of that, just find the shittiest team you can. Michigan has done that for next year. A poor 1-AA team that loses most of its key pieces should be easy victory for the boys in blue.

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Tags: delaware state, preview

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