Aggie have 1 Conference win for next season

[aggieman007]

DOVER (May 8, 2009) – Delaware State University released its 2009 football schedule today. The 2009 campaign features the team’s traditional rivals for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) as well as historic meetings with an in-state FCS football power and a traditional FBS national power. Consisting of 10 games, DSU will play six games on the road and host four contests at Alumni Stadium.

"This is going to be the most challenging schedule that we have had since I’ve been here at Delaware State," said Head Coach Al Lavan. "Playing teams like the University of Delaware and Michigan along with our challenging conference schedule will be a good test for our guys this year and give our team a chance to grow. Our ultimate goal is to get back to the top of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and this schedule is a spring board towards achieving that goal, not only for this year but years to come."

The Hornets will begin the 2009 season with a trip to Tallahassee, Fla., to face the Florida A&M Rattlers (Sept. 5). It will mark the second-straight campaign and third in the last four years that DSU begins the season versus the Rattlers. Last year, the Hornets downed FAMU, 35-28 (OT), on national television (ESPNU). The Labor Day weekend contest will mark the 27th meeting all-time between the two teams.

Following an open date, the Hornets will then travel to Newark, Del., for an historic regular-season battle with the Delaware Blue Hens (Sept. 19). The Week Three game will be the first-ever, regular-season meeting between the state’s two Division I schools. DSU and UD met for the first time in 2007, facing each other in the first round of the FCS Playoffs (Nov. 23, 2007). The Blue Hens finished last season with a 4-8 record (2-6 CAA).

DSU continues its three-game road swing to start the season with a Sept. 26 game at Hampton. The Hornets will be looking to avenge a 17-14 loss to the Pirates last season (Oct. 4, 2008) at Alumni Stadium. Hampton (6-5, 5-3 MEAC last year) will host Delaware State in the 35th-meeting all-time between the two schools and the first-ever with new HU Head Coach Donovan Rose.

Delaware State’s home opener will take place on Oct. 10 as the Hornets host the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats. Coming off a 26-20 win in Dayton Beach, Fla., last season (Oct. 11, 2008), the Hornets own a 20-13 advantage in the all-time series history with B-CU. DSU has won four-straight against Bethune-Cookman. B-CU finished 8-3 (5-3 MEAC) last year.

DSU hits the road the following week, traveling to Ann Arbor, Mich., in the team’s first-ever meeting with the Michigan Wolverines (Oct. 17). With a capacity of 106,201 Michigan Stadium will be the site of the largest crowd to ever witness a Delaware State football game. Michigan is coming off a 3-9 record (2-6 Big Ten) in 2008. The game will mark DSU’s first-ever game with a member of the Big Ten Conference.

As the result of the Oct. 17 Michigan game, an unintended scheduling conflict arose with the MEAC schedule. As a result, DSU will default a game with North Carolina A&T that was also scheduled for Oct. 17. This will appear in the 2009 regular season standings as a loss for DSU and a win for North Carolina A&T.

Morgan State is Delaware State’s opponent for Homecoming 2009. The Hornets host the Bears on Oct. 24 and will look to rebound from a 20-3 loss at Morgan State last year (Oct. 25, 2008). MSU holds a 28-22 edge in the series history with Delaware State winning three of the last four meetings.

The Hornets return to the road for a two-game swing away from Alumni Stadium, starting with an Oct. 31 outing at South Carolina State (10-3, 8-0 MEAC in 2008). The defending MEAC Champions downed DSU last season (23-17 on Nov. 1) and hold a 23-15 advantage in the series history. A week later, Delaware State will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., to take on Winston-Salem State (Nov. 7). The Hornets own a 4-3-1 record versus the Rams, following last season’s 27-26 loss on Nov. 8, 2008. The last meetings two between DSU and WSSU have been decided by a combined four points.

Two-straight home games close out the 2009 season. On Nov. 14, the Norfolk State Spartans come to Dover. DSU has won six-straight games versus NSU, including last season’s 34-28 comeback victory at Dick Price Stadium (Nov. 15, 2008). The Hornets trailed by 21-points late in the first half before rallying for a six-point win over the Spartans. The Hornets close out the year with their traditional meeting with the Howard Bison on Nov. 21. Last season, DSU defeated Howard, 10-6, on Nov. 22, 2008. During the game, DSU forced a season-high six turnovers en route to the team’s fifth conference win of the year. The Hornets have faced the Bison more than any other MEAC school (DSU leads 35-30-1).

Delaware State returns 12 starters and 41 letterwinners from its 2008 squad, which won its last two games to post a 5-6 overall record and 5-3 mark in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

[Bornthrilla]

I love how Del State makes this whole fiasco sound like it was no big deal.

[aggiedog]

I still don't understand why our " sorry azz no dicision making commissioner"did'nt get more involved in this issue.

[Aggie One]

Hey look at the bright side. Hey at least we 1-0 in the conference before even setting foot on the practice field.

[DECKS]

......and $120k to boot!

[Aggie One]

Yeah I didn't think of that aspect Decks. You know that's enough summer school money now for the whole team to stay on the yard all summer, get their books in order, finish putting in both Lee's offense and defense schemes and a chance to bring the freshmen in to get them acculmated before fall camp.

This turning out to be nice win-win news in light of losing a couple of schollys the next 2 years in a row. But then again we were only at 54 and we're adding five more this year so we still don't lose because we'll still four under the limit anyway- net loss zero.

Talk about luck!

[Aggie Monster]

May 10, 2009 18:16:05 GMT -5 Aggie One said:

Yeah I didn't think of that aspect Decks. You know that's enough summer school money now for the whole team to stay on the yard all summer, get their books in order, finish putting in both Lee's offense and defense schemes and a chance to bring the freshmen in to get them acculmated before fall camp.

This turning out to be nice win-win news in light of losing a couple of schollys the next 2 years in a row. But then again we were only at 54 and we're adding five more this year so we still don't lose because we'll still four under the limit anyway- net loss zero.

Talk about luck!

Wait, so we got a W and 120K?

[captaggie]

We're owed 120K (or whatever the amount is). Receiving it is another matter. Hope we have the paper work in place to ensure we get it.

[aggiejazz]

By Andy Walter
Delaware State News

DOWNSTATE — Imagine being in Candy Young Sanders’ shoes No sooner had she stepped into her role as Delaware State’s interim athletic director this spring then she inherited a problem that would have given even a vet­eran AD a migraine.

The problem: When DSU signed on to play mighty Michigan in foot­ball, it needed two of its Mid- Eastern Athletic Conference opponents to switch the dates of their games with the Hornets.
But only one school was willing to do so.

In the end, DelState was left to swallow a tough situation. On Friday, the school announced that it will forfeit its game with North Carolina A&T, playing just a 10- game schedule and start­ing the season with a loss.

“That was the only resolution that we could all come up with,” said Sanders, who is also DelState’s women’s cross country and track coach. “ I’ve been an AD for how many weeks? And I had put forth some tough decisions.

“But we spoke with the football coach ( Al Lavan) and different people just to come up with the best solution for the program. Those were the conclusions that we reached.”

This all came about because DelState needed to switch the original A& T date in order to play Michigan on Oct. 17. The Aggies agreed to play the Hornets on Nov. 14 — a day DSU was already slated to play Norfolk State. The final step required Norfolk State to play DelState on Oct. 3, an open date for both schools.

According to a story in the Virginia Pi­lot, the problem was that Norfolk State didn’t want to move the game — and the Mid- Eastern Athletic Conference said it didn’t have to.
“Initially they were on board with try­ing to make it work for everybody,” said Sanders. “ But then it reached a point where we just weren’t able to reach any good terms. “I believe it was ( Norfolk’s) president that decided she didn’t want to move the date because of her fanbase. She didn’t feel comfortable doing that. She felt it was a little late in the game to make those type of decisions.”

Sanders said, once the conflict arose, dropping Michigan was never really an option since the schools had signed a contract. DelState will reportedly be paid a guarantee of $500,000 for that game. And the forfeit will count as DSU’s 11th game, so picking up a nonconference foe wasn’t an option, either.

The issue has been a hot topic on MEAC fans message boards for the past few weeks. Some fans suggested that the Hornets should be declared ineligible to win the conference crown this fall.

But Sanders said that penalty was nev­er discussed. Indeed, while disappointed, Sanders said she came away feeling good about DelState’s relationship with the MEAC.

“Something like this has never hap­pened, so it’s actually new ground for ev­erybody,” she said. “And hopefully some­thing like this won’t ever happen again. When you’re doing a lot of moving on the schedule, I think you just have to have ev­erybody at the table, making sure that it’s something that everybody feels comfort­able with.”

To be sure, the Hornets are left with a brutal schedule this season. They won’t play their fi rst game in Alumni Stadium until Oct. 10 and will have just four home games altogether. They also have to go on the road to face both Delaware and Michigan.
At the same time, though, said Sand­ers, it’s a challenge DelState is anxious to face.

“We’re real excited about that the teams we’ll play,” she said. “ We don’t like taking that forfeit but it came down to a mistake on our part. Unfortunately that’s the price we have to pay for it.”

[Bornthrilla]

DSU FORFEITS GAME TO AGGIES
Aggies will play four home games next season

GREENSBORO, May 13, 2009 – North Carolina A&T athletics director Wheeler Brown confirmed today that the Delaware State football team will forfeit its 2009 game against the N.C. A&T Aggies.

The unfortunate forfeit is due to a scheduling conflict created by an Oct. 17 game between Delaware State and the Michigan Wolverines, a Bowl Championship Series team from the Big 10. Originally, the Hornets and the Aggies were to renew their 38-year rivalry on Oct. 17.

The two teams tried to resolve the situation by moving the game to Nov. 14. However, the rescheduling presented a conflict in scheduling between the Hornets and Norfolk State. Therefore, the Hornets decided to default a game to N.C. A&T. During the 2009 season, the MEAC standings will reflect the Oct. 17 game originally scheduled between the Aggies and the Hornets as a loss for Delaware State.

“I would like to commend the MEAC in doing all it can to resolve this matter,’’ said Brown. “It is unfortunate that we will not get a chance to play one of our longtime MEAC rivals in Delaware State. On the other side of the coin, it is good to know in May you are already 1-0.”

N.C. A&T will open its season Sept. 5 on the road against Winston-Salem State. The Aggies first home game will be Sept. 12 against Norfolk State.

[truthseeker]

"are you outside your mind"... did anyone expect dsu to forfeit 500k...!!!!!!!!!

[Tee-Sharp]

I opened up the Durham paper this morning and was surprised to see a lengthy blurb about A&T’s forfeit victory. This paper usually doesn’t bother to report anything about A&T unless it’s something negative or we’re playing Central.

This just leads me to believe that allowing Del State to flippantly dismiss a conference game for money is opening eyes around the nation. If we receive the money that has been rumored, then this is a good deal for us, but I wonder if we are witnessing the beginning of the end of the MEAC conference. The appearance of disorganization is evident.

[aggiedog]

The decision made by the MEAC commission should be the beginning of the end of his job.

[krazykev]

The Doc, Holly Anderson and Doug Gillett wrap up the week with our written equivalent of tossing a beach ball around the office. This week's topic: How much money would you accept to forfeit a meaningful game in order to play another game you will definitely lose?

Holly: Today on our bully pulpit agenda: Delaware State, a I-AA program, is forfeiting a conference game to North Carolina A&T because Delaware State wants to play Michigan instead. And by "wants," I mean they have the opportunity to cash in for a bodybag appearance in Ann Arbor in mid-October. All anyone's saying is the two MEAC schools "could not agree" on a date to reschedule the game, and now NCA&T is 1-0. In May.


rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Friday-Roundtable-What-price-Delaware-State-s-s?urn=ncaaf,163767

[Bornthrilla]

What a complete joke. I am trying hard these days to not become completely apathetic about HBCU athletics and this is not helping.

Thomas needs to get fired ... yesterday. I don't understand how the MEAC ADs and presidents can continue to allow this clown to remain in office.