2015 DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL — GAME 1
DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY “HORNETS” (0-0)
VS. (#14/#15) LIBERTY UNIVERSITY “FLAMES” (0-0)
SAT., SEP. 5, 2015 (7 p.m.)
WILLIAMS STADIUM (19,200) - LYNCHBURG, VA.
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Twitter: @DSUAthletics
THE GAME
Delaware State kicks off the 2015 season at nationally-ranked Liberty in the renewal of a series that dates back more than 30 years. The contest also marks the heading coaching debut of Delaware State's Kenny Carter, who was an assistant at some of the nation's top FBS programs before accepting the job with the Hornets last January. Carter inherits a program that lost its last five games to finish the 2014 season with a 2-10 overall record and 2-6 mark in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (10th place). The Hornets will be led at quarterback by Esayah Obado (r-jr.), who was projected to be the 2014 starter before suffering a lower back injury during preseason camp that forced him to miss the entire season. Obado has played in just four games, each as a redshirt freshman, in his collegiate career. The Hornet offense returns its top running back (senior Jamaal Jackson) from last season, four of five offensive line starters; and three veteran receivers. On the defense, safety Terrick Colston (sr.) and lineman Gabe Sherrod (jr,) are the standout players. Colston is a 2015 Preseason All-MEAC First Team selection, while Sherrod is a third team pick. Delaware State has been picked to finish 10th (out of 11 teams) in the 2015 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference race, in a poll of league head coaches and sports information directors.
Liberty has high hopes for the 2015 season after posting a 9-5 overall record (4-1 Big South) and reaching the second round of the FCS playoffs last season. The veteran Flames enter the season ranked 14th in the FCS Coaches poll; and 15th in the STATS LLC (formerly Sports Network) Top 25 poll. Liberty is led on offense by four Preseason All-Big South First Team players, highlighted by running back D.J. Abnar (r-sr.), who rushed for 1,289 yards and 15 touchdowns last season. Wide receiver Darrin Peterson (sr.), a 2014 FCS Second Team All-America, had a school-record 85 catches for 1,379 yards and 12 touchdowns a year ago. Offensive linemen Jonathan Burgess (sr.) and Max Sommer (r-sr.) are also Preseason All-Big South First Team picks. Liberty defensive lineman Chima Uzowihe (sr.) is a preseason all-conference selection, along with placekicker John Lunsford (sr.) and punter Trey Turner (r-so.). Liberty is second to Coastal Carolina in the 2015 preseason poll of Big South Conference teams.
THE SERIES (Liberty leads 9-5)
The Hornets and Flames are meeting for first time since 2001, and for the 15th time in a series that began in 1982. The teams met each year from 1990 to '98 (nine games). Liberty has won five of the last six meetings (1995-to-1998; 2001). Delaware State won three straight against the Flames (1982-83; '90) to open up a 3-1 lead early in the series. The Hornets are 3-3 on the road against Liberty.
Among the memorable moments in Delaware State's series against Liberty:
In 1990, the Hornets overcame a 37-9 fourth quarter deficit to defeat the Flames 38-37 in Lynchburg, Va. Delaware State recovered an onsides kick in the final minute and Matt Stehman kicked a 45-yard field goal with 15 seconds left to play to complete the improbable 29-point fourth quarter comeback, the largest in NCAA Div. I-AA (now FCS) history at the time. Liberty, ranked 13th in I-AA prior to the game, was led by former Cleveland Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano at the time.
In 2001, Delaware State and Liberty squared off in an emotional contest in Lynchburg, Va., after each team, along with the rest of college football, postponed play the previous Saturday in memory of the victims of the Sep. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. Liberty won the contest 34-7. Players and coaches from each team gathered for prayer at midfield following the game.
In 1984, fullback Gene Lake rushed for a school-record 336 yards to lead the Hornets to a 34-11 victory over then-Liberty Baptist in Dover, Del.;
In 2000, Darnerian McCants set a school record with five touchdown catches in the
Hornets' 42-25 win over the Flames at DSU's Alumni Stadium.
