By KRISTIAN POPE, The News JournalDSU hopes to set tone vs. Coastal Carolina
DOVER -- Delaware State doesn't believe in taking the easy way out when opening the football season. Not since 2002, anyway.
Starting in 2003, the Hornets have played their first game against all types of opponents, but none of them could be considered a "gimme."
Instead of a struggling NCAA Division I-AA team or a mediocre foe from Division II, DSU has faced teams who have presented a significant challenge.
There have been nationally ranked powerhouses, seemingly unknown playoff contenders and even rivals from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
This season, DSU again must exit the starting blocks by going against the wind.
At 7 p.m. Saturday at Alumni Stadium, the Hornets face three-time defending Big South Conference champion Coastal Carolina, a team burning to make the Division I-AA playoffs for the second year in a row.
"It's not up to us," DSU senior kicker Peter Gaertner said of the schedule. "It's a game like any other, really."
Oh, really?
One must go back to 1986 for DSU's last season-opening win over a nonconference Division I-AA foe, a 21-14 victory at Southern University.
Since 2003, DSU has opened against Bucknell, Massachusetts and Florida A&M twice.
DSU, 8-3 last year, reached No. 23 in The Sports Network poll for one week before the Hornets bowed out of the MEAC race and missed the playoffs. While playing nonconference games against high-caliber opponents can boost a team's chances of making the postseason, suffering a loss at the start can have lingering effects.
DSU's recent opening games are a lesson in living up to the standards coach Al Lavan has set for his program.
Photo: RB Kareem Jones
"The conference is tough enough for us, but if you want to grow the program, you have to step up your level of competition," Lavan said. "It's as simple as that."
Coastal Carolina, which started its football program in 2003, continues DSU's history of bold season openers.
The Chanticleers beat the Hornets 24-6 in 2005, the only other meeting between the schools. CCU wide receiver Jerome Simpson was chosen a preseason All-American by the College Sporting News.
"In the case of Coastal Carolina, it's a win-win situation for us," Gaertner said. "If we win, we'll be in great shape. We might even be ranked. If we lose, well, it's a nonconference game. A loss always hurts, but it wouldn't have the same effect as a conference loss."
Last season, DSU finished one victory short of a share of its first MEAC title since 1991. A loss at Howard in DSU's final game gave Hampton the championship outright.
Senior linebacker Russell Reeves believes this season could play out differently, especially if the Hornets perform well against Coastal Carolina.
"In the winter and summer, I think these kinds of games are in the backs of everyone's minds, and they get us to prepare harder for the season," Reeves said.
"When you go to college, you want to play the best competition. You don't come to play Division II schools. You want to play the best."
Hornets buzz
Running back Kareem Jones, a transfer from Syracuse, appears to have earned the starting job for the opener. Senior Lennox Norville is expected to back up Jones. ... Coastal Carolina is scheduled to arrive by plane at Dover Air Force Base today. ... As of Wednesday, about 2,000 tickets had been sold. ... DSU has planned a memorial service before the game to honor the three students killed in Newark, N.J., this month.
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