HU Pirates lose first MEAC home game in four years, falling to Delaware St.

Photo: Hampton's Coach Joe Taylor

BY MARTY O'BRIEN, Daily Press

HAMPTON - When Hampton University football coach Joe Taylor looks at film of the Pirates' 24-17 loss to Delaware State on Saturday, he'll have a lot to consider. Poor offensive line play, an ineffective rushing attack and a lackluster run defense contributed to the Pirates' first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference home defeat in almost four years.

But a pass coverage breakdown and an abundance of penalties bothered Taylor most. The breakdown came on Shaheer McBride's 50-yard reception over the middle early in the fourth quarter.

That set up Vashon Winton's 6-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Postell with 11 minutes, 39 seconds to play in the game. Postell outjumped three HU defenders in the front corner of the endzone to make an acrobatic catch for the TD that put the Hornets ahead 24-17.

Taylor's mind was more on how open McBride – the MEAC preseason Offensive Player of the Year – got on the reception.

"I don't know how our free safety (Tobin Lyon) didn't know where (McBride) is," Taylor said. "That's the guy. When they threw that, it was a real breaker.

"To not have coverage on him was a mistake."

Among a number of costly ones for the Pirates (3-1, 3-1) whose hopes of winning a fourth consecutive MEAC title are in jeopardy. The Hornets (3-1, 2-0) are trying for their first MEAC crown in 16 years.

"We're going to have to start working harder because we can't just expect teams to come in and lay down against us anymore," HU wide receiver Jeremy Gilchrist said.

Other HU mistakes included 15 penalties for 157 yards. Taylor did not directly criticize the officials, but he appeared frustrated by the number of penalties.

He was most perplexed by a 10-yard penalty assessed when the line judge ran into a Hampton coach along the sideline. That call nullified Van Morgan's 16-yard run – a rare long gainer by a Hampton tailback.

"I've never seen that in my life, in 36 years of coaching," Taylor said of the call. "Fifteen penalties for 157 yards. I'll need to see the film. I just can't believe we're that poor in terms of fundamentals."

The Pirates had plenty of other problems without the penalties. A big one was that the offense seemed to be little more than the pass-catch combination of quarterback T.J. Mitchell and Gilchrist.

The former teammates at Virginia Beach's Landstown High hooked up on eight completions for 177 yards. Mitchell scrambled from heavy pressure to connect with Gilchrist for 59 yards on the opening series.

A play later, Jerry Cummings juked a defender in running 15 yards for a TD to give the Pirates a 7-0 lead. But the running game stalled, netting only 100 yards on 35 attempts.

Injuries hurt. Top tailback Kevin Beverly played only one snap because of a sore toe, while No. 2 tailback Van Morgan was slowed by abdominal pain. Mitchell's 45 yards rushing led the team.

"Until we get a running game, we're going to continue to have problems." Taylor said. "We're going to have to come up with something we can do from a running standpoint and not just with our quarterback.

"The biggest part of it is getting some running backs healthy."

The Pirates must stop the run better, too. Kareem Jones was healthy for the first time in three games, and led the Hornets with 135 yards rushing. His 57-yard run around left end set up Winton's 1-yard score that tied the game at 7-7 in the second quarter.

Gilchrist receptions of 61, 6 and 11 yards – the last one for a TD – put the Pirates ahead 14-10 late in the first half. But Hornets marched 90 yards, most of it on the ground, to take a 17-14 halftime lead courtesy of Winton's 11-yard run. The Hornets, who gained just 121 yards total in last year's meeting, rushed for 188 on Saturday.

The Pirates managed one sustained drive in the second half, resulting in Carlo Turavani's 33-yard field goal to tie the game at 17 early in the fourth quarter.

But the Hornets struck back quickly on McBride's reception. HU's hopes of rallying, and perhaps of winning the MEAC title, were derailed a porous offensive line, which allowed five second-half sacks.

"This is a tremendous accomplishment for our program, our team and our university," Hornets linebacker Russell Reeves said after intercepting one pass and breaking up two others. "Both of us came in here unbeaten in the MEAC so far, and they were champions the last (three) years running.

"To be the champion you've got to beat the champion."