BCU makes tough trip to Dover

Photo: Expect more pounding of BCU defense from DSU run offense in Thursday's game.

by Kristian Pope, The News Journal

Wildcats face DSU in Thursday night game on ESPNU

DOVER -- Alvin Wyatt had one reaction when he saw that his Bethune-Cookman team was to meet Delaware State in a Thursday night football game to be televised on ESPNU.

"That was one game that I did not want to play on Thursday night," said Wyatt, the Wildcats' 11-year coach.

The Daytona Beach-to-Dover trip is tough on the Wildcats, who traditionally bus from the airport in Philadelphia or Baltimore. Throw in a short week and the challenge intensifies.

But when the league made its selections for games to be part of ESPN's national television package, the Wildcats were heading to Dover.

Bethune visits No. 20 Delaware State at Alumni Stadium. The 7:30 kickoff marks the first time an ESPN channel has broadcast a football game from the school.

Usually the league listens to Wyatt. His complaints in a loss last week to Norfolk State resulted in three officials being suspended last week for "inaccurate calls."

In this case of the DSU game, though, Wyatt said he refrained from asking the league to keep the game on a Saturday.

"We decided to play it since it was on ESPN," he said.

This game is an important test for both teams. Bethune-Cookman is 2-3 overall but winless in the MEAC.

The Hornets, meanwhile, are trying to maintain their momentum after beating previously unbeaten Hampton, 24-17, for the first time on the road since 1969.

DSU (3-1, 2-0) has won two straight over the Wildcats since DSU head coach Al Lavan lost his first meeting against Wyatt, 45-16, in 2004.

Lavan said Tuesday that last season's 33-31 victory over BCU in Daytona Beach is one he still uses to gauge his team's progress. The Hornets scored 12 points in the final 4:38, winning on an 18-yard TD pass from Vashon Winton to Derrick McNeil with 1:01 to play.

The win was the first of six straight for DSU. The Hornets have since gone 8-1 against the MEAC.

"That was a very important moment for us," Lavan said. "In that was achieved and met that obstacle. Periodically, I've pointed to it."

Bethune, which employs a triple-option offense, is coming off a 33-9 loss to Morgan State in the Wildcats' homecoming game. That loss followed a 38-31 defeat at Norfolk State.

DSU has in large part been able to control the running portion of the Wildcats' option, but they have failed against the pass. BCU was held to 81 yards on the ground last year but managed 304 yards in the air.

Wyatt said that for the first time he actually wants to play a game at Delaware State because of the team's synthetic field.

"We had some great games against each other," Wyatt said. "The last one [in 2006] was a shootout. And two years ago, we played on a [rain-soaked field]. I used to go up there and look around at the facilities and think, 'I'm at the bottom.' Now they have turf ... That gives us a different opportunity to play with them."

But, Wyatt said, he just wishes it wasn't on a Thursday night.

With the short time to prepare and off a homecoming loss, he said. "it makes it that much tougher."

Bethune Cookman University Marching Wildcats Band