GAME WEEK VIDEOS:
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
PEP RALLY PHOTO GALLERY
GAME NOTES:
Florida Tech Panthers (1-2, 0-1 GSC) at Delta State Statesmen (2-1, 1-0 GSC)
Complete weekly release with notes, rankings, stats and more in printable PDF
CLEVELAND, Miss. - The 28th annual Pig Pickin' Festival is set for this Saturday, Sept. 28, as the Statesmen (2-1, 1-0 GSC) of Delta State University welcome the Panthers (1-2, 0-1 GSC) of Florida Institute of Technology to Parker Field-McCool Stadium in the culmination of the two-day event. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. with a 5 p.m. airtime on the Statesmen Sports Network.
Matt Jones, Mark Williams and Lane Quinton will have the call. The game marks the first meeting between the two schools on the gridiron, but the Statesmen and Panthers have met in basketball, baseball softball and soccer.
Tickets to the event are on sale now! Game tickets are priced at $10 with Pig Pickin' BBQ tickets set at $6. Game tickets may be purchased online here, at Chadwick-Dickson Fieldhouse, or at the ticket office on game day. BBQ tickets are on sale now at the Hugh Ellis Walker Alumni/Foundation House and will also be available at Statesman Park on Saturday.
OPENING DRIVE
A Rivalry Begins: The Statesmen (2-1, 1-0 GSC) of Delta State University begin a new gridiron rivalry on Saturday, Sept. 28, as the Panthers (1-2, 0-1 GSC) of the Florida Institute of Technology travel to Parker Field-McCool Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. The game will culminate DSU's 28th annual Pig Pickin' Festival, which brings over 8,000 alumni, fans and friends back to campus yearly.
Sciorrotta boots Statesmen past Lions 37-34 in GSC Opener: Vince Sciorrotta's 31-yard game-winning field goal with 9.9 seconds remaining ended an emotional night for Delta State University and catapulted the Statesmen to a 37-34 victory over North Alabama in the Gulf South Conference opener for both schools Saturday, Sept. 21 in front of 10,127 at Braly Municipal Stadium.
Travis Champion and Vince Sciorrotta named GSC Offensive and Special Teams Players of the Week: The Gulf South Conference announced that
Travis Champion and
Vince Sciorrotta were named GSC Offensive and Special Teams Players of the Week after their outstanding performances in the 37-34 victory over North Alabama. Champion tallied 450 yards on 40-of-52 passing along with four TD's for the Statesmen against UNA. Sciorrotta connected on 3-of-4 field goal attempts and 4-for-4 on PATs versus the Lions. The freshman from Cumming, Ga. nailed the game winning 31-yard field goal to lift Delta State over the Lions 37-34 with 9.9 seconds left on the clock. Sciorrotta has connected on 7-of-9 FGs for the season and is 11-for-11 on PATs.
Freelon tops 1,000 Career Yards: With 19 yards rushing in the 37-34 victory over North Alabama, senior running back
Richard Freelon became the first Statesmen since Trevar Deed in 2010 to top the 1,000 career rushing yards mark. The Bruce, Miss., native has carried the ball 192 times for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns. He has averaged 5.2 yards per carry in his time at DSU.
Freshmen making their mark on Statesmen: Coach
Todd Cooley and his staff certainly aren't afraid to give freshmen a chance to get on the field, as DSU has played 16 true or redshirt freshmen this season. Several Statesman freshmen have seen significant playing time, including
Timothy Foy (RB),
David Evans (SS),
Michael Davison (WR),
D'Juan Bellaire (RB),
Sifa Finau (DT),
Latrell Peterson (DE) and
Landry Tullo (LB).
Osborne and Hunt Proving to be Dynamic 1-2 Punch at WR: Sophomore
Casey Osborne and junior
Ricky Hunt are proving to be quite a 1-2 punch for offensive coordinator
Joel Williams' scheme. The duo is tied for the GSC lead with 23 receptions each, while Osborne leads the league in touchdown receptions with six. Last week at UNA, Hunt caught a career-high 13 passes for 146 yards and a score. Osborne finished with three touchdowns on six receptions for 116 yards.
Evans shines versus Lions: True freshman safety
David Evans had his first breakout performance against the Lions of North Alabama. The Hueytown, Ala., native led the Statesmen with eight tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Aerial Assault: The Statesman passing attack has returned to the tops of the GSC rankings, as DSU enters this week averaging 371.0 yards per game through the air. Junior quarterback
Travis Champion is also atop the GSC leader board in terms of passing yards (320.3), completions (90), attempts (121), completion percentage (74.4) and passing touchdowns (7).
Statesmen Defense Tops in GSC: Delta State enters Saturday's contest with Florida Tech ranked No. 1 in the GSC in total defense (279.0) and rush defense (54.0). The Statesmen held UNA, who entered last week's contest averaging 263.0 yards rushing, to a mere 49 yards on 37 carries in 37-34 DSU victory.
100 Plays Club: The Statesman offense this season has put the pedal on the floor board in its first three games, running 294 plays. DSU is averaging 98 plays per game with a school-record 110 snaps coming against Texas A&M-Commerce. DSU ran 101 plays last Saturday at UNA with 53 passes and 48 runs.
Florida Foes Few: Saturday's game with Florida Tech marks just the ninth game all-time against a team from the state of Florida. DSU is 3-5 all-time against the "Sunshine State."
Up Next: The Statesmen will travel to the University of West Alabama on Thursday, Oct. 3 in the Gulf South Conference TV-Live Game of the Week. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at Tigers Stadium in Livingston, Ala. It's DSU's first trip to UWA since 2009, a 34-14 loss at Tigers Stadium. The Statesmen and Tigers have met 56 times before with DSU owning a 33-20-3 lead in the all-time standings, including a 24-14-2 mark in GSC play. UWA defeated DSU last season 37-7 at Parker Field-McCool Stadium.
OFFENSE
Statesman Offense Tops 400-yard mark again: The Statesmen offense proved once again it can rack up the yards in a tough 37-34 win last week against North Alabama. DSU out-gained UNA 602-204, including a season-high 450 yards passing.
Junior quarterback Travis Champion, picked up where he left off the week prior, completed 40-of-52 passes for 450 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.
The 602 yards versus UNA marked third straight week the Statesman offense has topped 400 yards. DSU rolled up 451 yards against Texas A&M – Commerce and 452 yards on the Delta Devils in the season-opening 24-14 victory.
Red Zone Effectiveness: The Statesmen were 5-of-6 inside the Red Zone on the road against UNA and 4-of-5 at Rice-Totten Stadium versus MVSU and 6-of-8 inside the zone last week versus Texas A&M-Commerce. DSU is 15-for-19 on the year inside the zone with eight touchdowns and seven field goals.
Spreading the Wealth: While the Statesmen offense has certainly proven it has some weapons this season. In last week's win against UNA, DSU completed passes to 11 different receivers and utilized six different rushers in the game. In the 24-14 win over MVSU, while rushing for 206 yards, DSU accomplished the feat using seven different rushers and Champion connected nine different receivers en route to 246 yards passing.
Playing Like One: With the last name Champion, a lot of pressure is already on the shoulders of DSU's starting quarterback. The 6-foot-3,
225 pound junior has played tremendously well for coach Cooley and the Statesmen this season. The Moreno Valley, Calif., native has completed 90-of-121 passes for 961 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions.
Champion's 320.3 yards passing per game ranks first in the GSC, while his 961 yards passing total also is tops among league signal-callers.
Growing Up Fast: A year ago, sophomore wide receiver Casey Osborne caught four passes for 47 yards. This season, the Flowery Branch, Ga., native has proven to be one of the top receivers in the GSC with a league-high 23 receptions for 286 yards and six scores in just three games. The talented sophomore recorded six receptions for 116 yards and three touchdowns at UNA last week.
Osborne set a new career-high for receptions with nine for 68 yards and a touchdown versus TAMUC. In DSU's 24-14 win at MVSU, Osborne caught eight passes for a personal-best 102 yards and a pair of scores.
Freelon Breaks 1,000 Yard Mark: Senior running back Richard Freelon needed just four yards Saturday at North Alabama to join the 1,000 yard rushing club at DSU. He picked up 12 yards on seven carries in the 37-34 win over the Lions. The Bruce, Miss., native has rushed for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns on 192 carries in his career at DSU.
Third & Fourth Down Effectiveness: DSU enters Saturday's game 27-of-61 (44-percent) on third down conversions and 7-of-10 (70-percent) on fourth down attempts.
Osborne and Hunt Proving to be Dynamic 1-2 Punch at WR: Sophomore Casey Osborne and junior Ricky Hunt are proving to be quite a 1-2 punch for offensive coordinator Joel Williams' scheme. The duo is tied for the GSC lead with 23 receptions each, while Osborne leads the league in touchdown receptions with six. Last week at UNA, Hunt caught a career-high 13 passes for 146 yards and a score. Osborne finished with three touchdowns on six receptions for 116 yards.
Aerial Assault: The Statesman passing attack has returned to the tops of the GSC rankings, as DSU enters this week averaging 371.0 yards per game through the air. Junior quarterback Travis Champion is also atop the GSC leader board in terms of passing yards (320.3), completions (90), attempts (121), completion percentage (74.4) and passing touchdowns (7).
DEFENSE
Statesmen Defense Leads the GSC: A year removed from one of the worst defensive outputs in quite sometime, the Statesman defense enters week four ranked first in the GSC allowing 279 yards per game. The Statesmen have allowed just 162 yards on the ground and 675 through the air in the first three weeks of the season.
Evans shines versus Lions: True freshman safety David Evans had his first breakout performance against the Lions of North Alabama. The Hueytown, Ala., native led the Statesmen with eight tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Nash continues to play well at rover for Statesmen: Richard Nash, a junior transfer from Georgia Military Institute, picked up right where he left off last week with 7 tackles in the 37-34 win against North Alabama. In week one, Nash was named the GSC Defensive Player of the Week after recording seven solo tackles, 2.0 tackles-for-loss and intercepting a pass and he followed up with a 10 tackle performance against TAMUC.
The Macon, Ga., native leads the Statesmen with 24 tackles on the season and ranks eighth in the GSC.
Island playing in another gear: Junior linebacker Rory Island has started the season at a blistering pace, totaling 17 tackles with three tackles-for-loss and a sack. Against TAMUC, the Waveland, Miss., native posted eight stops with a sack and a TFL. He enters the week ranked 20th in the GSC in tackles and 18th in TFL.
Lubin on the loose: Redshirt junior defensive end Diego Lubin, who garnered All-GSC honors last season at linebacker, has made an immediate impact on the edge for DC Charles Anthony. The Winterhaven, Fla., native tallied four tackles, three tackles-for-loss and two sacks versus TAMUC and followed up with a four tackle, 1.5 TFL and a sack against UNA last week.
Opponents cold on third down: The DSU defense has done an excellent job on third down this season, holding the opposition to just 14-of-46 (30-percent) on third down conversion attempts. The Statesmen held the Delta Devils to 7-of-19 (36.8-percent), the Lions to 5-of-15 (33-percent) and UNA to jus 2-of-12 (16 – percent) in the first three games of the season.
Chilly Red Zone for Statesmen Opponents: DSU's defense has been solid in the red zone through the first two games, allowing just five trips inside the Statesman 20-yard line. MVSU converted two times in a 24-14 loss to DSU, while TAMUC was 2-of-3 in the 47-35 loss at AT&T Field in Arlington, Texas and only allowed the Lions of UNA to score once in their three opportunities last week.
Morgan picking up play at OLB: Junior outside linebacker Artavious Morgan has started to be a major factor for the Statesman linebacking corps this season. The Fairburn, Ga., native has recorded 14 tackles and 4.5 tackles-for-loss through the first three games. He totaled three tackles, two tackles-for-loss, forced one fumble and recorded a sack against UNA last week.
Marshall, Smith , Lubin, Morgan, Dinkins and Covington lead sack party versus TAMUC: The Statesmen defense racked up five sacks last week versus UNA's Luke Wingo. CB Fred Marshall (four tackles), Caleb Smith (four tackles), Artavious Morgan (three tackles), Diego Lubin (four tackles) Adrian Dinkins (three tackles) and Derrien Covington (two tackles) all recorded one sack each for DSU.
Lee locks down right corner: Junior cornerback Frankie Lee turned in four tackles in DSU's 37-34 win against UNA. The Charleston, Miss., native was quite active throughout the game, but rarely saw UNA quarterbacks test his side of the field. The speedy right corner has 13 tackles and a TFL on the year.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Freshman place kicker delivering for DSU: True freshman kicker Vince Sciorrotta has shined for the Statesmen this season, making 7-of-9 field goals and 11-of-11 PATs. The Cumming, Ga., native nailed 3-of-4 field goals, including the game winner, a 31-yard bomb with 9.9 seconds remaining in the game at North Alabama.
Sciorrotta leads the Gulf South Conference with 32 points on the season, and is tops in points per game (10.7). He also leads the league in made field goals with seven.
Hunt leads GSC in Punt Returns: Junior wide receiver and punt returner Ricky Hunt enters the week leading the GSC in punt return average (19.3/pr). The East Central CC transfer has returned six punts for 116 yards this season.
Lightning in a Bottle: True freshman Michael Davison proved to be lightning in a bottle for the Statesmen versus North Alabama, returning a crucial kickoff 58 yards to set up a DSU score in the 37-34 victory. The Avondale, Ariz., native is averaging 35.7 yards per kick return.
ODDS & ENDS
Florida Foes Few: Saturday's game with Florida Tech marks just the ninth game all-time against a team from the state of Florida. DSU is 3-5 all-time against the "Sunshine State."
The last time the Statesmen faced a team from Florida was 1970 at the University of Tampa. DSU hasn't hosted a team from the "Sunshine State" since Florida State defeated DSU at Homecoming 32-0 in 1951.
September Showdowns: The Statesmen are 134-77-6 all-time in the month of September after last week's 37-34 victory at North Alabama.
Under the Lights: Saturday's game with Florida Tech will be played under the lights at Parker Field-McCool Stadium. DSU is 270-234-4 in night games in program history.
Up Next: The Statesmen will travel to the University of West Alabama on Thursday, Oct. 3 in the Gulf South Conference TV-Live Game of the Week. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at Tigers Stadium in Livingston, Ala. It's DSU's first trip to UWA since 2009, a 34-14 loss at Tigers Stadium.
The Statesmen and Tigers have met 56 times before with DSU owning a 33-20-3 lead in the all-time standings, including a 24-14-2 mark in GSC play. UWA defeated DSU last season 37-7 at Parker Field-McCool Stadium.
