CLEVELAND, MISS. – The no. 24 ranked Delta State University Football team (3-1, 0-0 GSC) will start Gulf South Conference play this Saturday (Sep. 28) as they travel to Greenwood, S.C., to take on the Flying Fleet of Erskine College (1-3, 0-1 GSC).
 
The Voice of the Statesmen, Michael Gross will have the call on the Statesmen Sports Network and Erskine will provide the live stream on the FloFootball
 
 Delta State, the No. 24 team in the week four AFCA NCAA Division II Top 25 poll, earlier this week's contest with a 2-1 record after beating Fort Valley State 27-24 last Saturday (Sept. 21) in McCool Stadium.
 
Erskine kicked off their Gulf South Conference play last weekend as the fell to no. 3 Valdosta State 73-0.
 
The Coaches
Todd Cooley enters his 11th season as head coach at Delta State.
He was hired as the program's 19th all-time head coach on January 25, 2013. In his first campaign as head coach, Cooley guided the Statesmen to a 7-3 overall record and a second-place finish in the Gulf South Conference. Inheriting a team that went 3-7 the year before, the high-energy Cooley built a cohesive family atmosphere in less than nine months. That energy helped feed a program's turnaround in just one season. In 2014, Cooley led the Statesmen to a 9-2 record, along with DSU's seventh Gulf South Conference title and a berth in the NCAA Division II Playoffs, the school's first since 2011.
For his efforts, Cooley was named Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year by his peers in the league. In all, 11 Statesmen were named to the All-GSC squad, including GSC Freshman of the Year Tyler Sullivan, who quarterbacked DSU to a 4-1 mark as a starter.
DSU averaged 40.0 points per game offensively, while averaging 472.2 yards per game. The Statesmen pulled off three victories over nationally ranked opponents after defeating No. 21 North Alabama 37-34, No. 14 Tarleton State 38-36 and No. 24 Valdosta State 63-55.  
In 2014, Cooley earned his second consecutive GSC Coach of the Year accolade, sharing the honor with Florida Tech's Steve Englehart. Twelve Statesmen were selected to the All-GSC squads, while Trey Shaw captured the league's Defensive Freshman of the Year honor. DSU put up an impressive 5,395 yards of total offense, outscoring opponents 491-215.
With expectations riding high entering the 2015 season, the Statesmen raced out of the gate to a 4-0 record and No. 5 national ranking. Unfortunately, the ride would be short-lived, as injuries began to mount and derailed a title run for DSU. The Statesmen finished the year 6-5 overall and 2-5 in GSC play.
The Statesmen finished the year leading the GSC in passing (312.4), while ranking second in scoring (36.4) and third in total offense (426.7).
In 2016, DSU finished its season ranked No. 3 in the GSC in scoring offense (36.9), total offense (446.8) and passing offense (287.7).
After an injury filled 2018 season that saw the Statesmen post a 2-8 mark, Cooley's Statesmen rebounded to finish 6-4 overall and 5-3 in the GSC in 2019. Overall, nine Statesmen earned All-GSC laurels and two were selected to the D2Football.com All-Americans.  Additionally, 13 Statesmen made the GSC Academic honor roll for a GPA of 3.0 or higher while four were selected to the GSC All-Academic football team.
Shap Boyd enters his third season as head football coach of the Flying Fleet.
Boyd served for three seasons as the Defensive Coordinator and Safeties Coach at the University of Virginia at Wise. Prior to his arrival, the Cavalier defense ranked 161st (out of 167) in scoring defense, 145th in total defense and 166th in passing defense. In his first season at Wise, the Cavaliers finished with the program's first winning season since 2008 and their six wins were more than the previous three seasons combined. Boyd's defense improved each year, becoming a force both in the Mountain East Conference and nationally. In his last season at Wise, his defense finished 4th nationally in tackles for loss, 14th in yards per play, 18th in yards per pass, 32nd in scoring defense, 25th in total defense, and 20th in passing defense.
From 2014 to 2015, Boyd was the special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach for Southeastern University Fire in the program's first two years of competition. In his two seasons with the Fire, the program had a record of 17-5, an All-American Punter/Kicker, and four All-Conference Defensive Backs. Prior to his service at Southeastern, Boyd was the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Muskingum University of Ohio for seven seasons. During his tenure with the Muskies, the defense went from 10th in the Ohio Athletic Conference prior to his arrival to third in each of his final three seasons. The Muskingum defense also finished 24th nationally against the run in 2011. Before coming to Muskingum, he served as defensive coordinator/defensive backs at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, from 2004-2007.
Boyd spent five seasons at NCAA Division I Jacksonville University as the secondary coach before being named associate head coach and defensive coordinator. Prior to Jacksonville, he coached at The University of the South, Lycoming College, and Lock Haven University.
Erskine's head football coach is a 1985 graduate of the University of the South, where he was a member of the football team, and he earned his master's degree in 1987 from Middle Tennessee State University.
STATESMEN On the road
Delta State holds a 31-22 (.584) record in 53 games on the road under Head Coach Todd Cooley. Delta State currently holds a 1-1 record at home in 2024 as they defeated Mars Hill 47-16, and fell to Wingate 21-7.
Erskine holds a 5-19 (.208) record in their past 24 road games dating back to 2020 when Erskine restarted their Football Program. The Flying Fleet are currently 1-3 in the 2024 campaign as their first five contests are at J.W. Babb Stadium.
The DELTA STATE-ERSKINE SERIES
This will mark the first ever matchup between the Statesmen and the Flying Fleet. In 2020 Erskine reinstated their Football Program after not having one since 1951. This will be the second opponent from the state of South Carolina that the Statesmen have faced in program history.
The history of both programs
 The Statesmen, who are embarking upon their 94th season of intercollegiate competition, have compiled a 502-412-23 overall record, winning 53.5 percent of their 937 all-time games.
Delta State is one of just 38 NCAA Division II institutions to have recorded 500 all-time victories. The Statesmen have the second most program victories out of any Gulf-South Schools
Erskine has a 6-33 (.154) record in four seasons of intercollegiate play.
Scouting the Statesmen
 The Statesmen enter this weekend with a 3-1 record after a second half rally to beat Fort Valley State 27-24 last weekend at Parker Field at McCool Stadium. Junior quarterback Cole Kirk surpassed the 1,000 mark in total yards as he threw for 241 yards and ran for 23. The depth in the skill positions showed in the win as 10 different players had a reception in the win. Senior Jalen May led the receiving core with five receptions for 78 yards. Jaylen Green had a team high six receptions for 51 yards. The turning point of the game was one of Michael Carley's two receptions as he brought in a pass while being interfered, and broke off a wimpy tackler to give the Statesmen a 24-17 lead in the 4th. The Statesmen rely on the three-headed monster of Kelvin Smith, Tamaj Hoffman, and Qualon Farrar. The trio combined for 150 yards in last weeks win. Hoffman broke a 17-yard run followed by a Farrar 27-yard rush to lead the Statesmen down to a Herber game-winning Field Goal.
The Statesmen Defense shut down the Wildcats in the second half, limiting them to 107 total yards, only allowing five first downs. Senior Marlon Windham led the Statesmen defense with nine total tackles, .5 TFLs and a key pass breakup late in the fourth quarter. Windham leads the Statesemen defense with 26 tackles on the season.  Tylenn Bridges had two TFLs  that totaled in 11 yards. Junior cornerback Jarius McFarland grabbed his third interception of the season to seal the deal for the Statesmen as the Wildcats had the ball with 1:16 left down 27-24.  After battling an injury from the Missouri S&T game, senior transfer Devin Squires made an impact on the line with five tackles in the winning effort.
Nick Herber connected with two of three field goals including the game winner with 1:16 to go in the game. Parker Burleson continued to show the power behind his leg. Burleson had five of his six kickoffs go through the endzone for touchbacks. Michael Carley had a special day on the kickoff return team. Carley put the Statesmen in great field position as he had three returns for 84 yards with the longest being 35 yards.
 
In last week's 73-0 loss against Valdosta State True freshman Breylon Boyd made his first collegiate start and completed 4 of his 9 passes for 61 yards. Taz Walker came off the bench and completed 2 of his 3 passes. Rashad Luckey totaled 27 rushing yards for the Fleet. Redshirt freshman Rodshaun Dorsey caught 2 passes for a team-high 53 yards.
Myles Mayhorn and Ephraim Liria each posted a team-leading 7 tackles for the Fleet defense. The Flying Fleet start their season with five straight home games with the Statesmen being the fifth and final home game of the five-game stretch.