Cory Murphy

Wildcats shake off lackluster start; defeat DSU 21-7

/ J Bell / Leave a comment

New look helmetsDover- #21 Bethune-Cookman (4-1, 10) shook off a lackluster first half of football and used a balanced offensive attack and 3 defensive interceptions to secure a 21-7 win over Delaware State (1-4, 1-1) in Alumni Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Delaware State opened the game’s scoring when Cory Murphy hooked up with Malik Golson for a 7 yard touchdown pass midway through the 1st quarter.

The Wildcats tied the game at 7 on a 3 yard touchdown run by Anthony Jordan.  The 10 play, 75 yard scoring drive was aided by a 30 yard Jackie Wilson to Eddie Poole strike and an Isidore Jackson 4th down conversion on 4th and 4 from the DSU 24.

BCU took the lead for good midway through the 3rd when quarterback Quentin Williams kept the ball on an option read and raced 31 yards off tackle for the score.

Poole hauled in a 15 yard touchdown pass from Williams with 4:40 remaining to seal the contest 21-7 for the Cats. The 15 yard catch and run provided Poole with his first TD reception of the season and it pushed him over the 100 yard receiving mark for the first time this year as well.

Bethune-Cookman finished the afternoon with 409 yards of Total Offense (241 rushing, 168 passing) while holding DSU to 223 yards (only 10 yards rushing).

Defensive backs Dion Hanks and Thomas Finnie finished with 7 tackles apiece while Joshua Richardson, Nick Addison and Erik Williams all registered interceptions.

BCU travels to D.C. to take on the Howard Bison next week at 1:00.

Game stats
BCU at DSU Video Highlights

Who Will Ascend….at Delaware State

/ J Bell / Leave a comment

????????Thank God it’s Friday.  Not only has the busy workweek ended but we can finally get back to some good ol’ fashion Bethune-Cookman football after what seems like a forever-break.  The 3-1 Wildcats are fresh off a bye week and will travel to Dover this Saturday for a 2:00 kickoff against Delaware State (1-3).

DSU secured its first victory of the season a week ago slipping past Savannah State 24-22 on the road.  Senior quarterback Cory Murphy completed 8-19 passes for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns in the contest.  Murphy and the DSU offense sit atop the conference rankings in passing offense averaging 232.2 yards per game.  Despite their relative success through the air, the Hornets have managed to score a pedestrian 13 points per game through their first four contests.  They haven’t fared much better defensively in the scoring department where they are yielding an eye-popping 41 points per game.

To DSU’s credit, their schedule has been a brutal one and all 3 of the Hornet’s losses have come at the hands of Top 25 opponents (#1-North Dakota State (51-0), #3-Towson (49-7), and #24-Delaware (42-21)).  The not-so-good news for DSU is that BCU enters the contest ranked #21 in the Sports Network poll, #16 in the FCS Coaches poll, and undefeated in their last 13 MEAC matchups.  To make things worse for the Hornets, Preseason MEAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year, Isidore Jackson, is scheduled to return to the BCU backfield after missing the last two games due to what coach Brian Jenkins called in-house issues.  Jackson’s presence is sure to boost BCU’s already MEAC best rushing attack (234 ypg).  During Jackson’s absence, Anthony Jordan filled in more than adequately and now leads the MEAC in rushing yards (302 yards) and yards per carry (6.0).

De-fense

LeBrandon Richardson -HailWildcats.com

LeBrandon Richardson -HailWildcats.com

The BCU defense has become known for taking the ball away and pressuring the opposing quarterback under coordinator Yogi Jones’s guidance.  The Cats will look to turn up the heat on a Del State offense that has already turned the ball over 10 times (5 fumbles, 5 interceptions) and allowed 14 sacks this season.  BCU currently leads the conference in Total Defense (287.8 ypg), interceptions, and interception returns for scores.  Look for the Wildcat defense to have a big afternoon against the Delaware State attack if they perform up to their usual standards.

In the end, Bethune should have little problems taking care of business against Delaware State on Saturday.

Yes, we know that on any given Saturday upsets can occur and yes you must respect your opponent; but BCU is flat-out the better team, they are more physical in the trenches and they have superior athletes and depth across the board.  Vegas odds makers list the Wildcats as 20 point favorites.  We have no reason to believe that the Wildcats won’t match Vegas’ 3 touchdown prediction.