{"id":154576,"date":"2025-11-16T01:33:01","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T06:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hbcugameday.com\/?p=154576"},"modified":"2025-11-17T10:50:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T15:50:34","slug":"were-not-the-little-brothers-delaware-state-fights-for-its-new-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hbcugameday.com\/2025\/11\/16\/were-not-the-little-brothers-delaware-state-fights-for-its-new-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"Delaware State: &#8220;We&#8217;re Not the Little Brothers Anymore&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hbcugameday.com\/2025\/11\/15\/desean-jackson-and-del-state-advance-to-winner-take-all-game\/\">Delaware State football&#8217;s 26-13<\/a> HBCU showdown with Howard, on Friday night was physical and chippy HBCU game, but the defining moments came afterward in the press room. First-year head coach DeSean Jackson and his players spoke with a confidence that reflected a program transformation\u2014from 1-9 last season to 8-3 and tied for first in the MEAC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next week&#8217;s home game against South Carolina State (8-3) is winner-take-all for the MEAC championship and a Celebration Bowl berth in Atlanta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Spotify Embed:  Road Warriors (S1, W11): Dynasty&amp;apos;s Fall, New Blood Fights For Respect + D2 Playoffs Live React\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/show\/2rt8JTDa8rgK6aRIlClBLu?si=8ec795a8070a43b9&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-jackson-it-s-a-different-era-here\">Jackson: &#8216;It&#8217;s a Different Era Here&#8217;<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>The former NFL All-Pro didn&#8217;t sugarcoat Delaware State&#8217;s performance, acknowledging the Hornets went 4-for-9 in the red zone with multiple touchdowns called back due to penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Our style of ball, we didn&#8217;t really play it today,&#8221; Jackson said. &#8220;They called back, I think, three or four touchdowns. We&#8217;re just continuously making bonehead mistakes. But we&#8217;ll get better. We got the win. That&#8217;s what matters.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When asked how it feels to go from preseason predictions of last place to playing for a conference title, Jackson&#8217;s response was immediate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;All along, man, I always knew this was going to be a special team,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They were hungry\u2014every man to a man was hungry. The expectations were high here. The standard is the standard.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jackson addressed the &#8220;big brother&#8221; dynamic that has defined Delaware State&#8217;s recent history in the MEAC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;A lot of these guys that&#8217;s been here, they&#8217;ve lost,&#8221; Jackson explained. &#8220;Teams we&#8217;ve played has had more success against us. They feel like they the big brothers. &#8216;We beat y&#8217;all and we&#8217;ve been beating y&#8217;all. So what makes you think it&#8217;s going to be different?&#8217; It&#8217;s a new era. It&#8217;s a different era here. Our mentality is different.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-john-taylor-s-pregame-message\">John Taylor&#8217;s Pregame Message<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>HBCU legend and three-time Super Bowl champion <a href=\"https:\/\/dsuhornets.com\/news\/2022\/1\/2\/football-hornets-great-john-taylor-inducted-into-49ers-hall-of-fame.aspx\">John Taylor<\/a>, <strong>one of the most decorated HBCU products in NFL history<\/strong>&#8220;, attended his first game of the season and met with the team before kickoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s been an honor, man, to be in his seat and have a relationship with him,&#8221; Jackson said. &#8220;He gave them some words of inspiration. Since the first game of the year, we knew it was going to be a special team. He said, &#8216;Y&#8217;all going to win this game and I&#8217;m going to be back next week.'&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jackson confirmed Taylor plans to return for the South Carolina State championship game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-wayne-favors-on-his-game-sealing-pick-six\">Wayne Favors on His Game-Sealing Pick-Six<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Cornerback Wayne Favors III&#8217;s 91-yard interception return for a touchdown effectively ended Howard&#8217;s comeback hopes in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Somebody got to make a play and that&#8217;s just what happened,&#8221; Favors said matter-of-factly. &#8220;Coach told me\u2014I knew one. So I went, got one. It was like a three-way banjo situation. My man Sam, number nine, made the block for me.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When asked what it was like running into the end zone: &#8220;It&#8217;s a blessing, man. Just seeing green grass.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-players-knew-early-this-team-was-different\">Players Knew Early This Team Was Different<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>When asked when they realized this group was special, the responses were direct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We won,&#8221; one player said simply. &#8220;We seen it against Delaware. Now it&#8217;s just kind of fulfilled to it.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Quarterback Jayden Sauray added: &#8220;Since fall camp, we had our eyes on the championship. We&#8217;re just controlling what we can control and staying focused one game at a time.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-championship-week-mindset\">Championship Week Mindset<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Jackson emphasized the challenge ahead, noting South Carolina State played Friday and will have an extra day of rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Every moment counts, every minute, every second,&#8221; Jackson said. &#8220;When I said it after the game, one of our players was like, &#8216;So what?&#8217; That just shows our mindset and mentality. Toughness, discipline, resilience\u2014those are the words I presented to this team in my first meeting.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The former Philadelphia Eagles star drew on his own NFL experience with mentors like Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson to shape his coaching philosophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;For me to be an underdog and have the success I had, those were my variables,&#8221; Jackson said. &#8220;In coaching now, that&#8217;s my transition\u2014getting my team riled up. It starts here, it starts in your heart.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Delaware State hosts South Carolina State on Nov. 22 <strong>in a historic HBCU championship matchup<\/strong>, with the MEAC championship and Celebration Bowl berth on the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Delaware State delivered a tough HBCU win over Howard as DeSean Jackson\u2019s Hornets leaned on defense, identity, and a pregame message from legend John Taylor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":154577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_ml_titleColor":"#000000","_ml_titleFont":"Roboto","_ml_titleFontSize":1.136,"_ml_titleFontWeight":"400","_ml_titleLineHeight":1.3,"_ml_metaColor":"#708090","_ml_metaFont":"Montserrat","_ml_metaFontSize":0.6785,"_ml_metaFontWeight":"400","_ml_metaLineHeight":0.92,"_ml_bodyColor":"#a9a9a9","_ml_bodyFont":"Open 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