VALDOSTA — The Valdosta State football team will host rival Delta State today at 3 p.m. Here is a preview of today's game.
Series history
Six. That is how many consecutive games the Valdosta State football team has lost to in-conference rival Delta State.
Today, the Blazers (5-2) will look to end the long losing streak to the Statesmen (3-3) when the teams meet for the 2012 Valdosta State homecoming game at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.
“Hopefully we can get the monkey off our back,” Valdosta State head coach David Dean said.
Losers of six straight to Delta State, the Blazers own a 12-18-1 all-time record against their Gulf South Conference rival.
Despite a recent losing streak, the Blazers, in a way, hope history repeats itself today in the annual rivarly game.
Based on series’ history, the Blazers are in line for a win today.
Prior to losing six straight games (2006-11), the Blazers won five straight games from 2001-05 over the Statesmen. Before that, Delta State won six straight games from 1996-00. Prior to that winning streak, the Blazers won five consecutive games from ’91-95.
Needless to say, Dean and the Blazers are hoping to end a losing streak and begin a winning streak of their own today when the teams meet at 3 p.m.
Last year’s 36-33 loss was the most painful of the six losses, according to Dean and several of the players. After falling into an early 13-0 first quarter deficit, the Blazers fought back and managed to take an 11-point second half lead.
Using an interception return for a touchdown, Delta State managed to comeback and score the game-winning touchdown with 40 seconds remaining to beat the Blazers for a sixth-straight time.
“Last year hurts the most,” senior offensive lineman Edmund Kugbila said. “Basically, that has been fueling us and that still burns in use. This is a new year. The bus ride home after that loss is something that just burns in you.”
Today, the Blazers will try to end the losing streak behind what is expected to be the largest crowd of the season.
“It is always nice to have that crowd on your side,” cornerback Matt Pierce said. “Whenever we need a big play, we can look up at the crowd and they help us.”
The Blazers enter riding a three-game winning streak, which includes back-to-back wins over West Georgia and North Alabama. Delta State has won two straight games, including a 33-24 win over UWG last weekend.
Dean said it is clear the Statesmen are a much-improved team than they were earlier in the season.
Getting to know the Statesmen
After starting the year off with a loss to Fort Valley State, the Statesmen dropped two of their next three games to limp out to a 1-3 record. Then, the Statesmen recorded back-to-back wins over Tarleton State and West Georgia, scoring over 33 points in both wins, to even their record at 3-3.
“I would rather play these guys early in the year, because they were not playing as well early in the year as they are now,” Dean said.
What the Statesmen do on offense
Offensively, Delta State can run both the spread offense and the I-formation and is good at mixing the type of offenses together.
“They have sprint outs, they have naked (boots), they have option game, they have power game, they have iso game,” Dean said. “There are just so many things you have to prepare for. That is what is making them a very good football team now.
“Early on, they were kind of simple because they were just coming in as a staff,” Dean continued. “You can see through weeks how they are starting to expand everything.”
Delta State quarterback Trevor Wooden leads the conference in total yards per game. The junior is averaging 71.2 yards rushing and 191 yards passing per game to lead the Statesmen offense, which is averaging 409.2 yards per game.
The defensive Statesmen
Defensively, Delta State is a heavy blitz team. Valdosta State coaches and players say by watching film this week that it is clear the Statesmen will blitz a lot in today’s game.
“We picked up our blitz sheets and there is crazy stuff written everywhere,” quarterback Cayden Cochran said. “We have to be prepared for everything. They have athletes, like they do every year, and they play well together. We just have to be very prepared.”
The Statesmen rank second in the conference in total defense at 279.5 yards per game, including just 123 yards rushing.
“It is very hard, you just don’t know what they are going to do,” Dean said. “They have so many schemes that they bring in. They do so many different things defensively, it keeps you on your toes.”
Valdosta State, on the other hand, is averaging a league-high 478.4 yards per game, including a league-high 244.8 yards through the air.
VSU without Scott
The Blazers will be without redshirt freshman running back Austin Scott, who will be sidelined with a high-ankle sprain.
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