If you’ve been around football for a while, the phrase “three yards and a cloud of dust” invokes a certain type of fondness for “old school” football, where the whole offensive playbook consisted of a few run plays designed to generate simple gains on the ground. The concept of actually throwing the football, let alone a “West Coast” style of offense designed around crazy passing plays, was simply anathema to football purists from the high school trenches all the way through the collegiate ranks.
Well, decades have passed since the days of Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes battling it out in the Big Ten on the ground behind walls of simple blocking schemes: big O linemen using simple physics to push other humans out of the way so a running back could grab some yardage with each ball carry. However, the run game is making its comeback, albeit in more limited forms and with college programs like Harding University betting the farm on a triple-option offense predicated with a rushing juggernaut. Yes, Harding is at the Division II level, but let’s be real for a moment: the FCS is witnessing a ground game renaissance of sorts with programs such as Delaware State fully buying into the run game mantra.
DeSean Jackson is Turning His First College Head Coaching Job into a Head-Turning Run Game Revival
When college fans and pundits alike think of former NFL players such as DeSean Jackson, they probably think automatically about the passing game since Jackson played wide receiver throughout his football career. It’s a bit of irony, but football reality has turned the new Delaware State head coach into a run game proponent. With half of the 2025 season already in the books, the move to the ground and pound has paid dividends to the Hornet football program. In the 2024 football season, Delaware State floundered and finished with a forgettable 1-11 record and 0-5 in MEAC conference play. However, those days are already over as the Hornets are currently sitting at 4-3 and in position to challenge for the MEAC title this season.
As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding because Delaware State, through the first seven games of the season, is averaging 281.8 net yards on the ground per game and reaping 29 rushing TDs, including 15 in the red zone. Sacramento State transfer QB Kaiden Bennett has 10 rushing TDs this season, which places him in a tie for fourth in all of FCS. Teammate RB James Jones has been averaging no less than 12.7 yards per carry, which is at the top of the FCS. Combined with RB Marquis Gillis’ 741 rushing yards, the DSU Hornets have seen eight different players rush for 90+rushing yards this season.
With a ground attack rooted in old-school pounding out for yards, the DSU Hornets could use last week’s game against Southern Connecticut State as a superlative for their rushing renaissance. In the 70-23 shellacking, the Hornets had no less than three rushers with over 100 yards on the ground in what could be considered a brutal football manhandling. James Jones had 158 yards and two TDs, while Marquis Gillis added another 130 yards and a TD to the rushing assault. To add insult to injury, fellow RB Kobe Boykin also garnered a 100+ yardage day on the ground as well. While the Hornets were taking care of business on the offensive side of the ball, the defensive side made their presence known in this game by adding 12 tackles for loss (TFL) and four additional sacks. With DSU’s 781 total offensive yards versus 314 for So. Connecticut State, it doesn’t take a math prodigy to realize that the Hornets simply pounded their way through this game as the season heads into conference play starting on October 25th versus North Carolina Central.
After a dismal 2024 season, Delaware State finds itself in a bit of uncharted waters under new head coach DeSean Jackson. With an HBCU power ranking of fifth this week, the Hornets are gaining recognition at the national level that they’re building up this program literally from the ground up and will likely stay on the ground as MEAC conference play sets up DSU for a potential Celebration Bowl or FCS playoff berth if they can take care of business for the last crucial games of the season. The turnaround for this program is evident in how they’ve handled themselves so far this season, and with a quadrupling in the win column from 2024, Delaware State should continue to make their presence known throughout both HBCU football and the FCS.
Photo Credit to Delaware State University Athletics
