Hornets bringing some sting to Turpin Saturday night

NATCHITOCHES ­ The nationıs fourth-ranked rushing attack, the No. 8-rated offense, a punt return unit ranking sixth nationally and an aggressive defense stacked to stuff the opponentıs running attack. That may sound like Northwestern State football at its best under fifth-year head coach Scott Stoker, but itıs actually a scouting report on the Demonsı opponent Saturday night in Turpin Stadium, unbeaten Delaware State. The Hornets are rushing for 270.5 yards, churning out 429 total yards per game with the countryıs top team pass efficiency rating (220.8) largely due to Mid Eastern Athletic Conference 2005 Freshman of the Year, Vashon Wilson, who is 20-for-25 passing for 302 yards and four touchdowns. Delaware State is averaging 23.7 yards on six punt returns. Under third-year coach Al Lavan, an NFL assistant coach for 18 seasons, the Hornets run an attacking defensive scheme similar to Northwesternıs Purple Swarm defense. Their wins are 34-14 over Florida A&M and a 63-28 rout of St. Francis (Pa.) in a game DSU led 56-7 after the first series of the third quarter last Saturday. ³They have size, speed and they are very, very sound in what they do,² said Northwestern coach Scott Stoker on Wednesday. ³They are in your face on defense. They will try to run it down your throat on offense and they have a dangerous run-pass threat running the show at quarterback. ³We arenıt playing a Big XII Conference team this week, but weıd better play better than we did against Kansas and Baylor if weıre going to beat Delaware State,² he said. The Demons (0-2) are hoping to reach a historic landmark in their home opener Saturday at 6. Northwestern is 99-39-1 (.717) over 30 seasons of playing in Turpin Stadium. Stokerıs teams are 18-5 at home in his first four seasons. Add in a 14-4-1 mark when he played for the Demons as a record-setting quarterback from 1986-89, and a 13-10 record as an assistant coach from 1990-93, and Stoker has had a hand in nearly half (45-19-1) of NSUıs victories in Turpin Stadium. ³Everybody gets an edge playing at home, but when our guys run through that purple smoke and hear the fight song, itıs a feeling I canıt really put into words and it does give us a huge boost,² said Stoker. ³Our fans can really get into games and when they do, because of the acoustics in the stadium, itıs a big factor in our favor. Weıve had visiting teams call time because they couldnıt hear their signals, which is pretty amazing for a 16-thousand seat stadium.² The Demons had a good two-hour practice Wednesday morning, he said, and should have everyone who took the field at Baylor last week available to play Saturday night at 6, he said.