DSU football coach breaks school win record as Statesmen beat NGU
Delta State University Head Football Coach Todd Cooley made school history on Saturday (Sept. 6) during Pig Pickin’.
In the Statesmen’s 41-9 trouncing of the North Greenville University Trailblazers at Travis E. Parker Field at Horace McCool Stadium, Cooley earned his 77th win at DSU to become the school’s all-time winningest football coach. He broke the previous win record of 76 set by Horace McCool, who posted a 76-48-3 record from 1961-73 as Statesmen Head Football Coach. Cooley is also in his 13th season, and he’s authored a record of 77-46. The Statesmen also moved up from No. 22 to No. 16 in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 Poll and moved up from No. 24 to No. 19 in the D2football.com Poll.
The win took place in a front a tremendous crowd in the stands and the levee area where fans had the time of their lives watching the game. After the game, DSU’s players and coaches, including Cooley, greeted the fans in the levee area as they walked to the sidelines to join the cheerleaders and fans in the stands to sing the school’s fight song being played flawlessly by the DSU marching band.
At the weekly DSU press conference on Monday (Sept. 8), Cooley was in awe and honored when talking about breaking the win record.
“It’s humbling,” said Cooley. “It’s a blessing for sure. I never got to meet Coach McCool or Coach (Gene) Chadwick, but I hear stories from people that knew them and what great men they were. To be in the Chadwick-Dickson building that we’re in and to go to Horace McCool Stadium everyday and to know that my name is mentioned with them is pretty cool. I just think we’re blessed.”
After DSU suffered a losing season in 2021 with a 5-6 record, the Statesmen have gone 29-8 with two Gulf South Conference Championships since the start of the 2022 season.
At the press conference, Cooley expressed his gratitude to the university for sticking with him through the ups and downs.
“So many times in today’s college sports, especially in my sport in football, people don’t get opportunities to try to fix things,” said Cooley. “I was given an opportunity to fix it after the 2021 season, and we fixed it. That takes a lot of courage in your leadership to not listen to the voices that are saying we need to make a change, and we need to do this and do that. Coach (Mike) Kinnison (DSU Director of Athletics) was the main one that said we’re going to stick with coach and try to figure it out. We did and that’s why I think I’m still standing here to be honest with you. The guy stuck with me.”
After the game on Saturday, Cooley was proud of the guys for overcoming some miscues to win the contest.
“It’s a good win,” said Cooley. “We made a few mistakes. We’ve got to quit shooting ourselves in the foot, but I was proud of our kids.”
The Statesmen turned the ball over three times and gave up a safety, but they proved to be dominant in the contest. DSU outgained the Trailblazers 487-304 in total yards. In the ground game alone, DSU rushed for 226 yards on 34 carries for an average of 6.6 yards per carry, while the Trailblazers rushed for just 75 yards on 42 carries for an average of just 1.8 yards per carry. DSU was also a solid 4-of-8 on third down conversions for a 50-percent third down conversion percentage. North Greenville was just 3-of-16 on third down conversions. DSU tried to convert on fourth down once and was successful. North Greenville was just 2-of-6 on four down conversions. DSU’s offense went 5-of-6 scoring in the red zone, while North Greenville went 0-of-3 in the red zone.
Cooley loved the intensity the team played with during the game.
“We played really well and played very physical,” said Cooley. “I thought we were physical and played really well on both sides of the ball. I was excited about that one.”
Cooley felt a 2-0 start to the season with both games at home was critical for the team.
“I think it’s big,” said Cooley. “We knew we started off with two tough opponents, and we had to beat them both. We did it, so now we’re going to have a tough one this week on the road. Now, we have to see if we can go play away from this place. This place has become an advantage. I’m just proud of how electric everything is here. It’s awesome.”
Alex Larry had a solid game on defense for the Statesmen as he earned Gulf South Conference Defensive Player of the Week by racking up nine total tackles (5 solos, 4 assists) with 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble.
Also on defense for DSU, Jacquez Tucker recorded six tackles (3 solos, 3 assists) with a tackle for loss, Joshua Phillips had six tackles with a half sack, Carl Hopkins had four tackles (3 solos, 1 assists) with two pass break ups and a half tackle for loss, Tre’Shun Johnson and Aaron McCardell, Jr. recorded five tackles each, Taylon Doss and Tye Holsey had four tackles and a pass break-up each, and Jarius McFarland had two pass break-ups.
The Statesmen’s offense was led by senior quarterback Cole Kirk. Kirk completed 18-of-31 passes for 258 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions and rushed for 64 yards with two touchdowns on six carries.
Along with Kirk, there were plenty of other stars that shined on offense. Harrison Knight caught two passes for an impressive 100 yards, Nick Clark rushed for 65 yards on 12 carries and caught two passes for 11 yards, Marlon Palmer rushed for 39 yards with a touchdown on five carries and caught a pass for 21 yards with a touchdown, Matt Rozier caught five passes for 36 yards, Qualon Farrar rushed for 36 yards on four carries, Curtis Rearden caught two passes for 34 yards with a touchdown, Carter Coullard caught two passes for 25 yards, and Davion Alston rushed for 23 yards on six carries and caught a pass for five yards with a touchdown to contribute to the Statesmen’s offense.
In the kicking game for DSU, Cade Mangum was 5-of-6 on extra points, and Price Nixon averaged 60.5 yards a kickoff with a touchback on eight kickoffs and had a punt for 37 yards.
The Statesmen will be back in action on Saturday (Sept. 13) when the team travels to Pembroke, N.C. to play the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Kickoff is set for 12:00 p.m.