HAMPTON, Va. - Jerry Holmes has made it look easy in his first season as Hampton head football coach.

From succeeding longtime head coach Joe Taylor (now at Florida A&M) to blending in several Football Bowl Subdivision transfers to an already talented roster, the Pirates’ former defensive coordinator has enjoyed smooth sailing.

“Coach Taylor put a great program together here at Hampton University,” Holmes said. “We encourage the kids here with their acceptance in transferring to come here to try to make it easier for that transition and help those guys learn the program. The university does a great job of meeting with the new guys and accepting them as family.”

After seeing its three-year reign as conference champion end last year, Hampton (5-1, 4-0) is once again nationally-ranked (22nd in the latest Football Championship Subdivision Coaches Poll) and atop the conference standings. This Saturday, the Pirates set sail to Oliver C. Dawson Stadium to face 24th-ranked South Carolina State (5-2, 3-0) in a game that will decide first-place in the MEAC.

“We feel like it gives us another great opportunity to achieve our goals and take another step forward in having to deal with a pretty good team in South Carolina State that we have to face this week,” Holmes said.

The Bulldogs have won the last two meetings against the Pirates, including their first-ever victory at Armstrong Stadium by a 28-24 score. In its last visit to Orangeburg, Hampton was held without a touchdown in a 13-6 win by S.C. State.

“Going there, you know that (South Carolina State) is going to be well-coached and they’ve always been a physical football team,” Holmes said. “They’ve always had a great offensive and defensive line. In some cases, on both sides of the ball which is the case this year. I looked at the stats just this morning and saw where they had like 22 sacks and 12 interceptions and that sort of thing. They do a nice job of running the ball. They have a real good running back (William Ford) and it’s going to be a challenge.”

Ford rushed for 122 yards in last year’s win and his 792 rushing yards on the season is 38 more than the entire Pirates’ team. It’s a major reason why Hampton is placing a high priority on slowing down the Travelers Rest native.

“We’ve got to make sure that we do what we’re suppose to do as far as gap responsibility and being where we’re suppose to be and when we get an opportunity to tackle, we have to make the tackle because we’ve seen him break a bunch of long runs,” Holmes said.

Although Hampton lost All-MEAC defensive linemen Kendall Langford and Marcus Dixon to the NFL, transfers like Kendrick Ellis (University of South Carolina) and MEAC sack leader Chris Baker (Penn State ) have helped fill the void and allowed linebackers Wakeem Goode (63 tackles) and Michael Swett (45 tackles) to make plays.

“Kendrick is doing a super job down at defensive line and along with the other guys, when you get a guy that demands two guys to block him, that allows those linebackers to run free. Kendrick is not a selfless guy, so he knows his role.”

Another former Gamecock on the Hampton roster is defensive back Sam Pope, an All-MEAC selection last year. After missing time early in the season, Holmes said he’s starting to regain some confidence and is looking for improvement from a passing defense ranked next-to-last in the conference.

Hampton will bring the MEAC’s top-ranked offense into Orangeburg. The Pirates are averaging 30.3 points and 372.5 yards per game led by quarterback Herbert Bynes (100 of 166 passing, 1,481 yards, 11 TDs, 5 INTs) and an explosive wide receiving corps with Florida State transfer Damon McDaniel, Justin Brown and Kevin Teel.

The Pirates are equally explosive on special teams as Teel leads the MEAC in kick returns (42.1 yards per return, 2 TDs) and Jeremy Gilchrist is tops in punt returns (20.4 yards per return, 3 TDs).

Hampton’s kicking game is also solid with punter Jahmel Blanchard leading the conference in punting yards (43.0 yards per kick) and place-kicker Carlo Turavani tops in field goal percentage (7 of 10).

For all the individual success, Holmes is pleased with his team’s single-minded focus.

“This year’s team set goals at the start of the year in that they’re not getting all excited,” Holmes said. “It’s one step at a time. They’re still focusing on their main goal which they set in the beginning of the year.”

Howard’s Carter done for season

The impressive freshman campaign for Howard University defensive back Willie Carter has come to an end.

On Tuesday, Bison head coach Carey Bailey announced the Denmark-Olar product would miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury suffered in last Saturday’s 31-30 double-overtime loss to Morgan State.

Bailey said since the injury would take 5-6 weeks to heal, he decided to sit down Carter. The injury is not career-threatening and Carter should be able resume workouts in two months.

In his first season at Howard, Carter leads the MEAC in receptions per game (7.3) and second in receiving yards per game (79.5) and was a MEAC Rookie of the Week award winner. His play has helped quarterback Floyd Haigler of Orangeburg-Wilkinson rank first in the MEAC in passing yards.

Howard is scheduled to visit S.C. State for a Thursday night game on Nov. 6.

Saturday’s Game is Youth/ROTC Day

The S.C. State Ticket Office are offering ticket discounts for this Saturday’s game at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.

As a part of Youth/ROTC Day, all youth 17 and under or college students with an ID card can purchase a ticket for $10. All general admission tickets will cost $20.

For the second straight home game, the school is encouraging fans to ‘Get Out the Garnet’ by wearing Garnet-colored T-shirts in support of the team.

For more information, contact the S.C. State ticket office at 803-536-8579 or 1-800-298-9157 or click on the S.C. State advertisement at www.thetandd.com.

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