DOVER, Del. -- Politicians and voters are not the only people clamoring for "change."

At Tuesday's weekly Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference teleconference, Delaware State head football coach Al Lavan brought up the word in talking about improving his team's play heading into Saturday's home game against front-runner South Carolina State.

"A change is going to have to be made in the fact that we need to play a little bit more consistent in our run-blocking and we need to pass the ball with a little bit more consistency," Lavan said.

The 2007 campaign has been a far cry from a year ago when the Hornets ran away with the MEAC championship. Turnovers and offensive inconsistency have stymied Delaware State's effort and this was on vivid display in last week's 20-3 loss at Morgan State.

The Hornets committed four turnovers for the second straight week, three coming on interceptions thrown by senior Vashon Winton and backup Anthony Glaud and resulting in 17 points for the Bears. Picks have been a problem for Winton (80-147 passing, 804 yards, 3 TDs), who has 11 on the season but is second on the team in rushing with 418 yards and nine TDs.

Even more disconcerting for Lavan, even though they were facing the MEAC's top-ranked defense and competing in tough weather conditions, was an offense that produced only 118 total yards. For the season, Delaware State is next-to-last in the MEAC in scoring offense (19 points per game) and sixth in total offense.

Even the kicking game has experienced its share of problems. With the graduation of Peter Gaertner (whose 38-yard field goal won last year's game over S.C. State), replacement Riley Flickinger is only 5-11 on the season with no field goal made over 40 yards.

I think the special teams unit has been mediocre so far, but we are due for a big game," Delaware State punter Nick Lochner said. "Let's just hope the special teams unit works hard in practice. Hopefully, the guys can step up and be successful."

The bright spot for Delaware State was the defense, which had its second-best performance of the season in holding Morgan State to 200 total yards. Nevertheless, Lavan is more focused on righting his team's offensive play than talking about his hopes of repeating as MEAC champion.

"I really don't discuss it," he said. "Just like the previous ball game prior to Morgan State, I'm too busy trying to get our team to play with some consistency and practicing to get better. We're aware of the fact that we had just one loss in conference play (before Morgan State), but I don't talk about it at all. I talk about what we have to do on a daily basis.

"It's more appetizing to get the kids going after a win than it is a loss sometimes, but the primary thing we concentrate on is ourselves and how well we must practice and perform in order to play well on Saturday."

Another inconsistent performance against a Bulldog team Lavan called the "best-looking (Oliver) Buddy Pough team" will keep the Hornets from continuing their recent mastery over 20th-ranked S.C. State (6-2, 4-0). Delaware State (3-4, 3-2) has won three of the last four meetings in Dover against the Bulldogs and have won two straight overall by a single point.

"They're a very skilled football team," he said. "Sound on defense. They run well to the ball and hit people. On offense, they've got a pair of running backs (Will Ford and Travil Jamison) and they must be twins. They take one out, it doesn't seem to make any difference. You give them the football and they gain a bunch of yards."

The biggest difference Lavan sees in this year's Bulldog team is having a quarterback like Malcolm Long, who can stretch the field with his arm and take full advantage of his wideouts.

"He's had runners and quarterbacks that can run with the ball, but this quarterback has some mobility. ... He can really throw the ball and get the ball in the hands of some very skilled receivers. This is the time which makes them difficult to defend."

Kickoff for Saturday's game is 1 p.m. at Alumni Stadium. ESPNU will air the game tape delay starting at 10:30 p.m.

T&D Senior Sports Writer Thomas Grant Jr. can be reached by e-mail at tgrant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5547. Check out his blog, Following the Bulldogs, at TheTandD.com.

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