Adams continues to give Delaware State a spark with his arms and his legs

DOVER — Delaware State’s coaches were trying to improve the way that Marqui Adams played in the future.

They figured the best way to do that was look at the way the young quarterback played in the past.

Before last Saturday’s game with Richmond, Hornet coach Lee Hull said he pulled out some tape of Adams from his freshman season.

“We went back to last year’s game against Richmond and showed him how comfortable he was in the pocket,” said Hull. “How poised he was in the pocket — not making throws off balance and worrying about the rush.”

Hull thought the refresher course helped Adams on Saturday. Even though DSU fell to the Spiders, 38-24, the sophomore QB had a big day.

Adams completed 16-of-24 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns while also running 16 times for a net of 92 yards.

The performance gives this week’s opponent, Campbell (1-3), something to think about when they host the Hornets (1-3) at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The Camels have to be concerned about Adams throwing or running the ball.

“I turned the film on last night and watched those guys,” Campbell coach Braxton Harris said on Monday. “He (Adams) is athletic. He’s a dual-threat guy that is able to run and throw the ball really well.

“He’s the spark of their offense. He made it go against Richmond.”

Adams is the Hornets’ second-leading rusher with 203 yards on 57 carries. If you take out the 73 yards he’s lost on sacks, Adams has run for 276 yards.

The quarterback’s ability to pick up yards in different ways has become a big part of his game.

“Obviously, when things break down, he can take off and run,” said Hull. “His legs add an extra dimension to our offense.”

One way the Camels can try to contain Adams, of course, would be to assign a defender to follow him. But Harris also knows the Hornets have other players capable of picking up big yardage.

DSU’s leading rusher, Jayden Sutton, is averaging 5.9 yards on his 50 carries.

“They put the ball in their playmakers’ hands,” said Harris. “We have to eliminate the extra plays really for him (Adams), I would say.

“They’re trying to put him in space and make you tackle him in space. We’ve got to be able to limit him because he’s kind of what makes the whole (offense) go. .... We’ll have to go at him multiple ways. We can’t just go at him one way.”

Consistently inconsistent

If there’s one thing DelState has done consistently so this season, it has been inconsistent.

That was Hull’s message on the MEAC coaches’ media call this week.

While the Hornets have done some good things in all four of their games, they also seem to have critical lapses.

“I think the biggest thing we have to work on is being consistent this year, especially the next few games,” he said. “We get in some lulls there in the middle of the game where we’ve got to focus and stay focused.”

Hull said he hopes that consistency will come along the more DSU gets experience playing as a team.

“We’ve got a lot of younger guys playing,” he said. “We’re still trying to gel and still trying to learn the offense, defense and special teams — what needs to get done.

“And it starts in practice, too — us being focused in practice and being consistent in practice and doing the little things that need to be done.”