VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.-Three-time defending champion Hampton University football team has been picked second behind South Carolina State University to win the 2007 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football title in a tight vote of the league's head coaches and sports information directors. The announcements came at the MEAC annual Football Roundup Friday.
South Carolina received eight (8) first-place votes and 266 points to the Pirates' seven (7) first-place votes and 260 points. The vote was the closest in several years and marked the first time in four seasons (2004) that a team other than Hampton had been picked to capture the coveted crown, which carries with it an automatic bid to the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Div. I-AA) playoffs.
Hampton head coach Joseph Taylor wasn't too surprised by the close voting and said Hampton will prevail and finish at the top at the end of the season.
"The close voting is a testament to the growth of our conference as a whole," stated Taylor. "This just goes to show how deep and talented the players and coaches of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference are. Besides, to lose 20 seniors, 11 of which went to the pros, and still be voted to finished second is an accomplishment within itself.
Following South Carolina State and Hampton in the preseason poll were Delaware State with 219 points, Bethune-Cookman with two (2) first-place votes and 165 points, Florida A&M with 159 points, Morgan State with 139 points, Norfolk State with 81 points, Howard with one (1) first-place vote and 76 points and North Carolina A&T with 29 points.
Taylor, however, who is entering his 15th year as the commander-in-chief of the Pirates knows the team will rely heavily on its defense to get the job done.
Heading the defensive unit of the Pirates will be 2007 Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Kendall Langford. Langford, a 6-6 294 defensive end from Petersburg, Va., is currently ranked No. 25 on Mel Kiper's Big Board for the 2008 NFL Draft, Langford is arguably one of the top defensive ends in all of Division I. Last season he was honored as a Sheridan Broadcasting Network (SBN) All-American and a first team All-MEAC selection after leading all Hampton defensive linemen in tackles with 55. In addition, he was second in the league with 15.5 tackles for loss and third in quarterback sacks with eight. Now entering his senior year, Langford is looking to become the first Pirate defensive lineman to be named first team all-conference three consecutive seasons since Isaac Readon was named All-CIAA from 1983-1985.
Junior offensive lineman Dennis Conley (Suffolk, Va.) and senior return specialist Kevin Teel (Washington, D.C.) were also selected to the first team of the 2007 Preseason All-MEAC team.
Second team picks from H.U. included senior defensive end Marcus Dixon (Rome, Ga.), senior running back Kevin Beverly (New Carrolton, Md.) , sophomore offensive lineman Ryan Cave (Beaufort, S.C.) and sophomore punter Jahmal Blanchard (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.).
Hampton opens the 2007 regular season on September 8th against Howard University at William H. Green Stadium in Washington, D.C. Kickoff will be at 1:00 p.m.