"I have told the guys we don't have to go back to far to see what can happen when you start out the conference season with a loss," Head Coach Reggie Barlow said.  "We had a close loss at Jackson State last year in our first conference game and we never caught up.  You just can't afford any loss, but you have to get off to a good start and last year was a perfect example of that."
 
The Hornets (1-1, 0-0 SWAC) own a 24-15-1 lead in the series, and that includes winning 13 of the past 16.  ASU is 6-1 against MVSU (1-1, 0-0 SWAC) during Barlow's reign as head coach, with the lone loss coming back in 2009 10-3.  ASU is expecting a different MVSU team since they brought in the highly-successful Rick Comegy to put his touches on the program.
 
"Most of the guys that have been around our program for a while know who Coach Comegy is," Barlow said.  "They know what he did at Tuskegee, they know what he did at Jackson State and his teams are always tough and play the game the right way.  He has won every where he has been, Central State, Tuskegee and Jackson State and he will win at Valley as well."
 
ASU enters conference play after playing back-to-back nationally-ranked programs.  They started the season with a loss at Sam Houston State and was able to defeat Tennessee State at home last week.  Both of those games saw some areas the Hornets have worked on all week as they head into conference action.
 
One area was on offense where the Hornets have only completed six of 32 third down attempts.  On defense, the ASU pass defense has already given up 736 passing yards.
 
"We have got to improve on third down plays," Barlow said.  "We need to get that number up over 40 percent, but we also have to quit putting ourselves in positions where we are always in a third-and-long situation.  Defensively, we have to do a better job of challenging the receivers.  We are not getting as much pressure on the quarterback this year because we are playing more zone coverages, so we must find the receivers and challenge them."
 
Malcolm Cyrus is the offensive leader.  He has a team and conference-high 253 yards rushing and leads the Hornets with seven receptions for 135 yards and a score.  His 194 all-purpose yards per game leads the SWAC.
 
At quarterback, Daniel Duhart has entered his second season as ASU's starter and has completed just over 50 percent of his passes for 448 yards and three scores.  He has also rushed for 31 yards and a touchdown.
 
Defensively the Hornets are being led once again by the SWAC preseason pick for the defensive player of the year Kourtney Berry.  His 25 total stops not only is a team-high, but leads the SWAC as well.
 
Linebacker Torrey Davis was pressed into action a week before the first game due to an injury and he is making a strong case not to come out of the starting lineup.  He has 19 stops and leads ASU with 4.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and in sacks with two.
 
Jerrell Moore leads the visiting Delta Devils in rushing with 147 yards.  He is averaging 6.7 yards per carry and has a touchdown.
 
MVSU has used four quarterbacks during their first two games, but it is last year's starter Patrick Ivy, who is getting most of the playing time.  He has struggled throwing the ball completing only 38 percent of his passes.  He has thrown for 151 yards and two scores.
 
Davon Jones leads MVSU on the defensive side of the ball with 17 total tackles.  He has 4.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage and also has two sacks for a team-high.  Le'Trey Jones is next for MVSU with 15 tackles.
 
Tomorrow's kick off is scheduled for 5 p.m. and the game can be watched and listened to live on HornetVision at bamastatesports.com.