Stony Brook, Delaware State Schedule Home-and-Home Series Beginning August 2026
Delaware State, coached by DeSean Jackson, opens the 2026 season at home against Stony Brook on Aug. 27 in the first leg of a new two-game series.
Stony Brook and Delaware State locked in a home-and-home football series that will run across the 2026 and 2028 seasons, with the Seawolves set to open the agreement by traveling to Alumni Stadium in Dover on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026.
The series pairs two programs from separate mid-major conferences: Stony Brook out of the Coastal Athletic Association and Delaware State out of the MEAC. The Aug. 27 date functions as the Hornets' official season opener, giving DeSean Jackson's program a prime-time Thursday night home showcase to launch the campaign in front of the Alumni Stadium crowd before hitting the road less than two weeks later.
Delaware State's early-season schedule surrounding the opener is notably compressed. After hosting Stony Brook on Aug. 27, the Hornets travel to William & Mary on Sept. 5, return home Sept. 12 against Bowie State, then face an FBS opponent when they visit USF on Sept. 19. A Sept. 26 matchup with Towson closes out the nonconference stretch before MEAC league play takes over in October and November.
The Thursday night format for the opener carries clear strategic intent. A midweek campus game in late August draws local attention before competing fall programming crowds the calendar, and it gives Delaware State a centerpiece event to anchor season-ticket marketing. For Stony Brook, the road trip to Dover provides an early-season test against a program from a different conference and a different recruiting footprint, which helps the Seawolves build nonconference credibility heading into CAA play.
Jackson, the former NFL wide receiver who took over as Delaware State's head coach, adds considerable visibility to the Hornets' nonconference scheduling decisions. The willingness to book a cross-league opener against a CAA program, followed by a Power-conference FBS trip to USF, signals that Delaware State intends to build a challenging early slate rather than ease into the season.
Stony Brook's return visit to Delaware State is slated for 2028, completing the home-and-home obligation and extending the series' geographic and conference-crossing scope well into the decade.
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