The Delaware football team dealt with its first halftime deficit of the season Saturday night against Penn as the Quakers hit the break up 16-6.
The Blue Hens’ gutsy second-half finish provided a 29-22 squeaker over Penn to move Delaware to 3-0 before Sacred Heart visits Sept. 28 on Parents & Family Weekend.
Its record may be pristine, but Delaware has imperfections to correct if it wants to have a puncher’s chance at finishing its final season in CAA Football unbeaten.
Having acknowledged that, the first of these season-starting takeaways is a positive one for the Hens.
Delaware digs deep – in spirit and the depth chart
The frustration of trailing Penn by 10 to start the third quarter on Saturday was Delaware’s biggest moment of adversity to start the season, which is already a funky journey without FCS playoff access during an FBS transition.
Playing without injured running back Marcus Yarns and wide receiver JoJo Bermudez, not to mention the equally unavailable Brock Gingrich and Blaise Sparks on its offensive line, Delaware had to find answers against a Penn team that stood as its most formidable opponent to date.
“I think we got outplayed in the first half,” Carty said postgame of the battle with Penn. “I don’t think we got out-efforted, but I thought we got out-juiced. I thought [Penn] had a little bit more energy, and it’s not like they wanted the game more than we did, but I think we had to really dial in and lock it in a little bit… You saw us kinda get to that point where it looked like there were times we were unstoppable, and then there are other times where we’re a little bit too sloppy.”
The Blue Hens’ first-half hosting Penn stands as Delaware’s only half this season in which it scored single-digit points. Those lone early points against the Quakers came when wideout Phil Lutz plucked a pass from Ryan O’Connor on fourth-and-8 in Penn territory, racing it in 41 yards for the score.
Lutz continued his busy start to the season, solidifying his go-to role with O’Connor as he slapped Penn with seven catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns, the 41-yarder being the longest.
“I think Phil does a nice job at using his body when the ball’s in the air, right?” Carty said Sept. 14 after his team beat North Carolina A&T. “He’s a big enough guy that he can go adjust to a ball, he can go up and get a ball, and then when it’s underthrown or a little bit back-shoulder, he can kinda make it work and possibly draw a penalty [on the defender] or go make a play.”
In addition to Lutz, Jake Thaw has bolstered Delaware’s receiving game with Bermudez sidelined. Thaw recorded nine receptions for 72 yards and one touchdown in the comeback win over Penn, all of which were season highs for the Westport, Connecticut native.
Delaware’s foundation on offense remains its retooled offensive line, which held up versus Penn as Anwar O’neal moved to left tackle. O’neal’s flip along the front paved the way for Fintan Brose to play right tackle and for Cole Snyder to succeed Patrick Shupp at left guard.
Steven Demboski reprised his starting role at center in Gingrich’s stead and was joined by Bradly Anyanwu at right guard.
When Blue Hens tailback Jo’Nathan Silver scooted around the edge for Delaware’s game-winning touchdown against Penn with 1:44 to play, the 13-yard run was blocked especially well by the left side composed of Demboski, Snyder and O’neal. Silver himself is stepping up at starting RB with Yarns absent for an uncertain time.
PAT: Pressed for Answers – like, Tomorrow
In the Hens’ victories over North Carolina A&T and Penn, point-after tries of both the one- and two-point varieties emerged as troublesome spots.
Starting kicker Nate Reed has been dominant on kickoffs this season, piling up touchbacks to ensure that the opponent’s starting field position on most drives is nothing to write home about. Placekicking after touchdowns – earning the points that piece together to bite a team if left unclaimed – has become a different story for Delaware.
Reed went 0-for-1 on extra points at A&T and true freshman Skyler Sholder had the same result that day. Graduate student Brandon Ratcliffe righted the ship against the Aggies as he converted 3-for-3 kicked PATs, but a week later, Ratcliffe missed his lone extra point versus Penn.
Delaware was inefficient on two-point conversions tried against the Quakers as well. O’Connor went 1-for-3 passing on two-pointers, connecting with Thaw for a crucial deuce that put Delaware up 29-22 after Silver’s run.
At this point, it is safely said that Blue Hen PATs leaving a good bit to be desired lately let A&T hang around by halftime and helped Penn stress the home fans most recently. Delaware must course-correct on the nagging issue and it has the demonstrated potential to do so, as it has at least two placekickers with a history of extra point success in Reed and Ratcliffe.
“I’m not kicking them anymore, so – that’s a concern because that’s a problem, too,” Carty said after the Penn game, leaving room for interpretation when asked about extra points but keeping a blunt tone. “Because now we gotta come up with 35 two-point plays every week. We will, and we’ll be really good. They’ll be better than they were tonight.”
Even if that press-conference-closing comment ages as an exaggeration, it drives home the Hens’ need to drive more balls through the uprights after touchdowns. On the plus side, Reed is 2-for-2 kicking field goals through three games, owning a 41-yarder at NC A&T and a 35-yarder that cut Penn’s lead to 16-15 in the third.
Caught looking? Monmouth looms, but SHU is first
Monmouth hosts Delaware on Oct. 5, and the Hawks appear primed to enter that meeting with momentum. Monmouth upset Conference USA (CUSA) member Florida International on Saturday, securing the Hawks’ first win over an FBS foe.
Monmouth would love to knock off a future CUSA program in Delaware to top off the combination while getting a CAA win. It has the offense to do it: Monmouth and Delaware are entering their games the week of Sept. 28 while averaging 39.5 and 39.7 points per game in scoring offense, respectively.
Those numbers still come on a relatively small sample size, which will grow when the Blue Hens welcome Sacred Heart to Delaware Stadium for Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. kickoff.
The Pioneers will be a bigger underdog than Penn was on Saturday. SHU is playing this fall as a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) independent. It already has losses to the MEAC’s Delaware State and the NEC’s Stonehill to begin 2-2, a record that includes a Division II win over Saint Anselm, 10-3.
Sacred Heart does have a precedent for knocking Delaware down a peg after an exciting Blue Hen win. In the 2014 season, Delaware was coming off a takedown of James Madison on the road when it returned home to a dud, faltering against Sacred Heart in a 10-7 loss.
Since that campaign, SHU has won NEC titles with a share in 2018 and with outright crowns in 2020-21 and fall 2021. The spring 2021 postseason saw the Pioneers compete at Delaware in a 19-10 final favoring the Hens.
Delaware is tied in the all-time series with Sacred Heart at 1-1, as the squads first met in that 2014 clash.