Blue Hen Football
Season in Review
#19 Towson #23 DELAWARE
34 27 (OT)
#20 Richmond #rv DELAWARE
23 17
Nov. 3, 2012 • Delaware Stadium (16,252)
Nov. 10, 2012 • Robins Stadium (8,700)
NEWARK, Del. -- For the second straight week, the Blue Hens could not come up with the big play when they needed it and dropped their second straight Top 20 Colonial Athletic Association battle in a 3427 overtime setback to rival Towson. No. 23 Delaware (5-4, 2-4 CAA) rallied to send the game into overtime when kicker Sean Baner nailed a 40-yard field goal into the wind with just two seconds left in regulation, completing a drive that saw the Hens go 42 yards in just five plays to set up the tying kick. But No. 19 Towson came out on top in the extra session as Terrance West scored on a three-yard run on the first possession of overtime and the Tigers defense held Delaware on downs, clinching the win when Jordan Love intercepted a Trent Hurley pass on the Towson one-yard line. Delaware (5-4, 2-4 CAA) fell for the fourth time in five games. Towson (5-4, 4-2 CAA), the defending CAA champion, ended a personal five-game losing streak to Delaware. Hurley was impressive all afternoon at the helm for the Blue Hens as he completed 25 of 34 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns with Nihja White grabbing eight passes for 85 yards and surpassing the 2,000-yard receiving mark for his career. The Blue Hens played without running back Andrew Pierce, who suffered a knee injury in the Old Dominion game. Towson got a big day from its quarterback as well as Grant Enders clicked on 21 of 26 passes for 187 yards and two scores, both to Emmanuel Holder. West finished the day with 113 yards rushing. Delaware outgained the Tigers in total offense by a 395-361 margin, but Towson converted all four of its fourth down conversion attempts and held a 15-minute advantage in time of possession fueled by a 16-play, 75-yard drive that consumed nearly nine minutes to open the second half. The team traded scores until the third quarter as Towson went up on a two-yard run by Dominique Booker with 2:31 left in the opening stanza followed by the Hens getting on the board on a 19-yard scoring strike from Hurley to Harrison. Towson answered on a 25-yard scoring pass from Enders to Holder with 57 seconds left in the opening half. But Delaware came right back and took the momentum into halftime as Baner nailed a 47-yard field goal with the wind at his back with just seconds left to pull the Hens to within 14-10.
RICHMOND, Va. -- The theme was all too familiar for the University of Delaware football team in its Colonial Athletic Association loss to Richmond. After battling to the end against a nationally-ranked opponent, the Hens came up short once again as No. 20 Richmond (7-3, 5-2 CAA) held off Delaware for its third straight win. Delaware (5-5, 2-5 CAA) fell behind 20-7 at halftime before battling back to put itself in a position to win, but couldn’t finish it off as Trent Hurley’s floating pass on the final play of the game was intercepted in the end zone by Richmond safety Connor Taylor. The Hens had battled back thanks to a 77-yard interception return for a touchdown by senior Ricky Tunstall with 11:30 left to play and a 42-yard field goal by Sean Baner with 3:05 remaining. Delaware had one last chance to pull out the win as the Hens gained possession at the 50-yard line with 30 seconds left. Hurley completed passes to Michael Johnson and Jerel Harrison to put the ball at the 27yard line, but he came under pressure on fourth down and his floating pass into the end zone was picked off to end the game. Spider quarterback Michael Strauss completed 25 of 41 passes for 267 passes while Kendall Gaskins ran for 83 yards and two touchdowns and kicker Remington Hinshaw booted field goals of 25, 37, and 23 yards. His 23-yarder with 6:09 left gave Richmond a 23-14 lead. Turnovers were the downfall for the Blue Hens as they committed a season-high five of them and also had a punt blocked. Hurley completed 23 of 44 passes for 265 yards but was intercepted four times. Julian Laing rushed for 56 yards and a touchdown and Nihja White caught seven passes for 88 yards. Richmond, which entered the game ranked 12th in the nation in scoring at 35.7 point per game, was held to its lowest point total since a season-opening 43-19 loss to the University of Virginia. Both teams had 20 first downs while Richmond had 342 total yards, just seven more than Delaware. Richmond, which came into the game ranked No. 1 in the nation by allowing just one sack all season, was sacked three times by Delaware. The Spiders jumped out to a quick 17-0 lead as they drove with ease on the first possession of the game, going 75 yards on 14 plays capped by an eight-yard run by Gaskins. A 53-yard return on an interception by Darryl Hamilton set up a 25-yard field by Hinshaw late in the first quarter for a 10-0 lead and Gaskins scored again, this time from six yards out, to give Richmond a 17-0 advantage with 12:06 left in the half. Delaware finally got on the board midway through the first half as the Hens marched 75 yards capped by Laing’s two-yard dive into the end zone with 8:52 left in the second quarter to cut the host’s lead to 17-7.
Towson..............................7 Delaware...........................0
7 10
6 7
7 10
7 0
- -
34 27
Towson - Booker 2 pass from Enders (Soven kick) 2:31 left (1st Quarter) Delaware - Harrison 19 pass from Hurley (Baner kick), 7:15 (2nd Q) Towson - Holder 25 pass from Enders (Soven kick0, :57 (2nd Q) Delaware - FG Baner, 47, :06 (2nd Q) Towson - West 1 run (Soven kick failed), 6:18 (3rd Q) Delaware - M. Johnson 25 pass from Hurley (Baner kick), 3:24 (3rd Q) Delaware - Laing 4 run (Baner kick), 14:21 (4th Q) Towson - Holder 2 pass from Enders (Soven kick), :44 (4th Q) Delaware - FG Baner, 40, :02 (4th Q) Towson - West 3 run (Soven kick) (OT)
TU TEAM STATISTICS UD 22..................................First Downs................................. 21 51-174................................ Rushes-Yards................................ 26-86 21-26-187......................................Passing..................................... 25-36-309 361.................................Total Offense................................ 395 5-39.2...................................Punts-Avg. ................................. 3-42.7 1-0.................................Fumbles-Lost................................ 0-0 6-57...............................Penalties-Yards.............................. 5-67 37:27............................Time of Possession........................... 22:33
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS: Rushing: Towson, Terrance West, 30-113, Grant Enders, 15-41, Dominique Booker, 4-13, Sterlin Phifer, 1-6, Clayton Minott, 1-1; Delaware, Julian Laing, 14-59, Trent Hurley, 10-25, Leon Jackson, 2-2; Passing - Towson, Enders, 21-26-0-187; Delaware, Hurley, 25-34-1-309; Team, 0-2-0; Receiving - Towson, Tom Ryan, 8-67, Gerrard Sheppard, 5-32, Emmanuel Holder, 3-36, Spencer Wilkins, 2-13, Dominique Booker, 1-23, Cory Kirby 1-13, Alex Blake, 1-3; Delaware, Nihja White, 8-85, Nick Boyle, 5-63, Jerel Harrison, 4-57, Stephen Clark, 3-34, Michael Johnson, 2-34, Mike Milburn, 2-27, Laing, 1-9.
Delaware...........................0 Richmond.........................10
7 7
0 3
10 3
- -
17 23
Richmond - Kendall Gaskins 8 run (Remington Hinshaw kick), 10:02 (1st Quarter) Richmond - FG 25 Remington Hinshaw, 4:15 (1st Q) Richmond - Kendall Gaskins 6 run (Remington Hinshaw kick), 12:06 (2nd Q) Delaware - Julian Laing 2 run (Sean Baner kick), 8:52 (2nd Q) Richmond - FG Remington Hinshaw 37, 2:28 (3rd Q) Delaware - Ricky Tunstall 77 interception return (Sean Baner kick), 11:30 (4th Q) Richmond - FG 23 Remington Hinshaw, 6:09 (4th Q) Delaware - FG Sean Baner 42, 3:05 (4th Q)
UR TEAM STATISTICS UD 20..................................First Downs................................. 20 26-70................................ Rushes-Yards................................ 37-75 23-44-265......................................Passing..................................... 25-41-267 335.................................Total Offense................................ 342 4-30.0...................................Punts-Avg. ................................. 6-45.2 1-1.................................Fumbles-Lost................................ 1-0 4-45...............................Penalties-Yards.............................. 9-78 26:27............................Time of Possession........................... 33:33
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS: Rushing: Delaware, Julian Laing, 17-56, Trent Hurley, 9-14; Richmond, Kendall Gaskins, 27-83, Ben Edwards, 4-5, Jacobi Green, 1-2, Michael Strauss, 5-(-15); Passing: Delaware, Hurley, 23-44-4-265; Richmond, Strauss, 25-41-1-267; Receiving: Delaware, Nihja White, 7-88, Mike Milburn, 6-92, Michael Johnson, 5-41, Nick Boyle, 2-15, Jerel Harrison, 1-11, Stephen Clark, 1-11, Ryan Cobb, 1-7; Richmond, Edwards, 7-57, Stephen Barnette, 6-58, Rashad Ponder, 5-84, Sam Roller, 2-31, Kevin Finney, 2-23, Gaskins 2-8, Reggie Diggs, 1-6.
2013 Delaware Football Media Guide
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