Frenzied fans flock to championship game

Fightin’ Blue Hens fans invaded Chattanooga, Tenn., for the second time in five years as the UD football team played for the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision national championship Dec. 14 at jam-packed Finley Stadium.

Although the 2007 Hens were unable to match the 2003 squad as national champions, they put up an entertaining fight in a 49-21 loss to Appalachian State University, which won its third straight title.

The championship featured a gala pregame rally as Delaware fans bedecked in blue and gold descended upon the First Tennessee Pavilion, adjacent to the stadium. The event was sponsored by the UD Alumni Association to get fans ready to cheer on their team.

It was a capacity crowd, loud and proud, and the fans were treated to performances by the UD cheerleaders, the tuba section of the UD Marching Band and the ever-popular mascot YoUDee. For their part, fans made signs and geared themselves up with paint, wigs, tattoos, buttons, pompoms and other paraphernalia to make it clear that they were backing the Blue Hens.

UD President Patrick Harker addressed the gathering, which included Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, former football coach Tubby Raymond and Scott Brunner, quarterback for the 1979 NCAA Division II national championship team.

Once the championship game got under way before a sellout crowd of more than 23,000, the Hens fell behind, although it seemed of little concern as they had done so in two previous playoff games and had been able to battle back. This time, they were not so fortunate.

The Hens’ first drive was stopped quickly, and a short punt gave Appalachian State good field position. The Mountaineers capitalized on a 19-yard touchdown pass from elusive quarterback Armanti Edwards to Kevin Richardson to go ahead 7-0.

Delaware stormed back, on two long pass plays from quarterback Joe Flacco to wide receiver Aaron Love, but was stopped on fourth and inches. An apparent tying touchdown by Omar Cuff was reversed on replay review, and the Hens were unable to convert on two subsequent plays.

That proved to be costly as Appalachian State shredded the UD defense, quickly moving 99 yards for a 14-0 lead as Devon Moore ran the last 46 for the score.

With the ball back, the Hens sliced deep into Appalachian State territory again, but the drive stalled, and field goal kicker Jon Striefsky missed a 35-yard try.

Once again, Appalachian State had little trouble moving the ball and went deep into UD territory on several runs by Edwards. Living a charmed life, Appalachian State fumbled the ball into the end zone for a touchdown to make it 21-0.

Delaware scored late in the first half when Flacco hit Mark Duncan with a touchdown pass to make the score 21-7, but Appalachian State struck with lightning speed on a 60-yard pass from Edwards to Dexter Jackson to extend the lead to 28-7 at the break.

The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, with the Hens scoring late on a 1-yard plunge by Cuff to make it 35-14.

Appalachian scored twice more to make it 49-14 before Duncan returned a kickoff for a touchdown to give the Hens their final score.

“We lost to a great football team today,” said UD Head Coach K.C. Keeler, who lost for just the second time in 10 NCAA postseason appearances since taking over the team in 2002. “We didn’t make some plays early and that put us behind, and things just steamrolled from there. Whatever went wrong for us tonight was because of Appalachian State. Give them all the credit; they are a deserving national champion. I’m disappointed we didn’t convert early, but so much was about how they played.”

Flacco agreed that the Hens’ troubles began early in the game. “They jumped ahead pretty quickly,” he said of Appalachian State. “They are good. Things didn’t go well early. It was tough to fight back from that, and they wouldn’t let it happen.”

The Hens reached the championship game with victories at home against Delaware State University and on the road against top-seeded Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois universities.

All in all, it was an outstanding season with the Hens finishing 11-4 and winning the Lambert Cup as the top NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision team in the East.

The feeling among fans was that the team had played superlative football throughout the season and that getting so close to the championship was quite an accomplishment, said Lauren Simione, assistant director of alumni relations.