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Fans, players, coaches celebrate national football championship

The crowd at The Bob gives a standing ovation to the members of UD’s 2003 National Championship team.
Click here to view slide show.

11:45 p.m., Feb. 10, 2004--More than 3,000 UD football fans, students, alumni, players and coaches huddled together Tuesday night, Feb. 10, in the Bob Carpenter Center Sports/Convocation for a joyous celebration of the 2003 NCAA Division I-AA national champion Fightin’ Blue Hens.

Master of ceremonies Mike Corey, the voice of the Blue Hens on The River 94.7, introduced the Blue Hen defensive and offensive players and coaches, and the crowd gave standing ovations to several starting players as they were individually introduced.

“Are you ready for some football?” UD President David P. Roselle asked the crowd.

“This is truly a great night in the history of the University of Delaware, almost as great as that cold, snowy night of Dec. 19 when the Hens dominated Colgate University 40-0 to win the national championship,” Roselle said.

“2003 was special because of the team’s performance on the field and also because of the enthusiastic support by you, the fans,” Roselle said.

“We drew nearly 190,000 fans to Delaware Stadium this year, more than any other team in Division I-AA. And, we averaged more than 21,000 fans per game during the regular season, becoming the only school in the division to average more than 20,000 fans each of the last five seasons.”

Roselle made a special point of thanking UD students for their support throughout the season.

“It was a particularly great year for student support, with student attendance doubling and the south end zone easily becoming the loudest section of the stadium,” he said.

Roselle then introduced U.S. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., a member of UD’s Class of 1965, who addressed the crowd.

Biden said he came to UD in 1961 as “a half-baked halfback.” While he didn’t play on a championship team at UD, Biden said it was thrilling to watch the Hens throughout the 2003 season, particularly the national championship game in Chattanooga.

“This is a classy football team that we can be proud of on and off the field,” Biden said. He went on to invite the team to a reception with members of the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C.

Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner told the players and fans that they “put the First State on the map.”

After describing a recent visit by Coach Keeler and the team at Woodburn, the official governor’s residence in Dover, Minner described the athletes and coaches as “the cream of the crop.”

“I look forward to going to another championship game again this year,” Minner said.

Newark Mayor Hal Godwin took the stage to read a proclamation naming Newark “Title Town” in honor of the national championship won by UD’s Fightin’ Blue Hens and the state football championship won by the Newark High School Yellowjackets on Dec. 13.

“Newark is a town of champions!” Godwin said. To celebrate the Title Town designation, Godwin said scores of merchants in downtown Newark are offering special discounts on goods and services.

He introduced Newark High School’s football coach, Butch Simpson, and three of the team’s co-captains—P.J. Lloyd, Dan Perkins and Jon Lanouette—who attended the event.

When trophies won this season were brought on stage, senior defensive back Mike Adams reminded the audience that this was a defense that only allowed an average of 15 points per regular season contest and that held its opponents in four playoff games to a miniscule 23 total points, including a 40-0 shutout in the national championship game against Colgate in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Dec. 19.

As video clips chronicled the defensive heroics that set the stage for many come-from-behind-victories, the audience cheered and rose to its feet, showing the same spirit and support they displayed at home and away throughout the 2003 season.

NCAA Championship trophies take the spotlight.
“I would like to thank all the players and the fans and the coaches,” Adams said. “Did we dominate the defense this year or not?”

For senior offensive lineman Jason Nerys, the most exciting moment of the championship season came when the goalpost came down during the final moments of the 24-9 win over Wofford College on Dec. 13 that sent the Blue Hens into the national championship contest.

“That’s the game where they brought out all those big horses so you couldn’t get to the goalposts—but you did,” Nerys said. “What a year!—To win a national championship is really unbelievable!”

While applauding the efforts of the Blue Hen defensive unit, senior quarterback Andy Hall noted that the offense also played a large part in UD’s first-ever NCAA I-AA national championship.

“Don’t forget who put those 143 points up on the board during the playoffs,” Hall said. “I also have to thank the fans, because without them, it’s nothing. The two years I have been at Delaware have been the best of my life. I would like to thank you all for this.”

After the players and Blue Hen coaching staff were recognized, it was head coach K.C. Keeler’s turn to savor the championship season as he shared his memories with the audience.

“Can we throw a party or not?” Keeler asked the crowd. After thanking all the people who made the national championship celebration possible, Keeler reviewed the second half of the season, beginning with the come-from-behind victory 21-17 victory over a resurgent Navy squad at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis on Oct. 25.

“I think it all started with the Navy game,” Keeler said. “We were down 14-0, but we didn’t panic. When we scored just before the end of the half, we went into the locker room knowing that the game was ours.”

Keeler said this same spirit was evident in the Nov. 1 overtime victory against the Black Bears of Maine, when the Blue Hens bounced back from a 21-0 halftime deficit to come away with a 42-21 win.

“We were down, but we didn’t panic,” Keeler said. “When Sidney Haugabrook scored that touchdown, I think it was the loudest moment in the history of Delaware Stadium.”

In recounting the triple overtime 51-45 victory over the University of Massachusetts on Nov. 15 and the 20-17 nail-biter against Villanova University on Nov. 22, Keeler said the fans were with the team every step of the way on the journey that began against The Citadel and ended with the national championship victory in Chattanooga.

“There were 12,500 people at the Villanova game, and 8,000 of them were ours,” Keeler said. “When we came on the field in Tennessee, it felt like a home game because all our fans were there.”

Keeler closed a memorable evening by thanking the UD administration, the students and the fans who made the 2003 season one of the most memorable in a storied football history at UD.

“One of the reasons we got where we did is because of a great administration that believes that football is important,” Keeler said. “I also want to thank the fans and the players and my coaching staff. I want to tell you how proud I am to be their football coach.”

In addition, Roselle recognized members of UD’s Spirit Squad—Marching Band, cheerleaders, dance team and YoUDee mascot team—for their important contributions to UD’s winning ways throughout the season.

A video of highlights from the season produced by the Information Technologies/Media Services Unit, also was shown.

Sponsors of the Feb. 10 event were Comcast, DART, Seasons Pizza, the Downtown Newark Partnership, The News Journal and Verizon Wireless.

After the celebration, fans had an opportunity to get autographs from Keeler and several of the players in the Bob Carpenter Club. The autograph session went on for two hours.

National championship merchandise sold at the celebration is available at the University Booktores and online.

Article by Jerry Rhodes and Larry Elveru

Photos by Kathy Atkinson, Greg Drew and Kevin Tucker

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