Hens win 2003 NCAA Division I-AA National Championship

10:50 p.m., Dec. 19, 2003--The University of Delaware football team capped a remarkable season with a 40-0 victory over Colgate University to win the NCAA Division I-AA national championship on Friday night at Max Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn. For the Fightin’ Blue Hens, it was the sixth national football championship in school history and the first since 1979, when second-year Head Coach K.C. Keeler played on the Division II national title team. It was also UD’s first Division I-AA title.

A swarming UD defense shut down Walter Payton Award-winner Jamaal Branch and the Colgate offense, blanking the Raiders and ending their 21-game winning streak.

Blue Hen quarterback Andy Hall directed a diversified attack that featured hard runs by backs Germaine Bennett and Antawn Jenkins, a crisp passing game and numerous carries by Hall, who has been playing with a separated left shoulder.

The Hens finished 15-1, setting a record for most games and most victories in school history.

“It is so special for me to get rings for these kids,” Keeler said as he accepted the national championship trophy. “We have had a great locker room, great kids.”

A key to the game, Keeler said, was the fact that UD was “really physical” and very excited to be in the championship game. “I had to calm them down in the locker room, they were so ready to play,” he said.

Keeler enjoyed a Gatorade shower with 1:18 left to play, donning a national championship cap and smiling for the first time of the night.

When Keeler accepted the position of head coach, replacing the legendary Harold “Tubby” Raymond, he told those assembled in the Bob Carpenter Sports/Convocation Center that he hoped to win a national title sooner rather than later.

An emotional Raymond attended the game, saying following the victory that “these kids feel like my children and they played so very well this year. K.C. has done a great job.”

UD, as it had done against Southern Illinois University in the first round of the playoffs, jumped to a quick 20-0 lead over Colgate by taking advantage of mistakes. A botched punt and a fumble by the Raiders enabled the Hens to march into the end zone by using a short field.

The lead held to halftime and after the break the Hens extended it, enabling Keeler to remove the senior Hall from the game in favor of backup quarterback Ryan Carty with 10 minutes left to play. Hall, and later senior defensive end Shawn Johnson, left the game to huge cheers from the large UD contingent attending the game.

Defensive lineman Brian Jennings said the key to the game was UD’s physical play, adding that Blue Hen fans played an important role in the playoff run. “To all the Delaware fans who came here today, who were listening on the radio and watching on television, you’re what Delaware football is all about.”

Senior offensive lineman Jason Nerys, a UD co-captain, said, “This is the greatest feeling of my life, to be a part of this program, this University, these coaches and players. I love every single one of them.”

“We have by far best the fans in country, and this championship is as much theirs as it is ours,” Nerys said.

Article by Neil Thomas

Photo by Eric Crossan

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