Photo: Delaware captains Mike Byrne (left) and Matt Marcorelle (center) along with head coach K.C. Keeler display the hardware earned by Delaware at Tuesday's ECAC Football Awards Banquet.

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -- The University of Delaware football team was busy accepting awards for its outstanding 2007 campaign Tuesday night as the Blue Hens were honored at the annual Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Football Awards Banquet held at the Pegasus Restaurant at the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

Delaware, which posted an 11-4 record and advanced to the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision national championships game before falling to three-time defending champion Appalachian State in Chattanooga, TN, earned the Lambert Cup Trophy and the ECAC Team of the Year Award as the top team in the East. In addition, Blue Hen senior quarterback Joe Flacco received the award as the ECAC Division I FCS Player of the Year.

Blue Hen head coach K.C. Keeler and 2007 Blue Hen captains Mike Byrne and Matt Marcorelle accepted the team awards while Byrne, a senior offensive tackle from Lititz, PA, accepted Flacco’s award. Flacco could not attend because he is participating in the National Football League Combine this week in Indianapolis, IN.

“This is a great honor not only for our football program but for the University of Delaware,” said Keeler in accepting the award. “This was a great season for us and that is a tribute to our coaching staff, our players, and our administration. We had only nine seniors this season but their leadership brought this team together.”

Delaware earned the Lambert Cup Trophy for a record 19th time and received the ECAC Team of the Year citation for the 11th time. Delaware most recently won both awards following the 2003 season when Delaware went 15-1 and captured the NCAA I-AA national title.

In addition to Delaware winning the ECAC Team of the Year Award for the FCS division, West Virginia earned the award for NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, West Chester (PA) University was the NCAA Division II winner, and Wesley (DE) College was named the NCAA Division III recipient.

In the Lambert Cup voting, West Virginia won for NCAA Division I FBS, California (PA) was the winner for Division II, and Wesley received the award for Division III.

Delaware posted a regular season record of 8-3 but peaked at tournament time, defeating MEAC champion Delaware State 44-7 in the first round before storming back from 10 points down to defeat No. 1 seed and previously undefeated Northern Iowa in the quarterfinals in Cedar Falls, IA. The Hens once again trailed by 10 points early in the semifinals vs. No. 4 Southern Illinois, but rallied to post a 20-17 win over the Salukis in Carbondale, IL. Delaware then lost to two-time defending national champion Appalachian State 49-21 in the title game in Chattanooga, TN.

The Blue Hens, who have advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times in the last five seasons, including winning the national title in 2003, had eight players earn All-American honors in 2007, including Flacco, Byrne, and Marcorelle, and running back Omar Cuff, a consensus first team All-American who set an NCAA record with 39 touchdowns this past season. Flacco, a top prospect in the upcoming NFL Draft, set numerous school records and threw for 4,263 yards and 23 touchdowns.

The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is the nation’s largest athletic conference and only multi-divisional conference, with 322 member institutions and over 122,000 student-athletes ranging across 16 states from Maine to North Carolina and westerly to Illinois. Established in 1938 with 58 charter members, the ECAC has since emerged as the nationwide leader in service.