University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware Football Begins New Era Thursday as Blue Hens Open 2013 Season Under Dave Brock
8/28/2013 5:48:00 PM | Football
The Blue Hens will kickoff their 122nd season of college football when they take on the Dolphins at 7:30 p.m. at Delaware Stadium. A crowd in excess of 17,000 is expected to attend as the college football seasons gets underway.
Great season ticket packages as low as $99 and single game tickets for as low as $10 are now available by calling 302-831-2257, going online to www.bluehens.com/tickets, or in-person at the Bob Carpenter Center Ticket Office.
Delaware, which captured the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision national title in 2003 and was national runner-up in 2003 and 2010, will play four of its first five games in the friendly confines of Delaware Stadium. Following Jacksonville, the Hens will host Delaware State on Sept. 7, Wagner on Sept. 21, and James Madison in its Colonial Athletic Association opener on Sept. 28.
Brock, who served as offensive coordinator at Rutgers last season and led the Scarlet Knights to the Big East title, becomes only the fifth person to serve as head coach at Delaware since the 1940's.
He enters his first season as a collegiate head coach with plenty of optimism as the team looks to bounce back from a 5-6 record from a year ago. A total of 10 starters are back on offense, including second-year starting quarterback Trent Hurley and two-time All-American running back Andrew Pierce. Multi-threat Michael Johnson leads the pass receiving corps while a pair of seniors in center Brandon Heath and guard Bobby Kennedy anchor an offensive front that returns all five starters.
Hurley threw for 1,964 yards and 10 touchdowns a year ago while Pierce, a fourth-year starter, was slowed by injuries as a junior and gained 703 yards while scoring four touchdowns. He is a candidate for the Walter Payton Award as the top offensive player in the nation at the FBS level. Johnson, who also returns kickoffs, ranked second on the team a year ago when he hauled in 41 passes for 441 yards and four touchdowns.
Defensively, the Hens must replace All-American linebacker Paul Worrilow and three starting defensive backs, but plenty of talent returns in 2013 to run Brock's aggressive style. Senior defensive tackle Zach Kerr, a pre-season All-American bolsters a talented front that returns nine players with starting experience. Sophomore Jeff Williams, the 2012 Colonial Athletic Association and ECAC All-East Defensive Rookie of the Year when he recorded 14 tackles for loss, leads the linebacker corps while third-year starter Travis Hawkins leads the secondary from his cornerback spot.
Delaware also returns one of the nation's top kicking games led by senior Sean Baner, who converted all 33 extra points and 18 of 23 field goals in 2012.
Jacksonville, now in its 16th season as a collegiate program, is led by seventh-year head coach Kerwin Bell, himself a former University of Florida standout quarterback. The Dolphins are looking towards a big season in 2013 and are among the favorites to capture the Pioneer League title following a 7-4 mark a year ago.
Jacksonville placed six players on the pre-season All-Pioneer League team led by All-American candidate DL Juan Pimienta, a first-team All-PL selection who ranked among the national leaders with eight sacks in 2012. The Dolphins went 10-1 in 2010, barely missing their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.
The game will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
