University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware
Lafayette
Second Half Outburst Gives Blue Hens 24-6 Road Win at Lafayette
9/10/2016 9:35:00 PM | Football
• Boxscore
Dave Brock. "I'm certainly proud of our players and how they responded in the second half. We ran the ball the way we need to and Joe made that big throw to Diante for the touchdown on fourth down. We did a nice job of dominating the line of scrimmage from the middle of the third quarter on in some tough situations. We are thrilled to be 2-0. I told the team I felt that this was the type of game that we might not have won in the past. But we showed a lot of resolve and character and found a way to do it."Jefferson, the 2015 Colonial Athletic Association Offensive Rookie of the Year, finished with 124 yards on the ground while Randolph added 105, as Delaware rushed for 276 yards on the night. Walker finished 5 of 15 for 66 yards through the air, with four of his completions going to Cherry.
Jefferson also surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for his career, becoming the third current member of the UD backfield to reach the milestone.
Jefferson and Randolph (at right) took over the ground attack after starter Wes Hills, who ran for 212 
yards in the Hens' season-opening 56-14 win over Delaware State last Saturday, went down with an elbow injury on the second play of the game and never returned. His status for next week will be determined this coming week.
Meanwhile the UD defense shut down Lafayette all night, allowing just 189 yards for the game.
Sophomore cornerback Malcolm Brown made five tackles and intercepted a pass while sophomore linebacker Jasawn Thompson also had five including a pair of sacks and sophomore defensive tackle Blaine Woodson (above left), playing just 30 miles from his hometown of Stroudsburg, had four tackles and a sack.
"We got back to working our gameplan and executing and that was the difference," said Randolph of the Hens' second half surge. "It's great to finish the way we did. That is the way this team is built, to finish games by running the ball. As long as we can do that we can win games."
Neither team could manage to reach the end zone in the first half as the team's entered halftime knotted at 3-3. Delaware' Frank Raggo kicked a 43-yard field goal - the second longest of his career - with 8:15 left in the first quarter. Lafayette's Jacob Bissell answered with a 27-yarder with 1:20 left in the opening stanza. Bissell then kicked a 20-yarder with 8:41 left in third quarter to give the Leopards a 6-3 lead.
HEN SCRATCHINGS:
• Delaware moves up a level next Saturday when the Hens travel to Wake Forest for 6:30 p.m. game on ESPN3. The Hens will be looking to start 3-0 for the first time since the 2012 season
• Delaware and Lafayette combined to kick three field goals Saturday. In Delaware's 19-9 win over Lafayette last season, the teams combined to kick seven field goals
• The Blue Hens improved to 20-7 all-time vs. Lafayette with 13 straight wins. Delaware made its first visit to Easton since 1971
• Delaware has defeated 10 straight Patriot League opponents
• Blue Hen sophomore offensive tackle Jethro Pepe and junior defensive tackle Grant Roberts both made their first career starts. Pepe made into the lineup after an injury to starting guard Mario Farinella last week vs. Delaware State. Roberts got the nod in place of All-CAA defensive tackle Bilal Nichols who also was injured vs. DSU
• Delaware already has six interceptions this season after picking off just seven passes all of last season and just five in 2014
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Scott Selheimer | selheime@udel.edu | Office: 302-831-8007 | Cell: 302-562-5129
