University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware
6-2 , 4-1
Towson
6-2 , 4-1
Blue Hens Win Thriller Over #10 Towson, 40-36
10/27/2018 9:06:00 PM | Football
But none of it matter for the Blue Hen faithful as the University of Delaware football team pulled out a thrilling 40-36 comeback win over 10th-ranked Towson on Saturday afternoon at Delaware Stadium. It's the fourth straight win for the Blue Hens, marking the program's first four-game win streak since 2012.
"I'm really proud of the way our team fought and responded tonight. I really did challenge them in the locker room at half and they did a great job responding in the second half," head coach Danny Rocco said.
Redshirt junior Pat Kehoe tossed for 305 yards and four TDs, while senior Vinny Papale hauled in eight catches for 142 yards and two TDs, all career highs for the veteran wide receiver. Senior Kani Kane rumbled along for 68 yards and two TDs on the night, while seniors Joe Walker and Charles Scarff both reeled in TDs of their own.
Defensively, senior Troy Reeder had his fourth straight double-digit tackle performance with 12 on the night. Classmate Nasir Adderley had his second double-digit tackle showing of the season with 10, as well as two pass break-ups, including the final play of the night to seal the Blue Hens victory.
"We continued to harp on moving on to the next play and finishing the job, that's all we kept saying to each other," Adderley said. "We made plenty of mistakes and we'll learn from them, but the fact that we kept responding and played a team game, this is huge for us."
The game didn't start the way the Blue Hens would've liked with Towson jumping out to an 8-0 lead on two field goals and a safety off a bad snap on the punt.
However, Delaware was still within striking distance and moved to 8-6 when Scarff hauled in his TD catch in the second quarter.
Towson would finish the half strong with its first TD of the game and got a 50-yard field goal at the end of the half to take a 18-6 advantage into the break.
Delaware would respond with a quick strike drive to start the second half, finishing with a Kane 1-yard TD to make it 18-13.
However, the Tigers would once again take advantage of some miscues and push its lead to 28-13 with seven minutes to play in the third quarter.
The momentum began to swing in favor of the Blue Hens when they put together a six-play, 64-yard drive, capped off by Papale's first TD catch of the night from 15-yards out.
Delaware's defense would force a three and out from the Tigers and the Blue Hens would respond with a five-play, 70-yard drive, capped off by a beautiful pitch and catch from Kehoe to Walker to make it a 28-27 contest.
Perhaps the biggest momentum play of the game came in the fourth quarter when Ray Jones picked off a pass deep in Towson territory to set up another Kane TD to give the Blue Hens their first lead of the night, 33-28.
Once again, the Tigers would respond with a score of their own, but a huge return by DeJoun Lee set up the game-winning score from Kehoe to Papale with 30 seconds to play.
A last defensive stand came when Adderley broke up a fourth-down pass in the endzone as time expired and the Blue Hens pulled out the thrilling, 40-36.
Up Next
Delaware will look for its fifth straight victory when it hits the road for a Saturday afternoon showdown with the Great Danes of Albany. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.
Team Stats
TOWSON 3, DELAWARE 0
TOWSON - O'Neill,A. 27 yd field goal 10 plays, 53 yards, TOP 3:49
TOWSON 5, DELAWARE 0
TOWSON - TEAM 27 yd safety
TOWSON 8, DELAWARE 0
TOWSON - O'Neill,A. 21 yd field goal 8 plays, 71 yards, TOP 3:11
TOWSON 8, DELAWARE 6
DELAWARE - Scarff 5 yd pass from Kehoe, P. (Raggo kickfailed) 13 plays, 77 yards, TOP 7:53
TOWSON 15, DELAWARE 6
TOWSON - Allen,J. 5 yd pass from Flacco,T. (O'Neill,A. kick) 13 plays, 71 yards, TOP 4:27
TOWSON 18, DELAWARE 6
TOWSON - O'Neill,A. 50 yd field goal 2 plays, 0 yards, TOP 0:18
TOWSON 18, DELAWARE 13
DELAWARE - Kane 1 yd run (Raggo kick), 3 plays, 55 yards, TOP 1:25
TOWSON 21, DELAWARE 13
TOWSON - O'Neill,A. 29 yd field goal 11 plays, 63 yards, TOP 3:55
TOWSON 28, DELAWARE 13
TOWSON - Allen,J. 7 yd pass from Flacco,T. (O'Neill,A. kick) 2 plays, 7 yards, TOP 0:11
TOWSON 28, DELAWARE 21
DELAWARE - Papale 15 yd pass from Kehoe, P. (Scarff pass) 6 plays, 64 yards, TOP 2:21
TOWSON 28, DELAWARE 27
DELAWARE - Walker 30 yd pass from Kehoe, P. (Raggo kickfailed) 5 plays, 70 yards, TOP 1:04
TOWSON 28, DELAWARE 33
DELAWARE - Kane 1 yd run (Walker passfailed), 2 plays, 8 yards, TOP 0:45
TOWSON 36, DELAWARE 33
TOWSON - Simpson,S. 11 yd run (Flacco,T. pass), 13 plays, 70 yards, TOP 6:16
TOWSON 36, DELAWARE 40
DELAWARE - Papale 3 yd pass from Kehoe, P. (Raggo kick) 5 plays, 36 yards, TOP 1:31
