#13 Blue Hens Pull Out 21-16 Win At Albany

Saturday, November 3

Albany, N.Y.

3:30 pm

University of Delaware

7-2 , 5-1

UAlbany

2-7 , 0-6

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

DELAWARE

UALBANY

Photo by: Jordan Burgess

11/3/2018 7:47:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Column: Pressure Brings Out Blue Hens' Toughness and Togetherness

ALBANY, N.Y. – Since the spring, the University of Delaware football team has talked about taking the next step. It's been the focus of every practice, every workout and every game.

That next step got closer for the Blue Hens on Saturday with a gutsy 21-16 victory over the Great Danes of Albany for their sixth consecutive CAA win, marking Delaware's first five-game conference win streak since 2004.

"It's incredibly difficult to win on the road in this league. That's been pretty evident all year long. I give a lot of credit to Albany and the way they game planned today," Head Coach Danny Rocco said. "I'm proud of our guys for finding a way to win. That's what it comes down to in the end, finding a way to pull it out and our guys were able to do that today."

Defensively, five different players had at least seven tackles or more, led by Troy Reeder with eight on the day. Delaware forced three critical turnovers, including two INTs, one by Reeder and one by Charles Bell, who tallied his 300^thcareer tackle as a Blue Hen, something only 17 other players have done in school history.

Senior Kani Kane punished his way to 52 yards and two TDs, including the game-winner, while classmates Joe Walker and Charles Scarff combined for nine catches and 137 yards for the Blue Hens.

Frank Raggo proved huge for Delaware banging home two field-goals, including one from 50 yards.

"We knew we had to come up big and make the stops in order to get our offense the ball," Bell said. "This team is about having each other's back and playing for each other. The offense has had our back when we needed it, we've had their back. It's all about doing whatever it takes to come away with the win."

With the wind swirling, it was a tough day for both offenses with neither one getting much started early in the contest.

Ray Jones would get the Blue Hens on the board first when he came off the outside and tackled Albany's back in the end zone for the safety, the third of the season for Delaware.

Less than three minutes later, a huge play from Pat Kehoe to Walker got the Blue Hens down to the goal line, where Kane punched it in for a 9-0 lead.

Raggo would add to that in the final minute of the first half with a 50-yarder, but the Great Danes got two big plays and kicked a field goal at the first half buzzer to make it 12-3 at the break.

Albany would use the ground game to get back in the game, eventually taking a 16-15 lead just under 12 minutes left in the contest.

Delaware's defense would come up with two huge stops and get the ball back to Kehoe and the offense with 2:35 to play and 83 yards to march down the field. Kehoe would find Walker four times on the final drive and Vinny Papale for a critical first down, before Kane would do the rest, finding paydirt from 14 yards out to give the Blue Hens the 21-16 advantage.

Reeder and the defense made sure that the lead would be enough as the senior picked off the first play from Albany to seal the victory.

Up Next

Delaware, who now sits in a three-way tie with Maine and Elon for first place in the CAA, will travel to #16 Stony Brook on Saturday. Game time is set for 1 p.m.