Blue Hens Roll Past Cornell, 27-10

Saturday, September 15

Delaware Stadium

3:30 PM

University of Delaware

2-1

Cornell

0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Cornell

DELAWARE

Photo by: Paolo Tiamson

9/15/2018 8:08:00 PM | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

NEWARK, Del. – Perfect weather. Check. Packed stands. Check. Blue Hen victory. Check.

For the Blue Hen faithful, Saturday at Delaware Stadium couldn't have been any better thanks to a stout defensive effort and a career day from senior Joe Walker, which led the University of Delaware football team to a 27-10 win over Cornell.

"I'm proud of our guys for pushing forward and making enough plays to pick up their second win," Head Coach Danny Rocco said. "I thought we saw some good things from a bunch of different guys tonight, but I think we also left some plays out on the field tonight as well. We're excited to get this win and excited for the opportunity to continue to get better."

The Blue Hen defense held the Big Red without a TD until the final minute, stretching their TD-less streak to 135:13 before Cornell's score in the waning moments of Delaware's win. Outside of Cornell's first and last drives, the Big Red gained just 93 total yards. Seven of Cornell's 11 drives were six or less plays. The Blue Hens piled up four sacks and six tackles for a loss with 22 different players registering a tackle in the contest.

Offensively, Walker was the story with six catches for 154 yards and a touchdown. He became the first player in UD history to record a 200-yard passing game, a 100-yard rushing game, and a 100-yard receiving game in a career.

Redshirt junior QB Pat Kehoe continued his strong start to the year, tossing for 254 yards and a touchdown. He is the first player in UD history to throw for 200+ yards in each of his first three career starts.

"I want to do anything it takes to help this team win," Walker said. "Doesn't matter if I'm throwing, catching, running, I'll even tackle if I need to. This team is strictly focusing on winning, that's all we want to do."

Cornell started the game trying to make a statement, driving the field for 13 plays and six minutes of clock, but the Blue Hen defense made a big stop, holding the Big Red to a field goal.

On Delaware's third drive, the offense got rolling, picking up four first downs with four plays of 10 yards or more, finishing with a leaping catch from Walker as time expired in the quarter to give the Blue Hens a 7-3 advantage.

Defensively, the Blue Hens didn't allow a drive of more than six plays the rest of the first half, holding the Big Red to just 35 yards for the remainder of the half.

The defensive effort allowed the offense to go to work again, including more big plays from Walker and finishing with Kehoe running it up the middle for his first rushing TD and a 14-3 halftime advantage.

Delaware would continue to move the ball in the second half, getting a Kani Kane TD run and two Frank Raggo field goals to push the lead to 27-3.

Cornell would get its lone score with :26 remaining to cap off the 27-10 Delaware victory.

Notes

• Delaware now leads series over Cornell 2-0
• Cornell's touchdown with 26 seconds left in the game snapped a streak for Delaware in which the Hens had not allowed a touchdown in 9 quarters and 135:13 minutes of play since the third quarter of the Rhode Island game on Aug. 30
• Delaware kicker Jake Roth had 3 touchbacks on kickoffs and broke the UD career record with 47 career touchbacks (old mark 45 by Sean Baner, 2010-13)
• Delaware WR Joe Walker caught 6 passes for 154 yards – both career-highs. The yardage was the most by a Delaware receiver since Michael Johnson had 168 yards vs. Wagner in 2013. It was the first 100-yard game by a UD receiver since Johnson had 117 yards vs. Villanova in 2014
• Walker now becomes the first player in UD history to record a 200-yard passing game, a 100-yard rushing game, and a 100-yard receiving game in a career
• Delaware QB Pat Kehoe threw for 254 yards and became the first player in UD history to throw for 200+ yards in each of his first three career starts
• Delaware WR Jamie Jarmon caught 1 pass for 14 yards and extended his pass-catching streak to 18 straight games
• Delaware has now scored a point in 230 straight home games dating back to 1983
• Delaware K Frank Raggo connected on 3 of 3 PAT attempts, extending his school record to 74 straight made PATs.

Up Next

The tall task of the nation's #1 team is up next for the Blue Hens. A trip to defending national champion North Dakota State is set for next Saturday in Fargo. Game time is set for 2 p.m. EST.