Blue Hens Fall At #1 North Dakota State, 38-10

Saturday, September 22

Fargo, N.D.

2:00 pm

University of Delaware

2-2

North Dakota State

3-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

DELAWARE

North Dakota State

Photo by: Mark Campbell

9/22/2018 6:00:00 PM | Football

Box Score

FARGO, N.D. – The FargoDome experience lived up to all it was made to be for the University of Delaware football program.

NDSU, who has won six of the past seven national championships, showed why they're ranked as the top team in the country, jumping out a quick lead and securing a 38-10 victory over the Blue Hens in front of a sold out FargoDome crowd on Saturday afternoon.

"This outcome is what happens when you play poorly and don't execute the gameplan against a really good opponent," Head Coach Danny Rocco said. "They jumped on us early and we never were able to really execute in any of the three facets of the football game. I'm proud of the way our guys continue to fight to the very end and we're looking forward to getting back to work and improving."

The Bison put together a nine-play, 75-yard TD drive to open the game and picked off the first Delaware pass of the day for another TD to take a quick 14-0 lead that they would never relinquish.

After NDSU jumped out to a 28-0 lead after the first quarter, the Blue Hens would limit them to just 10 points over the final three quarters.

"They put us on our heels a bit with the way they started the game and that really knocked off us off our gameplan," junior QB Pat Kehoe said. "I believe in this offense and this team. I believe in every one of the guys in that locker room. We have to get back and watch the tape and know that we all have to get better."

Senior Nasir Adderley had his biggest day of the season so far, finishing with 11 tackles on the afternoon. Classmate Ray Jones had his second double-digit tackle day of the year, wrapping up 10 tackles in the contest.

"For us, it's not about the 'jimmy's and the joe's', it's about how we're executing and we didn't do that today," senior LB Troy Reeder said. "They jumped us, but we were able to make adjustments and I think it showed from the second quarter on, but unfortunately the way the game started, it was too deep of a hole for us to climb out of."

Sophomore DeJoun Lee continued to show promise on the ground for the Blue Hens, averaging nearly five yards a touch on his nine carries. Senior Vinny Papale led all receivers with 58 yards, including his longest career reception of 29 yards in the fourth quarter.

Delaware returns to action on Saturday, October 6 when it returns to CAA play with a road showdown against the Spiders of the University of Richmond. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.