Blue Hens Drop 21-17 Decision To Albany

Saturday, November 9

1 p.m.

University of Delaware

4-6 , 2-4

Albany

6-4 , 4-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

UALBANY

Delaware

Photo by: Ryan Griffith

11/9/2019 5:34:00 PM | Football

Box Score

NEWARK, Del. – The University of Delaware football team battled back from a touchdown deficit in the first half Saturday afternoon to score 10-unanswered and jump in front, but ultimately fell at the hands University of Albany, 24-17, at Delaware Stadium.

Redshirt freshman Will Knight finished with 140 total yards (79 rushing, 61 receiving) and a touchdown, while redshirt sophomore Nolan Henderson was 8-of-17 for 141 yards and a TD, while also rushing for 72 yards on the day. Knight has now totaled 722 yards on the year, which ranks third most among any freshman in program history.

Sophomore Kedrick Whitehead led the defensive effort with 12 tackles, in addition to a pass breakup. Whitehead is now just eight tackles away from becoming just the 14^th player in Delaware history to reach 100 tackles in his sophomore season. Classmate Noah Plack had nine tackles and two pass breakups for the Blue Hens.

"As disappointed as I am here in our performance today and the outcome, I do want to give credit here to a good football team in Albany. They came down here and played a good game, they made the biggest plays in the game, they created every break within the game. We were unable to really generate any game-changing kind of plays," head coach Danny Rocco said. "Holistically, we're not playing well enough to win. We're doing things now that bad football teams do and we find ourselves in the current situation, being 4-6."

After falling behind in the first quarter 7-0, the Blue Hens came alive in the second when Henderson found an open freshman Jourdan Townsend on an underneath route to tie the game from four yards out.

Albany answered right back with a 64-yard strike to jump back in front, but Delaware put together a quick drive of its own when Knight broke a 28-yard touchdown run after redshirt junior Dejoun Lee's 38-yard kickoff return to set things up.

The defense would hold the Great Danes and the Blue Hens were able to add a field goal off the foot of senior Jake Roth to take a 17-14 lead into the break.

Delaware looked to add to their lead in the third, driving inside Albany's red zone, but the Great Danes were able to force a fumble at the one-yard line to thwart the Blue Hens' scoring chances.

Neither team was able to put points on the point in the third quarter, but the Great Danes maneuvered down the field for a 10-play, 73-yard drive, which resulted in a TD to grab a 21-17 lead with 10:54 remaining.

Delaware's defense would hold Albany there, but the Blue Hens were unable to get anything going on the final three drives as the Great Danes held on for the victory.

"Two turnovers were, without a doubt, the difference in the game. Our inability to score a touchdown just before the half was something that was concerning to me. I knew that they were good down there on the goal line with their defense. In the second half we were moving the ball and we get the two turnovers. Their defense made plays in the game, our defense did not. Our defense played hard, they kept the point production down after a couple of early shots, but our defense just really couldn't make a play in the game. A guy could not make an individual play to change the game, to strip the ball, to intercept the ball, sack the quarterback. Very frustrating for all of us. I certainly expressed that frustration with our team post-game. I certainly called out everybody, including myself in that post-game conversation. I don't think it's fair to point the loss at one or two plays in the game, maybe the biggest, most obvious plays in the game," Rocco added.

Up Next

Delaware will wrap up its 2019 home slate when the Seawolves of Stony Brook visit Newark for a 1 p.m. showdown. The Blue Hens will honor its group of seniors prior to kickoff.