Blue Hens Rewind: Delaware's High-Powered Offense Secures 59-52 Win Over Navy
Andy Lohman
10/3/2020
Delaware’s 2007 season started with Omar Cuff setting an FCS record with seven touchdowns in the first-ever Colonial Athletic Association football game, and ended with an appearance in the national championship. Along the way, future Super Bowl MVP quarterback Joe Flacco and the Blue Hens would collect wins and signature moments, possibly none bigger than a 59-52 win at Navy on Oct. 27.
With 581 yards of total offense from the Blue Hens, and four touchdowns apiece from Flacco and Cuff, Delaware’s balanced and dangerous offense was on full display in Annapolis, Md., that day. Flacco, who completed 30 of 41 passes for 434 yards, especially put in a performance that cemented him as a bona fide first round NFL Draft prospect.
“As an offensive player, we felt good. We were clicking that day,” all-conference tackle Mike Byrne said. “It’s one of the most fun games I’ve ever played in. I mean, there were a lot that year in 2007, but that might be my favorite.”
The first sign of that the day was going to be special came on the first drive of the game. Facing 3rd and 3 from the Navy 36, Flacco fired an inch-perfect pass to Kervin Michaud along the sideline as Michaud tapped a foot in bounds as he reeled in the ball for a first down at the Navy 16, right in front of a section of boisterous midshipmen.
“I lived with Kervin for three of the four years I was on campus, so Kervin Michaud is one of my best friends,” all-conference tackle Mike Byrne said. “When he caught that pass on the sideline in front of the cadets, it was a total tone-setting play.”
A 15-yard gain on a receiver screen from Michaud on the next play set up Cuff to punch it into the end zone from one yard out (with help from a punishing block by Byrne). In less than four minutes, playing on the road against an FBS opponent, Delaware had taken a 7-0 lead.
The momentum, however, quickly swung back Navy’s way the rest of the first quarter. The Midshipmen converted on fourth down twice on their opening drive, including a 30-yard pass on a fake field goal, on their way to tying the game at 7-7. A sack of Flacco on third down forced a punt and gave Navy a short field, which its triple option offense quickly converted into a touchdown to take a 14-7 lead.
While the Blue Hens defense did not have its best-ever performance, giving up 506 yards of total offense to the nation’s top-ranked rushing attack, it did come up with big plays at timely moments. After Delaware was forced to punt again to open the second quarter, Anthony Bratton intercepted a wayward option pitch by Navy quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada to give the Blue Hens the ball back at the Navy 24.
“That was a huge momentum shift,” linebacker Erik Johnson, who collected an eye-popping 20 tackles that day, said. “Every possession was huge in this game and we knew it was going to be that way. So we needed to get a turnover, that was our goal, and one or two stops in each quarter. They’re the number one team in the nation in rushing, so we knew they were going to grind it out.”
Passes to tight end Robbie Agnone and Michaud got Delaware to the one-yard line, where Cuff punched it in on 4th down to tie the game at 14-14 and double his scoring total for the day.
The Hens and Midshipmen traded touchdowns on the next three drives, including a beautiful 23-yard pass to Mark Duncan that Flacco sold with a pump-fake. The plodding and methodical Navy offense had taken a 28-21 lead on a scoring drive that took 15 plays and nearly seven minutes off the clock, giving Flacco and the Hens the ball with just 59 seconds left before halftime. While some teams may have taken a conservative approach before the break, the high-powered Delaware offense put the pedal to the metal.
After a first down sack, Flacco hit receiver Aaron Love over the middle for a 16-yard gain and Delaware quickly took a timeout with 35 seconds left. On third down, pressure forced Flacco out of the pocket to his right, where he hit a diving Michaud to gain a first down. Cuff gained 11 yards on a screen before Flacco fired a pass to Agnone on a post route for 25 more. The Midshipmen jumped offside and with just 11 yards to go, Flacco found Michaud in the end zone through traffic, tying the game at 28-28 with three seconds left.
“I’ll just say Joe Flacco was amazing that game. He was throwing it everywhere; every ball was a rocket,” Byrne said. “That’s pretty impressive for a college quarterback.”
Navy claimed the opening salvo of the second half, using a 74-yard kickoff return to set up a three-play scoring drive that consisted only of rushes for fullback Eric Kettani. The Hens immediately responded, with Agnone breaking several tackles on a 23-yard catch into the red zone, and Flacco finding Michaud for their second touchdown combination of the day, this time on a 13-yard slant to knot the score at 35-35.
While the game was already turning into a barnburner, the following drive saw the Blue Hens defense get a stop that would allow Delaware to start to pull away from the Midshipmen. Kaheaku-Enhada was stuffed on a 3rd down run deep in Delaware territory and the ever-aggressive Navy head coach Paul Johnson decided to go for it on fourth, where his quarterback threw incomplete amid great coverage from Anthony Walters.
The Blue Hens ran Michaud on an end around action twice to get into Navy territory, where Flacco unleashed a perfect ball, after a dip of his shoulders on a pump fake, 34 yards to a wide open Love sprinting past Navy defensive backs into the end zone. The strike through the air put Delaware back on top 42-35, their first lead since the opening drive of the game.
For the second drive in a row, the defense came up big, and for the second time in the game it was Bratton forcing a turnover as the linebacker laid a big hit on Kettani, popping the ball loose for Demitrius Hester to fall on. A 20-yard Flacco strike to Duncan got the Blue Hens into field goal range, where Jon Striefsky converted a 36-yard attempt early in the fourth quarter made it a two-score game in favor of Delaware, 45-35.
From there, the heavyweight offenses traded blows. Navy responded with a two-yard touchdown on a pitch to Reggie Campbell. An incredible catch by Josh Baker over the top of a Navy defender would get Delaware into Midshipmen territory, for Cuff to finish the drive on fourth and goal with his third touchdown of the game, racing to the corner of the end zone on a pitch. A 51-yard pass from back-up Navy quarterback Jarod Bryant to Zerbin Singleton set up a one-yard rush for Singleton to bring the score to 52-49, with the PAT barely making it over the bar after the Blue Hens got a hand to it.
Trailing by three points with under five minutes remaining, and the Delaware offense looking unstoppable, Navy attempted a surprise onside kick and appeared to recover it until the play was brought back for an offside penalty. Forced to kick it deep, the Midshipmen pinned Delaware inside their own 15, where Cuff went to work.
Cuff, who carried the ball 28 times for 141 yards on the day, was a relentless, bruising runner. His speed and physicality wore down the Navy defense throughout the day, and the grinding style paid dividends late in the game. After a 30-yard screen to Agnone moved the Hens into Navy territory, Cuff burst through a hole on an inside zone play and ran 37 yards into the end zone, barely getting touched.
“Everybody took a lot of pride in blocking for Omar and running the ball,” Byrne said. “We wanted to see 250 rushing yards at the end of the day. If we didn’t have 100 rushing yards, it’s probably not a good day. So we took a lot of pride in running the ball and wearing teams out.”
Up 59-49 with two minutes left, Cuff’s fourth touchdown of the day effectively iced the game for the Blue Hens, adding to the list of notable FCS-over-FBS in 2007 (joining the famous Appalachian State win over Michigan). It was a testament to the balance of Delaware’s offense that on a day where Flacco was the star with a surgical passing performance, the power running of Cuff was what sealed the win.
Navy, needing two quick scores, settled for a field goal on the ensuing drive to cut it to 59-52, but the onside kick went out of bounds and Flacco, who would be drafted with the 18th overall pick by the Baltimore Ravens the following spring, took a knee to complete a famous Blue Hens win.
“It’s exciting, being out there in that environment, flying around and making plays,” Johnson said. “That gave us a confidence boost, like we can compete with anyone at this point, and that set the tone for the rest of the year.”
In a year where Delaware would go on to win three playoff games, the win over Navy bolstered the team’s confidence to perform in big games, and gave Blue Hens fans a game for the ages.
