Second-Half Rushing Leads Football Past UAlbany, 20-15

Saturday, October 2

Newark, Del.

3 p.m.

University of Delaware

3-1 , 2-0

UAlbany

0-4 , 0-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

UAlbany

Delaware

Photo by: Jeff Fannon

Second-Half Rushing Leads Football Past UAlbany, 20-15

10/2/2021 7:21:00 PM | Football

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NEWARK, DEL. – The No. 9/10 Delaware football team rushed for 179 yards in the second half and held on to defeat the University at Albany 20-15 in a CAA contest on Saturday afternoon in front of a sold-out Parents and Family Weekend crowd at Delaware Stadium. With the win, the Blue Hens improve to 3-1 on the season and 2-0 in CAA play.

"Early on, we struggled to move the ball in the first half," said Head Coach Danny Rocco. "It was very disappointing. I think there's a lot of different possibilities as to why that happened. I would be willing to say the biggest reason is that [Albany] played extraordinarily hard in the first half ... Defensively, until probably the last drive of the game which is really disappointing, we gave up three field goals. So really a good outing defensively."

It was a battle of the placekickers early on as the teams traded field goals over the first three drives. Ryan Coe drilled a 44-yard kick, sandwiched between a pair of 45-yard field goals by UAlbany (0-4, 0-2 CAA) as the Great Danes took a 6-3 lead with 4:30 left in the first quarter.

Yards were hard to come by after that over the next seven possessions resulted in punts as the Blue Hen defense allowed just one yard on the next four UAlbany drives. The Delaware offense received a spark midway through the second quarter when Jourdan Townsend caught a punt at his own 37-yard line and returned it all the way to the UAlbany 25-yard line. Three plays later, Dejoun Lee bounced off of a couple of defenders and into the end zone for an 11-yard score to give Delaware its first lead at 10-6.

The Blue Hens held the advantage into the locker room at halftime. On their first drive of the second half, the offense used its rushing game to make its way downfield. A 21-yard field goal from Coe extended the lead to 13-6 with 8:21 left in the third quarter.

Delaware's defense held UAlbany to a 21-yard field goal after an interception gave the Great Danes a short field, cutting the UD lead to 13-9. The Blue Hens answered right back as the offense put together a nine-play, 68-yard drive that took off nearly six minutes. Three players combined to run the ball nine times, with Anthony Paoletti capping the drive with a three-yard touchdown run to make it a 20-9 game with 3:37 left.

A 75-yard touchdown pass on UAlbany's next play from scrimmage made it a 20-15 game, but Colby Reeder made a clutch tackle to prevent the 2-point conversion and keep it a five-point game. After recovering the onside kick, the duo of Lee and Quincy Watson helped the Blue Hens run out the final 3:25 off the clock to secure the program's sixth-straight win at Delaware Stadium.

Zach Gwynn came on in the second quarter and completed 9-of-15 passes for 81 yards. Lee led the rushing attack with 112 yards on 19 carries, his second-consecutive 100-yard performance, while Paoletti finished with 53 yards on 10 carries. Gene Coleman had team highs of five receptions for 50 yards.

Coe connected on two field goals for the fourth-straight games to start the season and is 8-for-8 on the season.

The Blue Hens will head back out on the road for a pair of games, starting with a CAA matchup at Rhode Island next weekend. Kickoff at URI is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 9. Delaware's next home game will be Saturday, October 23 when the Blue Hens host James Madison for Homecoming. Fans can purchase tickets for that game and all remaining home games HERE.

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