University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware
1-0 , 0-0
Navy
0-1 , 0-0
Team Stats
Del 7, Nav 0
Del - de Maille,Bryce 6 yd pass from Henderson,Nolan (Ratcliffe,Brandon kick) 1 plays, 21 yards, TOP 00:10
Del 14, Nav 0
Del - Harvin,Chandler 51 yd pass from Henderson,Nolan (Ratcliffe,Brandon kick) 5 plays, 78 yards, TOP 03:12
Del 14, Nav 7
Nav - Lavatai,Tai 2 yd run (Warren,Evan kick), 10 plays, 56 yards, TOP 03:55
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Strong Defense Sinks Navy, 14-7
9/3/2022 4:30:00 PM | Football
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The University of Delaware football team traveled down to Annapolis with a lot of history against its FBS opponent Navy Midshipmen. In the first game of the Ryan Carty era, the Blue Hens added another chapter to that history, defeating the Mids 14-7 in the season opener in front of a crowd of 30,542 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
"I'm so proud to be the head coach here," said Carty. "My God, to be able to do it in a place like this and against such a good football team. Man, did they play hard and gritty, but luckily so did we."
Johnny Buchanan was a blur in a strong UD defense, tying a Delaware record with 23 tackles on the day, including nine solo stops and a forced fumble. Noah Plack and Liam Trainer also set career highs with 17 and 14 tackles, respectively, while Joe Zubillaga and Artis Hemmingway both added nine takedowns. The Blue Hens held Navy to 2.9 yards per rush on 63 carries and allowed the Mids to go just 5-of-16 on third down conversions and 0-for-3 on fourth downs.
"I thought that was one of the best performances a defense had against a triple-option team in a long time," Carty remarked. "I thought we kept them off-balance, I thought we ran to the ball extremely, extremely hard, and we made plays when they were there to be made. That's the biggest key in that, right? It's not only about assignments. Everybody is 'eh, just tackle the guy with the ball', but It's about making plays and getting balls out and creating havoc enough that they're tossing balls around."
The game could not have gotten off to a better start for the Blue & Gold as Navy fumbled the handoff on the first play of the game and Drew Nickles pounced on it at the 21-yard line. After a pass interference call gave UD the ball at the 6-yard line, Nolan Henderson found Bryce DeMaille in the end zone for the score just 22 seconds into the game.
The defense was swarming as the Blue Hens forced a missed 45-yard field goal and then, with a 1:20 left in the opening quarter, the Midshipmen fumbled another handoff and Nickles again fell on the ball to give UD possession. However, a missed 44-yard field goal kept Delaware from extending its lead.
Early in the second quarter, Buchanan put a stop to a drive as he forced a third Navy fumble that Trainer recovered. Delaware drove 13 plays down to the 2-yard line, but a turnover on downs kept it a 7-0 game at halftime.
After two scoreless drives for each team to start the third quarter, the Blue Hens took possession on their own 22-yard line. Following a series of penalties, Henderson launched a deep throw that was hauled in by Chandler Harvin for a 51-yard touchdown reception. Brandon Ratcliffe's PAT gave UD a 14-0 lead with 4:30 left in the third quarter.
Navy responded with a 10-play drive to get on the board late in the third quarter, crossing the goal line to bring it back to a one-score game at 14-7.
The defense opened the fourth quarter with a three-and-out stop and, after Navy took possession on the UD side of the 50, forced a turnover on downs.
It became a battle of the punters until, with 3:16 left in the game, Navy had the chance to turn the game in its favor after forcing a Delaware three-and-out. The Midshipmen applied pressure, pushing the ball inside the 10-yard line, but the Blue Hen defense came up with its third fourth-down stop to start the celebration.
"It's just fun playing with this group of guys," said Buchanan. "It came down to everyone just playing hard, doing their job. The only stat I'm concerned with is 1-and-oh right now. It was fun being out there. It's really fun. Our D-Line was flying around, making big plays, tackling the dive. DBs were flying. Linebackers filling their gaps. It was a lot of fun today. It really was."
Henderson finished the game completing 20-of-32 passes for 189 yards and two touchdown passes. Harvin led all receivers with 69 yards in the air.
NOTES
Delaware is now 16-18 all-time as an FCS program in games against an FBS opponent … UD is 8-10 against Navy, with seven of those wins coming in FBS-FCS matchups … Saturday was Delaware's first win over an FBS program since 2007 when the Blue Hens defeated Navy 59-52.
UP NEXT
The Blue Hens will play their 2022 home opener on Saturday, September 10 in a renewal of the Route 1 Rivalry. Kickoff at Delaware Stadium is set for 6 p.m. Single-game tickets, as well as partial plans and individual game parking, for the home opener and all six of Delaware's home games are currently on sale.
Individual Game Tickets | Season Ticket Membership I Partial Plans I Football Ticket Information
For the latest on the Delaware football program, follow the Blue Hens on Twitter @DelawareFB and Instagram @DelawareFootball, and like "Delaware Football" on Facebook. Follow Ryan Carty on Twitter @RyanCarty10.and like "Delaware Football" on Facebook. Follow Ryan Carty on Twitter @RyanCarty10.
