Football Returns to Action Saturday Against Duquesne

NEWARK, Del. – The University of Delaware football team returns from its bye week to continue its four-game homestand on Saturday when it hosts Duquesne in a nonconference matchup at Delaware Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. and the game will be simultaneously broadcast on FloSports and NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus. The game is part of UD's Parents and Family Weekend and is already sold out.

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ABOUT THE HENS

The Blue Hens are 3-1 on the season. Despite their bye week, UD rose into the top 10 of the national polls this week, moving up to No. 9 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and No. 10 in the AFCA Coaches Poll.
Delaware is coming off a thrilling come-from-behind 29-25 win over then-No. 11/12 UNH. The Blue Hens trailed 18-0 in the second quarter before mounting the program's biggest comeback win since 2013.
UD's defense did not allow an offensive touchdown over the final 43 minutes.
Khalil Dawsey was named the CAA Co-Defensive Player of the Week. The grad student forced a fumble on the 2-yard line that the Blue Hens recovered for a touchback and came up with his first UD interception.
Ryan O'Connor completed 24-of-37 passes for 336 yards and tied a career-high with three touchdowns.
For the second-straight game and third time this season, Marcus Yarns surpassed 100 yards rushing, finishing with 105 yards and a score as well as catching five passes for 74 yards and another touchdown.
Jourdan Townsend had a touchdown grab and led all receivers with a career-high 122 yards on five catches.
Yarns is among the CAA leaders in rushing yards (437), rushing yards per game (109.2) and rushing touchdowns (5) and also ranks second in the country in rushing yards per carry (9.71).

ABOUT THE DUKES

Duquesne enters with a 2-2 record and Saturday will be the final game of a four-game road trip.
The offense is averaging 26.0 ppg and 351.8 yards per game of total offense, while the defense is allowing 39.25 ppg and 425.5 total yards to opponents.
Darius Perrantes has thrown for 704 yards and seven touchdowns on 46-of-93 passing while also throwing seven interceptions.
The trio of Taj Butts, Edward Robinson and JaMario Clements split carries in the backfield and are averaging 144 rush yards per game between them. Keshawn Brown, DJ Powell and Tedy Afful each have three touchdown receptions.
Antonio Epps has a team-high 23 tackles while Gianni Rizzo has 19 tackles and 3.5 TFL. Five different players have an interception.

SERIES HISTORY

Delaware and Duquesne will meet for just the second time on Saturday. The first matchup came in 2010 with the Blue Hens coming away with a 30-6 win in Newark during its run to the national championship game.
Current running backs coach Andrew Pierce had two rushing touchdowns in the second quarter of the 2010 matchup as the Blue Hens built a 20-3 halftime lead.
Pierce finished with 200 yards rushing as Delaware had totaled 373 yards on the ground while the defense did not allow the Dukes into the end zone.

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Players Mentioned

Khalil Dawsey

Ryan O'Connor

Jourdan Townsend

Marcus Yarns

University of Delaware Athletics