Football Pulls Away for 43-17 Victory Over Duquesne

Saturday, October 7

Newark, Del.

3 PM

University of Delaware

4-1 , 2-0

Duquesne

2-3 , 1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Duquesne

Delaware

Photo by: Ryan Griffith

10/7/2023 8:20:00 PM | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery

NEWARK, Del. – The No. 9/10 University of Delaware football team scored late in the first half to take the lead and never looked back to defeat Duquesne 43-17 in front of a sold-out Parents and Family Weekend crowd of 18,952 fans at Delaware Stadium. With the win, the Blue Hens improve to 4-1 on the season while the Dukes slip to 2-3.

HENS HIGHLIGHTS

Ryan O'Connor set career highs with 28 completions, 347 passing yards and four touchdown passes.
Marcus Yarns finished with 97 all-purpose yards and had two rushing touchdowns.
JoJo Bermudez and Chandler Harvin each had 83 receiving yards and caught a touchdown pass while Joshua Youngblood and Phil Lutz each had scoring grabs.
Jackson Taylor led the defense with a game-high 13 tackles and 2.5 TFL.
Jack Hall had seven tackles 1.5 sacks and 2.0 TFL.
Ty Davis, Nic Ware and Steven Rose Jr. each had an interception.
The Blue Hens outgained Duquesne 466-290, including a 256-58 margin in the second half.

HOW IT HAPPENED

It was Duquesne that struck first on a 52-yard touchdown reception on its opening drive.
The Blue Hens answered quickly, going 57 yards in less than three minutes. Yarns capped the drive with a 1-yard scoring run and the subsequent 2-point conversion to give UD the 8-7 lead
Following Davis' interception, two personal fouls brought the Hens deep into Duquesne territory before O'Connor found Bermudez for a 12-yard score to make it 15-7 at the end of the first quarter.
A field goal and touchdown gave the Dukes a 17-15 lead midway through the second frame.
The defense pinned Duquesne deep after a Hall sack and a short punt set UD's offense up with a short field. Yarns found the end zone on another 1-yard run to make it a 22-17 game at halftime.
On Delaware's first drive of the second half, O'Connor scrambled out of the pocket and found a wide-open Harvin who caught it and ran the final 40 yards untouched for the score.
O'Connor threw fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Youngblood (7 yards) and Lutz (34 yards) to complete the scoring.

GAME NOTES

Bermudez and Lutz each scored the first touchdowns with the Blue & Gold.
Yarns now has nine total touchdowns on the season and has found the end zone twice in four of Delaware's five games this season, including each of the past three games.
Delaware now has nine interceptions on the season from eight different players. Davis is the only Blue Hen with multiple picks.

UP NEXT
The Blue Hens will conclude its four-game homestand with a Homecoming matchup against CAA-newcomer North Carolina A&T on Saturday, October 14. Kickoff at Delaware Stadium is set for 3 p.m. and tickets are still available.

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