2018 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team
The 2018 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team represented the University of Delaware in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Danny Rocco and played their home games at Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware. They are members of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). They finished the season 7–5, 5–3 in CAA play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, where they lost in the first round to James Madison.
| 2018 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football | |
|---|---|
 | |
FCS Playoffs First Round, L 6–20 vs. James Madison | |
| Conference | Colonial Athletic Association |
| Ranking | |
| STATS | No. 24 |
| FCS Coaches | No. 23 |
| 2018 record | 7–5 (5–3 CAA) |
| Head coach |
|
| Offensive coordinator | Matt Simon (2nd season) |
| Defensive coordinator | Chris Cosh (2nd season) |
| Home stadium | Delaware Stadium (Capacity: 22,000) |
| 2018 CAA football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 4 Maine $^ | 7 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 9 James Madison ^ | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 16 Stony Brook ^ | 5 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 20 Towson ^ | 5 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 24 Delaware ^ | 5 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 19 Elon ^ | 4 | – | 3 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rhode Island | 4 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| William & Mary | 3 | – | 4 | 4 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Hampshire | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Villanova | 2 | – | 6 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Richmond | 2 | – | 6 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albany | 1 | – | 7 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Previous season
The Fightin' Blue Hens finished the 2017 season 7–4, 5–3 in CAA play to finish in a tie for fourth place.
Coaching staff
| Name | Position | Year | Alma mater |
|---|---|---|---|
| Danny Rocco | Head Coach | 2nd | Wake Forest (1984) |
| Matt Simon | Offensive Coordinator/Running Backs | 2nd | Eastern New Mexico (1976) |
| Chris Cosh | Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs | 2nd | Virginia Tech (1984) |
| Erik Campbell | Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers | 2nd | Michigan (1988) |
| Bill Polin | Recruiting Coordinator/Offensive Line | 2nd | Colby (2000) |
| Manny Rojas | Inside Linebackers/co-Special Teams Coordinator | 2nd | Liberty (2007) |
| Clint Sintim | Outside Linebackers/co-Special Teams Coordinator | 2nd | Virginia (2009) |
| Alex Wood | Quarterbacks | 1st | Iowa (1978) |
| Kevin Reihner | Offensive Assistant/Tight Ends | 1st | Stanford (2015) |
| Levern Belin | Defensive Line | 2nd | Wake Forest (1991) |
| Nick Rapone | Cornerbacks | 8th | Virginia Tech (1978) |
| Greg Meyer | Recruiting Assistant/Offensive Quality Control | 1st | Buffalo State (2009) |
| Jalen Kindle | Defensive Assistant | 1st | Delaware (2017) |
| Chris Stewart | Strength & Conditioning | 2nd | Western Carolina (1998) |
| Carl Kotz | Director of Football Operations | 2nd | Clemson (2003) |
| Felicia Bergman | Director of Football Advising | 2nd | Colorado State (2009) |
| Tony Palmieri | Video Coordinator | 2nd | North Florida (2009) |
| Jude Moser | Administrative Assistant | 9th |
Preseason
CAA Poll
In the CAA preseason poll released on July 24, 2018, the Fightin' Blue Hens were predicted to finish in third place.[1]
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Madison | 241 (21) |
| 2 | New Hampshire | 206 (2) |
| 3 | Delaware | 182 |
| 4 | Stony Brook | 169 |
| 5 | Elon | 168 (1) |
| 6 | Villanova | 164 |
| 7 | Richmond | 127 |
| 8 | Maine | 81 |
| 9 | Albany | 78 |
| 10 | Towson | 74 |
| 11 | William & Mary | 55 |
| 12 | Rhode Island | 39 |
Preseason All-CAA Team
The Fightin' Blue Hens had five players selected to the preseason all-CAA team.[1]
|
Offense Kani Kane – RB Charles Scarff – TE Mario Farinella – OL |
Defense Tony Reeder – LB Nasir Adderley – S |
Award watch lists
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buck Buchanan Award[2] | Nasir Adderley | S | SR |
| Buck Buchanan Award[3] | Troy Reeder | LB | R-SR |
Schedule
| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 30 | 7:00 p.m. | Rhode Island | No. 15 | CBSI Digital/CBS SportsLive | L 19–21 | 17,945 | |
| September 8 | 3:30 p.m. | Lafayette* |
| MASN | W 37–0 | 12,781 | |
| September 15 | 3:30 p.m. | Cornell* |
| BHAA | W 27–10 | 14,511 | |
| September 22 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 1 North Dakota State* | ESPN+ | L 10–38 | 18,883 | ||
| October 6 | 3:00 p.m. | at Richmond | NBCS WA | W 43–28 | 8,217 | ||
| October 13 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 5 Elon |
| NBCS PHIL | W 28–16 | 19,209 | |
| October 20 | 3:30 p.m. | at New Hampshire | No. 24 | CBSI Digital/CBS SportsLive | W 38–14 | 11,992 | |
| October 27 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 10 Towson | No. 21 |
| FCS/FSGO | W 40–36 | 14,593 |
| November 3 | 3:30 p.m. | at Albany | No. 13 | UAlbany Live Events[4] | W 21–16 | 3,182 | |
| November 10 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 12 Stony Brook | No. 11 | CBSI Digital/CBS SportsLive | L 3–17 | 6,667 | |
| November 17 | 12:00 p.m. | Villanova | No. 17 |
| NBCS PHIL | L 21–42 | 18,752 |
| November 24 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 6 James Madison* | No. 21 |
| ESPN3 | L 6–20 | 7,297 |
| |||||||
Regular season
Rhode Island
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rams | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| No. 15 Blue Hens | 0 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 19 |
This marks the first time Delaware opens with a conference game since 2007 (49–31 win at William & Mary).
Lafayette
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leopards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Blue Hens | 14 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 37 |
Cornell
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Red | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Blue Hens | 7 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 27 |
at North Dakota State
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Hens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| No. 1 Bison | 28 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 38 |
- This marks Delaware's first trip west of the Mississippi River since the 2010 National Championship (a 19–20 loss to Eastern Washington).
- This marks Delaware's first game against a MVFC opponent since 2010 (a 26–3 win over South Dakota State).
- This marks Delaware's first ever regular season game west of the Mississippi River, and the first regular season game in the Central Time Zone since 1981 (a 38–14 win at Western Kentucky).
at Richmond
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Hens | 19 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 43 |
| Spiders | 7 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 28 |
Elon
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 5 Phoenix | 7 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 16 |
| Blue Hens | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
at New Hampshire
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 24 Blue Hens | 10 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 38 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
Towson
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 10 Tigers | 5 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 36 |
| No. 21 Blue Hens | 0 | 6 | 21 | 13 | 40 |
at Albany
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 13 Blue Hens | 0 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 21 |
| Great Danes | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 16 |
at Stony Brook
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 11 Blue Hens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| No. 12 Seawolves | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
Villanova
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wildcats | 14 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 42 |
| No. 17 Blue Hens | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
FCS Playoffs
at James Madison–First Round
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 21 Blue Hens | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| No. 6 Dukes | 3 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 20 |
Ranking movements
| Week | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final | |||||||
| STATS FCS | 15 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 21 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 21 | 24 | |||||||
| Coaches | 16 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 21 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 23 | 23 | |||||||
Players drafted into the NFL
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
| 2 | 60 | Nasir Adderley | S | Los Angeles Chargers |
References
- Washburn, Rob (July 24, 2018). "James Madison Favored To Win Fourth Straight CAA Football Title In 2018". CAA Sports. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- "FCS football: 2018 Buck Buchanan Award watch list announced" (Press release). NCAA. August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
- "Nine added to Buck Buchanan Award Watch List". STATS. November 8, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
- "Upcoming Live Events". The Official Athletics Site of the University of Albany. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
- "Football - 2018 Schedule". Delaware Athletics. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
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