Blue Hens needed

touchdowns to keep

up with Appalachian
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler knew that his Blue Hens had to score touchdowns to keep up with Appalachian State’s high-powered offense.

That was why when the Blue Hens faced a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 5:41 left in the first quarter, Keeler elected to go for the touchdown instead of kicking a field goal.

The Blue Hens already trailed 7-0 after the Mountaineers marched 58 yards on six plays, scoring when Kevin Richardson caught an Armanti Edwards screen pass and scored from 19 yards out.

Delaware marched right back, going 71 yards on a drive that looked like it was capped by a 4-yard touchdown run by Omar Cuff. However, the play, which was a second-and-goal, was overturned after it was reviewed via instant replay that Cuff was down before crossing into the end zone.

“In the box, our guy said he was in,” Keeler said of the play. “We were getting our extra point ready, but obviously, the guy who determines those things said he was definitely not in. The guy up there is pretty good, and I’m sure he would not make a mistake. We did not covert the next two downs, and I give ASU a lot of credit.”

On third down from the 1-yard line, Cuff was stopped for no gain. On fourth down, quarterback Joe Flacco was flushed out of the pocket, and his pass to the end zone fell incomplete.

Appalachian State took over and marched 99 yards on just five plays with Devon Moore running the final 46 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead. Appalachian got the ball back and marched 80 yards on 11 plays when Daniel Kilgore pounced on a Kevin Richardson fumble in the end zone and a 21-0 lead.

“We left too many points on the field,” Delaware offensive lineman Mike Byrne said. “They got too far ahead for us to catch them.”

Delaware pulled to within 21-7 on a 39-yard scoring pass from Flacco to Mark Duncan with 1:10 left, but the Mountaineers struck back two plays later with an Edwards 60-yard scoring strike to Dexter Jackson.

“In a big ballgame, you get behind like that and you get a little steamrolled,” Keeler said. “We had our difficulties, but whatever difficulties we had really had a lot to do with how ASU played.”

Appalachian State took a 35-7 lead on a Kevin Richardson 8-yard touchdown pass, before Cuff finally scored on a 1-yard run with 54 seconds left in the third period.

Eventually, Appalachian State posted 556 yards in total offense and converted 7-of-12 third downs.

“It’s one of those things where I went for it on fourth-and-one because we thought we had to go by sevens and their offense is as explosive as advertised,” Keeler said. “And when we did maintain and we did get some stops, we didn’t click offensively.”

Cuff finished with 84 yards on 21 carries, after coming into the game averaging 132.9 yards per game.

Flacco hit 23-of-48 of his passes for 334 yards and a touchdown, but he was sacked three times. Mark Duncan and Aaron Love each had seven receptions for the Blue Hens.