Delaware vs. Hofstra Live Game Blog

Gilbeaux stuffs Christopher, Hens take over on downs and run clock out
Hens LB Brandon Gilbeaux stuffed Hofstra QB Christopher to give the Hens the ball back. Delaware will finish this one with a 28-24 victory as they squeak by the Pride.

Hofstra drives down field, face 4th and 1 with 49 seconds left
Hofstra has converted on third down twice in this series. Theyre on the Delaware 20 yard line with 49 seconds left and 4th and 1. We'll see if they can convert.

Thaxton sets up Butler touchdown, Hens re-take lead
Delaware now leads 28-24 after a 72 yard reception from Pat Devlin to Phillip Thaxton to the three yard line setting up Jerry Butler's second touchdown of the game. Delaware drove 93 yards on that series after a reversed Hofstra interception for a touchdown. There was an offsides penalty on Hofstra to negate the play. It took three plays for the Hens to get in from the three yard line, though. It's clear that the Hens miss Jackson's presence. Prior to Butler's TD, David Hayes was unsuccessful twice.

Hens defense forces punt as time runs out in third quarter.
Delaware will need to continue to hold off the Pride until Devlin and company can get into gear. Devlin takes over at their own seven yard line. We'll see if they can turn things around in the fourth quarter.

Devlin intercepted by Jordan Dangerfield, Hofstra takes over
Devlin's pass was intended for Mark Duncan, who was tripped up by a Hofstra defender. The officials ruled incidental contact, but the Delaware Stadium crowd isn't happy with the decision. Hofstra got by with a free-bee. The last thing the Hens need right now is to get unlucky. They're already playing below their potential.

Hofstra QB Christopher hits Anthony Nelson in endzone, Hofstra takes 24-21 lead
On eight plays, and 78 yards, Cory Christopher took the Pride to the endzone. The drive was highlighted by a 24 yard run by Pride RB Kwabena Asante to the 16 yard line.
Delaware's defense hasn't been on-point all game, and it has finally caught up with them. The Hens are being out-played by a team that isn't as good as them right now. With 5:00 left in the third quarter, lets see if the Hens can get it together and come out with a win. After all, that is what they were supposed to do.

Jackson out for game with left knee injury
The Hens lost their power-back with a knee injury. Jackson had the majority of short-yardage carries in the first half. Jerry Butler had been playing over Freshman David Hayes to start the game, but Hayes got his first carry this series and will likely see a lot more time with Jackson down.
Jackson's absence could be detrimental during crunch time in short-yardage situations. We'll see how Keeler handles Jackson's injury.

Hofstra's Henry Greco nails FG, Hens lead 21-17
After 6 plays and 13 yards following the Devlin fumble, Hofstra cut Delaware's lead to just four points on a Greco field goal. Devlin and company need to make a statement on this next drive or the game will continue to slip away from them.

Devlin fumbles, Hofstra recovers on Delaware 24
Hofstra LB Tressor Baptiste caused Devlin to fumble on the Hens first possession of the second half. Hofstra now has excellent field position moving forward. This wasn't the way the Hens intended to open the half. After that Hofstra score to end the first half, not much seems to be going right for the Hens.

Delaware holds slight statistical edge over Hofstra at halftime
The Hens lead at the half, but they have been anything but consistent. Devlin and company look miraculous on one series only to go three and out on the next. Meanwhile, Delaware's defense has mirrored the offense's inconsistency. Hofstra's touchdown at the end of the half was detrimental.
Delaware has nine first downs to Hofstras eight. However, Devlin is being out-passed. Hofstra QB Steve Probst has 83 total passing yards while Devlin has 66. Probst and Cory Christopher, Hofstra's other QB have a combined 130 yards on the day.
Luckily for the Hens, Jerry Butler is having a career day. He scored the first touchdown of the day, and a 51 yard run in the first quarter set up a Tommy Crosby touchdown shortly after.
While the Hens don't look perfect, they certainly look better than they did last week. Lets see if they can continue to whipe the dust-off and return to the same form they were in when they handily defeated UMass and Towson in weeks six and seven.

Hofstra scores as time runs out, cut Hens lead to 21-14 at half
Catapulted by a 50-yard kickoff return, Hofstra drove down the field in less than 30 seconds. Pride QB Steve Probst pitched the ball to FB Everette Benjamin on an option from the 2 yard-line to score. That was a huge momentum swing to finish the first half. In the span of 35 seconds, each team found the endzone once. Stay tuned for some halftime analysis.


Devlin connects to Duncan, Hens lead 21-7 with 31 seconds left in half
After an late-hit penalty that gave the Hens good field position, Delaware drove to inside their Hofstra's 10 yard line. Devlin attempted to hit Tommy Crosby on a fade route again, but was unsuccessful. Instead, he found Hens WR Mark Duncan in the middle of the endzone on the next play.

Hens block FG, escape another Hofstra score
Hens DE John Higginson blocked a 49-yard FG attempt by Pride K Roger Williams. Delaware takes over on their own 40 with 2:30 left in the half.

Weaver strikes again, connects for 51 yards
Pride WR Aaron Weaver caught the ball on a slant route, and proceeded to outrun Delaware defenders for 51 yards. The ball is now on Delaware's 31 yard-line with 3:15 left in the half.

Hens go three and out
Is it still last week? After a terrible defensive showing, the Hens were forced to punt again. The only person who seems to have been consistent lately is Ed Wagner, Delaware's punter, who, after a career day last week, just pinned the Pride on their own 11 yard line. At least the Hens defense will have good field position.

Probst hits Weaver in endzone, Hens lead cut to 14-7
The Pride steamrolled over the Hens defense on 13 plays, 65 yards and 6:23 seconds to score their first points with 7:14 left in the first half. Weaver dropped the first pass thrown to him  in the endzone earlier in the series, but Probst finally found his man on 4th down from the two yard line. The Hens run defense was lacking in that drive. Most of the Pride's yards came on short runs and quick passes.

Devlin sacked, Hens punt for first time
That last series looked like last week. Devlin was sacked on third down due to a breakdown in protection from his offensive line. Lets hope that trend doesn't continue as the Hens move forward.

Devlin finds Crosby in endzone, Hens lead 14-0 in first quarter
Devlin hit Crosby from the 16-yard line on a fade route on the right side.  Crosby used his height to go up and get it over the Hofstra defender. Delaware's scoring play was 7 plays, and 79 yards. 50 of those yards came on Jerry Butler's 50 yard run down the left sideline. Those two quick touchdowns should get the Hens back in the swing of things after last week's debacle.

Bratton down with left ankle injury
Hens DB is suffering an ankle injury. His return is questionable. For now, Marcus Burley, a freshman, will take over duties at cornerback. Burley has had a lot of experience this season taking over for Bratton. We'll see if the Pride try to go after him.

Jerry Butler turns the corner, gains 50 yards
This might be shaping up to be a career day for RB Jerry Butler. His previous career-long run was 22 yards. The Hens now hove the ball at Hofstra's 30.

Pride forced to punt, Hens take over
Delaware's 'D' looked good in that series. The allowed one first down, but got the job done. Anthony Bratton limped off the field and was replaced by Marcus Burley, though. We'll see what the status on Bratton is later in the game. Bratton has had an injury-plagued season.

Jerry Butler finds endzone, Hens lead 7-0
Hens RB Jerry Butler ran the ball in from the two yard line. Delaware's drive came on a 12 play, 43 yard drive in 5:39. Leon Jackson was the star of that show, converting two fourth downs and one third down to keep the drive alive. That was Senior Jerry Butler's first rushing touchdown of his career. It must be nice for the Senior to finally find the endzone on Senior day. Butler is one of the leading kick returners in the FCS.


Leon Jackson gets converts on fourth down
Hens RB Jackson plowed his way through the line to convert on fourth down. That was huge for the Hens to keep the early momentum going.


Hofstra goes three and out, Devlin will get first chance
If Devlin can make a drive early, he will redeem himself from last week's disaster early. This will be huge for the confidence of Delaware. Remember, they haven't scored a touchdown in three weeks now, as the week before the JMU game was a bye week. After an unsportsmanlike penalty, Delaware will have fantastic field position at Hofstra's 43 yard line. Jerry Butler is starting the game at running-back-likely an honor of being a senior on senior day.


Pride wins toss, chooses to recieve
Hofstra returned the ball to their own 26 yard line. Good field position for the Hens. Lets see if they can make the most of it.

Brisk but Nice
It's 50 degrees and sunny in Newark today. You couldn't ask for a better day to play football. This will be an improvement from last week's cold, rainy fiasco. Devlin had trouble throwing the ball last week, and the line had trouble with protection. Let's see if the nice weather helps Delaware.
Seeing as it is Armed Forces Day, there are paratroopers landing on the 50 yard line.

Welcome to Delaware Stadium
Welcome to Delaware Stadium. Today the 5-3 Hens take on the 4-4 Hofstra Pride. The Hens are coming off an embarrassing loss last week at the hands of JMU. Delaware lost 20-8 in a game that they didn't score a touchdown. For more on last week's game, and a preview of today's game, check out the Review's sports page at www.udreview/sports.