Delaware Looks To Bounce Back Saturday Against Delaware State
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- For the Delaware Blue Hens, their 2014 home opener against Delaware State on Saturday can't get here soon enough.
That's because the Blue Hens stepped up a level and battled the Pittsburgh Panthers of the Football Bowl Subdivision last week to open the season. The results were not pretty as Delaware lost, 62-0.
"We did not play well, which is frustrating," Delaware head coach Dave Brock tells KYW Newsradio. "I'm frustrated for the players. We certainly need to play better in all three phases. I think we will. We've got to regroup this week."
The loss to Pittsburgh represented the first time Delaware had been shut out since 1996 and it was the program's worst loss since 1921.
Delaware State also comes into this game looking to regroup after a 52-21 loss to Monmouth in its season opener last week.
"They're wide open offensively," Brock says of the Hornets. "Their starting quarterback didn't play last week, don't know whether he'll play against us, we're going to have to prepare like he will. Played a little bit against us last year, very good player, (Esayah) Obado his name is. They are a wide-open, spread, four or five wides, empty (backfield) operation. So they do a lot of different things, try to spread you out, get the ball in space. They have a real good player, (senior) Milt Williams, he's a big wide receiver, had (6 catches, 121 yards, TD) last week . So he'll present some challenges for us and we're going to have to do a really good job defensively."
Brock is looking for much, much better production out of his offense this week after that unit finished with just 5 first downs and 57 total yards in the loss to Pittsburgh.
"We played very poorly last week, in a game that we really needed to play well," Brock says. "Our guys who are proven players need to play well this week. We've got to deal with a couple guys, they've got (senior) Rodney Gunter, who's a big defensive lineman, an excellent player, played against him last year. (Senior) Davon Moore's a safety who's a really good player. (Senior) Elbie Williams is a linebacker, so they have some good players throughout the defense. But really for us, our focus is on ourselves and trying to make sure that we practice and prepare the right way, so that we can go out and put the product on the field that all the people that love Delaware football deserve."
Dave Brock
Last season, Delaware beat Delaware State 42-21.
Saturday's match-up kicks off at 6:00pm at Delaware Stadium.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
