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	Danny Rocco (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Matt Simon (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Chris Cosh (2nd season)
Home stadium	Delaware Stadium (Capacity: 22,000)

2018 CAA football standings
	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
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

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	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	CBSI Digital/CBS SportsLive	L 19–21	17,945
September 8	3:30 p.m.	Lafayette*		Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	MASN	W 37–0	12,781
September 15	3:30 p.m.	Cornell*		Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	BHAA	W 27–10	14,511
September 22	2:00 p.m.	at No. 1 North Dakota State*		Fargodome Fargo, ND	ESPN+	L 10–38	18,883
October 6	3:00 p.m.	at Richmond		E. Claiborne Robins Stadium Richmond, VA	NBCS WA	W 43–28	8,217
October 13	3:30 p.m.	No. 5 Elon		Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	NBCS PHIL	W 28–16	19,209
October 20	3:30 p.m.	at New Hampshire	No. 24	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	CBSI Digital/CBS SportsLive	W 38–14	11,992
October 27	3:30 p.m.	No. 10 Towson	No. 21	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	FCS/FSGO	W 40–36	14,593
November 3	3:30 p.m.	at Albany	No. 13	Bob Ford Field Albany, NY	UAlbany Live Events[4]	W 21–16	3,182
November 10	1:00 p.m.	at No. 12 Stony Brook	No. 11	Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium Stony Brook, NY	CBSI Digital/CBS SportsLive	L 3–17	6,667
November 17	12:00 p.m.	Villanova	No. 17	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE (Battle of the Blue)	NBCS PHIL	L 21–42	18,752
November 24	3:00 p.m.	at No. 6 James Madison*	No. 21	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA (FCS Playoffs First Round/rivalry)	ESPN3	L 6–20	7,297
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

[5]

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

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	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

1. Washburn, Rob (July 24, 2018). "James Madison Favored To Win Fourth Straight CAA Football Title In 2018". CAA Sports. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
2. "FCS football: 2018 Buck Buchanan Award watch list announced" (Press release). NCAA. August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
3. "Nine added to Buck Buchanan Award Watch List". STATS. November 8, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
4. "Upcoming Live Events". The Official Athletics Site of the University of Albany. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
5. "Football - 2018 Schedule". Delaware Athletics. Retrieved July 10, 2018.