New Hampshire football can be a 'nightmare,' Rocco notes as Delaware prepares

The universities of Delaware and New Hampshire have had infrequent football meetings, despite becoming rivals in what was then the Yankee Conference in 1986.

When they have collided on the football field, it has often been a game to remember or one the Blue Hens or Wildcats might rather forget.

No. 24-ranked Delaware (4-2, 2-1) will be looking for its first victory at New Hampshire since 2003 Saturday in their 3:30 p.m. Colonial Athletic Association duel at Wildcat Stadium (College Sports Live/CBS Digital). It’s Delaware's first trip there since the facility underwent a $25 million renovation in 2015 that increased seating from 6,500 to 11,015.

Oddly, Delaware and New Hampshire have played fewer times than what is typical for CAA teams (and the Atlantic 10 when it ran the league from 1997-2006).

In Sean McDonnell’s 20 years as UNH coach, Saturday’s meeting will be the 13th between the Blue Hens and his Wildcats, but just the 11th conference matchup. The 2004 encounter was set up as a nonconference game when the league hadn’t scheduled the schools and 2010 was an NCAA playoff.

In that same 20-year span, by the end of this season, Delaware will have played CAA rivals William & Mary and Villanova 20 times, Richmond 18, James Madison 16, Towson 15 (even though the Tigers didn’t join the league until 2004), Rhode Island 14 and Maine 12. Stony Brook, Elon and Albany are recent league additions.

When you look back, McDonnell said, “You know all our games have been close."

Delaware has a powerful, polished team with a good swarming defense, he said.

"We expect to have our hands full.”

New Hampshire is coming off a 35-7 home loss against Stony Brook in which the visitors had interception and fumble returns for touchdowns in the first half. UNH actually outgained Stony Brook 317-312 in total yards.

 The Wildcats (1-5 overall, 0-3 CAA) are likely to see their streak of 14 straight NCAA playoff appearances end this fall.

Yet they remain a dangerous opponent, especially with preseason CAA offensive player of the year Trevor Knight, the senior quarterback, back two games now since being knocked out of the opener with a shoulder injury.

Senior wideout Neil O’Connor had 14 catches for 156 yards and UNH’s lone TD against Stony Brook, and will test UD’s secondary.

Rocco termed UNH’s record “irrelevant” and suggested it’s a poor reflection of the Wildcats’ ability and potential.

“The respect that they have earned is real ... They have done what we aspire to do,” said Rocco.

Rocco, in his second year as Delaware coach, is quite familiar with how difficult UNH can be, having gone 0-3 against the Wildcats as Richmond coach from 2012-16. That included 44-40 and 30-25 defeats in Durham.

As a career defensive coach, Rocco has long been impressed with the clever offensive schemes, originally installed by former Wildcats offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, that have been UNH’s trademark. Over the years, New Hampshire has beaten Delaware with wide receivers throwing passes to wide receivers, two quarterbacks on the field at the same time and attacks at a fast tempo with men in motion.

“They’ve been a nightmare for a lot of people for a long time,” Rocco said. “They just present so many different things.”

In the teams' last meeting, in 2015 in Newark, a Delaware team that finished 4-7 upended a UNH squad that made the playoffs, 31-14.

Blue Hens senior inside linebacker Troy Reeder, who’ll play New Hampshire for the first time, said the defense will have to be at its best.

“They do a lot of stuff really well,” Reeder said. “They do a lot of stuff you don’t see week in and week out. They have some creativity with basic plays and changing up the look for a linebacker or safety to make them see it a different way, and they have good personnel. It’s all about reading our keys, but you always have to expect they’ll have another wrinkle or two.”

Another Delaware-New Hampshire classic is always possible. Here are six previous games between the Blue Hens and Wildcats that stand out, often not in a good way for UD. Delaware leads the series 21-12, but since becoming conference rivals in 1986, New Hampshire has won 11 to Delaware’s 10, including five of the last seven.

Delaware-New Hampshire classics

1986: New Hampshire 28, Delaware 21 (OT)

In its first home game as a member of the Yankee Conference and the first overtime game in its history, Delaware couldn’t hold a 21-10 fourth-quarter lead. The Blue Hens, preseason league favorites, still managed to share the title and make the NCAA playoffs in a 9-4 season. The rivalry was on.

2000: New Hampshire 45, Delaware 44 (OT)

Delaware got its first — but not last — taste of UNH offensive coordinator Chip Kelly’s creative methods in the only regular-season loss of its 12-2, NCAA semifinal season. Down 31-3 with 16 minutes left, UNH put together five touchdown drives, one keyed by a hook-and-lateral play, to force overtime. A missed extra point in overtime then spelled the difference. UNH quarterback Ryan Day, now offensive coordinator and recently acting head coach at Ohio State, passed for 426 yards. Delaware’s Matt Nagy, now the Chicago Bears coach, threw for 317.

2003: Delaware 22, New Hampshire 21

Connor McCormick’s field-goal try tumbled over the goalpost wide right by inches — UNH swore it was good — as time ran out and Delaware had one of its 15 wins in its NCAA title season while giving K.C. Keeler his 100th coaching victory. Quarterback Andy Hall rushed for 106 yards and threw for 186, with David Boler snaring eight passes for 121 yards, to rally Delaware from a 21-3 first-quarter deficit.

2004: New Hampshire 24, Delaware 21

Delaware was ranked No. 1 nationally in the season opener coming off its NCAA title. But in one of the more improbable individual displays ever at Delaware Stadium, third-string walk-on UNH quarterback Ricky Santos was forced into service because of injuries and orchestrated a big upset while kicking off his epic career. The redshirt freshman completed 10 of 11 passes for 146 yards off the bench with David Ball catching five passes for 118 yards. Backup UD quarterback Ryan Carty threw a 61-yard TD pass to David Boler. Carty would later become New Hampshire offensive coordinator (he is now at Sam Houston State with former UD Coach K.C. Keeler).

2006: New Hampshire 52, Delaware 49

In one of the most amazing offensive displays in Delaware Stadium history, the Blue Hens and Wildcats combined for 982 total yards. Walter Payton Award-winner Santos, who passed for 281 yards and three TDs and ran for 110 yards and two TDs, and Ball (seven catches for 126 yards) outdid Joe Flacco, who passed for 315 yards and three TDs, and Omar Cuff, who ran for 109 yards and four scores.

2010: Delaware 16, New Hampshire 3

The Blue Hens picked the perfect time to silence the Wildcats. This win came in the NCAA quarterfinals on a frigid Friday night on national TV when Delaware limited UNH to 237 total yards. It was 3-3 at halftime before Pat Devlin threw touchdown passes of 24 yards to Nihja White and nine yards to Mark Schenauer. Anthony Walters clinched it with an interception.

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @kevintresolini.

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