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Omar Cuff, Hens outrun James Madison, 34-28

Omar Cuff ran for 236 yards and four touchdowns in UD’s 34-28 victory over James Madison.

11:56 a.m., Oct. 24, 2005--With sophomore running back Omar Cuff rushing for 236 yards and four touchdowns, the University of Delaware football team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 34-28 Atlantic 10 Conference victory over defending NCAA Division I-AA champion James Madison University on a rainy Saturday at Tubby Raymond Field at Delaware Stadium.

Cuff’s yardage and number of carries, 39, both rank second all-time in Fightin’ Blue Hens history. Only Daryl Brown has more yards, racking up 272 against Northeastern University in 1994, and only Roger Mason has more carries, 45 against Temple University in 1972.

Cuff had one run of 48 yards in the first half to set up UD’s second touchdown and another of 60 yards and a touchdown to give the Hens a 34-21 lead late in the fourth quarter.

UD senior quarterback Sonny Riccio ran for 54 yards and completed nine of 18 passes for 80 yards and one touchdown. Riccio, a second-year transfer from the University of Missouri, also became just the seventh player in school history to surpass 4,000 career yards passing.

UD redshirt freshman Aaron Love also had a big game, carrying four times for 54 yards, including a 39-yard sprint that helped set up the Hens’ first score, and returned four punts for 47 yards, with a long of 34 yards.

The teams played to a 14-14 tie at the half and the Hens took the lead for good in the third quarter when Cuff scored on a one-yard run and Riccio hit tight end Justin LaForgia for a two-point conversion to make it 22-14.

Riccio found LaForgia for a two-yard touchdown with 8:10 left to give the Hens a 28-14 lead, then Cuff put the game away with the 60-yard touchdown run.

“I’m as proud of this win as any I’ve coached,” UD Head Coach K.C. Keeler said. “We just wanted to come out and fight and be spent at the end of this game. Omar Cuff is the best back in this league and that says a lot because there are so many great players in the Atlantic 10. He can do it all and he’s self-made.”

“Delaware played a perfect game today,” James Madison Head Coach Mickey Matthews said. “They had no turnovers and no major penalties. We just couldn’t tackle Omar Cuff. He’s a great player, the best back in this league. That was the game, we just weren’t able to stop him.”

With the victory, the Hens improved to 4-3 overall and 1-3 in the Atlantic 10. They will take to the road for a conference game Saturday at the University of Maine, with kickoff at noon. Maine is 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the Atlantic 10.

UD will return home to face the University of Massachusetts at 1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 5. That will be Hall of Fame Day, honoring inductees into the UD Athletics Hall of Fame, and will be the final regular season home game of the year.

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