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No. 1 New Hampshire visits The Tub Saturday 11:21 a.m., Sept. 27, 2006--The No. 1 University of New Hampshire will bring its dizzying offensive football show to Tubby Raymond Field at Delaware Stadium this weekend as the high-scoring Wildcats meet the University of Delaware’s Fightin’ Blue Hens in an Atlantic 10 Conference game. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. This will be the first time in the history of Delaware Stadium that a visiting team has come in ranked No. 1 in the nation. New Hampshire, which opened the season with a convincing 34-17 win over Northwestern University of the Big Ten, is averaging more than 50 points per game in its first three outings, all victories. New Hampshire is led by junior quarterback Ricky Santos and senior wide receiver David Ball, who has 50 touchdown receptions in his career and needs just one more to break the NCAA Division I-AA record he currently shares with NFL great Jerry Rice, who played at Mississippi Valley State University, and Troy Edwards, of Louisiana Tech. Santos and Ball first gained notice at Tubby Raymond Field, spoiling the opening game of UD’s 2004 season 24-21 before a sellout crowd that had hoped to fully celebrate UD’s 2003 NCAA Division I-AA national championship. Santos, then a redshirt freshman, came on in the first half for injured New Hampshire starter Matt Granieri and completed 10 of 11 passes for 146 yards, including a 44-yard strike to Ball for the game-winner. New Hampshire went 10-3 in 2004 and 11-2 in 2005, reaching the NCAA Division I-AA playoff quarterfinals both years but failing to advance to the championship game. New Hampshire is far from one-dimensional and features a strong running game powered by Robert Simpson, who rushed for a career-high 120 yards in a 62-7 victory over the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Chris Ward and Chad Kackert. Santos also can run with the ball, and has scored three touchdowns. The 2-1 Fightin’ Blue Hens, coming off a 24-17 Atlantic 10 victory at Rhode Island, enter the game ranked No. 17 in NCAA Division I-AA. The Hens have two strong running backs in All-America Omar Cuff, who has carried 55 times for 225 yards and two touchdowns, and freshman Jared Bradley, who has carried 29 times for 127 yards and one touchdown. Quarterback Joe Flacco has completed 42 of 83 passes for 492 yards and a pair of touchdowns, with tight end Ben Patrick and Cuff his favorite targets. Patrick has 12 catches for 126 yards and Cuff has 11 catches for 101 yards. Flacco has hit on a number of big plays, including passes of 50 or more yards to Mark Duncan and Robbie Agnone and of 46 yards to Patrick. UD is getting strong special teams play, with Aaron Love averaging more than 22 yards per punt return and kicker Zach Hobby perfect with five field goals and seven extra points in as many tries. |
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