Delaware, playing its home opener in front of a sellout crowd of 22,495 fans, piled up 599 yards of total offense and took advantage of three turnovers to raise its record to 2-0. West Chester, which got two second half touchdowns from Lee Hopkins, entered the game as the 15th ranked team in NCAA Division II and is coming off three straight NCAA playoff appearances.
Cuff, who rushed for 244 yards and scored an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision record-tying seven touchdowns in the opener against William and Mary, continued at a strong pace as he rushed for 93 yards on 21 carries and scored four touchdown in the first half.
Thaxton, who spelled Cuff with Delaware up by a comfortable 34-0 halftime margin, did all of his damage in the second half. He romped 62 yards for a touchdown on his first career carry with 8:14 left in the third quarter and later went 63 yards before fumbling at the West Chester three-yard line. His 177 yards on 12 carries was the most ever by a Delaware player in his collegiate debut.
Flacco completed 17 of 22 passes for 305 yards. Mark Duncan caught five passes for a career-high 121 yards while Cuff added five catches for 56 yards.
“We really had a dominating offensive performance tonight,” UD Head Coach K.C. Keeler said. “We knew how special Phillip was coming in and we are excited about him, and we all know what Omar is capable of. I thought we did a good job defensively and really put some pressure on the quarterback. We are really coming along. This was a big deal with 22,000 screaming fans here for our home opener and our kids reacted well.”
Delaware recorded four sacks and collected three turnovers on the night as Ronald Talley, Anthony Walters and Fred Andrew each picked off a pass. Walters, a redshirt freshman cornerback, had seven tackles to lead the Hens.
UD will return to action with a Colonial Athletic Association game against the University of Rhode Island at 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 15, at Delaware Stadium. Rhode Island is 0-2 to start the season.
For more information on UD athletics, see [www.udel.edu/sportsinfo].
Photo by Bob Burleigh
