1:12 p.m., Oct. 5, 2010----Bolstered by an exciting, hard-fought 13-10 victory over previously No. 3 ranked James Madison University on Saturday in Harrisonburg, Va., the University of Delaware football squad made a big leap in the two national top 25 polls.

THIS STORY

E-mail

Print

Twitter

The Blue Hens, who own a perfect 5-0 mark and are 2-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association, moved up three spots to No. 2 in both The Sports Network media poll and the American Football Coaches Association Football Championship Subdivision poll.

The Hens will be looking to start out 6-0 for the first time since the 2003 national championship season when they host the University of Maine in a CAA game at 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 9, at Delaware Stadium.

The ranking is the highest for the Blue Hens since 2007, when they also were ranked No. 2 in the final poll of the season.

This is the highest ranking during the regular season since the Hens were No. 2 on Nov. 3, 2003. Delaware was ranked No. 1 in the 2004 preseason poll but was never ranked higher than No. 3 during the regular season.

Delaware earned 29 first place votes and 3,353 overall points in The Sports Network poll to move up to No. 2, just behind new No. 1 Appalachian State, which earned 101 of the 143 first place votes to move up from the No. 2 spot.

Villanova, which had held the top spot, lost last week to William and Mary and dropped to No. 6.

After Appalachian State and Delaware came Jacksonville State (12 first place votes), William and Mary, Stephen F. Austin (1), Villanova, James Madison, Massachusetts, South Carolina State, and Montana State in the top 10. The top 10 featured five CAA schools.

Richmond was at No. 11, followed by Montana, Eastern Washington, Cal Poly, Northern Iowa, Georgia Southern, Texas State, North Dakota State, Elon, Western Illinois, Wofford, New Hampshire, Southern Illinois, Liberty, and Southeast Missouri State. CAA teams Maine and Rhode Island were among those that also received votes.

In the AFCA poll, Appalachian State remained at the No. 1 spot, collecting 24 of the 27 first place votes and earning 672 points. Delaware was second with two first place votes and 630 points, followed by Jacksonville State with one first place vote and 620 points.

Stephen F. Austin was at No. 4 followed by William and Mary, James Madison, Villanova, Massachusetts, South Carolina State, and Montana State in the top 10.

Richmond was at No. 11 followed by Montana, Georgia Southern, Eastern Washington, Texas State, Cal Poly, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Elon, Western Illinois, Southern Illinois, Central Arkansas, New Hampshire, Northern Arizona, and Wofford. Rhode Island also received votes in the poll.

Maine will arrive at Delaware Stadium with a record of 2-3. The Black Bears are coming off a 16-13 overtime victory over the University of New Hampshire.

For ticket information or more on UD athletics, see BlueHens.com.

Photo by Mark Campbell