Blue Hens to Finish 8-3 in 09

The Delaware Blue Hen Football Team is coming off a 4-8 season last year, but does return 10 starters from last year's team and has been ranked pre-season No. 20 in the Any Given Saturday (AGS) national poll.
The Blue Hens are on of 8 Colonial Athletic Association teams ranked in the AGS Top 25 of the NCAA Playoff Subdivision.

Sr. Safety Charles Graves has been selected to be on the Sports Network Pre-Season All-American Team and was selected to be on the Buck Buchanan Award watch list. That award is given to the best defensive player in the NCAA Playoff Subdivision, formerly known as Div. l-AA. During the 08 campaign, Graves had a terrific year leading the Blue Hens with 78 tackles, including 43 solo tackles. He was among CAA leaders with 5 interceptions on the year. Graves earned Second Team All-American honors and made First Team All-CAA and was selected to the Sporting News College Football Fabulous Fifty All-America Team, all this during a disappointing 4-8 season.

Graves and his defensive teammate, Sr. Defensive End/Linebacker Matt Marcorelle, will need to duplicate what the did defensively in 2008. The Blue Hens will be led on offense by first year QB Pat Devlin, a Junior who transferred from Penn St. They are also led by fifth year Sr. TE Josh Baker. Baker returns to the Blue Hens after leaving UD in 08 due to a suspension for off the field behavior. In 07, Baker helped the Blue Hens to an 11-4 record and an appearance in the 2007 NCAA Playoff Div. National Championship Game, a game in which they lost to two-time defending champions Appalachia St. During that season, Baker ranked No. 6 on the team in receiving, catching 20 passes for 344 yards (17.2 avg.) and two touchdowns.

The Blue Hens are also led by Fifth Year Sr. Wide Receiver Mark Duncan. Duncan is a big play threat for the Blue and Gold, having caught 137 passes for 1,594 yards and six touchdowns in his career so far.
During Delaware's sub-par 4-8 season last year, Duncan led the team with 39 receptions for 352 yards with a 9.0 yard avg. per catch.

The Blue Hens will be much better this year than in 08. The only real question is a quarterback, and that actually might not be much of a concern. As mentioned earlier, Pat Devlin is a Jr. transfer from Penn St. In 08, he appeared in 10 games for the Nittney Lions as a backup to starter Daryll Clark. He completed 25 of 47 passes for 459 yards and four touchdowns on the season and ran for two touchdowns. He played a major role in a huge 13-6 victory over Ohio St. when he took over for the injured Clark.

Looking at the schedule, the Blue Hens face several conference opponents who are ranked in the AGS Top 25. The CAA is arguably the best football conference in America at the Playoff Div. level. I think the Hens will probably go 8-3 with losses coming from No. 1 ranked Richmond, Maine and Bowl Subdivision opponent Navy. I'm expecting a much better showing from the Blue Hens in 09 since Pat Devlin has already taken a leadership role on the team. Josh Baker is back and Mark Duncan returns for his final year, and on defense, Charles Graves is ready to live up to his pre-season expectations. I think 8-3 is a fair assessment for the Blue Hens at this time. More information on this article can be seen at www.bluehens.com.