Delaware Blue Hens: JMUSB 2015 CAA Football Preview
Wow. Look at that. It’s late August, football season kicks off in less than 2 weeks, and we’ve been basically wasting your time with blog filler and assorted B.S. all summer. Our bad.
Years ago, we used to preview every CAA team in the weeks leading up to the season kickoff. We’d say the pieces were basically good to get you smart enough on CAA football that you could at least fake your way through your average JMU football tailgate. Let’s bring it back and see how many team previews we can crank through in the next week and a half. The over-under is 5 (pro-tip: take the under.)
We’ll start this little adventure with a preview of the Delaware Blue Hens. Why are we starting with Delaware? Well, because we’re not very fond of the Blue Chickens and they’re not supposed to be too great this year, so this will give us a chance to warm up, and throw a few easy cheap shots at UD before we dive into previewing the real contenders.
Looking in the Rear View Mirror
UD finished 6-6 last year. There was absolutely nothing great about the Blue Hens and nothing particularly terrible about them either. Which is probably the perfect way to describe Delaware as a state. It’s just sort of, “there.” In fact, it’s unclear if its actually a state at all, or if it’s simply the home of a bridge that exists so mysterious powers that be can collect tolls from thousands of people traveling to and from states with actual purposes. But I digress. The point is that after years of being one of the big kids on the FCS football block, Delaware football has hit a plateau of mediocrity and relative anonymity.
Excuse Us While We Brace For UD Fan Backlash
Yeah, yeah, yeah. JMU did lose to UD 30-23 last year. We’re using our special blogger executive revisionist history powers to declare it a fluke though. The normally reliable Daniel Brown dropped a TD, the offense slept walk through the first 3 quarters, the defense gave up two huge plays, and special teams were anything but special. And if we’re being honest, JMU didn’t become a good team until after that game. So the loss didn’t happen. It. Didn’t. Happen.
The Ones They’ll Bring Back
The Blue Hens return 12 starters from last year’s team. Seven of those returning starters are on the offensive side of the ball and four are on the defensive side. And before you correct my math, they also bring back their punter. So that makes 12. Said punter, Eric Anderson, also happens to be UD’s arguably top returning player. He averaged over 40 net yards a punt last year. Along with offensive lineman, Ben Curtis, and defensive lineman Blaine Woodson, Anderson was selected to the All CAA Preseason team. They also bring back Jalen Randolph, a talented running back who rushed for over 5 yards a carry and 9 TDs last season.
The Ones They’ll Replace
Delaware will need to replace 5 offensive and 8 defensive starters. Last year’s starting QB, Trent Hurley and his top target, wide receiver Michael Johnson, are both gone. Hurley was middle of the road (sensing a theme here?) QB in a conference that had a few truly great ones. He did complete 64% of his passes and toss 13 touchdowns, but he also thew 14 picks. It’s always tough to work in a new QB, but Hurley is far from irreplaceable. Johnson’s loss will be offset by the fact that UD’s other top 2 receivers return.
Defensively, UD might have a bigger hill to climb in terms of reloading. Last year’s entire corps of starting linebackers is gone, as are three members of the starting defensive backfield. It’s essentially going to be a rebuilt defense. Which might be good, because last year’s defense was just OK. But if you’re read this far, you probably already guessed that.
Milquetoast
As previously mentioned, last year’s Blue Hens did nothing particularly well. They were pretty much middle of the road in all aspects of the game. UD had the seventh best scoring offense in the league, the 8th best scoring defense, the sixth best rushing attack, the seventh best passing attack, etc. We could go on, but you get the point. Delaware was really, really good…at being average.
Why You Should Care
Look, people might say all sorts of outlandish things about Delaware football. They’ll tell you that it’s a shell of a once great program that has been left adrift in a sea of complacency. They’ll claim that the average (there’s that word again) Blue Hen fan is 86 years old, is still amazed by non-leather helmets, really misses the Wing T offense, and doesn’t care so much about who wins or loses as long as the game ends in time to get home in time for The McGlaughlin Group. They’ll tell tales of a stadium so foul and decrepit, it has piss walls instead of toilets. And well, all of those things are absolutely true. But you still should love it when JMU and Delaware get together.
The Blue Hens really were among the cream of the FCS crops for years. The JMU vs. Delaware series has produced some truly epic moments. Delaware was once the measuring stick by which many FCS programs (including possibly JMU) measured themselves. Sure, UD has definitely been playing below its program’s lofty standards, but the Blue Hens are not out. Far from it. UD is much more likely just a sleeping giant. Which is good. Because as much as we love to hate them, FCS football is definitely better when the Blue Hens are good. In fact in our ideal world, they would be a Top 5 team every year (with JMU being a Top 4 team that routinely beats them of course.)
Relatively Uniformed Preseason Prediction
Middle of the pack. Sleeping giant or not, we don’t see UD awaking this season. The Blue Hens should be good enough to distance themselves from the dregs of the league, but probably won’t be able to keep up with the real contenders week in and week out. Pencil them in for an upset of at least one top 4 CAA team, offset by a head-scratching loss or two. They’re a generic team worthy of a generic prediction. We think they’ll end up about the same as last year, 6-5 and left out of the playoffs.
