Omar Cuff wasn?t about to let Towson beat Delaware for the third straight year. The Blue Hen?s senior running back found plenty of room to roam, rushing for 109 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries as No. 11 Delaware (4-0, 3-0) defeated Towson (2-2, 0-2) 27-7 in front of a Unitas Stadium-record 10,856 fans Saturday night.
It was Delaware?s first victory over the Tiger?s since 2004.
“Everyone has been talking about how Towson is so good,” Cuff said. “It meant a lot to us this year to come out and finish these guys off.”
When Cuff wasn?t controlling the clock for the Blue Hens ? 32:23 minutes to 20:27 for the game ? quarterback Joe Flacco was picking apart the Tigers secondary, completing 22-of-33 passes for 274 yards with one interception.
On its second possession Delaware drove 67-yards in 12 plays to take a 7-0 lead, highlighted by six Cuff runs for 24 yards – including a 1-yard score on fourth-and-goal with 5:03 left in the first quarter.
After a Jon Striefsky 26-yard field goal, Cuff struck again on Delaware?s next possession, this time from 16-yards out, giving the Blue Hens a 17-0 lead they would take into intermission. All three Blue Hens? first-half scoring drives were longer than 60-yards. The Blue Hens out-gained the Tigers 254 yards to 54 in the first half and 416 to 157 for the game.
Delaware has outscored opponents 93-5 in the first half this season.
“We brought pressure but when we did they did a good job of getting the ball off,” linebacker Brian Bradford said. “We always had a guy within arm?s reach, we just weren?t able to get a hand on the ball.”
Towson?s offense struggled to get on track for most of the first half. Receiver Paul Perry dropping a potential touchdown and kicker Mark Bencivengo missed a 44-yard field goal.
Including sacks, the Tigers rushed for a total of minus-16 yards on 28 carries.
The second half started better for the Tigers as quarterback Sean Schaefer connected with Perry for a 45-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 17-7 with 12:40 left in the third. Schaeffer finished 12-for-19 for 136 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He now has a touchdown pass in 23 of 25 career games.
But two possessions later Schaefer was intercepted by Delaware defensive back Marvin McKinnie. It took only five plays for the Blue Hens to put the game out of reach at 24-7 with 4:40 left in the third quarter, when Cuff danced in from 13-yards. He has 15 total touchdowns on the season.
“We wanted to get that [confidence] back,” Delaware coach K.C. Keeler said. ” I think we got that swagger back.”
Striefsky capped the scoring with a 20-yard field goal with 10:09 left.
“We just didn?t make the plays early,” Towson coach Gordy Combs said. “We can?t let them drive the ball against us and convert first downs.”
