2019 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team

2019 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football
2019 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Record	5–7 (3–5 CAA)
Head coach	Danny Rocco (3rd season);
Offensive coordinator	Jared Ambrose (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Chris Cosh (3rd season)
Home stadium	Delaware Stadium
	Seasons ← 2018 2020 →

The 2019 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team represented the University of Delaware as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by third-year head coach Danny Rocco, the Fightin' Blue Hens compiled an overall record of 5–7 with a mark of 3–5 in conference play, tying for ninth place in the CAA. The team played home games at Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware. The stadium underwent renovations prior to the 2019 season.

2019 Colonial Athletic Association football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 James Madison $^	8	–	0	14	–	2
No. 18 Albany ^	6	–	2	9	–	5
No. 15 Villanova ^	5	–	3	9	–	4
New Hampshire	5	–	3	6	–	5
Towson	4	–	4	7	–	5
Maine	4	–	4	6	–	6
Elon	4	–	4	5	–	6
Richmond	4	–	4	5	–	7
Delaware	3	–	5	5	–	7
William & Mary	3	–	5	5	–	7
Stony Brook	2	–	6	5	–	7
Rhode Island	0	–	8	2	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

CAA poll

In the CAA preseason poll released on July 23, 2019, the Fightin' Blue Hens were predicted to finish in fifth place.^[1]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	James Madison	238 (20)
2	Towson	217 (3)
3	Maine	201 (1)
4	Elon	164
5	Delaware	162
6	Stony Brook	151
7	New Hampshire	109
8	Rhode Island	104
9	Villanova	84
10	Richmond	62
11	William & Mary	58
12	Albany	34

Preseason All–CAA team

The Fightin' Blue Hens had two players selected to the preseason all-CAA team.^[1]

Offense

Mario Farinella – OL

Special teams

Nick Pritchard – P

Schedule

Delaware scheduled 12 games in the 2019 season instead of the 11 normally allowed for FCS programs.^[2] Under a standard provision of NCAA rules, all FCS teams are allowed to schedule 12 regular-season games in years in which the period starting with Labor Day weekend and ending with the last Saturday of November contains 14 Saturdays.^[3]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 29	7:00 p.m.	Delaware State*	No. 22	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE (Route 1 Rivalry)	FloSports	W 31–13	15,894
September 7	7:00 p.m.	at Rhode Island	No. 21	Meade Stadium Kingston, RI	FloSports	W 44–36 ^3OT	8,511
September 14	1:00 p.m.	No. 1 North Dakota State*	No. 18	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	NBCSP	L 22–47	14,489
September 21	1:00 p.m.	Penn*	No. 20	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	YouTube	W 28–27	11,782
September 28	12:30 p.m.	at Pittsburgh*	No. 20	Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA	ACCRSN	L 14–17	68,400
October 12	2:00 p.m.	at Elon	No. 15	Rhodes Stadium Elon, NC	FloSports	L 7–42	5,572
October 19	1:00 p.m.	No. 22 New Hampshire	No. 24	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	FloSports	W 16–10	16,730
October 26	1:00 p.m.	Richmond	No. 19	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	FloSports	L 25–35	15,308
November 2	2:00 p.m.	at No. 21 Towson		Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD	FloSports	L 24–31	5,522
November 9	1:00 p.m.	Albany		Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	FloSports	L 17–21	13,742
November 16	1:00 p.m.	Stony Brook		Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	FloSports	W 17–10	11,981
November 23	1:00 p.m.	at No. 10 Villanova		Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA (Battle of the Blue)	FloSports	L 33–55	5,319
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[4]^[5]

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Year	Alma mater
Danny Rocco	Head coach	3rd	Wake Forest (1984)
Jared Ambrose	Offensive coordinator	3rd	Shepherd (2007)
Chris Cosh	Defensive coordinator/defensive backs	3rd	Virginia Tech (1984)
Bill Cubit	Assistant head coach/running backs	1st	Delaware (1973)
Levern Belin	Defensive line coach	3rd	Wake Forest (1991)
Holman Copeland	Assistant coach - Corners	1st
Jalen Kindle	Assistant coach	2nd	Delaware (2017)
Dave Legg	Assistant coach – Outside linebackers/special teams	1st
Gregory Meyer	Tight ends coach	2nd	Buffalo State (2009)
Bill Polin	Offensive line coach/recruiting coordinator	3rd	Colby (2000)
Clint Sintim	Outside linebackers coach	3rd	Virginia (2009)
Alex Wood	Wide receivers coach	2nd	Iowa (1978)
Tony Palmieri	Video coordinator	3rd	North Florida (2009)
Carl Kotz	Director of football operations	3rd	Clemson (2003)
Chris Stewart	Strength and conditioning	3rd	Western Carolina (1998)
Felicia Bergman	Director of Football Advising	3rd	Colorado State (2009)
Jude Moser	Administrative Assistant	10th	University of Delaware (1984)

Game summaries

Delaware State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hornets	3	3	0	7	13
No. 22 Fightin' Blue Hens	3	13	9	6	31

At Rhode Island

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	3OT	Total
No. 21 Fightin' Blue Hens	0	0	14	8	7	7	8	44
Rams	3	10	0	9	7	7	0	36

North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Bison	10	17	6	14	47
No. 18 Fightin' Blue Hens	5	0	3	14	22

Penn

	1	2	3	4	Total
Quakers	7	7	7	6	27
No. 20 Fightin' Blue Hens	7	0	14	7	28

At Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Fightin' Blue Hens	0	7	7	0	14
Panthers	0	10	0	7	17

At Elon

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 15 Fightin' Blue Hens	0	0	0	7	7
Phoenix	7	0	21	14	42

New Hampshire

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Wildcats	0	10	0	0	10
No. 24 Fightin' Blue Hens	0	10	3	3	16

Richmond

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spiders	21	7	7	0	35
No. 19 Fightin' Blue Hens	7	3	15	0	25

At Towson

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fightin' Blue Hens	7	7	7	3	24
No. 21 Tigers	7	17	0	7	31

Albany

	1	2	3	4	Total
Great Danes	7	7	0	7	21
Fightin' Blue Hens	0	17	0	0	17

Stony Brook

	1	2	3	4	Total
Seawolves	0	10	0	0	10
Fightin' Blue Hens	7	3	0	7	17

At Villanova

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fightin' Blue Hens	7	10	0	16	33
No. 10 Wildcats	20	14	14	7	55

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
STATS FCS	22	21	18	20	20	19	15	24	19	RV
Coaches	23	21	18	20	19	18	15	24	19	RV

References

^ ^a ^b Washburn, Rob (July 23, 2019). "James Madison Picked to Capture CAA Football Championship in 2019". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
^ "Seven Home Games Highlight Blue Hens' 2019 Slate". Delaware Blue Hens. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
^ "Bylaw 17.10.5.1: Number of Contests, Maximum Limitations—Institutional" (PDF). 2018–19 NCAA Division I Manual. NCAA. July 2018. p. 273. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
^ "Delaware Blue Hens Schedule 2019". ESPN. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
^ "2019 Football Schedule". Delaware Blue Hens. Retrieved November 9, 2022.

[caa_preseason-1] Washburn, Rob (July 23, 2019). "James Madison Picked to Capture CAA Football Championship in 2019". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved July 23, 2019.

[2] "Seven Home Games Highlight Blue Hens' 2019 Slate". Delaware Blue Hens. Retrieved October 31, 2018.

[3] "Bylaw 17.10.5.1: Number of Contests, Maximum Limitations—Institutional" (PDF). 2018–19 NCAA Division I Manual. NCAA. July 2018. p. 273. Retrieved March 14, 2019.

[4] "Delaware Blue Hens Schedule 2019". ESPN. Retrieved November 9, 2022.

[5] "2019 Football Schedule". Delaware Blue Hens. Retrieved November 9, 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]