PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The University of Delaware football team has advanced to the second round of the FCS playoffs. On Saturday, the Blue Hens will travel to Brookings, South Dakota to take on the No. 1 team in the country, South Dakota State.
The Blue Hens hammered Saint Francis last week in the first round, 56-17, to advance.
“It was really good to see us play together as a team for 60 minutes, to finish the game,” said head coach Ryan Carty. “I thought we played very physical. I thought we played very hard, and I don’t think we got out-energized.”
Carty’s Blue Hens are 8-4 heading into this battle against the 10-1 Jackrabbits.
“They’re extremely well-coached,” Carty said of South Dakota State. “They don’t make mistakes. They make you make mistakes by just doing the same thing over and over again. They play so hard. They’re physical, they’re sound and then they have really good players.”
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But just as impressive, Carty said, is Delaware quarterback Nolan Henderson, who continued his fantastic season in the win over the Saint Francis Red Flash with four touchdown passes and a touchdown run.
“He’s got ‘it,’ ” said his coach, “and I will do my best to try to define that. He’s very tough, to start, and I think that matters. It matters when you can see mental toughness out there and how he perseveres and how he stays under control in any situation. Nothing is too big for him; no moment has been too big for him.
“People around him can feel that, and that’s what makes him a great leader. When they look at him, they see someone who is going to do it the same way every time, and that way is right and hard.”
Henderson has 32 touchdown passes this season — a program record.
The Blue Hens and Jackrabbits met in the playoffs in the spring of 2021. Delaware lost 33-3 in the national semifinals.
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