VILLANOVA, Pa. -- University of Delaware quarterback Pat Devlin etched his name in the Blue Hen record book Saturday, but a win over rival and No. 2 ranked Villanova would have felt much better.
The junior All-American candidate completed 42 of 58 passes for 407 yards and a touchdown to lead a Delaware offense that piled up big numbers, but three interceptions and an outstanding running effort by his counterpart Chris Whitney of Villanova resulted in a season-ending
30-12 setback for the No. 25 Blue Hens in Colonial Athletic Association football action at Villanova Stadium.
Whitney carried 15 times for 138 yards and a touchdown and Nick Yako booted three field goals as the No. 2 Wildcats (10-1, 7-1 CAA) rolled to their fifth straight victory and captured their first league title since 2001. The Wildcats, who defeated the Hens for the fourth straight year to claim the Battle of the Blue Trophy, earn the CAA's automatic berth into the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs and will begin action next Saturday. The 16-team field will be announced Sunday at 3 p.m.
"We got off schedule offensively today and put too much on Pat's shoulders," said Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler, whose team had more yards (452-343) and first downs (25-16) than Villanova but gained just
45 yards on 26 carries. "Its tough sledding when you can't fun the football and those turnovers really hurt us. Give Villanova credit, they are an outstanding team."
The Blue Hens, who needed a win to keep their slim post-season hopes alive, will have to watch the playoffs from the sidelines for the second straight year after advancing to the national semifinals in 2007.
Despite losing three of their final four games, the Hens (6-5, 4-4 CAA) were much improved from a year ago and clinched the team's 19th .500 or better record in the last 23 seasons. In addition, the Hens finished .500 or better in league play for the 17th time in the last 23 campaigns.
Devlin broke two school records during the day as his 42 completions surpassed the mark of 40 by current Baltimore Ravens star Joe Flacco vs.
New Hampshire in 2007 and his 58 attempts bettered the mark of 51 set three other times, most recently by Flacco in that New Hampshire game.
The 407 yards was also the sixth highest single game mark in UD history.
Devlin finished the year completing 220 of 344 passes for 2,664 yards and 16 touchdowns, all three among the top 10 best marks in school history.
Devlin hit nine different receivers on the afternoon with Phillip Thaxton hauling in a career-high 11 for 121 yards and Mark Duncan catching 10 passes for 114 yards in his final game as a Blue Hen. Nihja White caught eight passes for 55 yards and a caught a four-yard scoring pass with 4:43 for the Hens' lone touchdown of the day. Duncan upped his career reception total to 185 to move into third place all-time at Delaware.
"You can't win with three turnovers," said Devlin. "We put our defense in a tough spot. Villanova has a very good defense and they will do well in the playoffs. One of the things we talked about going in was taking what the defense gave us. Our offensive line did a great job against their blitz, but you are not going to win many games with 12 points."
"Pat has had an incredible year," said Keeler. "You just can't put everything on him like we did today. We expected a lot out of Pat this season and he met every expectation."
The Wildcats, who extended their home win streak to seven games and won for the 16th time in their last 17 home outings, jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and were never seriously threatened.
Villanova drove 46 yards on 13 plays on their opening drive and took the lead on a 32-yard field goal by Yako. They then made it 10-0 late in the first quarter when Whitney busted into the end zone from nine yards out for a touchdown. The score was set up when a Devlin pass was tipped and Villanova's Marlon Johnson intercepted at the 26-yard line. The Wildcats then drove 74 yards for the score.
Delaware got on the board with a 39-yard field goal by Jon Striefsky with 8:42 left in the first half, but Villanova followed with two scores to take a 20-3 advantage into halftime. Angel Babbaro scored on a sweep to the right side with 5:39 left to extend the lead to 17-3 and Yako converted a 45-yard field goal with 1:47 left. Yako's conversion was set up on an interception by Villanova's Jacob Wade at the UD 30-yard line.
Striefsky converted his second field goal of the day with a 24-yarder with 8:00 left in the third quarter as the Hens drove 80 yards on 17 plays to cut the lead to 20-6, but Villanova answered with a three-yard dash by Matt Szczur with 6:25 left and Yako split the uprights with his third field goal of the day from 34 yards out with 7:57 left to put the game out of reach at 30-6.
The Hens closed out the scoring in the final minutes as Delaware drove
75 yards in 10 plays and capped the drive on Devlin's four-yard scoring toss to White.
"Villanova has a very good offense and we got outplayed," said Delaware senior John Higginson, who had the Hens' lone sack. "They have a big physical line and their belly-read option just killed us today. We wanted to get them into some passing situations but we weren't winning on first down and that put them in a good spot."
Villanova, the top rushing team in the CAA with 216.9 yards per game, piled up 275 yards on 45 carries with Szczur adding 75 yards on 10 carries and Aaron Ball picking up 49 yards on 11 tries. Whitney, the top-rated passer in the CAA, hit on 9 of 14 passes for 68 yards.
"It was exciting to see up progress this year," said Devlin summing up his first season at Delaware. "A lot of people stepped up all year. We had a young team, but I feel bad for the senior. We will have to have a short memory about this. We have a lot of work to get done."
Notes....All-American Charles Graves posted a team-high 10 tackles in his final game at Delaware...Striefsky booted two field goals and finished the year converting his final 12 attempts...Striefsky went 13 of 14 on field goals for the season and finished his career with a school-record 41 conversions....Duncan finished the season as the Hens'
top pass catcher with 48 catches for 697 yards...Villanova now leads the all-time series with Delaware by a 22-20-1 margin and has won four straight, the first time any opponent has won four straight against the Hens since the same Wildcats won four straight in 1996-99...Delaware starting WR Tommy Crosby did not play due to a back injury and Mark Mackey missed the entire second half with a possible concussion after a hard hit following a first-half reception...Delaware converted 9 of 16 third down attempts and finished the season converting 28 of 48 attempts
(58.3 percent) over the last three games...
AGATE:
Scoring Summary
Delaware........0........3.......3.......6.......12
Villanova.......10......10.......7.......3.......30
1st Quarter
Villanova - FG Yako 32, 10:03
Villanova - Whitney 9 run (Yako kick), 1:59 2nd Quarter Delaware - FG Striefsky 39, 8:42 Villanova - Babbaro 2 run (Yako kick), 5:39 Villanova - FG Yako 45, 1:47 3rd Quarter Delaware - FG Striefsky 24, 8:00 Villanova - Szczur 3 run (Yako kick), 6:25 4th Quarter Villanova - FG Yako 34, 7:57 Delaware - White 4 pass from Devlin (pass failed), 4:43
Attendance: 12,073
Team Statistics DEL VILL
First
Downs................................25..................................16
Rushes-yards .......................26-45..........................43-275
Passing yards
.........................407..................................68
Passes
.............................42-58-3............................9-14-0
Total yards
.............................452.................................343
Fumbles-lost
...........................0-0.................................2-2
Penalties-yards .....................2-20...............................3-14
Punts-Avg...........................2-40.5.............................2-46.0
Time of Possession.............31:19..............................28:41
Third Down Conv...................9-16................................4-11
Sacks By
................................1-3................................3-11
Individual Leaders: Rushing - Delaware, Butler, 11-24, Hayes, 7-21, Devlin, 7-2, Thaxton, 1-(-2); Villanova, Whitney, 15-138, Szczur, 10-75, Ball, 11-49, Doss, 1-16, Babbaro, 2-2, Reynolds, 1-(-2), Team, 3-(-3); Passing - Delaware, Devlin, 42-58-3-407; Villanova, Whitney, 9-14-0-68; Receiving - Delaware, Thaxton, 11-121, Duncan, 10-114, White, 8-55, Schenauer, 4-20, Jones, 3-28, Mackey, 2-36, Hayes, 2-10, Nagle, 1-7, Butler, 1-7; Villanova, Szczur, 3-23, Harvey, 3-19, White, 1-19, Babbaro, 1-5, Doss, 1-2.
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