# 2018 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team

The 2018 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team represented the University of Delaware as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by second-year head coach Danny Rocco, the Fightin' Blue Hens compiled an overall record of 7–5 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for third in the CAA. Delaware received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, the Fightin' Blue Hens they lost in the first round to James Madison. The team played home games at Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware.

## Preseason
### CAA Poll

In the CAA preseason poll released on July 24, 2018, the Fightin' Blue Hens were predicted to finish in third place.
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | James Madison | 241 (21) |
| 2 | New Hampshire | 206 (2) |
| 3 | Delaware | 182 |
| 4 | Stony Brook | 169 |
| 5 | Elon | 168 (1) |
| 6 | Villanova | 164 |
| 7 | Richmond | 127 |
| 8 | Maine | 81 |
| 9 | Albany | 78 |
| 10 | Towson | 74 |
| 11 | William & Mary | 55 |
| 12 | Rhode Island | 39 |

### Preseason All-CAA Team

The Fightin' Blue Hens had five players selected to the preseason all-CAA team.

### Award watch lists

| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Buck Buchanan Award | Nasir Adderley | S | SR |
| Buck Buchanan Award | Troy Reeder | LB | R-SR |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | 7:00 p.m. | Rhode Island | No. 15 | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE | CBSI Digital, CBS SportsLive | L 19–21 | 17,945 |
| September 8 | 3:30 p.m. | Lafayette* | | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE | MASN | W 37–0 | 12,781 |
| September 15 | 3:30 p.m. | Cornell* | | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE | BHAA | W 27–10 | 14,511 |
| September 22 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 1 North Dakota State* | | FargodomeFargo, ND | ESPN+ | L 10–38 | 18,883 |
| October 6 | 3:00 p.m. | at Richmond | | E. Claiborne Robins StadiumRichmond, VA | NBCS WA | W 43–28 | 8,217 |
| October 13 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 5 Elon | | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE | NBCS PHIL | W 28–16 | 19,209 |
| October 20 | 3:30 p.m. | at New Hampshire | No. 24 | Wildcat StadiumDurham, NH | CBSI Digital, CBS SportsLive | W 38–14 | 11,992 |
| October 27 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 10 Towson | No. 21 | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE | FCS, FSGO | W 40–36 | 14,593 |
| November 3 | 3:30 p.m. | at Albany | No. 13 | Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey StadiumAlbany, NY | UAlbany Live Events | W 21–16 | 3,182 |
| November 10 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 12 Stony Brook | No. 11 | Kenneth P. LaValle StadiumStony Brook, NY | CBSI Digital/CBS SportsLive | L 3–17 | 6,667 |
| November 17 | 12:00 p.m. | Villanova | No. 17 | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE (Battle of the Blue) | NBCS PHIL | L 21–42 | 18,752 |
| November 24 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 6 James Madison* | No. 21 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA (NCAA Division I First Round, rivalry) | ESPN3 | L 6–20 | 7,297 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Coaching staff

| Name | Position | Year | Alma mater |
| Danny Rocco | Head coach | 2nd | Wake Forest (1984) |
| Matt Simon | Offensive coordinator/running backs | 2nd | Eastern New Mexico (1976) |
| Chris Cosh | Defensive coordinator/defensive backs | 2nd | Virginia Tech (1984) |
| Erik Campbell | Passing game coordinator/wide receivers | 2nd | Michigan (1988) |
| Bill Polin | Recruiting coordinator/offensive line | 2nd | Colby (2000) |
| Manny Rojas | Inside Linebackers/co-special teams coordinator | 2nd | Liberty (2007) |
| Clint Sintim | Outside Linebackers/co-special teams coordinator | 2nd | Virginia (2009) |
| Alex Wood | Quarterbacks | 1st | Iowa (1978) |
| Kevin Reihner | Offensive Assistant/tight ends | 1st | Stanford (2015) |
| Levern Belin | Defensive line | 2nd | Wake Forest (1991) |
| Nick Rapone | Cornerbacks | 8th | Virginia Tech (1978) |
| Greg Meyer | Recruiting Assistant/offensive Quality Control | 1st | Buffalo State (2009) |
| Jalen Kindle | Defensive assistant | 1st | Delaware (2017) |
| Chris Stewart | Strength and conditioning | 2nd | Western Carolina (1998) |
| Carl Kotz | Director of football operations | 2nd | Clemson (2003) |
| Felicia Bergman | Director of Football Advising | 2nd | Colorado State (2009) |
| Tony Palmieri | Video coordinator | 2nd | North Florida (2009) |
| Jude Moser | Administrative Assistant | 9th | University of Delaware (1984) |

## Game summaries
### Rhode Island

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rams | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| No. 15 Blue Hens | 0 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 19 |
This marks the first time Delaware opens with a conference game since 2007 (49–31 win at William & Mary).

### Lafayette

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Leopards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Blue Hens | 14 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 37 |

### Cornell

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Big Red | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Blue Hens | 7 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 27 |

### At North Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Blue Hens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| No. 1 Bison | 28 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 38 |
* This marks Delaware's first trip west of the Mississippi River since the 2010 National Championship (a 19–20 loss to Eastern Washington).
* This marks Delaware's first game against a MVFC opponent since 2010 (a 26–3 win over South Dakota State).
* This marks Delaware's first ever regular season game west of the Mississippi River, and the first regular season game in the Central Time Zone since 1981 (a 38–14 win at Western Kentucky).

### At Richmond

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Blue Hens | 19 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 43 |
| Spiders | 7 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 28 |

### Elon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 5 Phoenix | 7 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 16 |
| Blue Hens | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |

### At New Hampshire

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 24 Blue Hens | 10 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 38 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |

### Towson

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 10 Tigers | 5 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 36 |
| No. 21 Blue Hens | 0 | 6 | 21 | 13 | 40 |

### At Albany

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 13 Blue Hens | 0 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 21 |
| Great Danes | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 16 |

### At Stony Brook

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 11 Blue Hens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| No. 12 Seawolves | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |

### Villanova

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 14 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 42 |
| No. 17 Blue Hens | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |

### At James Madison–NCAA Division I First Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 21 Blue Hens | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| No. 6 Dukes | 3 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 20 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS FCS | 15 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 21 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 21 | 24 |
| Coaches | 16 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 21 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 23 | 23 |

## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
| 2 | 60 | Nasir Adderley | S | Los Angeles Chargers |