# 2012 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team

The 2012 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team represented the University of Delaware as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) during the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by K. C. Keeler in his 11th and final season as head coach, the Fightin' Blue Hens compiled an overall record of 5–6 with a mark of 2–6 in conference play, placing eighth in the CAA. The team played home games at Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware.
Keeler was fired after the season.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 30 | 7:30 pm | West Chester* | No. 15 | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE (rivalry) | | W 41–21 | 18,823 |
| September 8 | 3:30 pm | Delaware State* | No. 15 | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE (Route 1 Rivalry) | NBCSN | W 38–14 | 16,898 |
| September 15 | 3:30 pm | Bucknell* | No. 13 | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE | | W 19–3 | 18,118 |
| September 22 | 7:00 pm | at William & Mary | No. 12 | Zable StadiumWilliamsburg, VA (rivalry) | CSN | W 51–21 | 10,601 |
| September 29 | 12:00 pm | at No. 20 New Hampshire | No. 8 | Cowell StadiumDurham, NH | | L 14–34 | 7,058 |
| October 6 | 3:30 pm | Maine | No. 16 | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE | CSN | L 3–26 | 21,506 |
| October 20 | 3:30 pm | Rhode Island | No. 25 | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE | | W 47–24 | 18,672 |
| October 27 | 12:00 pm | at No. 6 Old Dominion | No. 20 | Foreman FieldNorfolk, VA (Oyster Bowl) | NBCSN | L 26–31 | 20,068 |
| November 3 | 12:00 pm | No. 19 Towson | No. 23 | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE | NBCSN | L 27–34 $^{OT}$ | 16,252 |
| November 10 | 3:30 pm | at No. 20 Richmond | | E. Claiborne Robins StadiumRichmond, VA | | L 17–23 | 8,700 |
| November 17 | 3:30 pm | No. 16 Villanova | | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE (Battle of the Blue) | CSN | L 10–41 | 19,523 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Personnel
### Coaching staff

Delaware head coach K. C. Keeler was in his 11th year as the Blue Hens' head coach. During his previous ten years with Delaware, he led the Fightin' Blue Hens to an overall record of 81–46 and an NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship in 2003.
Delaware promoted Andy Marino from his role as a graduate assistant to tight ends and offensive tackles coach on July 26, 2012. Marino took the place of David Boler, who left to become the wide receivers coach for Rhode Island. Kirk Ciarrocca was rehired as running backs coach after being an assistant coach for Rutgers and Richmond for four seasons. He was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Delaware from 2002 to 2007.
| Name | Position | Seasons at Delaware | Alma Mater |
| K. C. Keeler | Head coach | 11 | Delaware (1980) |
| Brad Sherrod | Assistant head coach, Linebackers | 3 | Duke (1994) |
| Jim Hofher | Offensive coordinator, Quarterbacks | 4 | Cornell (1979) |
| Nick Rapone | Defensive coordinator, Safeties | 7 | Virginia Tech (1979) |
| Brian Ginn | Passing game coordinator, Receivers | 13 | Delaware (2000) |
| Gregg Perry | Run game coordinator, Recruiting coordinator, Offensive line | 30 | Delaware (1977) |
| Kirk Ciarrocca | Running backs | 7 | Temple (1990) |
| Phil Petitte | Defensive line | 7 | Glassboro State (1971) |
| Henry Baker | Cornerbacks, Special teams | 2 | Maryland (2003) |
| Andy Marino | Tight ends, Offensive tackles | 3 | Lycoming (1982) |
| John Smith | Head athletic trainer | 12 | Penn State (1988) |

### Transfers

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Trent Hurley transferred from Bowling Green and redshirt freshman guard Sam Collura transferred to Delaware from Pittsburgh. Three former Maryland players transferred to Delaware: junior defensive tackle Zach Kerr, junior linebacker David Mackall, and redshirt sophomore defensive back Mario Rowson. Redshirt sophomore defensive end Andrew Opoku from Connecticut transferred to Delaware. Redshirt junior tight end Malcolm Bush transferred from Rutgers in August.

### Opening depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* Ricky Tunstall
* Craig Brodsky
| WLB | MLB | SLB |
| ⋅ | Paul Worrilow | ⋅ |
| Kyle Gayle | Patrick Callaway | ⋅ |
* SS
* Tim Breaker
* Jake Giusti
* CB
* Travis Hawkins
* Mario Rowson
| DE | DT | DT | DE |
| Ethan Clark | Zach Kerr | Irv Titre | Laith Wallschleger |
| Andrew Opoku | Karon Gibson | Logan Shultz | Derrick Saulsberry |
* CB
* Marcus Burley
* Derek Coleman
Offense :
* WR
* Rob Jones
* Stephen Clark
* WR
* Michael Johnson
* Mike Milburn
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Erle Ladson | J. D. Dzurko | Brandon Heath | Nick Cattolico | Ben Curtis |
| Matt Becker | Will Lewis | Jake Geiser | Christian Marchena | Connor Bozick |
* TE
* Nick Boyle
* Ryan Cobb
* WR
* Nihja White
* Jerel Harrison
* QB
* Trent Hurley
* Tim Donnelly
* RB
* Andrew Pierce
* David Hayes
* Special teams
* PK Sean Baner
* PK Garrett Greenway
* P Rauley Zaragoza
* P Sean Baner
* KR Travis Hawkins
* PR Rob Jones
* LS Eddie Herr
* H Tim Donnelly

## Game summaries
### West Chester

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| West Chester | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| • #15 Delaware | 14 | 10 | 0 | 17 | 41 |

### Delaware State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Delaware State | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| • #15 Delaware | 7 | 21 | 3 | 7 | 38 |

### Bucknell

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bucknell | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| • #13 Delaware | 3 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 19 |

### William & Mary

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #12 Delaware | 10 | 17 | 21 | 3 | 51 |
| William & Mary | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |

### New Hampshire

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #8 Delaware | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • #20 New Hampshire | 0 | 0 | 14 | 20 | 34 |

### Maine

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Maine | 7 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 26 |
| #16 Delaware | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |

### Rhode Island

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rhode Island | 7 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 24 |
| • #25 Delaware | 12 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 47 |

### Old Dominion

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #20 Delaware | 7 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 26 |
| • #6 Old Dominion | 7 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 31 |

### Towson

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| • #19 Towson | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 34 |
| #23 Delaware | 0 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 27 |

### Richmond

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Delaware | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 17 |
| • #20 Richmond | 10 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 23 |

### Villanova

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • #16 Villanova | 7 | 7 | 3 | 24 | 41 |
| Delaware | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | 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 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| Sports Network | 15 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 25 | 20 | 23 | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — |
| Coaches | 14 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 15 | 22 | 22 | 16 | 20 | RV | RV | — | — | — | — |