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Sept. 16, 2000
HEMPSTEAD, NY -- The University of Delaware showed impressive firepower and the Blue Hen defense held the explosive Hofstra offense in check for most of the night in posting a big 44-14 victory in a battle of Top 20 powers Saturday night at Hofstra Stadium.
Nagy enjoyed his fourth career 300-yard passing effort while Cummings became the first player in UD history to score a touchdown all three ways in the same game. He also set a new UD running back record with six catches for 182 yards. Also for the Hens, James O'Neal rushed 21 times for 100 yards and Brett Veach caught six passes for a career-high 117 yards. Hofstra was the highest ranked opponent the Blue Hens have defeated since Delaware downed No. 2 Montana 49-48 in the NCAA I-AA playoffs. Delaware compiled 696 total yards, the third highest mark in UD history, and had 441 yards through the air, the second highest in Blue Hen annals. The Hens jumped out to a 28-0 first half lead and never looked back in downing the Pride for the fifth time in the last six meetings. It was the Hens' first visit to Hempstead since 1969. Butter Pressey scored on a two-yard run on the Hens' first possession and Delaware added a 17-yard touchdown pass from Nagy to Cummings, a six-yard scoring strike from Nagy to Pressey, and a 14-yard scoring pass from Nagy to Cummings to go up 28-0 with 7:57 left in the first half. Hofstra rallied behind backup quarterback Ryan Cosentino, who replaced injured starter Rocky Butler in the first half. Cosentino's first pass was a 67-yard touchdown bomb to Charlie Adams and he followed later with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Steve Jackson with 4:03 left in the first half. But that was all the Pride would manage. Delaware, the nation's No. 4 defense, held a Hofstra offense that was coming off a school-record 700-yard effort vs. Maine to just 291 total yards. Cosentino hit on 13 of 23 passes for 179 yards. The Hens pulled away in the second half as Cummings hit Veach on the halfback option, his second completion of the day off the play, for one touchdown then capped the scoring himself with a one-yard dive. Cummings, a native of nearby Eastchester, NY, was playing in his 39th career game. He ran his career touchdown total to 34. "I was shocked when we called the play," said Cummings of the halfback option that the team practiced this week. "I was hoping we wouldn't use it this year until we really needed it and we needed it tonight. I'm just happy it worked - twice. Tonight was the most consistent we've played offensively since 1998. It was nice to see the way we came out tonight." SCORING DELAWARE..........14.....17.....0.....13......44 1st Quarter Attendance: 7,706
TEAM STATS..............Hofstra..............UD First
Downs............................16......................30 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING - Delaware, James O'Neal, 21-100, Butter Pressey, 10-77, Craig Cummings, 8-49, Antawn Jenkins, 2-12, Sam Postlethwait, 1-11, Brett Veach, 2-8, Butch Patrick, 1-8, Frank Mieczkowski, 1-2, Germaine Bennett, 1-(-1), Matt Nagy, 4 - (-11); Hofstra - Trevor Dimmie, 13-37, Vemba Bukula, 5-19, Ryan Cosentino, 5-4, Team, 1- (-2), Rocky Butler, 5- (-5) PASSING - Delaware, Nagy, 18-31-349-1, Cummings, 2-2-86-0, Postlethwait, 1-2-6-0; Hofstra, Cosentino, 13-23-179-0, Butler, 7-11-59-1. RECEIVING - Delaware, Cummings, 6-182, Veach, 6-117, Jamin Elliott, 3-58, Pressey, 3-44, O'Neal, 3-40; Hofstra, Steve Jackson, 8-58, Charlie Adams, 4-101, Kahmal Roy, 3-31, Bill Morales, 3-29, Jason Maxwell, 2-19.
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