NEWARK, DE -- The University of Delaware scored on its first drive of the game and the team’s much-maligned defense came up with its best effort of the season as the Blue Hens posted a 10-6 football victory over Hofstra Saturday afternoon at Delaware Stadium.

The Blue Hens (3-3), who had lost two straight games by three points each, also snapped a two-game home losing streak and downed Atlantic 10 foe Hofstra for the first time at Delaware Stadium since 1996. Despite the game matching two Atlantic 10 opponents, the game did not count in the league standings. A Homecoming crowd of 21,688 fans saw the Hens avenge a Homecoming loss by an identical 10-6 score to Hofstra in 2005.

Hofstra, led by first-year head coach Dave Cohen, who served the previous five seasons as Delaware’s defensive coordinator, continued its string of close losses as the Pride fell to 2-4. Hofstra has lost three of its last four games with the three losses coming by a combined total of just 11 points.

Delaware’s defense, which entered the game having allowed an average of 39.5 points and 492.5 yards per game over the last two outings, held the Pride in check all day. The Blue Hens, who had four key defensive players return to action after lengthy injuries, held the Pride to just 14 first downs and 262 total yards, posted five sacks, and intercepted a pass. Delaware came up with its biggest stop 3:24 left when quarterback Anton Clarkson was halted for no gain on a fourth and one play from the Blue Hen 27-yard line.

The defensive struggle saw the two teams combine for just 34 first downs and 529 yards and neither team scored in the second half. Delaware held an opponent without a touchdown for the first time since the 40-0 win over Colgate in the 2003 NCAA I-AA championship game. Hofstra failed to score a touchdown for the first time since a 24-0 loss to Rhode Island in 2003.

“This would have been really difficult not to have won this game after how hard we practiced all week,” said Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler, who improved to 27-6 all-time at Delaware Stadium. “This was the best defense we played all year. We got some kids back (from injury) on defense this week and that made a huge difference. You could see how much better we played with those guys in there. We got a good pass rush and made less mistakes and that was huge.”

Delaware quarterback Joe Flacco hit on 20 of 29 passes for 168 yards and threw a seven-yard touchdown strike to tight end Robbie Agnone (at right; Photo by Bob Burleigh) on the Hens’ first drive of the game to give UD the lead for good. Kervin Michaud rushed for a team-high 58 yards while Ben Patrick caught eight passes for 72 yards.

Linebacker Erik Johnson led the defensive effort as he postsed a career-high 12 tackles and was in on two quarterback sacks. The Hens played for the second straight game without leading rusher and All-American running back Omar Cuff, who injured his knee in a 52-49 loss to New Hampshire Sept. 30 and aggravated the injury in car accident early in the week.

Hofstra’s Clarkson hit 16 of 26 passes for 182 yards and was intercepted on the final play of the game by Delaware’s Garrett Schultz. Kareem Huggins ran for 58 yards while Charles Sullivan caught six passes for 78 yards. Leading receiver Shaine Smith, who entered the game with averages of seven catches and a NCAA-leading 122.6 yards per game, was limited to just four catches for 73 yards.

The Blue Hens took the opening kickoff and drove 85 yards on 14 plays, capping the drive with the seven-yard scoring toss from Flacco to Agnone with 8:15 left in the opening stanza.

Hofstra cut the lead to 7-6 on two Rob Zarrilli field goals, the first a 22-yarder with 4:32 left in the opening quarter and the second a 34-yarder with 13:13 left in the first half. The second score was set up when Chris Sebald intercepted a Flacco pass at the 35-yard line and the Pride drove 60 yards for the score. Delaware then took a 10-7 lead into halftime when Zach Hobby converted a 22-yard field with just 24 seconds left before halftime to cap a 16-play, 81-yard drive.

Both teams had just one real scoring opportunity in the second half but both failed. Zarrilli had his 42-yard field goal attempt with 6:54 left in the third quarter blocked by Justin Johnson, just his fourth miss in his last 34 attempts over the last two seasons for the Pride.

Delaware squandered its chance to put the game away when backup quarterback Ryan Carty was hit by Al Carmody and fumbled at the Hofstra one-yard line with 8:35 left to play and Gian Villante recovered.

Carty was in the game for just his second play as Flacco was bothered by a knee injury suffered in the first half. After Carty’s fumble, Hofstra drove to the Delaware 27-yard line thanks to a 45-yard pass from Clarkson to Smith on a third down play. But Delaware held on, stopping Clarkson for no gain on the critical fourth and one play in the final minutes to preserve the win.

Boxscore