BROOKLINE, MA -- The University of Delaware was thinking overtime with exactly one minute left to play in Saturday’s Atlantic 10 football game at Northeastern after Joe Flacco hit Ben Patrick with a nine-yard touchdown pass across the middle to tie the score.

But the host Huskies quickly put an end to those plans as they drove 47 yards in the final minute and won the game when freshman Mat Johnson kicked a 35-yard field goal as time expired to knock off the No. 18 ranked Blue Hens 27-24 at Parsons Field.

Delaware, which lost at Parsons for the third straight time, fell to 2-3 (1-2 Atlantic 10) with their second straight loss, both by three points. The Huskies, who were playing their first home game of the season, snapped a three-game losing streak to improved to 2-4 (1-2 Atlantic 10) and gave head coach Rocky Hager his 100th career victory.

The Hens overcame an early 10-0 deficit to take a 17-10 lead into halftime, but a botched kick return to open the second half, two costly fumbles, and just 58 total rushing yards without the services of All-American Omar Cuff were too much to withstand as Delaware suffered the heart-breaking setback.

“We just made too many mental mistakes today,” said Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler. “It’s tough to win on the road and its difficult out there without (injured) players like Kyle Cambpell (kidney) and Brian Brown (ankle). We put a lot on some young guys, a lot like Northeastern does, and it was pretty obvious. We found ways to give the game back and Northeastern found a way to win it. We just have to stay together as a team and understand why we lost. We just have to find way to eliminate mental mistakes.”

Northeastern piled up 469 yards of total offense as quarterback John Sperrazza, the team’s No. 2 quarterback who was playing in place of starter Anthony Orio who was injured in last week’s 12-7 loss to No. 7 Richmond, hit on 17 of 32 passes for 272 yards and Maurice Murray ran 24 times for a game-high 130 yards. The Huskies had six plays go for 20 or more yards during the game.

Flacco, coming off a 315-yard, three-touchdown passing effort in the 52-49 loss to No. 1 New Hampshire last week, was effective once again as he hit on 24 of 41 passes for 242 yards and a touchdown. Mark Duncan caught seven passes for 78 yards and Kervin Michaud (at right; photo by Bob Burleigh), seeing his first career action at running back, ran for 48 yards and caught six passes for 43 yards. Freshman Jared Bradley also scored two short touchdowns in his first career start but was limited to 14 yards rushing on eight carries.

Cuff, a Walter Payton Award candidate as the top offensive player in NCAA I-AA football and the Hens’ leading rusher, did not play do to an ankle injury that caused him to miss the entire week of practice. Cuff took part in pre-game warmups but it was determined he could not play and he spent the game on the sidelines in street clothes.”

Due to injuries, Delaware was forced to use four true freshmen who were making their collegiate debuts. Defensive backs Anthony Bratton (four tackles) and Charles Graves (three tackles), linebacker Brian Void (three tackles), and defensive end Rick Jarnagin (one tackle) all played extensively during the game.

For the second straight week, a late-game scoring frenzy determined the game. After Delaware took a 17-10 lead into intermission, Northeastern tied the game at 17-17 with 4:51 left in the third quarter as Kendrick Ballantyne made a spectacular one-handed catch across the middle of the end zone from 11 yards out for the score.

The teams traded turnovers twice in the second half, but neither team could capitalize. Aaron Love fumbled a punt return at the Delaware 39-yard line with 11:24 left in the third quarter, but Northeastern gave the ball right back when KeiAndre Hepburn recovered a Murray fumble at the Delaware six. Later, NU’s Jason Vega recovered a Delaware fumble off a botched handoff exchance between Flacco and Bradley with 1:49 left in the third stanza, but the Hens got the ball back on an interception by Fred Andrew deep in Hen territory.
Northeastern finally took the lead at 24-17 with 3:28 left to play when Murray capped a 12-play, 63-yard drive with a 10-yard run up the middle. The Huskies scored despite having two big gains called back due to penalties.

Delaware came back to knot the score at 24-24 on its next drive as the Hens took the ball at their own 36-yard line and drove 64 yards in just 2:28 with Flacco hitting Patrick from nine yards out with just one minute left. Flacco completed five passes during the drive to lead the Hens.

Overtime looked certain, but Northeastern got the ball on its 35-yard line when Zach Hobby’s low kickoff went out of bounds. Sperlazza went to work, completing a 13-yard pass to Bill Mohan and two to Chris Plum to advance the ball to midfield. A seven-yard pass to Alex Broomfield and a key 17-yarder to Mohan to the Delaware 18-yard line set up the winning field goals. Delaware tried to ice Johnson with a timeout, but the freshman from Iowa stepped and sent the ball through the uprights for the win. The Hens lost on a last second field goal for the first time since 1997 when McNeese State downed Delaware 23-21 on a 31-yard field goal by Shon LaFrenz in the NCAA I-AA semifinals at Delaware Stadium.

What started out a Northeastern runaway actually ended with Delaware taking a 17-10 lead into intermission.

Murray ran 50 yards up the middle to the 17-yard line on the first play from scrimmage but Delaware clamped down in close and the Huskies had to settle for a 20-yard Johnson field goal only 3:09 into the game. Northeastern upped the lead to 10-0 just over three minutes later as a 69-yard screen pass from Sperrazza to Murray to the one-yard line set up a one-yard burst by Broomfield with 8:28 left in the opening frame.

Delaware finally got the offense going as Bradley capped a 10-play, 65-yard drive with a one-yard scoring burst up the middle with 3:52 left in the first quarter.

The Hens tied the score at 10-10 just over three minutes into the second period as Delaware drove 65 yards on eight plays and took advantage of two Northeastern penalties on the way to a 34-yard field goal by Hobby, his sixth in seven attempt this season. Delaware then took its first lead of the game with 4:20 remaining as a 21-yard run by Michaud opened a 13-play, 71-yard drive that culminated in another one-yard burst by Bradley. Delaware needed three plays from the one-yard line before Bradley eventually got into the end zone to give the Hens the lead.

Delaware will continue play next Saturday when the Hens host Hofstra for Homecoming at Delaware Stadium at noon. The game will mark the return of former Blue Hen defensive coordinator Dave Cohen, who is currently in his first season as head coach of the Pride.

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