Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell

ANNAPOLIS, MD -- The University of Delaware’s vaunted passing attack took on Navy’s dominant running game in a wild shootout Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium.

When the smoke cleared, it was the No. 9 ranked Blue Hens, behind the passing of Joe Flacco and the running of Omar Cuff (top right), who survived as Delaware scored on seven straight possessions at one point and piled up 581 total yards on the way to a 59-52 upset victory over the Midshipmen in a non-league football game that saw the teams combine for 111 points and 1,087 total yards.

The Blue Hens (7-1), who won their second straight game and defeated the NCAA I-A Midshipmen for the second time in the last three meetings, took the lead for good with 17 unanswered points in the second half and put the game away when Cuff scored his fourth touchdown of the game on a 37-yard jaunt up the middle with 2:02 left to play.

The 59 points was the most scored by a Delaware team since the 2000 season and is believed to be the highest point total ever scored by an I-AA team over a I-A foe.

Navy ( 4-4), which has advanced to a bowl game each of the last four seasons, lost its second straight game, following a three-game winning streak, despite 342 yards rushing on the day. However, two Midshipmen miscues loomed large

Cuff ran 28 times for 141 yards and scored four touchdowns for the Hens while Flacco (second from top right) hit on 30 of 41 passes for a career-high 434 yards and four touchdowns. Kervin Michaud caught a career-high eight passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns while tight end Robbie Agnone (third from top right) grabbed seven passes for 133 yards. Cuff also posted his 16th career 100-yard rushing game.

"What a great effort by our guys today," said Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler, whose team downed Navy 21-17 in 2003 as part of the Blue Hens' national championship season. "It was a great win and our guys did an amazing job. Our offense is so special with two of the best players in the country in Joe Flacco and Omar Cuff and our defense kept playing and never panicked."

It was a day of milestones for the Blue Hens, and not only in the victory column. Cuff, a Walter Payton Award candidate as the top player in the country at the NCAA FCS level, went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season at 1,004 and his four touchdowns gave him 28 for the season, breaking the UD single season mark of 24 by Gardy Kahoe in 1971. Cuff also tied Kahoe's single season record for rushing touchdowns in a season of 24 while also snaring his 100th career reception.

Flacco went over the 2,000-yard passing mark for the season while also surpassing 5,000 yards for his two-year career as a Blue Hen. His 434 yards passing, his 13th straight 200-yard effort and eighth 300+ game of his career, was a career-high, besting his 419 yards vs. New Hampshire back on Oct. 6, and his four touchdown passes equalled his career-high set vs. Towson last season.

Defensively for the Hens, junior linebacker Erik Johnson recorded a career-high 20 tackles, the most by a UD player since Ralph D'Angelo posted 22 vs. Navy in 1995, and Anthony Bratton (#4 bottom right) had 12 tackles, recorded a fumble, and forced another Midshipmen turnover.

Navy, which entered the game as the No. 1 ranked rushing team in NCAA I-A with an average of 343 yards per game, gained 346 yards on the ground, the most against a Delaware team since the Mids gained 346 in 2004.

Adam Ballard ran for 94 yards, including a 55-yard touchdowns, Eric Kettani had 92 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada added 72 yards and scored twice before giving way to backup Jarod Bryant. The Mids scored on 8 of their 12 possessions but lost two fumbles, one that led to a Blue Hen touchdown

“There is no margin for us,” said Navy head coach Paul Johnson. “We can’t turn the ball over twice and win. We can’t miss a turn with the ball. Defensively, we tried about everything we know of. We have to get better at what we have. We were beat physically, but there were other mistakes too. “

“If they don’t turn the ball over, your not going to beat those guys,” echoed Keeler. “They have a great offense and that’s why they have been to a bowl game the last four years.”

The game was a track meet from the outset. Delaware scored on the first possession of the game as Cuff capped a 73-yard drive with a one-yard dive just three minutes into the game, upping his season touchdown total to 25 to set a new UD record.

But Navy came back to take the lead as Kaheaku-Enhada scored on a two quarterback sneaks, from two and one-yard out, to give the Mids a 14-7 lead. The first score was set up when Navy punter Joey Bullen faked and hit a wide-open Greg Sudderth down the right side to the Delaware two-yard line. The pass was the only one attempted by Navy the entire first half.

The team traded five touchdowns during the wild second quarter, knotting the game at 28-28 entering intermission. Bratton recovered a fumble by Kaheaku-Enhada at the Navy 24-yard line to set up a one-yard Cuff scoring run that tied the score at 14-14. Navy sandwiched scoring runs of 55 yards by Ballard and two yards by Kettani around a 23-yard scoring pass from Flacco to Duncan to go up 28-21.

But Delaware tied things up just before halftime as they drove 65 yards in just 56 seconds with Flacco hitting Michaud across the middle on a 11-yard strike with just three seconds left in the half.

Navy took its final lead of the game at 35-28 when Kettani scored on a one-yard run just 1:12 into the second half. The Hens then scored 17 straight points to take a 45-35 advantage early in the final stanza as Flacco hit Michaud on a 13-yard scoring pass and Aaron Love on a 34-yard bomb and Jon Striefsky converted a 36-yard field goal, his school record 10th straight of the season.

But Delaware stayed on top the rest of the way thanks to Cuff, who countered two Navy touchdown runs by Reggie Campbell and Bryant b scoring from one-yard out on a fourth down play with 5:51 left and icing the win on a 37-yard burst up the middle with just 2:02 left.

“Every time that we step on that field, it’s important that we go down and score a touchdown,” said Cuff. “It was especially important today because we know how good Navy’s offense is. But our offensive line did a great job today and on that final touchdown, I saw a hole open like the Red Sea and the next thing I knew no one was around me. That really put them away.”

Delaware will return to Colonial Athletic Association action this Saturday when they host James Madison at Delaware Stadium while Navy travels to South Bend, IN next week to take on Notre Dame.

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