Boxscore / Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- This was one the Blue Hens let slip away.

Plagued by five turnovers and nine penalties, the University of Delaware (1-2) could never pull it together as the No. 6 ranked Blue Hens dropped a 23-21 verdict to No. 24 Furman in a Top 25 non-league college football battle Saturday afternoon at Paladin Stadium.

Two first half turnovers resulted in a 20-7 halftime deficit for the Blue Hens, who pulled to within 23-21 with a touchdown in the final three minutes but could never pull ahead. Furman (3-1) won its second straight game and came out on top in the first meeting between the two NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision powers since the 1988 NCAA Tournament.

“We were underachievers today,” said Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler, whose team committed five turnovers for the first time since a 35-7 loss to Massachusetts back in 2005. “Furman is a good football team but they are not as good as we are. We will live with this loss but we have to move on. We just made so many mistakes. We are embarrassed and its on me and on every player. I’m as upset with this loss as any game I’ve coached here. We made mistakes today we just can’t make and haven’t made before.“

After trailing 20-7 at the half, the Hens pulled to within 20-14 on a two-yard run by Johnathon Smith with 4:39 left in the third quarter. But Furman pushed the lead back to nine on a 29-yard field by Matthew Cesari just a minute into the final quarter.

Delaware rallied to narrow the deficit to 23-21 on a 14-yard scoring pass from Robby Schoenhoft to Aaron Love (bottom right) with 2:44 left, but Furman returned the ensuing kickoff and ran out the clock to pick up the win. After Delaware called two timeouts, the Paladins converted a key third and one situation with 2:22 left when Tersoo Uhaa ran for one yard to barely pick up the first down at the Furman 37-yard line. Furman then ran out the clock on a two-yard run and two kneel downs.

“We should have come out and beat this team,” said Delaware junior All-American defensive end Matt Marcorelle (top right), who had three tackles and broke up two passes. “We underachieved. They came to play and we did not. They made the plays and we lost. We have to start making more plays.”

Delaware held advantages in first downs (22-14) and total yards (394-346). But even though the Hens had just one more penalty and the Paladins committed three turnovers themselves, Furman made the plays it needed to to pull out the victory.

Schoenhoft completed 22 of 39 passes for 246 yards, all career-highs for the junior transfer from Ohio State, but he threw four interceptions, tying the school record set four times, the last by Leo Hamlett vs. James Madison in 1996. Smith ran for 96 yards and two touchdowns while Love caught nine passes for 90 yards.

Linebacker Erik Johnson and defensive end Ronald Talley each posted a team-high 12 tackles with Talley posting four tackles for loss.

Furman’s Jordan Sorrells hit on 17 of 30 passes for 263 yards, including five throws for more than 29 yards, with Mike Brown catching five passes for 91 yards and rushing for a team-high 63 yards. Brandon Williams led the Paladins with 12 tackles while Max Lerner, William Middleton, Thomas Twitty, and Ryan Steed each picked off a pass.

After a fake field goal by Furman on its first possession of the second half failed, the Hens responded with a 74-yard drive culminated by Smith scoring his second touchdown of the day on a two-yard dive on a fourth-down play with 4:39 left in the third quarter. Smith carried seven times and caught two passes on the drive, converting on fourth down twice.

Furman came right back with a 64-yard drive of its own as Cesari split the uprights on a 29-yard field goal attempt just one minute into the second half for a 23-14 lead. After Sorrells completed a 39-yard screen pass to Brown down to the 19-yard line, the Hen defense stiffened and held the Paladins to the three points.

The Hens appeared to get a big break on Furman’s next possession when the Paladins fumbled a Stuart Kenworthy punt at their own 38-yard line and A.J. Bunton recovered. But the Hens were called for a punt interference penalty and the Paladins kept the ball.

A wild exchange followed minutes later when Schoenhoft, who had driven the Hens down to the Furman 21-yard line on a 20-yard throw to Love and a 38-yard strike to Duncan, was intercepted by Steed. Steed returned the pass to the Furman 48-yard line, but fumbled and Schoenhoft recovered.

The Hens couldn’t take advantage of the break as Schoenhoft was intercepted again on the next play - just 26 seconds after the first - by Lerner. Furman returned the favor on its next play when Anthony Walters intercepted Sorrells and returned it to the Furman 47.

Turnovers and penalties hampered Delaware throughout the first half and enabled Furman to take a 20-7 lead at the break.

Furman fullback Tersoo Uhaa scored on two one-yard bursts and Thomas Twitty returned an interception 20 yards for a score to lift the Paladins to the first half advantage as the Hens turned the ball over twice and were plagued by four penalties in the opening half.

Despite the Hens gaining the first possession of the game, it was Furman that struck early and got on the board first. Robby Schoenhoft hit Aaron Love on a 10-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage but Love coughed the ball up after a hit by linebacker Brandon Williams and William Middleton recovered at the Delaware 43-yard line.

Delaware’s Anthony Walters was called for a pass interference penalty that took the ball down to the five-yard line and three plays later Uhaa bulled into the end zone for his first touchdown with 10:56 left in the first quarter.

But Delaware came right back to tie things up as the Hens drove 64 yards on 11 plays, knotting the game at 7-7 when Johnathon Smith scored for two yards out. Smith was a workhorse during the drive, carrying six times for 32 yards, including a 19-yard burst up the middle to the Furman six. A pass interference penalty by Middleton at the Delaware two-yard line set up Smith’s score with 5:55 remaining in the opening stanza.

The Hens had the chance to take the lead moments later after Walters caused a fumble and defensive tackle Siddiq Haynes picked it up and rambled 31 yards to the Furman 33-yard line. But Furman held and the Hens were forced to punt, setting up the Paladins’ second touchdown.

Furman proceeded to march 80 yards on eight plays, using a 29-yard pass play from Jordan Sorrells to Chris Truss and a 30-yard run up the middle by Michael Brown to the one-yard line to set up another one-yard score by Uhaa just two minutes into the second quarter.

Mark Duncan returned the ensuing kickoff to the Furman 40, but an illegal block penalty brought the ball all the way back to the Delaware 13-yard line. On just the second play of the drive, Schoenhoft dropped back and threw to Duncan, but Twitty stepped in front to pick off the ball and cruised 20 yards into the end zone for a 20-7 Furman lead with 12:04 left before halftime. The touchdown return for a touchdown was the first for Furman since the 2004 campaign.

The Hens still had the chance to put some points on the board but were felled by a penalty and a turnover on their next two drives. Delaware drove to the Furman 12-yard line, but an offensive pass interference penalty brought the ball back to the 24 and Jon Striefsky was wide on a 42-yard field goal attempt.

After holding down the Paladins, the Hens had another chance to put some points on the board in the first half and picked up big gains on a 19-yard pass from Schoenhoft to Kervin Michaud and a 16-yard run by Jerry Butler to the Furman 15. But the drive stalled and Schoenhoft’s fourth and one pass from the seven-yard line to Agnone in the end zone was picked off by Middleton with 2:34 left.

Delaware will continue action next Saturday when the Hens return to Delaware Stadium for a 6 p.m. meeting with the University at Albany. Limited tickets remain for the annual Parents and Family Day game.

Game Notes: Due to injuries, sophomore CB Tyrone Grant and sophomore LB Brian Void each got their first career starts...Void started in place of junior Walter Blair who sprained his ankle in practice during the week and did not make the trip...Grant stepped in at cornerback as starer Anthony Walters moved to safety due to a concussion suffered by starting safety Cody Cipalla during the week...both Blair and Cipalla could return to action next week vs. Albany...about 500 Blue Hen fans made the trip to Furman...Kervin Michaud caught a 19-yard pass midway through the second quarter, extending his streak of catching at least one pass to 26 straight games - the fifth longest streak in UD history....Duncan extended his streak to 17 straight games with a reception...Furman had five pass completions go for 29 yards or more.