Sonny
Riccio Named Starting
Quarterback
NEWARK, DE
(August 18, 2004) -- University of
Delaware football coach K.C. Keeler named
redshirt-junior Sonny Riccio his starting
quarterback on Wednesday
afternoon.
Riccio, a
transfer from the University of Missouri,
has been in competition with
redshirt-sophomore Ryan Carty for the
starting job during spring workouts and
pre-season practice. Keeler, as expected,
named his starter the day before the
team's first scheduled scrimmage on
Thursday.
The
defending national champion Blue Hens have
a void to fill at quarterback with the
graduation of Andy Hall. Hall, a finalist
for the Walter Payton Award last year, is
currently in the NFL and listed as the No.
4 quarterback on the Philadelphia Eagles
depth chart. Hall quarterbacked the Blue
Hens to a 15-1 mark last season and their
first national title since
1979.
"We feel
good about both quarterbacks and their
ability to lead the team," said Delaware
offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca.
"Both Sonny and Ryan have continued to
improve throughout the 13 practices we've
had thus far.
"We feel
like we can win with both of them," said
Ciarrocca, "but Sonny has a slight edge.
They both can lead this offense. However,
Sonny's strengths as a quarterback give us
a little better opportunity to be a
successful offense at this point and
time."
Riccio, a
native of Ellwood City, PA was the No. 2
quarterback at Missouri last year, behind
Heisman Trophy candidate Brad Smith.
Riccio appeared in 11 games, including a
134-yard, two-touchdown day against Ball
State. He also threw for a touchdown
against Nebraska off of a fake field
goal.
In the
spring game last April, Riccio was 8 of 13
for 152 yards, including a 39-yard
touchdown pass.
Carty, a
native of Branchburg, NJ, appeared in
eight games last year as the back-up to
Hall. He was 8-of-17 for 114 yards last
year, including a career-high 43 yards
against Richmond. He started the spring
game and completed 5-of-7 for 36 yards and
a touchdown.
Delaware
will scrimmage for the first time this
season on Thursday in Delaware Stadium
beginning at 11 a.m.
- DDD -
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© 2004, University of Delaware. All
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