No. 3 Seed Delaware to Host Lehigh Saturday in NCAA 2nd Round Playoff Game; #19 Mountain Hawks Advance with 14-7 Win over Northern Iowa
November 29, 2010
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NEWARK, Del. -- A familiar foe from the past will be visiting Delaware Stadium this coming Saturday and the stakes will be high.
The Blue Hens (9-2), ranked No. 5 nationally and the No. 3 seed for the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Tournament, will take on No. 19 ranked Lehigh next Saturday, Dec. 4, in a second round matchup at 12 noon.
The Mountain Hawks (10-2), the Patriot League champion and owners of the nation's longest FCS win streak among active teams, won their eighth consecutive game Saturday afternoon as they traveled to Northern Iowa and came away with a 14-7 victory over the No. 16 ranked Panthers (7-5). Lehigh quarterback Chris Lum connected on two third-quarter touchdown passes to lift the Mountain Hawks to the upset victory in one of the nation's most intimidating venues.
This week's game will be broadcast live on the Blue Hen Radio Network on 94.7 FM WDSD with the pre-game showing starting at 11 a.m. The broadcast will also be available via a live webstream at www.wdsd.com. As of Saturday, the game was not scheduled to be televised, but the contest will be webstreamed live on www.ncaa.com.
Delaware and Lehigh have met 35 times in a storied rivalry that dates back to 1912 but will meet for the first time since 2005 when the Blue Hens posted a 34-33 overtime victory in the season opener at Delaware Stadium. The Hens have downed the Mountain Hawks two straight times, including a 49-22 victory in the 2000 NCAA quarterfinals in Newark in the only post-season matchup between the two Eastern football powers.
Ticket information for the football game is currently available on-line at www.bluehens.com/fan-zone/ncaa-playoff-info.html. Ticket prices are $45 for box seats, $35 for Sections D&K, $30 for sidelines, $20 for end zone general admission, and $5 for UD students in the south end zone. Parking will be $20 for single game patrons and $10 for season patrons who present their playoff parking pass.
The Blue Hens, who entered the final week of the regular season as the nation’s No. 1 ranked team before falling to rival Villanova 28-21 in overtime, will be making their 20th appearance in the NCAA Tournament - and fourth in nine seasons under head coach K.C. Keeler. In their last trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2007, the Hens advanced all the way to the national championship game before falling to top-seed Appalachian State. Delaware captured the NCAA title in 2003 when the Hens swept through the tournament and defeated Colgate 40-0 in the title game at Chattanooga, Tenn. Delaware has captured six national titles, winning wire services championships in 1946, 1963, 1971, and 1972, the NCAA Division II title in 1979, and the I-AA championship in 2003. Delaware was also national runners-up in 1974, 1978, 1982, and 2007.
All games of the tournament will be held at campus sites leading up to the championship game, which will be held for the first time at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas on Jan. 7. Delaware was among four CAA teams to make the tournament, joining William & Mary, which earned the CAA automatic berth, defending national champion Villanova, and New Hampshire. The Southern Conference and Missouri Valley Conference each placed three teams in the tournament.
The tournament field was expanded to 20 teams for the first time this season as the Big South and Northeast Conference were given automatic berths and two at-large opportunities were added.
In second round games on Dec. 4, No. 1 seed Appalachian State (9-2) will host Western Illinois (8-4); Stephen F. Austin (9-2) will host Villanova (7-4); No. 5 seed Eastern Washington (9-2) will host Southeast Missouri State (9-2); No. 4 seed Montana State (9-2) will host the North Dakota State-Robert Morris Winner (late Saturday game); Bethune Cookman (10-1) will host New Hampshire (7-4); Jacksonville State (9-2) will host Wofford (9-2); and No. 2 seed William & Mary (8-3) will host Georgia Southern (8-4).
The quarterfinals will be held on Dec. 10-11 with the semifinals set for Dec. 17 (8 p.m.) and Dec. 18 (12 noon).
The winner of the Delaware vs. Lehigh game will play the winner of the New Hampshire-Bethune-Cookman game in the quarterfinals. Should Delaware defeated Lehigh Dec. 4, the Hens would host the quarterfinals at Delaware Stadium.
