Delaware wasted little time en route to a one-sided victory over unbeaten Colgate in the NCAA Division I-AA title game, 40-0. The game was played in front of 14,281 cold fans.
Delaware was led by quarterback Andy Hall and running back Germaine Bennett. The Blue Hens racked up 356 total yards.
Delaware, shutting down Colgate's Jamaal Branch, led 20-0 at halftime. in the game telecast by ESPN2.
Local officials were pleased with the turnout. Local fans were put with the large Delaware contingent in the north stands where ESPN cameras were facing.
Both teams end the season 15-1, but Delaware wears the crown.
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Andy Hall led Delaware to its first NCAA Division I-AA title Friday night, throwing two touchdown passes to David Boler in the Blue Hens' 40-0 victory over Colgate.
Delaware (15-1) recorded the only shutout ever and biggest margin of victory in I-AA championship game history.
Blue Hens coach K.C. Keeler delivered on his promise to compete for championships when he was hired two years ago. After all, he had plenty of experience playing and coaching in title games.
He was a starting linebacker in 1979 when Delaware won the Division II title, the school's only other championship.
While coach at Division III Rowan, Keeler's teams reached the championship five times but never won.
Keeler brought in some Division I-A transfers to give Delaware an immediate boost, and one of those was Hall, who left Georgia Tech in search of more playing time. Hall, a senior, was 12-of-20 for 183 yards and ran 12 times for 36 yards.
The Blue Hens continued the dominance they established in the playoffs, outscoring their previous three opponents 109-23.
Delaware led 20-0 at halftime after some early miscues by the Raiders (15-1) and added two more touchdowns in the third quarter to seal the victory.
Colgate, playing in its first title game, had its 21-game winning streak snapped in the finale of a phenomenal season for the small liberal arts college in Hamilton, N.Y.
It is only the second nonscholarship team to make it to the championship game since I-AA was formed in 1978. The other was Lehigh, which lost to Eastern Kentucky in 1979.
The Raiders owed much of their success to running back Jamaal Branch, who set four NCAA rushing records this season and won the Walter Payton Award for the best offensive player in I-AA over two other finalists that included Hall.
But Branch couldn't do much to help Colgate in this game.
He was held to 55 yards on 20 carries. Delaware rolled up 348 yards of total offense, while Colgate had just 157.
The Blue Hens were playing in their first championship game since 1982, when they lost to Eastern Kentucky, and looked right at home with a large contingent of fans wearing yellow and blue who braved the 30-degree temperatures and intermittent snow flurries.
Delaware took control early.
After a bad snap, Raiders punter Jason Sutton got the ball off, but kicked it only 5 yards to his 34. Delaware scored five plays later on Germaine Bennett's 1-yard run.
The Blue Hens got the ball back three plays later when Dominic Santoli sacked Colgate's Chris Brown, who then fumbled the ball. Tom Parks recovered it for the Blue Hens at the Colgate 18.
Hall ran for 14 yards to set up Delaware's next touchdown, his 5-yard pass to Boler at the start of the second quarter.
Things got worse for Colgate after halftime.
The Raiders were pinned on their own 2 and had to punt four plays later, giving Delaware the ball at the Colgate 24.
Antwan Jenkins had a 17-yard run to set up Hall's 9-yard TD pass to Boler.
Colgate had to punt again but was penalized for interfering with Delaware's attempt to catch it. The Raiders then helped Delaware more with a 15-yard penalty for a personal foul that moved the ball to the Colgate 21.
Bennett later scored from 1 yard out to give the Blue Hens a 34-0 lead before the third quarter ended.
Jenkins had a 3-yard touchdown run on Delaware's second possession of the game and added a 2-yarder at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
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Adapted from article on the ESPN website.