Hens win 40-0!!!! Crowned Division I-AA National Champions

The University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens defeated the Colgate Raiders 40-0 in the Division I-AA national title game in Chattanooga tonight.The Hens saved their best for last, shutting down the Colgate offensive attack completely, getting the first road shut out since 1983 in the process.

This is the first I-AA championship for Delaware.

Adv. of Mike’s very own intrepid reporter, Scott, was at the game in Chattanooga, and here is his report:

Scott, here, no longer live on the scene. The report got lost somewhere in the whirlwind holiday tour that took me from Chatty to ‘nati and points in between, but more on that in a moment.

Exiting off I-24 onto Main St, Stephanie and I slowed to a crawl on the busy throughway of Chattanooga’s histortic warehouse district. The normally desolate street, was teeming with cars emblazoned with Delaware tags and Blue Hen paraphenalia, fans, makeshift parking signs, and street peanut vendors. The excitment and the crowds were building toward their epicenters buried just a mere block away.

Rising above the industrial facade, the towering lights of Finley Stadium created a hovering glow the that would last well into the night for the Blue Hen faithful.

After parking the car, we strolled through the parking lot and witnessed the magnitude of the Blue Hen crowd only hinted at in the side street. Generations of Hens fans, swarming about ranging from the long time booster to the coed postponing her Christmas vacation. Smoking barbecues filled the air with visual and sensual signs of the invasion, while victorious marauders hopped on tops of vans and shouted their supremacy to the outnumbered supporters of the supposed Raiders of Colgate. The outcome had been decided in the land of the tailgate long before the battle on the field.

The stadium itself is beautiful with its red brick, however, the layout is not very conducive to getting into it. As we took our seats, the home side was awash in Blue and Gold. The other side was nothing more than a small huddle of maroon that did not stretch pass either 40. Another thing about the layout of the stadium that was disappointing was the seating. Because it was not very steep, visibility was always an issue.

Being so long after the event, I will not regale you with stories of dominance that the Fightin’s exerted. I would call the game a mixture of ecstasy and agony. Winning so convincingly was ecstasy for the Blue Hen fan, however, the agony was the sub-freezing temperatures and a fiance to keep warm, which reminds me of the vending.
I believe that the stadium folks were either unprepared for the temps of the multitudes, because trying to get a hot beverage in that place was a herculean effort, not unlike the one Colgate needed to actually play in the game.
On a side note, Stephanie spirits warmed a bit despite the lack of hot chocolate at the half-time show of the UD band. If Colgate had brought the A-game the band did, they may have scored a touchdown. Being a former band person, that was a treat for Stephanie. I was even impressed with their version of Bohemian Rhapsody which i witnessed them play before but not with as much intensity and precision.

As the game ended and a Blue and Gold wave rushed on the field, we waited for the trophy presentation but were unable to make anything out from the mid-field mob. So, we left to thaw our frozen bones. Leaving the stadium, packs of Delaware fans celebrated as pockets of disillusioned Colgate fans tried to filter out unnoticed, at least the ones that did not leave by the 3rd quarter. They offered meager resistance against the truly victorious chants similar to the resistance offered by their gridiron classmates. All in all, it was a great Christmas gift to me, as the tickets were one one of my presents and a gift to all Blue Hen fans who finally got to see UD football as good as we believe it to be.