The Review

Issue date: 10/23/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Steven Gold The gates at Delaware Stadium were locked on Saturday.

During each football season there is one weekend when Delaware fans cannot cheer their beloved team. The team buses stood still and WVUD did not broadcast a single down. This is the most dreaded time for football fans - the bye week.

The Hens (6-1, 4-1 Colonial Athletic Association) had the traditional week of rest amid talks of a championship run. Head coach K.C. Keeler knows how important this past bye week is en route to a shot at winning the conference title.

"We have to take a deep breath. The guys get to look at the next four weeks of their lives and get ready because we aren't the team we want to be yet," Keeler said. "We have a chance to make that run. I don't know if we can do it or not, but we have a chance."

He said the team spent the last half hour of every practice last week thinking about its upcoming opponent, Navy. The Hens have not been as crisp the last few weeks and this trend cannot continue if the players want their seventh win this weekend. Keeler also hopes for a little luck against Navy.

"I don't know what the scheduling gods have in mind for this one," Keeler said. "Hopefully [Navy] will be looking ahead to Notre Dame the week after us and we can catch them."

Keeler is not the only person excited for and focused on the Navy game, even with the week off.

Sophomore tight end Josh Baker said Delaware has looked forward to the Navy matchup since the schedule first came out, even though the coaches remind the players to think about one game at a time.

"Anytime we can get off our feet for a bit and watch some film, it is a good thing, especially with Navy's high-powered offense that they used against Pittsburgh," Baker said.

Delaware sophomore defensive back Charles Graves agreed with Baker and said whenever the team has extra time to better themselves is a positive thing. Improving is more important to the Hens than resting, because the game is more mental than physical.

"We [did] a lot of film work the [last] two weeks to prepare for Navy's triple-option offense, so hopefully they won't have any surprises," Graves said.

This past weekend was not just a bye week for the team, but also for the fans as well.

With a week off, the concern for all major football promoters is the same for the Cockpit, the UD student fan group. Leaders of the Cockpit wonder if fans will come back to Delaware Stadium after the three weeks off until the next home game.

Continued...

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