UnderpReview: Delaware vs. Hofstra

Time:  Saturday, November 7
Noon
Location: Delaware Stadium

About the Teams:

About the Hens:
   
The Hens dropped their homecoming game, 20-8, against James Madison University. The Hens led 3-0 at halftime but couldn’t piece together a strong attack. The Hens had a lot of trouble connecting passes, completing only 19 of 42 attempts. Delaware is now 5-3, (3-3 Colonial Athletic Association). The Hens dropped back to No. 23 in The Sports Network poll.

About the Pride:
   
Hofstra (4-4, 2-3 CAA) is coming off a bye week after losing to the top-25 team New Hampshire, 10-18.  The Pride limited the Wildcats to a 3-0 lead at halftime and managed only 61 rushing yards, -5 in the last second half. Quarterback Cory Christopher completed 20-of-28 passes for 217 yards and rushed for 56 yards in the last game.

Why the Hens can win:

Delaware doesn’t always play like it did against JMU, they came out flat out of their bye week. The Hens were ranked No. 16 for a reason. Overall, Pat Devlin has had a good season that’s been supplemented by his teammates’ performances. They had good showing against ranked opponents and will probably play with vengeance next week.

JMU was a much better team than their record suggested. Just because the Hens lost to a team with a losing record doesn’t mean the Massachusetts win and the Richmond almost-win were flukes. Devlin is still among the best passers in the league and the Delaware defense simply had a bad showing against the Dukes.

Why the Hens could lose:

Our offensive line struggled against JMU, allowing eight sacks of Devlin, and failed to run block well. Delaware running backs managed only 64 yards on the ground. The Hens failed to score a touchdown last weekend. Devlin had two interceptions last week and if the offense continues to stall, expect another Hens loss next week.
The Numbers:

11-5-1 Delaware leads the series against the Pride.

17-0 The Hens defeated Hofstra last season.


Pat’s Prediction:

Delaware will come to play on Saturday. The bye week leading up to the JMU disaster may have been detrimental to the Hens’ momentum, but expect them to be back in form come Saturday. After all, they will have to be in order to keep any playoff hopes alive.

Hens: 21

Pride: 7

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