Local College Notebook: DSU, UD like having spotlight

By Andy Walter

DOVER — Early in the week, an online promotion just happened to catch Danny Rocco’s eye.

The ad was for ESPN-2’s telecast of today’s Delaware State-Delaware football game.

Rocco, the Blue Hens’ coach, admits he was kind of pumped about it. He brought it up a team meeting the next day.

“My kids can tell when I’m excited,” said Rocco. “I was just genuinely excited about all those different things.

“We’re going down to Dover, this is awesome. It’s a night game. ... And the (TV) coverage is not behind the paywall. I think our players are genuinely excited about all that. Both teams are going to want to go out there, perform and put something out there that represents who they are and what they’re capable of doing.”

Indeed, while there will only be a limited number of DSU family and friends on hand in Alumni Stadium for today’s 6 p.m. matchup between eighth-ranked Delaware (3-0) and Delaware State (2-1), there’s the potential for a lot more people to watch the 10th edition of the Rte. 1 Rivalry.

ESPN-2 reaches approximately 90 million U.S. households.

While both programs have had many of their games shown on various streaming services, the Hens haven’t appeared on one of ESPN’s main networks since the 2011 FCS national championship game when they lost to Eastern Washington.

Of course, since both teams are from Delaware, today’s telecast will also be putting the First State and its football on display.

Blue Hen defensive end Frank Burton III is a William Penn High grad whose father played at DelState. He sees today’s game as a big chance for everybody involved.

“It definitely highlights and showcases what ... the state of Delaware brings to the game football,” Burton said about the rivalry. “This is a great opportunity to showcase both of our changing cultures and just bring the best foot forward. I believe, for both of our programs, there’s going to be a lot of prominence ... for the next couple years.”

Vote to decide CAA title

The race for the first — and presumably last — Colonial Athletic Association spring football title may come down to the last team standing.

With more league programs ending their spring seasons early for COVID-19 reasons, there are now just two CAA games that remain scheduled. Both games are next weekend, with Delaware (3-0 CAA) going to Villanova (2-1) and James Madison (2-0) hosting Richmond (3-0).

A committee of CAA athletic directors whose teams are not in contention will then vote on which program receives the conference’s automatic NCAA FCS playoff bid.

With JMU currently No. 1 and the Hens at No. 7 in the NCAA’s FCS committee rankings, wins by both the Dukes and Delaware would presumably make things simple. Both teams would make the 16-team playoff field with one going as an at-large entry.

But if the Wildcats and Spiders win, the CAA vote would be very interesting.

Delaware has already been named as one of 14 schools that would host a first-round playoff game — if they make the field.

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, where only DSU, Howard and South Carolina State played games, won’t have an automatic playoff berth. That leaves six at-large berths.

Even with all the cancellations, CAA commissioner Joe D’Antonio said he still thinks it makes sense to have an FCS national playoff.

“None of us have a crystal ball for this thing,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’re not controlling COVID-19, it’s controlling us. I credit our student-athletes, our coaches, our administrators and our conference staff with, under the circumstances, doing the best job that we possibly could do.

“Some conferences have not had the significant stoppages that we’ve had. Other conferences have had just as many as we’ve had — if not more. ... If there’s going to be a playoff, I’m perfectly fine with that.”

College golf

Hornets win Navy tourney: The Delaware State women’s golf team won the five-team Navy Spring Invitational in Annapolis, Maryland, last Friday.

Freshman Amber Pennington finished day two with an even par for a second-place overall score, bettered only by Towson senior Julia Calomiris. Junior Taylor Simoneau shot 78-83 over the two days to finish tied for third. Nattavadee Khunsri carded an 80 — five better than her first day’s score to come in eighth overall in a field of 28 players.

“This was a very competitive field, and we were hoping to use this tournament as a building block for our program,” said DSU coach Rick McCall Jr. “So to win this event is a big step forward for our team. I couldn’t be more proud of our ladies and the effort they put forth this weekend.”

The Hornets had a team score of 654, six shots better than second-place Towson.

“Amber played really well today,” McCall said. “She was having fun and so were the rest of the team. It was exciting to see.”

Notes

The Wesley College softball team (9-5) is in the middle of a two-week pause from its season. The Wolverines aren’t slated to play again until they host Cabrini on April 16, when they’ll still have 11 games remaining. ... The Wesley men’s soccer program plays its final game today when it hosts Immaculata at 4:30 p.m. Steve Clark, who has been the Wolverines’ coach for the last 30 seasons, goes into his finale with a record 299-252-39. ... Former Woodbridge High football standout Dajon Emory, who finished his career as a defensive lineman at Arkansas State, is hoping to draw the attention of pro scouts. ... Malik Curry, a former basketball standout at St. Elizabeth High, is transferring from Old Dominion to West Virginia for his last college season.