After perfect October, can Blue Hens have a November to remember with questions at QB?
Delaware closed a perfect October on Saturday with a 51-13 rout at Towson.
It raised the Blue Hens’ record to 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the Coastal Athletic Association, where they are perched in first place.
But none of that will matter if Delaware doesn’t have a November to remember.
That was coach Ryan Carty’s message to his team Saturday as it left Johnny Unitas Stadium. It begins our five takeaways from Saturday’s win:
'Championship month'
Delaware has had unbeaten Octobers before, including as recently as 2018, when that success didn’t carry over into the subsequent month.
A CAA championship, its first in the fall since 2010, and first-round FCS playoff bye will be Delaware’s if it can finish the regular season by beating Elon at home this week, winning at Campbell on Nov. 11 and home against Nemesis Villanova on Nov. 18.
CAA STANDINGS: Where are Blue Hens?
“This is championship month,” Carty said. “Every week is a championship game. We got our first conference championship game this week against Elon and we’re gonna be ready to go.
“But we have to practice really hard, we have to prepare really well, and we’ve got to stay the course and commit to each other and play really, really hard. And we have to finish every game. That’s what we did today.”
Elon (4-4, 4-1) was off Saturday so benefits from an extra week of prep for the visit to Delaware.
Quarterback curiosity
Who’ll play quarterback for Delaware on Saturday remains to be seen.
Ryan O’Connor, who started the first six games, missed his second straight with an injury, though he did partake in some pregame drills.
Zach Marker had his second strong start but appeared to re-injure the shoulder he hurt at Penn State on Sept. 9 on a late second-quarter play at Towson and didn’t return. The first injury caused him to miss four games.
Carty isn’t particularly fond of discussing players’ injuries or when they might be available to return, especially a quarterback, so this week will be a mystery.
Marker shows his talent
Marker completed his first 16 passes, breaking Bill Vergantino’s school record of 11 to start a game in 1992, also against Towson, that Nolan Henderson tied in the spring of 2021 at South Dakota State. He was one off Henderson’s school record of 17 straight completions in a game, which Henderson did twice last year.
Marker finished 16-for-18 for 307 yards with two touchdowns.
EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED: 10 memorable games from Delaware-Towson football rivalry
He also ran for 44 yards, but Delaware may have let him do that one time too many. He was sacked twice but likely avoided others with his speed and elusiveness.
“He’s one of the fastest players on our team and we’re excited he gives you that element,” Carty said. “That was one of the reasons we recruited him. He was able to do a lot of the things you like in a quarterback in our offense.”
First-year Towson coach Pete Shinnick was impressed.
“I thought their quarterback played extremely well,” Shinnick said. “When some of our best tacklers are having trouble tackling him, hats off to him because I thought he did a great job. We probably had a couple sack opportunities that he evaded and got out of.”
Difficult to defend
Delaware piled up 619 yards, its most in two years under Carty.
It was nicely balanced between passing (386) and running (233), even though Delaware was missing its second-leading rusher Kyron Cumby.
Delaware averaged 8.7 yards per play.
“They are firing on all cylinders because every position they have. Once they touch the ball, something good can happen,” Shinnick said. “You gotta cover every inch of the field in order to stop them and we didn’t.”
True facts
For the second time this year, Delaware did not have a single punt. That also happened in the opener at Stony Brook.
Marcus Yarns’ five touchdowns – four rushing and one on a 75-yard pass play where he ran most of those yards after the catch – equaled the second most in school history behind Omar Cuff’s seven at William & Mary in 2007.
Keeno Arrington needed just five tackles Saturday to lead Delaware in that category.
Delaware was 8-for-11 on third-down conversations and didn’t attempt any on fourth down. Towson was 3-for-14 on third- and fourth-down conversion tries.
Have an idea for a compelling local sports story or is there an issue that needs public scrutiny? Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware Blue Hens football team tries to make it November to remember
