Spring Football Update: Delaware Blue Hens

By Matt Leon

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The University of Delaware football team is about a quarter of the way through its spring practice schedule as they work towards the annual Blue-White Spring Game on May 7th.

"The guys have done a great job," Delaware head coach Dave Brock tells KYW Newsradio. "We had a really long off-season program - running, lifting. I think we're much stronger, I think we're in great physical condition. Through the first four days of practice we've had great effort, a lot of guys making plays."

Listen to the entire interview with Delaware head coach Dave Brock

Delaware has a lot of talent returning from last year's 4-7 team, a team that was one of the nation's youngest. Despite the losing record, the Blue Hens showed some real flashes in 2015, picking up wins over top shelf CAA teams New Hampshire and William and Mary.

Delaware held opponents to 20.9 points a game last season and Brock likes what he sees on that side of the ball this spring.

"Defensively, we really have 20 guys back that played 250-300 snaps for us," Brock says. "You watch them run around, they're hitting on all cylinders right off the bat."

On offense, Delaware was very good running the football last year, but the passing game struggled and that is something that is getting a lot of attention this spring. In fact, Brock has taken over coaching the quarterbacks. Delaware averaged just over 67 yards a game through the air last year. Joe Walker, who will be a redshirt sophomore this coming season, started ten games in 2015, but senior Blake Rankin and redshirt freshman Pat Kehoe are also key names on the depth chart.

"It's full blown competition," Brock says. "Anytime that you don't have the success that you'd like to have and you don't get the results that you'd like to have, you want to create as much competition as you can and put them in positions where they're going to make the plays that they need to make to earn the job that they want. So we're out there competing. We're having a blast, we're having a good time doing it and I would imagine we'll have a starter in training camp. It won't come out of spring practice."

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