Delaware Returns Home Saturday To Host William and Mary

By Matt Leon

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Delaware Blue Hens will be back home on Saturday night in Newark, as they welcome William and Mary to town for a Colonial Athletic Association clash.

Delaware is coming off a loss to FBS North Carolina on Saturday, 41-14, down in Chapel Hill. The game was much more competitive than that final score would indicate as Delaware was down just 20-14 late in the third quarter before the Tar Heels put the game away down the stretch.

"I think first, the players competed like crazy, played really, really hard," Delaware head coach Dave Brock tells KYW Newsradio. "I thought we played really physical on both sides of the ball. Certainly, I think we'll come back and go into this game this week against William and Mary with a lot of confidence that we can be a physical team up front on both sides. We can run the football with power. Defensively, we can beat blocks and get after the running backs and we're going to be able to need both those things this weekend because William and Mary's a terrific team."

Listen: Dave Brock with KYW's Matt Leon

Delaware ran for 279 yards against the Tar Heels, despite the fact their top two running backs missed the game because of injury. Redshirt freshman running back Thomas Jefferson ran for 163 yards and two scores while sophomore Kareem Williams added 95. Those two look likely to handle the load against the Tribe as well. Brock says everyone is contributing to their success on the ground.

"It's a collective effort," Brock says. "You have to play really complimentary football to be able the run ball well. We've been better on the perimeter blocking. Certainly the offensive line is coming together."

On Saturday, the Blue Hens face a William and Mary team that is off to a 3-1 start. Last week the Tribe shutout Stony Brook, 21-0. Their only loss came on the road against FBS Virginia on September 19th, 35-29.

"Very, very physical team," Brock says. "I think this will be a line of scrimmage football game. I think the game will be ultimately decided by whether or not we can run the ball and stop the run. Right now, they are probably the best in the league at doing both things. They're the best team running the ball, they're the best team probably stopping the run in total. Very physical, very experienced team. Some really, really quality individual players on both sides of the ball."

Delaware lost to the Tribe last season, 31-17, down in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Saturday's game will kickoff at 7:00pm.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.