2024 Game Times Announced

[BlueHenBobby]

I hope and believe that UD can beat anyone on their schedule this year. However 8 wins given the impending move up to FBS would be somewhat concerning. The time to upgrade talent, defensive scheme and coaching began the minute the move to FBS became official. The competition will not drop off next year. Hence the need to show improvement this year against what some called our "little league schedule" in the "MEAC-CAA" is imperative. Yes, in the midst of our "lost decade" an 8 win season would have been great and a reason for hope but the competition next year is going to be much stiffer. We won't have another schedule as soft as 2023 for long time to come. Time to show improvement now in 2024. I believe Carty has shown he is capable of doing it having moved the needle forward his first two seasons, but everything has changed with the move up to FBS.

[Cluck U]

Well, we won't have another schedule as soft as BOTH 2023 and 2024. Penn State and Elon pretty much balance out Richmond and Albany (although I'd argue that we have a better chance at going 2-0 against the Ticks and the Danes, especially since Albany's QB has transferred). The rest are games against the same teams (we switched home/away with nova, Campbell and NCA&T) or just swapping junk.

2023
at Stony Brook
at Penn St
St. Francis
New Hampshire
Bye
Duquesne
North Carolina A&T
at Hampton
at Towson
Elon
at Campbell
Villanova

2024:
8/29 Bryant (6-5 last year =2023 Towson (4-4, 5-6) - UD was away last year)
9/14 at NC A&T (2023 was home last year)
9/21 Penn (6-4 last year = 2023 7-5 playoff participant Duquesne - UD was home last year)
9/28 Sacred Heart (2-9 last year, but = 2023 STFU (4-6 last year)...SH beat STFU 37-34 last year - UD was home last year)
10/5 at Monmouth ( 3-5 last year = 2023 at Hampton, also 3-5)
10/12 Maine (1-7 CAA last year =2023 Stony Brook (0-8 CAA last year) - UD was away last year)
10/19 at Richmond (6-2 in CAA last year = 2023 PENN STATE - UD was away last year)
10/26 UAlbany (7-1 in CAA last year = 2023 Elon (6-2 in CAA last year) - UD was at home)
11/9 Rhode Island (4-4 in CAA last year) =2023 UNH (4-4 in CAA last year) - UD was at home)
11/16 Campbell = (2023 was away)
11/23 at Villanova = (2023 was home)


Certainly 8 wins is expected against that schedule. 9 would be better. No playoff games, though.

[BlueHenBobby]

For sure 2024 is a soft schedule when you look at 2025. Albany will not be even remotely as strong this year without Puffenberger. Richmond was an enigma to me last year. I watched them lose to Hampton and they looked awful. How they finished where they did is certainly beyond me. I doubt they will be a CAA juggernaut. Nova is Nova. They kicked our **** last year and seem to find a way to beat us every year. Never-the-less it is time for Delaware to leave the CAA on a really high note. Hopefully UD picks up a few more transfers before summer camp starts especially linemen (on both sides of the ball).

[Caribbean Hen]

Good mix of times for our final Little League season.

Let’s not pretend the “Little League” was not very kind to our Delaware Blue Hens

The way college sports is going, the little leagues and High school sports will be where it’s at for a lot of fans going forward

The AirBnb USA conference hasn’t really aroused my affection just yet. We will see

[Bluewyn Gold]

Let’s not pretend the “Little League” was not very kind to our Delaware Blue Hens

Kind in what ways over, say, the last 10-15 years? How far back do we need to look to argue THAT point?

Attendance and season ticket sales don't lie. In any type of business, this sort of consistent & precipitous downsloping trendline over a decade would result in heads rolling, if not the business collapsing. There is no question why the FBS move was made. It wasn't because Little League football had been kind at all to the Blue Hens.

Attendance.jpg (21.45 KiB) Viewed 434 times

[Caribbean Hen]

Let’s not pretend the “Little League” was not very kind to our Delaware Blue Hens

Kind in what ways over, say, the last 10-15 years? How far back do we need to look to argue THAT point?

Attendance and season ticket sales don't lie. In any type of business, this sort of consistent & precipitous downsloping trendline over a decade would result in heads rolling, if not the business collapsing. There is no question why the FBS move was made. It wasn't because Little League football had been kind at all to the Blue Hens.

Attendance.jpg

You have to go back 50 plus years to about 1971. That’s the 1849 commencement of the golden era of Delaware football for me. The Tubby Raymond Wing T 300 win era put Delaware football permanently on the map and one could make a case that it helped put the state of Delaware on the map… Small college power … Where are you from? Delaware…. Oh yea how bout those Blue Hens

One of the main reasons people are still going to Delaware football games is because of the fine reputation it built due to the golem era and still maintaines today, despite the efforts to bring it down. The fact that Delaware is still a national leader in FCS attendance says a lot.

So if it wasn’t for that majestic era of Blue Hen football Tubby built, what might a Delaware football game look like today? a basketball game? … we will never know

So the “Little League’ ran it’s course but no reason to ridicule it

[Bluewyn Gold]

You have to go back 50 plus years to about 1971...

So the “Little League’ ran it’s course but no reason to ridicule it.

A 50+ years ago was...well, a half a century ago, which underscores the point that the subdivision hasn't served UD well for many, many years. Most alive weren't around 50 years ago.

As far as UD still being a leader in FCS football despite the precipitous drop in annual attendance, that speaks exactly to the decline I cited. The FCS ain't close to what it used to be in terms of fan interest or competitiveness. Outside a handful of teams, much of it is just poor quality football and a challenge to watch, as FCS attendance numbers across the board and competitiveness versus FBS teams reveal. The perception that it's "Little League" isn't mine alone, whether you agree or not.

Personally, I'll have no reason to follow this level of play once the Hens move on, and I certainly won't. Your mileage may vary.

[Maddog@76]

Let’s not pretend the “Little League” was not very kind to our Delaware Blue Hens

Kind in what ways over, say, the last 10-15 years? How far back do we need to look to argue THAT point?

Attendance and season ticket sales don't lie. In any type of business, this sort of consistent & precipitous downsloping trendline over a decade would result in heads rolling, if not the business collapsing. There is no question why the FBS move was made. It wasn't because Little League football had been kind at all to the Blue Hens.

Attendance.jpg

You have to go back 50 plus years to about 1971. That’s the 1849 commencement of the golden era of Delaware football for me. The Tubby Raymond Wing T 300 win era put Delaware football permanently on the map and one could make a case that it helped put the state of Delaware on the map… Small college power … Where are you from? Delaware…. Oh yea how bout those Blue Hens

One of the main reasons people are still going to Delaware football games is because of the fine reputation it built due to the golem era and still maintaines today, despite the efforts to bring it down. The fact that Delaware is still a national leader in FCS attendance says a lot.

So if it wasn’t for that majestic era of Blue Hen football Tubby built, what might a Delaware football game look like today? a basketball game? … we will never know

So the “Little League’ ran it’s course but no reason to ridicule it

I "roger" your statements CARIB and hear them Lima Charlie and agree 100%. Soon a lot of FBS teams will be referring to UD as "Little Leaguers". It's the old adage- What would you rather be, A big fish in a small pond, or a little fish in a big pond. There is no right or wrong answer. To each their own. Stay safe Carib. Wayne

[BlueHenBobby]

I agree that UD will likely be a smaller fish in the overall FBS big pond for the foreseeable future. I do believe UD can rise to the top of CUSA, however the reality of CUSA is that it is a G5 (or whatever the number is now) conference. There will be bowl games for CUSA but not graduation to a P4 status. All this for the foreseeable future. I certainly don't expect that in my lifetime UD will ever be a P4 team (I'm 70 years old). However this is the path all the ongoing changes in college football have forced UD on. My big concern for the near term is how well prepared UD will be for next year (2025). I'm not convinced the decision to move up was based on a well hatched and executed plan (like JMU), but I hope for the best believing we have a capable AD and coach.

[Caribbean Hen]

You have to go back 50 plus years to about 1971...

So the “Little League’ ran it’s course but no reason to ridicule it.

A 50+ years ago was...well, a half a century ago, which underscores the point that the subdivision hasn't served UD well for many, many years. Most alive weren't around 50 years ago.

As far as UD still being a leader in FCS football despite the precipitous drop in annual attendance, that speaks exactly to the decline I cited. The FCS ain't close to what it used to be in terms of fan interest or competitiveness. Outside a handful of teams, much of it is just poor quality football and a challenge to watch, as FCS attendance numbers across the board and competitiveness versus FBS teams reveal. The perception that it's "Little League" isn't mine alone, whether you agree or not.

Personally, I'll have no reason to follow this level of play once the Hens move on, and I certainly won't. Your mileage may vary.

Well, at least you recognize FCS used to be good because following Delaware now in CUSA will be like following what FCS was ….. only no playoffs

CUSA is basically an FCS all Star conference

Of course they overall play in the CAA went down but really you’re not gonna see much difference with the CUSA teams then you would get with Richmond, William and Mary, Villanova, Elon and New Hampshire.

Check out the reply to Sam Herder from Stan Becton

https://twitter.com/SamHerderFCS/status ... 2720214447

[Bluewyn Gold]

Well, at least you recognize FCS used to be good because following Delaware now in CUSA will be like following what FCS was ….. only no playoffs

I-AA was fine for UD for a time. However, I don't agree at all with the second half of your comment.

The competitiveness of Delaware's regular season schedule will be SIGNIFICANTLY better than it's ever been in 2025 and beyond, especially when we add in the nonconference opponents. The quality of play on the whole will be evident to anyone who knows anything about college football.

As for what the FCS post-season has become, I won't miss it in the least. Judging by recent attendance at UD home playoff games (I was one of the few in the grandstands!), neither will many others. Again, your mileage may differ, and I completely respect that.

[Caribbean Hen]

Well, at least you recognize FCS used to be good because following Delaware now in CUSA will be like following what FCS was ….. only no playoffs

I-AA was fine for UD for a time. However, I don't agree at all with the second half of your comment.

The competitiveness of Delaware's regular season schedule will be SIGNIFICANTLY better than it's ever been in 2025 and beyond, especially when we add in the nonconference opponents. The quality of play on the whole will be evident to anyone who knows anything about college football.

As for what the FCS post-season has become, I won't miss it in the least. Judging by recent attendance at UD home playoff games (I was one of the few in the grandstands!), neither will many others. Again, your mileage may differ, and I completely respect that.

2025 does have some interesting games, 2024 is gonna be a tough one.

Here is an interesting article from Sam Herder on some of the scheduling issues FCS and G5 could face going forward. All speculation, but a nice read.

https://herosports.com/fcs-future-of-fc ... ames-bzbz/