Defense wins as FCS Delaware Blue Hens close spring football drills

Safety Nic Ware scooped up a fumble and began sprinting downfield as whistles blew to conclude the University of Delaware’s annual spring intra-squad football game.

It was a fitting takeaway from a sunny Saturday afternoon that attracted a couple thousand curious fans to Delaware Stadium.

The defense is certainly ahead of the offense at this stage of the Blue Hens’ development under first-year coach Ryan Carty, which is neither unusual nor surprising.

“They already were,” Carty said, alluding to a unit familiar with its system because Carty retained defensive coordinator Manny Rojas.

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“Over the course of 14 practices,” he later added, “I think both sides improved, for sure. But there’s a long way to go in all phases.”

The offense is employing a new system honed by Carty in his previous stints as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at New Hampshire and Sam Houston. It remains a work in progress, though Carty confessed he would have liked to have seen a little more of the latter Saturday.

The day’s only touchdown came on freshman No. 3 quarterback Ryan O’Connor’s second-half 3-yard keeper as the Blue team defeated the White 7-0.

Starting quarterback Nolan Henderson, who missed the last seven games of 2021 after needing surgery on a pelvic area injury, completed 8 of 17 passes for 54 yards.

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“The quarterbacks, I thought, had an average first half and I’ll say average to be nice. I thought it was below average, and I don’t think they would argue with me if we’re being honest,” said Carty, whose afternoon included a stern talk with those quarterbacks.

 “That’s the beauty of a practice like that, whereas in a game you probably got to make sure to walk a little bit softer and make sure the guys knew how positive you were gonna be. Whereas at practice you can tell them ‘Hey this wasn’t very good and we need to make sure it’s better,’ so that’s what we did and we got better.”

Ware’s fumble recovery followed interceptions by freshman cornerback Ty Davis, fullback-turned-linebacker Mateo Vandemia and safety Joe Zubilaga.

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There were some sacks as well as the defense often held its ground, including on several occasions in the red zone. Tommy Walsh batted down a pass on fourth-and-goal from the 7.

“We want to be a championship defense at all levels, in the run and in the pass,” Zubilaga said.