Ex-SMU QB Mitchell leads Eastern Washington to FCS title at Pizza Hut Park

FRISCO, TX – Bo Levi Mitchell completed his journey from SMU's bench to national champion Friday night, covering Eastern Washington's crowning moment with his signature drama. Mitchell threw three touchdown passes in the final 16 minutes, 48 seconds, as the Eagles stunned Delaware, 20-19, in the FCS national title game at Pizza Hut Park.

His 11-yard pass to a leaping Brandon Kaufman in the back of the end zone tied the score, 19-19, with 2:47 to play. Mike Jarrett's extra point gave the Eagles their first lead, and the defense stopped the Blue Hens on a fourth-and-10 play at their 39 to give Eastern Washington (13-2) its first title.

"To come full circle like this, this is all I could ask for," said Mitchell, a junior from Katy, Texas. "All I wanted to do was play. All my life I wanted to win a national championship. I'm glad I'm here."


Videographer:cityoffriscotx - Speaker: Everson Walls, Grambling State University/Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Champion

Glorious homecoming for EWU's Mitchell

Frisco, TX (Sports Network) - Friday night, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden made a rare visit to Frisco, Texas. The University of Delaware alumnus' trip proved to be in vain, however, as his Blue Hens fell, 20-19, to Eastern Washington in the Football Championship Subdivision title game.

Biden's attendance added a certain cache to the event. Local newscasters documented his arrival as secret service agents moved stolidly through the mass of tailgating fans. On this night, though, the V.P. was overshadowed by Eastern Washington and M.O.P Bo Levi Mitchell, who guided the Eagles to a stunning comeback victory.

Mitchell, who has a penchant for late-game heroics, earned the game's Most Outstanding Player award after throwing a touchdown pass on three straight EWU possessions.

Keeler adamant referees erred in fourth-down call

FRISCO, Texas -- University of Delaware coach K.C. Keeler said he thought the Hens had the game won late in the fourth quarter, on a fourth-and-one play from the 23-yard line. There were less than four minutes left, and Eastern Washington, trailing by six points, gave the ball to running back Mario Brown, who ran into a wall of UD defenders, desperately trying to get the first down.

He was stopped, and the referees came out to measure. Brown was given the first down. But the referees decided to review the spot, making sure their placement was accurate. After the review, they moved the ball back about 6 inches, measured again, and this time Brown had gotten the first down by about an inch.

Three plays later, Eastern Washington scored the winning touchdown, sending UD to a 20-19 loss in the NCAA Division I-AA championship game Friday.

ATTENDANCE: 13,027


Videographer: cityoffriscotx - 2011 Championship in Review

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UD-DSU Agree on Historic Four-Game Football Series

DOVER, Del.- Delaware State University and the University of Delaware announced Tuesday that they have reached a formal agreement that will result in the scheduling of four future football contests. In a joint announcement made by DSU acting President Claibourne D. Smith and UD President Patrick T. Harker at Delaware State's Administration Building, the two universities will play a series of games that will take place on Sept. 8, 2012, Sept. 7, 2013 and Sept. 6, 2014. All three games will be played at the University of Delaware's 22,000-seat Delaware Stadium.

The series will kickoff this fall when the two schools will play a scheduled game on Sept. 19, 2009 at Delaware Stadium. The game time and ticket information will be released later this spring. The 2009 game came about when Furman announced earlier this month that it was dropping out of a scheduled Sept. 19 game at Delaware earlier this month in order to schedule a game at the University of Missouri on that date. In addition to Smith and Harker, also taking part in the announcement were Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler, and DSU head coach Al Lavan.

The DSU Hornets and the UD Blue Hens played for a historic first time in 2007 when both teams earned bids to play in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Series. The first round game, won by the Blue Hens by a 44-7 score, drew a Delaware Stadium playoff record crowd of 19,765, was broadcast live nationally on ESPN, and generated extensive local and national media attention.

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ESPN focuses on UD, DSU

By KRISTIAN POPE and KEVIN TRESOLINI, The News Journal

Failure to meet in football examined

The ESPN show "Outside the Lines" will feature an upcoming segment on the lack of a Delaware-Delaware State football rivalry.

Producers from the show were in Dover on Tuesday to tape interviews with representatives from DSU. They are scheduled to meet with University of Delaware officials in Newark today.

A telecast date has not been announced.

Delaware and Delaware State, two NCAA Division I-AA programs, have never met in a football game. But, as of now, both teams are in contention for a I-AA playoff berth and, under NCAA guidelines, the two could meet in a first-round game Nov. 24 at Delaware Stadium.

Hornets coach Al Lavan said Tuesday he was to be interviewed for the ESPN show with DSU athletic director Rick Costello and senior linebacker Russell Reeves. The network also is planning to tape footage of DSU's game Saturday against Morgan State at Alumni Stadium. Crews shot footage of Delaware's win over Northeastern last Saturday.

"It's good exposure for us," Lavan said. "It is what it is. They are just doing some followup to the recent stories."

The story received national attention when Delaware graduate and former Sports Illustrated reporter Jeff Pearlman wrote a column for ESPN.com that lambasted UD for not scheduling a game with DSU.

DSU (5-1, 4-0) shares the lead in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference; the champion earns an automatic NCAA bid.

Delaware (6-1, 4-1) is second in the CAA's South Division, but in the running for an at-large bid. The overall conference winner earns the CAA's automatic bid.

The 16-team I-AA field will be announced Nov. 18.

The NCAA handbook reads as follows:

1. The teams awarded the top four seeds are placed in the appropriate positions in the bracket (Nos. 1 and 4 in the upper half, and Nos. 2 and 3 in the lower half), and will be paired with teams that are in closest geographic proximity;

2. The remaining teams will be paired according to geographic proximity and placed in the bracket according to geographic proximity of the four pairings previously placed in the bracket.

The four seeded teams are given a chance to host a game if they can meet the I-AA tournament's minimum financial guarantee requirements: $30,000 for the first round, $40,000 for quarterfinals and $50,000 for semifinals. After that, the NCAA's first three criteria for selecting a host site are "quality of facility," "revenue potential" and "attendance history and potential."

While 22,000-seat Delaware Stadium routinely is filled to capacity during the regular season, playoff crowds always are smaller, in part because students have to pay for tickets and most aren't on campus Thanksgiving weekend.

Delaware's State's 6,800-seat Alumni Stadium would not, therefore, be considered for a Hens-Hornets playoff game.

UD-DSU can be done, but when?

By KEVIN TRESOLINI and KRISTIAN POPE, The News Journal

Delaware won't elaborate on refusal to play Hornets

Omar Cuff is concerned only with whom the University of Delaware does play in football, not the teams it doesn't play. But when the Blue Hens' All-American tailback was informed last week that UD and Delaware State had never met in a football game, his expression turned curious.

"They never did?" said Cuff, a Landover, Md., resident whose mother has lived in Wilmington for several years. "I do find that kind of strange. They're so close. They're I-AA, just like us?"

Yes, Delaware and Delaware State are both members of NCAA Division I-AA and are located less than an hour apart.

They have never played because UD has been unwilling to schedule the game. As the more established of the two academically and in football, Delaware has less to gain from a UD-DSU matchup than Delaware State, while DSU has craved a game for many years.

The latest overture was made Tuesday, when Delaware State athletic director Rick Costello contacted UD athletic director Edgar Johnson to discuss the possibility of setting up a game.

Johnson told him he was not interested, but both parties agreed to talk further when the football season is over. If the NCAA does not add a 12th game for Division I-AA, there appears to be an opening on UD's schedule in 2012.

Historically, Delaware State schedules its football games no further than one or two years out. That started to change under former AD Chuck Bell, but the Hornets have many dates open in the next few years, unlike UD, which schedules many years in advance.

"I talked to Edgar, and they are not interested at this point," Costello said. "So, we agreed to wait until the season is over. Right now, the best chance is 2012.

"If they're not interested, then we'll just move on."

Costello's predecessors, Bell and former DSU assistant AD Tripp Keister, made overtures to Johnson in 2004 and 2005. They were rebuffed. Bell believed after talking to Johnson that the game never would be played.

Costello remains optimistic.

"Everyone mentioned it to me when I took this job," said Costello, who was hired in June. "I'm hoping, with Delaware's new leadership [president Patrick Harker], it will get done. Unfortunately, the athletic director [Johnson] doesn't want it.

"I'm going to devote time and energy into the things we can control. If they don't want to play us, then we won't play."

Costello said when he does meet with Johnson after the season regarding a matchup, the Hornets won't settle for a one-game deal. He said DSU would be interested only in a contract for a home-and-home series against Delaware, which means the Blue Hens would have to play at Alumni Stadium, which seats just 6,800.

"We'll play anywhere, any place and anytime," Costello said. "But it would have to be a fair and equitable situation."

After DSU's victory over Hampton (ranked No. 13 in I-AA) Saturday, Costello believes this controversy might be canceled out should the Hens and Hornets make the Division I-AA playoffs.

"We feel like we have a lot to offer. ... It would be great for the kids and great for the state," Costello said. "We'd love to play them. We just beat the No. 13-ranked team in the nation. This was a huge win over a top-ranked opponent. Let's savor the moment. If we met in the playoffs ... it would be great."

Johnson said "it's way too premature" to elaborate on the discussions with Costello and that it's his policy not to "kiss and tell."

Cuff said he isn't interested in the politics of the great First State divide. He also doesn't consider it, as some do, a racial issue, especially when he looks around and sees that nearly half of Delaware's football players, such as Cuff, are black.

DSU is a historically black college created late in the 19th Century because of Delaware's segregated education system, which existed until the 1950s.

It's about football, Cuff said. And the more he thought about it, the more logical a football matchup seemed.

"Next year, let's take West Chester [an annual Division II foe] off the schedule and play them [the Hornets]," Cuff said. "... It would be good for the morale of the whole state."

Escaping from UD's shadow

The Hornets have long existed in the Blue Hens' giant football shadow, and a game against them is one way to emerge from it.

Delaware has won six national championships, has had just eight losing seasons since 1940 and has been to the NCAA playoffs 18 times since the format was introduced in 1973.

Delaware State never has made the NCAA postseason.

DSU junior fullback Adam Shrewsbury, a Middletown High graduate who has several friends attending UD, was raised around a line of thinking that claims the Hornets are lower class and unworthy of playing the Hens.

"I guess their reason why [the game isn't played] is, they have nothing to gain from it," Shrewsbury said of UD. "And if we were to go to their house or wherever, all our fans would be there, and they have respect to lose. Like people wouldn't look at them the same, you know what I'm saying? That's just because people look so down on us, like we're not as good of a team and we can't roll with the big boys."

He wonders why people believe the Hornets would be the underdog in a game against the Hens.

"Anybody is beatable on any given day, just like what happened at Michigan [in its loss to I-AA Appalachian State]," Shrewsbury said. "It would definitely be an emotional game. Football's an emotional game. It would be a great game, a very good game to watch. It would be a championship game."

A UD-DSU matchup could occur in the playoffs, since the NCAA intentionally matches teams that are geographically close.

"That would be cool," said UD linebacker J.T. Laws, a Delaware native and William Penn High graduate. "I think it could be good for the state. But, you know, it's not something that is really a big thing to me. It's never been. I wish Delaware State would play Delaware, or the other way around. ... I always thought if they were meant to play, they would play."

Hornets senior defensive lineman Kelly Rouse said he recently has paid close attention to the topic. Looking at each team's current schedule, Rouse wonders why UD seems to believe it is in a different class.

"Personally, I've been reading the comments saying racism still exists here and 'when UD beats Delaware State,' " Rouse said. "They played a Division II school [West Chester] and we played a Division I-A school [Kent State]. They're not playing anybody that we're not playing or who we can't beat. We played a Top 25 team [Coastal Carolina] and a I-A. All they played was a Division II school and a conference opponent [Towson] who almost lost to Morgan State [DSU's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rival].

"We're putting our time in, and we'll meet them in the playoffs."

Delaware sophomore receiver Mark Duncan said he's received many e-mails and read numerous stories about the UD-DSU standoff and also would relish seeing it resolved.

"Let's get this whole, big, Delaware thing off our backs and show who's the better team," the Rockville, Md., resident said. "It's something that's getting a lot of attention. Let's settle it on the field."

As for an uncomfortable racial undertone, Duncan doesn't buy it.

"I don't think it's a race thing," he said. "I think Delaware being a predominantly white school and DelState being a predominantly black school, maybe some people are going to feel we're not going to play them because of that. It's easy to say that's what's going on. Maybe that would have been the case when we would have played them in soft helmets, but I know that's not the case now."

Coaches' input

Now in his fourth season as DSU's coach, Al Lavan said he's constantly reminded of his predecessors' failure to make the game a reality.

He isn't certain why former DSU coach Bill Collick and former UD coach Tubby Raymond never brought the two programs together.

Collick, a UD graduate, was coach and athletic director at DSU and had a friendly relationship with Raymond, who never pushed for a Hens-Hornets get-together during his reign from 1966 through 2001. Collick made periodic overtures and was rebuffed, but knew he had more important missions.

"We're all proud people," said Collick, now dean of students and football coach at Sussex Tech High. "You want to go to the dance with someone who wants to go with you. I never put a lot of time and effort into [pursuing a game] because I knew better.

"Was it right?" he said of UD's resistance. "I didn't think so. But I knew better. ... There were a lot of positive things we were doing that measured our success."

Lavan said the game could move a step closer to fruition if he and Hens coach K.C. Keeler met.

The two coaches never have been introduced. Perhaps they could set the example, Lavan said.

"Let me put it this way: Students and players will follow leadership," Lavan said. "That's why I've said it's so simple. ... We make it whatever it is, we make it as difficult as it is. It's not complicated. You do what you want to do."

Keeler had been forbidden by higher-ups to comment publicly on the DSU controversy, an example of how sensitive the topic is at UD.

But on Monday he broke that silence and said that DSU fits into his scheduling philosophy of playing more games at 22,000-seat Delaware Stadium.

"If that means Delaware State," Keeler said, "I think it would be great for the state."

Keeler said coaches often get acquainted through recruiting but that Delaware and Delaware State recruit an entirely different set of players. He agreed, however, that he and Lavan could become catalysts in breaking the logjam and setting up a game.

"He's done a great job down there, and I have a lot of respect for what they're doing," Keeler said. "Because of the uniqueness of Delaware, there's a lot of interest in a game."

Lavan said that around 1992 he was asked by a Sports Illustrated reporter his opinion on the lack of black coaches in the NFL. He said the question is similar in tone to the question of why UD won't schedule a game against DSU.

"I said, 'You're really asking the question to the wrong person,' " Lavan said. "Me, I can give you a good answer, but then, so what? What you need to do is ask the guy who's in the decision-making position.

"If I was in the decision-making position, I could give you an answer in three seconds. After that, it's not totally useless but it's insignificant because, in three years, you're going to be asking the same question, until someone wants to get real and not just give you the answer you know is coming even before you ask."

Easy enough to do

Edgar Johnson makes the Blue Hens football schedules. His explanations have followed the same pattern for more than 20 years: The UD schedule is full and Delaware would rather play other schools than DSU. He continues to say Delaware will play Delaware State eventually, but won't say when or why UD has been disinclined so far.

In 2004, when Delaware scheduled conference rival New Hampshire, which it was not required to play that year, in a nonconference game, Johnson said, "We like to play New Hampshire." Likewise, in 2006, UD played league cohort Hofstra in a nonconference game.

Lavan said he believes the national attention brought by a Sept. 20 ESPN.com column, in which UD's resistance was viewed as racially motivated by author and UD graduate Jeff Pearlman, might cause change.

Some wonder, however, if the latest backlash will make UD dig in its heels even more so it isn't perceived as caving in, and thereby agreeing with, the criticism. Johnson isn't saying.

Harker, the new UD president, has pledged to give the issue close scrutiny, with some suggesting his arrival may signal a new way of thinking.

"It sounds complex, but it's not complex," Lavan said. "Just schedule the game."

Door open to Delaware State - University of Delaware football matchup

Photo: Delaware football coach K.C. Keeler said a Hens-Hornets game "would be great for the state." He said he was getting a greater say in nonconference scheduling. Coaching Record: 14-year overall college coaching record of 129-43-1 (.748), including a four-year record of 41-22 record (.651) at Delaware...led University of Delaware to the 2003 NCAA I-AA national title with a 15-1 record...

By KEVIN TRESOLINI, The News Journal

UD coach addresses subject for first time

NEWARK -- The often-debated topic of if and when the University of Delaware Blue Hens and the Delaware State University Hornets should play their first-ever football game against each other had been off-limits for UD coach K.C. Keeler since his hiring in 2002.

That changed Monday.

"I think it would be great for the state, and then I wouldn't have to worry about every time we play a I-AA [opponent] outside of the conference having to have this discussion," Keeler said during his weekly news conference.

Though UD's football program began 36 years before DSU's, the two schools have each fielded a football team for the past 84 years. The two schools did not compete in any sport until 1991. They now traditionally meet in softball and baseball.

Delaware and Delaware State, both NCAA Division I-AA members in football, have never played because UD has been unwilling. Hens athletic director Edgar Johnson has said the schools will play, but has never offered a specific date.

Delaware is the only state in the country with at least two Division I football programs that have not played each other at least once.

The issue often comes up in weeks UD is facing a nonconference opponent. The Blue Hens face Monmouth, a Division I-AA foe, for the first time at 7 p.m. Saturday at Delaware Stadium.

Keeler had never been willing to comment publicly on the UD-DSU controversy. He'd often said that he was told two things when hired: Don't change Delaware's familiar blue-and-gold helmet design, patterned after Michigan's, and leave scheduling and questions about it to Johnson.

The issue, discussed in Delaware for more than 25 years, received national exposure last week because of a column on ESPN.com. This reporter was quoted in that column.

While there has been much speculation over the years as to why UD has refused to play historically black Delaware State, officials around the university traditionally have been reluctant to discuss the matter.

University of Delaware trustee Ruly Carpenter has told The News Journal that football scheduling is the responsibility of the athletics department and that the trustees are not involved.

On Monday, Keeler said that Johnson is giving him a greater say in nonconference scheduling.

Keeler's philosophy, he said, is to continue scheduling a Division II school every year, as UD has with West Chester annually since 1968, play a Division I-A foe every other year and seek I-AA opponents the Blue Hens can play at home.

"I want to play as many games in that stadium as I possibly can," he said, nodding toward Delaware Stadium from a view inside the neighboring Carpenter Center. "I don't want to be traveling all around the world to have to play people.

"If that means Delaware State figures into that, great. I think we'll play them sooner or later, but I know we're booked through 2011."

Delaware Stadium seats just over 22,000 fans. Attendance has averaged 22,280 in two home games so far this season. UD is the only Division I-AA program that has averaged more than 20,000 fans per home game in each of the last eight regular seasons. Eighteen of the last 21 regular-season games have been sellouts.

UD's ability to offer a financial guarantee is an incentive for teams to visit. Therefore, a game between the Hens and Hornets at Delaware Stadium would likely be more lucrative for both than if they played at DSU's 6,800-seat Alumni Stadium.

UD has an opening on its 2012 schedule and has spoken with several schools, but not DSU, Johnson said.

Told of Keeler's comments, Johnson would say only, "I think there are a lot of positives" about a UD-DSU meeting. He confirmed that he and Keeler have spoken more recently about scheduling philosophy.

UD President Patrick Harker, who took office this summer, told The News Journal he is giving the topic close scrutiny as he familiarizes himself with the university and its athletics.

Recently hired Delaware State Athletic Director Rick Costello said that Harker's hiring could signal more open-mindedness on UD's part, though he had not spoken with any UD officials.

University of Delaware's refusal to play Delaware State University goes national

By KEVIN TRESOLINI, The News Journal

NEWARK -- The University of Delaware and Delaware State University have never played a football game against each other, despite being located less than an hour's drive apart and sharing the same NCAA Division I-AA classification.

Delaware, the more established and successful of the two programs, has been the unwilling partner, steadfastly refusing to even discuss setting a date for a game many fans from both schools have long craved.

That has led to frequent charges that UD's constant snubbing is a vestige of the schools' racial histories. Delaware had a segregated school system until the 1950s. Delaware State was created in the late 19th Century as a college for black students, who still make up almost 80 percent of its enrollment.

But the often-heated debate, which had largely been confined to the state of Delaware and fans and alumni of the two schools, spilled into the national media last week.

Jeff Pearlman, a University of Delaware graduate, wrote a scathing column on ESPN.com, the country's most widely viewed sports Web site. It was headlined "Is race the reason Delaware won't play Delaware State?"

Pearlman, as many others have, concluded it must be a factor, since UD has given no sound reason for its ongoing snub of DSU. He wrote the column as an open letter to a prospective UD football recruit, urging him to "Say no to the Blue Hens."

Pearlman wrote: "The University of Delaware's persistent refusal to face Delaware State University in football is cowardly, pig-headed, self-righteous and, worst of all, oozing with racism."

The story quickly became the talk of the town after being posted Thursday. On Friday, a printout of it sat on the check-in table at the Blue Hen Touchdown Club's weekly luncheon at the Newark Country Club, where all of the more than 50 who attended were white and most were more than 50 years old.

Still, some believed Pearlman had made some valid points, though they wished he hadn't worded it so strongly. Gene Trivits also has wondered why the state's two I-AA schools haven't met yet and hates the black eye it gives UD's reputation.

"How long are we going to keep taking this hit?" said Trivits, 75, who received bachelor's and master's degrees from UD. "I've said that to Edgar [Johnson, UD's athletic director], and we're friends. The easiest way is to just schedule the game. I don't understand why we don't -- it would be so convenient -- and then we go out and play Albany and Monmouth. And I don't like West Chester being here, either."

Albany, which Delaware played in 2006 and will play again in 2008, and next Saturday's opponent Monmouth are limited-scholarship I-AA programs from the Northeast Conference, which does not warrant automatic inclusion in the NCAA playoffs. Delaware State is a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, which does qualify its champion for the NCAA tourney, as does Delaware's Colonial Athletic Association.

West Chester is a Division II school located 45 minutes away that Delaware has scheduled annually since 1968, always at Delaware Stadium, and beaten 36 of 39 times.

Some UD fans, however, believe Delaware State, which has never made the I-AA playoffs, hasn't earned the right to play Delaware, a perennial playoff contender and frequent qualifier that has won six national championships.

"Four or five years ago, I would have said, 'No way,' " said UD graduate Tom Runnels. "I just don't think Delaware State has played the competitive level of football Delaware has. They have gotten a lot better, so a couple years down the road, maybe ..."

Runnels added, however, that the schools' geographic proximity "cannot be denied" in reasoning why they should play and agreed that "the division clearly has racial roots."

A guest speaker at Friday's touchdown club luncheon was Nate Beasley, who has a unique perspective on the issue, having played football for both schools.

The Dover Air Force Base High graduate played a year at Delaware State, then transferred to Delaware and played three more. He became one of the Blue Hens' all-time leading rushers from 1973 to '75.

"A football game between Delaware and Delaware State would be such a wonderful thing for the state," said Beasley, who is black. "It just doesn't seem to make any sense that it hasn't happened. It makes you wonder."

Including, he added, for lack of any other valid explanations, where racial histories might fit in.

Pearlman's column had generated about 600 comments as of Saturday.

Johnson, as has been his policy, would not publicly discuss the issue or the ESPN.com piece, other than to deliver what has been his standard line for almost 20 years:

"The game will happen," Johnson said.

He wouldn't say when. Delaware recently scheduled three games with South Dakota State -- one there and two in Newark -- in the next decade, when West Chester also is on the schedule.

"My position, as an alum, is that the mere implication that race has anything to do with it is further proof that they just need to schedule the game," said Paul Zoppi, a 1990 UD graduate. "By avoiding Delaware State, Delaware has turned this into something much bigger than it should be, and I'm embarrassed."

New UD president Patrick Harker, in an e-mail response Saturday, said he is giving the topic close scrutiny.

Harker, who took office this summer, has spoken about the issue with athletic department personnel as he familiarizes himself with UD.

Delaware State needs no arm-twisting, new athletic director Rick Costello said.

"We want to play anywhere, any time," Costello said. "It'll be great for the kids, great for school sprit, great for the state. I see nothing but positives. ... It's mind-boggling that it has happened yet."

Is race the reason Delaware won't play Delaware State?

Delaware State and University of Delaware are in the same classification--NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. It makes one wonder how UD could possibly debate the merits of the arguments put forth by writer Jeff Pearlman and the athletic department leadership at Delaware State University. This game is long overdue, especially in light of the fact that UD schedules division II lightweights that adds no value to their program.

A quick look at the social progress calendar shows that Steve Spurrier's undefeated Bowl Championship Subdivision SEC South Carolina Gamecocks played MEAC South Carolina State before a stadium record 73,095 fans. Mid-American Conference Division I-A Kent State played FCS Delaware State in game three of this season. Big South #22 ranked Coastal Carolina played AT Delaware State in their season opener. BCS #7 ranked Big East Conference Rutgers played MEAC/FCS Norfolk State before a sellout of 44,000 fans at Rutgers Stadium. So, what is University of Delaware problem(s)with DSU other than race?

Here is what Jeff Pearlman has to say about the matter...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Jeff Pearlman

Dear Delaware football recruit:

On behalf of alumni across the nation, I would like to congratulate you on being recruited to play football at the University of Delaware. As you know, our Blue Hens are six-time national champions and perennially one of the top Division I-AA programs in the country. We have produced dozens of NFL players, ranging from Rich Gannon and Scott Brunner to Ivory Sully and Mike Adams. With our explosive passing attack, I am confident that a wide receiver like you could thrive here.

Delaware's a I-AA national power, but it won't even play its next-door neighbor. I also have been informed, however, that you are a student of character, decency and open-mindedness. That, more than anything, is why I am writing this letter: to urge you (and your fellow recruits) not to attend my beloved university.

That's right. Say no to the Blue Hens.

Allow me to be blunt. The University of Delaware's persistent refusal to face Delaware State University in football is cowardly, pig-headed, self-righteous and, worst of all, oozing with racism. As you might know, the two schools -- separated by a mere 50-minute drive from Newark to Dover -- are both ranked in the top 25 of Division I-AA polls. For more than 30 years now, Delaware State has tried to arrange a football game with Delaware, only to be rebuffed time after time. "Name the place and the day, and we'll be there," Rick Costello, Delaware State's athletic director, told me recently. "Delaware-Delaware State would be great for the state, for the students, for ticket sales and school spirit. It's a natural, isn't it?"

You would think so. But within the Delaware athletic department, a law has been established that the Blue Hens will never, ever, ever, ever, ever schedule the Hornets. "We're interested in exploring, but there's no flexibility," Edgar Johnson, the school's athletic director, once told me. "Anyhow, when you begin playing each other it becomes divisive."

I know. Mississippi-Mississippi State. Georgia-Georgia Tech. UCLA-USC. Washington-Washington State. Oregon-Oregon State. UNLV-Nevada. Texas-Texas A&M. Virginia-Virginia Tech. Florida-Florida State. Arizona-Arizona State. Duke-North Carolina. All in-state rivalries, all tearing apart the fabric of regional bliss.

"What a joke," Al Lavan, Delaware State's football coach, told me. "I've been a part of many state rivalries in my career, and they're better than bowl games. Anyone who thinks otherwise has no idea what he's talking about.

"No," says Lavan, "there has to be more to this than just that."

Indeed there is. Unlike the wealthy, white-as-snow University of Delaware (African-American enrollment: 6 percent), Delaware State is a small black college lacking in prestige, finances and facilities (its stadium holds 6,800 spectators; Delaware's holds 22,000). The school came to be in 1891 only because the men running the First State wished not to allow blacks into their grand university. Under the Morrill Act, a state either could open its public educational facilities to all peoples, or start a separate-but-equal school for blacks. Hence, Delaware State.

In the ensuing 116 years, Delaware has treated Delaware State not as academic/athletic brethren, but as a piece of gum affixed to the bottom of its loafer. Del. State is where the scary black people congregate, where "those" types of folk go to college. "You wanna know what I think?" Kevin Tresolini, the Wilmington News Journal's veteran college writer, told me. "I think there are some old rich white guys in the University of Delaware's upper power structure who are afraid this little black school might steal their thunder. They're afraid that if Delaware State beats them it'll raise their stature and lower the University of Delaware's. But I look at it two ways: (a) It's just football, and (b) as an institute of higher learning, aren't you supposed to do the righteous thing?"

Yes, you are. Instead of righteousness, though, the University of Delaware hides behind one lame excuse after another. In the spring of 1991, I wrote an article for The Review, Delaware's student newspaper, titled "Delaware vs. Delaware State: The Sports Rivalry That Never Was." Looking back at the yellowed clip, what leaps off the page is the staggering lameness of Johnson's reasoning. "If you glance at our football schedule," he said, "we're fully scheduled until the year 2000." Forget that college schedules are made to be broken, or that one of the teams Delaware plays annually is the mighty Golden Rams of Division II West Chester (a "traditional rival" the Hens recently stomped for a 14th straight time), or that Johnson arranged a game for last season with the University of Albany and an upcoming clash against South Dakota State, or that Delaware State would be willing to come to Newark in a second's notice.

Oh, yeah. There's also the ol' nobody-wants-to-see-it argument popularized on GoHens.net, a site for blinded Delaware football fans who forget that UD students (oh, them) surely would prefer a game with passion and heart and oomph to yet another battle with, uhg, West Chester "That's what we need to remember here," said Lavan. "At its core, college football is for the students. Not for the alumni, not for the boosters. What do the students want to experience?"

I'm certain you're curious what Johnson and Delaware coach K.C. Keeler have to say about all this. So am I. Unlike the men of Delaware State, however, nobody from Delaware had the guts or principle to express himself, despite my requests for interviews. I've been told that Keeler is open to playing Delaware State, but that his hands are tied. I've been told that Johnson is open to playing Delaware State, but that his hands are tied, too. I've been told that this whole thing has nothing to do with race or class or the fright of losing to an in-state school, and that I'm making a big whoop-to-do out of nothing. I've been told that the Keebler Elf resides in my left shoe, right next to Max Venable and Erin Moran; that Tupac is alive and well and skinning emus in Melbourne; that dogs fly and cats dance; and that Oprah is really a one-legged truck driver named Stu.

In the end, it doesn't matter what we're told. What matters is who we are. What we stand for. What's right and what's wrong, and which side we opt to represent. Are we willing to speak out for what we believe, or do we say nothing and go along with the same ol', same ol'?

Best of luck in your college career. Wherever you wind up I'm certain you'll make an excellent choice.

Sincerely,


Jeff Pearlman
University of Delaware Class of 1994


Jeff Pearlman is a former Sports Illustrated senior writer and the author of "Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero," now available in paperback.