Senior running back Jo Silver rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries to lead Delaware to a 20-13 victory over Louisiana on Wednesday at the 68 Ventures Bowl in Mobile, Ala.
Louisiana (6-7) trailed by seven when it took possession on its own 7-yard line with 1:41 to play. The Rajin’ Cajuns moved the ball to the Delaware 7-yard line, but the game ended when Lunch Winfield’s third-down pass into the end zone was incomplete.
Delaware (7-6) quarterback Nick Minicucci was limited to 50 passing yards in the first half, but completed 19 of 30 passes for 176 yards and a TD. Sean Wilson led Blue Hens receivers with eight catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. Kyre Duplessis added five receptions for 69 yards.
Winfield completed 21 of 36 passes for 231 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also ran for a team-high 40 yards on 14 carries as Louisiana’s four-game winning streak was snapped.
Delaware led 7-0 after one quarter, 10-3 at halftime and 20-6 entering the fourth.
The Blue Hens opened the scoring on Silver’s 61-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Louisiana made it 7-3 on Tony Sterner’s 22-yard field goal with 7:05 left in the second quarter, but Delaware regained a seven-point lead when Nate Reed kicked a 33-yard field goal with 28 seconds remaining in the first half.
Delaware was up 17-3 after Miniccucci tossed a 35-yard TD pass to Wilson and Reed added the point-after kick with 12:40 remaining in the third. Reed’s second field goal, a 27-yard kick, extended Delaware’s lead to 20-3 with 6:59 left in the third.
The Rajin’ Cajuns trimmed their deficit to 20-6 on Sterner’s 39-yard field goal with 2:31 to go in the third, and were within seven after Shelton Sampson Jr. caught an 8-yard TD pass from Winfield and Sterner made the PAT with 7:49 to play. The TD came after Louisiana blocked a field goal.
