Absence of stars shows in HU’s loss
HAMPTON — Delaware continued to prove why it is one of the top FCS teams in the country on Saturday.
The Blue Hens walked into Armstrong Stadium and left with a 47-3 win over an injury-riddled Hampton. With the loss, Hampton fell to 3-4 overall (1-3 Coastal Athletic Association) and has been outscored 108-13 in its past two games.
HU coach Robert Prunty said the message in the locker room after the game was simple: “tough times don’t last, tough people do.”
Hampton was without starting quarterback Chris Zellous and top running backs Darran Butts and Elijah Burris, all out with undisclosed injuries. It was the second straight game missed for Burris. Those three have been stars for the offense all season and have made up most of its production.
Despite the injuries, Prunty refused to use them as an excuse.
“We’ve run into some rough spots, but we just have to continue to get better and keep working,” Prunty said. “I’m not gonna allow injuries to be an excuse because everyone has injuries. That’s not gonna be our way. We got beat, we got beat in all phases of the game.”
The three stars’ absence clearly hurt the Hampton offense, which totaled 216 yards and averaged just 4.3 yards per play. The Pirates punted on all but one of their 11 drives, and their only points came on a 30-yard field goal in the second quarter from Brian Csehoski.
Graduate student Jared Lewis, a Delaware State transfer, got the start at quarterback for Hampton. Lewis played briefly during the Pirates’ 61-10 loss to Monmouth last week, but according to Pro Football Focus, this was his first start since October 1, 2022.
Lewis finished the day 4 for 15 through the air for 47 yards.
“He looked good in practice last week, he did a good job,” Prunty said. “It was tough out there today. He didn’t know he was going to start until we found out Chris (Zellous) was out (Thursday). I thought Jared did a good job, I really did. Under the circumstances, I thought he fought through it.”
Malcolm Mays ultimately took over under center for Lewis during the Pirates’ second drive of the third quarter. Mays started or played in every game last year, but hadn’t played a snap this season until Saturday.
Mays finished 1 for 5 through the air for 26 yards.
“We felt that if it presented itself, we would like to get Malcolm in there too,” Prunty said. “It was tough, but at least we got both of them experienced.”
With Butts and Burris out, the responsibility of generating anything in the run game was placed on Tymere Robinson’s shoulders.
Robinson finished with 20 carries for 119 yards, an average of about 6 yards per carry. Before the game, Robinson had just 12 carries for 39 yards on the season.
“For Tymere to carry the ball 20 times, that shows how tough he is,” Prunty said. “He’s a tough kid. He got his role, went in there and played hard. I was
proud of him.”
Delaware was dealing with injuries of its own on the offensive side of the ball. Starting quarterback Ryan O’Connor missed the game and was replaced by Zach Marker.
Marker, a transfer from Iowa Central Community College, made the most of his opportunity and accounted for two touchdowns.
Through the air, Marker was 17 of 28 for 239 yards and a touchdown. He made a few plays with his feet, finishing with 37 rushing yards and a score.
Marker spread his targets out among the Delaware wide receivers relatively evenly, but Jourdan Townsend made the
most of his action in the passing game.
Townsend had 88 receiving yards, including a 59-yard catch. He also had an 82-yard punt return for a touchdown early in the first quarter.
Delaware scored on seven of its 11 drives, but the Pirates’ defense was able to step up in the second half and only allowed nine points.
“I wish we could’ve played like that the first half,” Prunty said. “But they played well in the second half, they came out and showed some fight. We just couldn’t get anything going offensively.”