Friday Fast Facts – Delaware Week

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Friday Fast Facts – Delaware Week

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Leading off … 

— “T.I.P.S” … My weekly written preview, along with my predictions for CU’s game against Delaware,  can be found here.

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The Big Picture …

— Another new rival … CU is playing Delaware for the first time, a weekend after playing Georgia Tech for the first time. When was the last time the Buffs faced new opponents in back-to-back games? … You have to go back to September of 2008, when the Buffs played Eastern Washington and West Virginia for the first time in back-to-back games;

— Why the “Blue Hens”? … Here’s how you can be the smartest fan at your tailgate on Saturday … From the University of Delaware home page:

• In the Revolutionary War, the Delaware Regiment contained eight companies. One was led by Captain Jonathan Caldwell, who owned a farm in the Kent County town of Felton. Caldwell was fond of cockfighting and brought along some Blue Hens. Stories of varying reliability say he brought them onto the battlefields or the men from his company rushed the enemy screaming “We’re sons of the Blue Hen and we’re game to the end.” What is consistently noted is the birds’ ferocity and success in fights. The regiment shared some of these same attributes and came to be known as the Blue Hens’ Chickens.
• Blue Hens are not actually blue. Blue hens were given the moniker because their feathers had a blue-ish tinge. Many are actually black or brown, and it’s the males who are more “blue” than the “blue hens” … 

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— How many more sell outs?  … As of this writing, the Georgia Tech and Wyoming games are the only two sellouts out of CU’s seven-game home slate. A quick look at the tickets available for the Delaware game (see available seats here) shows hundreds tickets left for sale;

— The ESPN Power Index … To open the 2025 season, despite CU being a 5.0-point underdog according to Las Vegas, the ESPN Power Index gave CU a slight 52.7% chance of winning over Georgia, with Yellow Jackets given a 47.3% chance at victory. This weekend, with the CU a 23.5-point favorite over Delaware, the Buffs are given a 93.5% chance of winning, with the Blue Hens given only a 6.5% chance at victory;

— The game will be telecast nationally by Fox, with Jason Benetti on play-by-play, Robert Griffin III on color, and Alexa Landestay on the sidelines …  850 KOA radio will have Mark Johnson with the play-by-play, and former CU head coach Gary Barnett as the analyst.

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Player Notes …

— Hey, Don’t I Know You? … Hard as it may be to believe, Colorado and Delaware have a player in common. Caleb Fauria, son of Buff legend Christian Fauria and a former Buff himself, is on the Blue Hen roster at tight end. Last season, Fauria had 12 catches for 134 yards and a touchdown for Delaware last season, but did not see action in the first game of the season against Delaware State;

— DJ making history … Cornerback DJ McKinney became the third player in CU history to record an interception in three straight games, and he has recorded one in four of his last five games, as well. After not recording a pick in the first nine games last year, he now has four interceptions in his last five collegiate games;

— Sounds like an All-American to me … In Week 1 against Georgia Tech, Jordan Seaton’s pass protection grade was 89.5, which was the second-highest among all offensive linemen in the Power 4 and the highest for any tackle in the Power Four.

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— Colorado and Delaware – head-to-head

— Colorado and Delaware have never met on the football field. This is only the second game for the Blue Hens as an FBS team, with Delaware moving up from the FCS this season.

— Delaware has not only never ventured to Colorado for a game, the Blue Hens have never played any current – or former – member of the Big 12.

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— Getting to Know Delaware

— Get it right … Apparently, the folks at Delaware are very sensitive on what you call their team. In the media release for the game, there is a heading, “Who are we”, with the following instructions:

• Only refer to our institution as the University of Delaware or UD. Do not use “U of D”, “UofD”, “the U of D”, or “UDel”. Do not use periods in UD.
• We are the Fightin’ Blue Hens on first reference, and Blue Hens, Hens, or Blue & Gold after that

— They really wanted it … For years, the “entry fee” paid to the NCAA for a school which wanted to transition from FCS to FBS was $5,000.00. To deter schools from moving up, the NCAA upped the fee from $5,000 to $5 million. Delaware was the first school to pay the new fee, with boosters raising the $5 million in seven months;

— A little respect … Delaware is one of only three schools in the nation (Michigan and Stanford being the other two), which can brag about having a President (Joe Biden), a Super Bowl MVP (Joe Flacco), and an NFL MVP (Rich Gannon).

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— Colorado and Delaware … Notes and Numbers

— Just win, baby … Colorado has 732 all-time victories … Delaware has 740. The Blue Hens boast six national championships in football, with the most recent coming in 2003 (as an FCS school);

— Bill Collins Tribute … Prior to the game, there will be a special tribute to Bill Collins, who played defensive tackle for the Buffs from 1967 to 1969 and was CU’s first Black team captain his senior year.

At the end of the 1969 campaign, Collins and the Buffs played Alabama and their famous coach Paul “Bear” Bryant in the Liberty Bowl. Prior to the game, in an act of support and unity, Collins’s co-captains stayed back while Collins took the coin toss alone. In response, Alabama, whose team was not integrated, sent its entire 40-man roster to midfield in an attempt to intimidate Collins and the Buffaloes. Instead, Collins’s act of strength and perseverance propelled Colorado to a 47-33 win over the Crimson Tide. Collins passed away on July 31 after a battle with cancer. He was 76.

In recognition of Collins’s incredible impact on CU and beyond, his wife Esther will be joined by Colorado’s current team captains and members of the 1969 team to reenact Collins’s historic stand.

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Big 12 Notes …

— Four Big 12 teams ranked … The Big 12 Conference placed four football programs in the latest Associated Press Preseason Top 25 with Utah replacing Kansas State in the poll.

• Arizona State, despite a 38-19 win over Northern Arizona, dropped from No. 11 to No. 12;

• The Holy War may mean even more this season if poll positions are maintained. In the AP poll, Utah is new in the poll, at No. 25, with BYU just outside the poll, at No. 26. In the USA Today Coaches poll, however, the roles are reversed, with BYU No. 25, and Utah just outside the poll at No. 26;

• Iowa State, up to No. 16 after a dominating 55-7 win over South Dakota, will welcome Fox’s Big Noon Saturday for the Cyclones’ rivalry game against unranked Iowa;

• TCU’s impressive 48-14 win over North Carolina was not enough to move the Horned Frogs into the polls, but TCU is up to No. 31 in the AP poll; No. 33 in the Coaches’ poll.

— Big 12 This-and-That … 15 of 16 teams of the Big 12 are in action this weekend (TCU is idle), with six teams taking on Power Four competition … Two from the ACC (Baylor at SMU; Stanford at BYU) two from the Big Ten (Iowa at Iowa State; Oklahoma State at Oregon); and two from the SEC (Arizona State at Mississippi State; Kansas at Missouri). Other notes …

• Big 12 teams went 8-0 on games played on Saturday, winning by an average of 38.5 points. It’s the only time in the last 40 years that any FBS conference has gone undefeated, in eight or more games, with an average margin of victory over 35 points;

• The Big 12 has gone a combined 63-0 against FCS teams since 2019, the only FBS conference to go undefeated against the FCS during that span;

• The Big 12 is home to the only two programs to play 11 games against Power Four opponents this season: Baylor and TCU.

— Big 12 lines … From Draft Kings …

Big 12 games:

• Baylor at SMU … 10:00 a.m., MT, The CW Network … Baylor is a 3.0-point road underdog …
• Iowa at Iowa State … 10:00 a.m., MT, Fox … Iowa State is 2.5-point home favorite …
• Kent State at Texas Tech … 10:00 a.m., MT, TNT … Texas Tech is a 48.5-point home favorite …
• Delaware at Colorado … 1:30 p.m., MT, Fox … Colorado is a 23.5-point home favorite …
• Oklahoma State at Oregon … 1:30 p.m., MT, CBS … Oklahoma State is a 27.5-point road underdog …
• Kansas at Missouri … 1:30 p.m., MT, ESPN2 … Kansas is a 6.5-point road underdog …
• Bowling Green at Cincinnati … 1:30 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … Cincinnati is an 18.5-point home favorite …
• West Virginia at Ohio … 2:00 p.m., MT, ESPNU … West Virginia is a 3.5-point road favorite …
• Cal Poly at Utah … 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ … no line
• Army at Kansas State … 5:00 p.m., MT, ESPN … Kansas State is a 16.5-point home favorite …
• Houston at Rice … 5:00 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … Houston is a 14.0-point road favorite …
• North Carolina A&T at UCF … 5:00 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … no line
• Arizona State at Mississippi State … 5:30 p.m., MT, ESPN2 … Arizona State is a 7.0-point road favorite …
• Weber State at Arizona … 8:00 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … no line
• Stanford at BYU … 8:30 p.m., MT, ESPN … BYU is an 18.5-point home favorite …
• Idle … TCU …

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This post, about the Delaware game, from the 2025 Season, is filed under Article.
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