Delaware Blue Hens (1968)

 

Let's pull another random team from a random season of the helmet, shall we?

1968 Delaware. A good team from a program that hardly lacked in good teams.

The Team: Following a 2-7 disaster in 1967, Delaware bounced back in '68 with an 8-3 mark, 5-0 in the Middle Atlantic Conference's (aka the "other" MAC) University Division. The Blue Hens capped their season with a thrilling 31-24 win over Indiana -- the other Indiana, the one in Pennsylvania -- on Dec. 14 in the inaugural Boardwalk Bowl in Atlantic City, N.J., Down 24-23 in the final minute, the Hens marched downfield thanks to four straight passes in the game's final 45 seconds by QB Tom DiMuzio, known more for his running than his passing. With 15 seconds left, DiMuzio hit split end Ron Withelder with an 11-yard strike for the winning score. (And hey, you can watch the game here and here ... except for the winning score. Perhaps not coincidentally, the video was posted by Indiana. 😎) Delaware outscored its foes 319-180, and finished 15th in the final College Division rankings.

Delaware QB Tom DiMuzio pitches ...

... and Ron Withelder catches the winning TD in the Boardwalk Bowl.
Both pictures are from The Review newspaper.

For the record, the University Division consisted of Delaware, a few future Patriot League teams (Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell), a couple of lower-level teams (West Chester, Gettysburg), Hofstra and Temple. 

Delaware and UMass face off in 1968, a 28-23 win
for the Blue Hens.

The Players: Middle linebacker John Favero was an AP Little All-American honorable mention, and was named to the all-ECAC and all-MAC teams. Running back Chuck Hall (1,019 yards rushing) earned dual all-star honors, and teammates Pete Cornelius, Conway Hayman, Dick Kelley, Yancy Phillips, Jim Scelba and Hank Vollendorf also were named all-MAC. Kicker Jeff Lippincott's 23 PATs set a school record. 

The Coach: Harold R. "Tubby" Raymond (1926-2017) is one of the true titans of non-FCS football, going 300-119-3 from from 1966-2001, winning three national titles (2 NCAA College Division, 1 NCAA D-II) along the way. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

Tubby Raymond delivers. the marching orders
to lineman Conway Hayman, an all-conference selection in '68.

He continued to use the Delaware Wing-T offense established by his predecessor, David Nelson, into the 2000s, long after most other schools had moved on to a pro-style attack. Hey, if it ain't broke ...

The Uniform: ... Don't fix it, right? The Hens' unis are virtually identical to what they wore in 1958, 1978, 1998 ... So much in college football changed, but the Wing-T and the unis didn't go anywhere for decades. The winged helmet, also established by Nelson, is still around today, although the jerseys and pants are far more flashy. 

I've probably mentioned this before, but check out the little "D" stencil on the socks, a staple of Delaware unis into the 1970s.

The Aftermath: It was more of the same for Delaware in 1969, when it went 9-2, (6-0 MAC) and won another Boardwalk Bowl. The Hens also won Boardwalk Bowls in 1970 and '71, then chickened out of the 1972 game against UMass.