Route 1 Rivalry
| Sport | Football |
|---|---|
| First meeting | November 23, 2007 Delaware 44, Delaware State 7 |
| Latest meeting | September 1, 2016 Delaware 56, Delaware State 14 |
| Next meeting | 2017 |
| Trophy | Yes |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 7 |
| All-time series | Delaware leads 7–0 |
| Largest victory | Delaware 45, Delaware State 0 (2011) |
| Longest win streak | Delaware 7, (2007-present) |
| Current win streak | Delaware 7, (2007-present) |
The "Route 1 Rivalry" is the name given for the American football rivalry between the University of Delaware and Delaware State University. The winner of the game is awarded the First State Cup. Delaware has won each of the seven games of the rivalry.
For years, one of the most controversial aspects of the University of Delaware and Delaware State University football programs was the fact that they had never been scheduled as potential instate rivals for a regular season game. It is highly unusual for two state universities that play on the same athletic tier to not play one another, particularly given their proximity. Critics charged that this had to do with the fact that DSU is a historically black college. Furthermore, supporters of a game between DSU and UD claimed that it would be akin to other instate rivalries and would be good for the state. In 2007, Jeff Pearlman, a University of Delaware graduate and ESPN writer, wrote a scathing article charging the Blue Hens with racism. In response to the charges of racism on UD's part, their supporters pointed out that Delaware has scheduled and played regular season games against several other HBCUs such as Morgan State and North Carolina A&T. UD supporters also claimed that DSU's team was not as strong as the Blue Hens, and that UD's program had made commitments to other universities that they had to fulfill. Finally, UD supporters also noted the fact that the two colleges routinely meet in other sports than football.
Delaware and Delaware State met on the football field for the first time on November 23, 2007 in Newark, DE in the first round of the NCAA Division I National Championship Tournament. The Blue Hens defeated the Hornets 44–7 in front of 19,765 people, the largest playoff crowd in Delaware Stadium history. The game had by then garnered such attention in the media throughout the United States that it was the only first-round game televised live nationally on ESPN.
On February 25, 2009 University of Delaware Coach K. C. Keeler joined Delaware State University Coach Al Lavan along with school officials and state politicians in Dover, Delaware to announce that their schools had signed on to play the first regular season game in their history on September 19, 2009 at the University of Delaware, along with a three-game series in September 2012, 2013, and 2014. This is due to the fact that UD's Delaware Stadium seating of 22,000 is much larger than that of Delaware State's Alumni Stadium at just over 7,000. The schools had been engaged in talks to play a game as early as 2010, but Furman University, who had previously signed a contract to play a home and away series with UD, backed out of game two which was scheduled to be played at UD in order to play University of Missouri and garner a larger payday. This left the University of Delaware with an open date to fill with only a few months before the season started and the two sides quickly completed the deal.
...
Wikipedia