West Chester University running back Rondell White set a school record with 1,548 rushing yards in 2012

BY ROCK HOFFMAN

After a week in which just two Delaware Valley college football programs played, the rest are anxious to get going and, with the exception of Penn – who doesn’t open until September 21, they’ll get their chance to hit somebody in a different colored uniform this weekend.

Friday night in Dover, DE, Widener will play a highly-ranked Wesley College team at Scott D. Miller Stadium. Bobby Acosta will make his debut as head coach of Widener. He brings in an offense that hopes to get 90 plays per game.

“Tempo is our equalizer,” Acosta said. “We’re trying to put the ball in space and have our athletes create on the move.”

Acosta figures to have sophomore Seth Klein directing things from the quarterback spot. Klein was part of a four-way battle to succeed Chris Haupt, whose name is all over the Pride record book and was the quarterback on the 2012 FootballStories All-Delaware Valley College Football Team.

Wesley presents a formidable opponent, various rankings have them solidly in the top ten – some as high as third. Since 2004 when Field Turf was installed at their home field, the Wolverines are a robust 53-3 at home.

Also Friday night, Ursinus hosts The College of New Jersey at Patterson Field in Collegeville. The Bears are looking to build on their fourth-straight winning season (last year’s seniors graduated as the winningest class in school history. To get their seventh winning season in the last eight, Ursinus will rely on the talents of senior quarterback Chris Curran, who is poised to rewrite the school record book at the position. Curran, (6-3, 225) out of Ocean City High School, needs 235 yards, five touchdown passes and 47 completions to become the Bears all-time leader in those categories.

“He’s a big, tall kid, stands in the pocket and can throw the ball down the field,” said Bears head coach Peter Gallagher about his quarterback. “He has continued to mature every year of his career at Ursinus. I’m excited about coaching Chris.”

The College of New Jersey is in a state of transition as longtime head coach Eric Hamilton abruptly retired earlier this summer after 37 years at the helm. Wayne Dickens is the interim head coach. Dickens hopes that senior defensive lineman Patrick Kimball, who had a team high five sacks in 2012, will get after Curran, who was his high school teammate.

At Noon on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field, the Temple Owls (0-1) host the Houston Cougars (1-0) in the first-ever American Athletic Conference football game. The Owls felt like they proved they could play with Notre Dame but ultimately fell 28-6. The Cougars present an up tempo offense that ran 88 plays in a 62-13 win over Southern in week one of the season.

The Owls will need to finish drives and not leave points on the field like they did against the Fighting Irish and the defense must improve after giving up 543 yards last week.

“The tempo they play at is something our guys are going to have to adjust to quickly,” Owls head coach Matt Rhule said.

During the game the Owls will honor former head coach Wayne Hardin, who will enter the College Football Hall of Fame later this year.

West Chester hosts the University of New Haven at Noon on Saturday. Quarterback Sean McCartney is back for the Golden Rams after missing 2012 with a broken leg suffered in the season opening game at Delaware. However it is senior running back Rondell White who figures to get most of the attention. In 2012, White broke the school record with 1,548 rushing yards and was tops in NCAA Division II with 200.2 all-purpose yards per game.

It’s a rivalry game when Cheyney hosts Lincoln University on Saturday at 1.

“It’s our biggest game of the season,” said Cheyney head coach Ken Lockard.

Also at 1 on Saturday, old friends renew acquaintances when Rowan travels to Doylestown to face Delaware Valley. The Aggies would like nothing better than to debut their new turf field (Robert A. Lipinski Field at James Work Memorial Stadium) with their first-ever win over the Profs.

Villanova (0-1) is on the road for the second week in a row when they travel to the Bronx to face Fordham (1-0) at 6. The Wildcats are banged up after stepping up a level to play Boston College and will look to continue their dominance over Patriot League teams. Since 1985, they are 25-3 against teams from the league.

“Their place is a little bit of a downer to play in,” said a concerned Villanova head coach Andy Talley. “You’ve got to step up and get your kids ready to play there. We just came from 40,000 people at BC. Our players have to get off the bus and play. I worried about it, we have a good team but we are banged up.”

E-mail Rock Hoffman at Rock@footballstories.com