Senior running back Jo Silver rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries to lead Delaware to a 20-13 victory over Louisiana on Wednesday at the 68 Ventures Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

Silver, who opened the scoring on a 61-yard touchdown run, was named the game’s most valuable player.

“People were saying we were gonna need some big plays to win,” Silver said. “Happy I was able to help provide one.”

Riding a four-game winning streak, Louisiana (6-7) trailed by seven when it took possession on its own 7-yard line with 1:41 to play. The Ragin’ Cajuns moved the ball to the Delaware 7-yard line, but the game ended when a third-down pass into the end zone was incomplete.

It was the first postseason victory as an FBS program for Delaware (7-6).

“It was very exciting,” Blue Hens coach Ryan Carty said. “It’s something we’re going to continue to strive to do at the University of Delaware.”

Delaware quarterback Nick Minicucci was limited to 50 passing yards in the first half, but he wound up completing 19 of 30 passes for 176 yards and a TD. Sean Wilson led Blue Hens receivers with eight catches for 81 yards and a touchdown, and Kyre Duplessis added five receptions for 69 yards.

Louisiana quarterback Lunch Winfield connected on 21 of 36 passes for 231 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and also ran for 40 yards on 14 carries.

Delaware led 7-0 after one quarter, 10-3 at halftime and 20-6 entering the fourth.

The Blue Hens scored the game’s first points on Silver’s 61-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Louisiana made it 7-3 on Tony Sterner’s 22-yard field goal with 7:05 left in the second quarter, but Delaware regained a seven-point lead when Nate Reed kicked a 33-yard field goal with 28 seconds remaining in the first half.

Delaware was up 17-3 after Minicucci tossed a 35-yard TD pass to Wilson and Reed added the point-after kick with 12:40 remaining in the third. Reed’s second field goal, a 27-yard kick, extended Delaware’s lead to 20-3 with 6:59 left in the third.

The Ragin’ Cajuns trimmed their deficit to 20-6 on Sterner’s 39-yard field goal with 2:31 left in the third, and were within seven points after Shelton Sampson Jr. caught an 8-yard TD pass from Winfield and Sterner made the PAT with 7:49 to play. The TD came after Louisiana blocked a field-goal attempt.

–Field Level Media