Delaware won its first Division I-AA Football Championship December 19 with a 40-0 victory over Colgate at Max Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

For the Blue Hens, it was their sixth national football championship in school history, including four small-college wire-service championships and a Division II Football Championship title in 1979 -- when current head coach K.C. Keeler played on the team.

The team, which finished 15-1 for the season, also recorded the only shutout and biggest margin of victory in a I-AA championship game and ended the Raiders' 21-game winning streak. Delaware finished its season with a record for most victories in school history.

Delaware quarterback Andy Hall, who had been playing with a separated left shoulder, led the dominant Blue Hens offense with two touchdown passes to David Boler. He went 12-of-20 for 183 yards and ran 12 times for 36 yards.

"It is so special for me to get rings for these kids," said Keeler, in his second year at Delaware, as he accepted the national-championship trophy. "We have had a really great locker room, great kids."

Colgate, which was playing in its first title game, is only the second nonscholarship team to make it to the championship game since Division I-AA was formed in 1978. The other was Lehigh, which lost to Eastern Kentucky in 1979.

"The problem with the playoffs is you either go all the way and win a national championship or you lose and feel lousy," Colgate coach Dick Biddle told The Associated Press. "This is the best team Colgate has ever had."

Delaware jumped out to an early lead in the game, scoring 13 in the first quarter, and was up, 20-0, by halftime. The Blue Hens added two more touchdowns in the third quarter and one in the fourth to seal the win.

Germaine Bennett led the Blue Hens in rushing, going 60 yards on 20 carries, while Antwan Jenkins added 53 yards on 14 carries.

The Raiders' all-American running back Jamaal Branch, who set four NCAA rushing records this season and won the Walter Payton Award for best offensive player in Division I-AA, was held to 55 yards on 20 carries. He became the first Payton winner to reach the title game but not win.

Colgate quarterback Chris Brown went nine-of-21 for 94 yards.

Delaware recorded 348 yards of total offense, compared to 157 for Colgate.

"This is the greatest feeling of my life, to be a part of this program, this university, these coaches and players," said Blue Hens senior offensive lineman and co-captain Jason Nerys. "I love every single one of them."

Semifinals

Colgate 36, Fla. Atlantic 24; Delaware 24, Wofford 9.

Championship

First quarter

Del -- Antwan Jenkins 3 run (Brad Shushman kick) (7:29); Del -- Germaine Bennett 1 run (kick failed) (2:35).

Second quarter

Del -- David Boler 5 pass from Andy Hall (Shushman kick) (14:55).

Third quarter

Del -- Boler 9 pass from Hall (Shushman kick) (7:30); Del -- Bennett 1 run (Shushman kick) (2:52).

Fourth quarter

Del -- Jenkins 2 run (kick failed) (12:22).

Team statistics

Colgate Delaware

Attendance -- 14,281

Individual statistics

Rushing: Colgate -- Branch 20-55, J.B.Gerald 1-3, Matt Kobelski 1-1, Eric Guglielmotti 2-(minus3), Brown 8-(minus10); Delaware -- Bennett 20-60, Jenkins 14-53, Hall 12-36, Niquan Lee 5-23, team 2-0, Ryan Carty 2-(minus 7).

Passing: Colgate -- Brown 9-21-0-94, Mike Saraceno 1-1-0-17; Delaware -- Hall 12-20-0-183.

Receiving: Colgate -- Luke Graham 4-32, John Frieser 2-31, Gerald 2-24, Mike Chrystie 1-17, DeWayne Long 1-7; Delaware -- Boler 6-91, Justin Long 4-75, Brian Ingram 1-15, Jesse O'Neill 1-2.