COLLEGE FOOTBALL Delaware, Colgate meet for I-AA title

Delaware hasn't won a national title since beating Youngstown State in 1979.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) -- K.C. Keeler won a national championship as a player at Delaware. Now he's on the verge of coaching the Blue Hens to their first title since then.
Delaware (14-1) plays Colgate (15-0) tonight, with the winner claiming the first Division I-AA national championship for either team.
Keeler was a starting linebacker for the Blue Hens when they won the Division II title in 1979, beating Youngstown State 38-21.
"That game, that single moment defined my football career in terms of a player," Keeler said. "When they talk about me, they talk about a great linebacker who won the national championship."
Debut
Colgate, the Patriot League champion which has won 21 straight games dating to last season, is playing in the championship game for the first time.
"It's been a long journey," said Raiders coach Dick Biddle, in his eighth year at the school.
Colgate's winning streak is tied for the third-longest in I-AA history, following 24 straight wins by Montana from 2001-02 and Pennsylvania from 1992-95. Montana also won 21 straight from 1995-96.
Neither team is planning to alter their game plans much for the championship, but both plan to enjoy the moment.
"You can't dodge the subject and say this is just another game. It's not," Keeler said. "At the same time, the way to accomplish that is to keep on doing what you've been doing. I like the way we've been playing the last three weeks. I think we're the most physical team in the country."
Biddle said he's glad to see his players having fun and being loose.
"I'm tight as hell. That's just my nature," Biddle said.
"I think the worst thing that can happen in this game is that you are too tight. You have to treat it as just another away game even though the ramifications at the end of the game are a lot more."
I-AA talent
The game is headlined by some of the best players in I-AA.
Delaware quarterback Andy Hall and Colgate running back Jamaal Branch were two of the three finalists for the Walter Payton Award, which honors the best offensive player in I-AA. Branch was named the winner Thursday night.
Hall, a senior who transferred from Georgia Tech two years ago, is 222-of-358 for 2,581 yards and 23 touchdowns with seven interceptions this season. He easily broke Rich Gannon's school-record of 201 completions set in 1986.
Branch broke four I-AA records this season: most rushes in a season (430), most rushing yards in a season (2,271), most games with at least 100 yards rushing (12) and most rushing touchdowns (29).