Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - The University of Delaware and Delaware State University are separated by only 40 miles, but Newark and Dover, DE, might as well have been on opposite sides of the world when it came to meeting on the football field.

The Blue Hens of Delaware began playing football in 1889 and the Hornets of Delaware State hit the gridiron for the first time in 1924, but it took an NCAA playoff selection committee to bring them together for the first time in 2007.

Much has been written about the reasons for the void, but that historic postseason game - and a little push from Furman - has helped bring these two programs together for a series of four games, beginning on Sept. 19.

The two schools met for a press conference Tuesday morning at Delaware State to announce that they had reached a formal agreement for three additional games on Sept. 8, 2012, Sept.7, 2013 and Sept. 6, 2014. All four games will be played at the 22,000-seat Delaware Stadium.

The two sides were already negotiating a long-term future pact when Furman dropped Delaware from the Sept. 19 date in order to face Missouri for a big payday. That led to the scheduling of this season's game.

Delaware State officials had long been agreeable to playing Delaware, but it wasn't until the arrival of K.C. Keeler as the Blue Hens coach and Patrick T. Harker as Delaware's president that hopes for a regular-season meeting began to look possible.

Keeler had spoken favorably about the possibility of adding Delaware State to the schedule for some time, but others in the Delaware administration had always come up with excuses for why a game or series couldn't be worked out.

A Delaware alumnus, ESPN.com columnist and author Jeff Pearlman, pushed the envelope with a column on the subject during the 2007 season, and ESPN's outstanding program "Outside The Lines" explored the subject late that year. UD athletic director Edgar Johnson was put on the hot seat in a rather embarrassing interview, in which he tried to explain away the controversy.

But President Harker made it clear that he wanted to bring about a series between the state's only two Division I programs, and it was obvious that it was only a matter of time before a game was played.

The NCAA took care of history when it slotted Delaware to host Delaware State in the first round of the 2007 playoffs. I was sitting next to Pearlman that day in the Delaware Stadium press box as we watched, along with an ESPN television audience, as the Blue Hens won 44-7.

But the two schools took a larger step on Tuesday in announcing the four-game series.

"This is a great day for two exceptional NCAA Football Championship Subdivision football programs, but more importantly for the players, for the student bodies, for the alumni, and for the citizens of the State of Delaware," Dr. Harker said. "The Delaware-Delaware State game is a win-win for both universities, promising a great athletic contest and a great atmosphere, not to mention a competitive stimulus for both athletic programs with a game certain to sell out every time it is played."

Harker's counterpart, Delaware State's acting president Claiborne D. Smith, also applauded the agreement.

"The tremendous excitement that was generated when DSU and UD played in the 2007 college playoffs made it clear that this is a matchup that football fans in Delaware want to see regularly," said Dr. Smith. "With this agreement, Delawareans will be able to look forward to an in-state collegiate rivalry and both football squads will have an outstanding game challenge for which they will prepare."

There never were any doubts from Keeler, or Delaware State coach Al Lavan that scheduling a series was a no-brainer.

"This game is an exciting thing not only for our football teams and our institutions, but for all the fans in Delaware," said Keeler. "I have the utmost respect for Coach Lavan and his program at Delaware State and we look forward to this year's game and to all our future meetings. It's always exciting to begin a new rivalry. We can't wait for September."

Lavan also pointed to the rivalry aspect of the intrastate series.

"The scheduling of these games will establish an in-state regular season matchup that has been a long time in coming," said Lavan. "It is a challenge that the Hornet team accepts and we look forward to the competition between these two great universities."

Even Delaware Gov. Jack Markell was on hand to celebrate this turning of a historical page.

"When I was sworn in as Governor last month, I said that we cannot let the historic challenges we face define us," Gov. Markell said. "We must overcome the significant obstacles in our way and do great things for the state of Delaware. A football game between the University of Delaware and Delaware State University - the state's two public four-year universities - will be one of those great things."

TRANSFER TALK

Delaware is hoping that Penn State transfer quarterback Pat Devlin will put some sparkle in the Blue Hen offense when it faces Delaware State in the fall.

But if anyone knows about the unknown quantity presented by transfer quarterbacks, it is Delaware.

Devlin has been preceded at signal-caller by four FBS-level transfers, beginning with Georgia Tech's Andy Hall and followed by Missouri's Sonny Riccio, Pittsburgh's Joe Flacco and Ohio State's Rob Schoenhoft.

Hall suffered through some injuries in his first year before leading the Blue Hens to the 2003 national championship with his steady play.

Riccio helped Delaware to the playoff quarterfinals in his first year before an interception return for a touchdown keyed William & Mary's 44-38 double- overtime victory. A year later, Riccio played erratically as his team missed the postseason.

Flacco had a shaky first season at Delaware in 2006 before beginning to show his ability late in the year. His passing and the rushing exploits of Omar Cuff combined to key the Blue Hens to the national championship game in 2007, before their run was derailed by three-time titlist Appalachian State.

Schoenhoft received more criticism than he deserved as Delaware went 4-8 last season. There were major problems with the offensive line and the running attack was sporadic. Lou Ritacco, a redshirt freshman, didn't fare much better when he played.

With Devlin coming in, Schoenhoft has decided to end his college career and may look towards coaching. Ritacco is transferring.

Schoenhoft was one of two prominent Ohio State quarterback transfers last season, along with Antonio Henton, who landed at Georgia Southern.

Henton had much more success in his sophomore year with the Eagles, starting nine games and leading the team in rushing (628 yards) and passing (1,852 yards). But Henton walked away from some Georgia Southern conditioning drills earlier this month, and has quit the Eagle program.

Georgia Southern still has sophomore Lee Chapple, who split time with Henton and threw for 323 yards in a season-ending win over Furman, as well as several other young quarterback candidates.

MARQUEE MATCHUP

While Delaware and Delaware State have already signed on the dotted line for their four-game series, a more intriguing matchup could be in the future for two of the top teams in FCS.

Montana and Appalachian State, the two winningest FCS schools this decade, are involved in talks about a home-and-home series. The two met in a memorable 2000 semifinal game at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, and fans of both schools have been clamoring for a rematch ever since.

Montana won that game, 19-16, when Drew Miller hit Jimmy Farris on a fade route in the corner of the end zone to end an overtime thriller.

Appalachian State athletic director Charlie Cobb and Montana AD Jim O'Day are both members of the NCAA Division I football playoff committee, and so they have had plenty of opportunities to broach the subject in recent months.

For Montana, the appeal of such a game would be to counter criticism of weak non-conference schedules in recent years. The Grizzlies have played some memorable games with Great West Conference powerhouse Cal Poly several times in the past few seasons, but have also hosted nine Division II teams since 2001. Montana will face another in 2009, when lightweight Western State visits Missoula.

"Leading into the future, we are actively pursuing some opportunities with top FCS teams from east of the Mississippi, including Appalachian State, Richmond and some of those schools," O'Day told reporters recently.

Cost factors are a major obstacle to planning such a game, with expenses for a trip between Boone, NC and Missoula running around $125,000. But with ASU and Montana sitting atop the FCS in recent years for attendance, the schools could potentially be looking at a gate of over $1 million for such a home game.

Such a figure could lead to the schools to offer a guarantee in the range $350,000 to each other for such a marquee game. The earliest date for such a game would probably be the 2011 season.

Appalachian State, which will dedicate a refurbished Kidd Brewer Stadium on Sept. 12 against McNeese State in another high-caliber matchup, has already signed to play at East Carolina in its 2009 season-opener, Florida in 2010, Virginia Tech in 2011 and Georgia in 2013.

If ASU and Montana can get together on a contract, hopefully ESPN or someone else will follow suit and televise these games to an FCS audience that can't wait for this type of matchup.

STARTING FROM SCRATCH

Rhode Island officials were quick to sell supporters on the vision of a bright new future 14 months ago, when they fired long-time coach Tim Stowers and hired former player Darren Rizzi as their new coach.

The media guide for the 2008 season had a large photo of Rizzi splashed on it with the motto of "new coach, new look, new era."

But a lot of that hope and hype went out the window this weekend when Rizzi announced he was resigning to accept a position on Tony Sparano's Miami Dolphins staff. Rizzi had previously worked under Sparano at University of New Haven for four years.

Rizzi had junked Stowers' triple-option Georgia Southern-styled attack for the spread passing game, though the Rams personnel was more suited for the running game. The results were a 3-9 record that didn't look that much different than the 3-8 mark Stowers had compiled in his last year as the head coach.

"This was a very difficult decision to make because of my strong emotional ties to the school," said Rizzi, who had been an All-American tight end for the Rams in the early 1990s. "However, the chance to coach with Tony Sparano again and to work for the Miami Dolphins organization is an opportunity that is best for my family and I. Although my stay was short, I feel the program has grown tremendously and under the direction of athletics director Thorr Bjorn, I know this program will win championships."

Rizzi's comments on winning championships might be at least a little bit far- fetched under the current conditions at Rhode Island. The Rams have just one winning season since 1996 and only two since Rizzi graduated and left campus following the 1991 campaign.

URI has some of the worst facilities in FCS (though the Rams have made some strides in that regard in recent years), and the program has been among the worst-funded in the Colonial Athletic Association.

When CAA commissioner Tom Yeager talks about the disparity of support between the southern schools and northern schools in the CAA, URI is one of the programs he has in mind.

Stowers had won an FCS title during his days at Georgia Southern (1990), but he wasn't able to get things turned around with URI's level of support. It's likely that Rizzi saw that the obstacles in his path were too much to overcome as well.

Unless Rhode Island continues to improve its woeful facilities and increases its lackluster budget, it won't matter if the Rams hire Vince Lombardi as the next coach.