If you were somehow hoping to never see Pitt play another 1-AA opponent, well, you were probably delusional in the first place.

Put the Delaware Blue Hens down for two games. One in 2014 and the other in 2019.

“We always have a competitive schedule,” Keeler said. “Philosophically, we’ve come to terms with, in those 11-game seasons, it really makes sense to try and stay away from a I-A game. The margin for error is already brutal in our conference, and nobody in the country is playing our schedule because we’re playing each other [in the CAA]. We’re fortunate that, with the crowds we have, we can try to schedule that way.

“But to get a regional game like this, against an opponent like Pitt, in a 12-game season, just made a lot of sense. We weren’t interested in going to Florida or Auburn, someplace like that. We wanted a game our fans could get to, like Maryland in 2008.”

The only players among those on Delaware’s team now who will still be here for the Aug. 30, 2014, game are freshmen who could be fifth-year seniors then. The 2019 game is Aug. 31.

A visit to Pittsburgh also has a lucrative benefit, as Delaware is certain to receive a financial guarantee. They are typically in the $400,000 to $500,000 range when a Division I-AA team visits a high-caliber I-A foe. UD did not reveal what payoff it will receive for the visits to Pitt.

In 1-AA most seasons are still 11 games. The years they will play Pitt are 12-game seasons.

Odds are strong there might be a mention of some guy named Flacco.