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Nick Minicucci is Going to Put Delaware on His Back and Carry the Hens to a Bowl Game
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Short college football blog, but not about Temple or Penn State, because both programs turned out to be huge disappointments this season. The Owls are 2-5 and a +4.5 road dog against East Carolina this weekend. Penn State is 3-4 and a -10.5 home favorite against 3-4 Purdue. Talk about appointment viewing in Happy Valley.
The fun regional team is Delaware, which clawed back to 4-4 after beating Missouri State and Western Kentucky in consecutive weeks. They had previously lost three in a row when starting quarterback Nick Minicucci was sidelined with an injury, then he returned with a knee brace to sling it like Joe Montana:
He’s really good. The two games post-injury he’s completed 52 of 67 passes for 639 yards, 9 touchdowns, and one interception. He’s carried the ball six times for 19 yards and a touchdown, which was a 4th and goal play in which he lunged into the end zone kind of like Carson Wentz during the LA game 10 years ago now. Minicucci actually opened the WKU game with 18 completions in a row and was named Conference USA Player of the Week.
Nobody is going to confuse Western Kentucky and Missouri State for Georgia and Bama, but the Hens are a pretty good G6 team. They’re 4-4 and battled Vanderbilt on the road. Their four losses are to Vandy, Virginia, 6-1 Liberty Bibberty, and 4-4 Middle Tennessee State. They probably should have won that MTSU game, but lost by 3 on the road after throwing a pick late in the fourth quarter. They’re a completely different animal with Minicucci back there and the remaining schedule includes 2-6 Kennesaw State, 3-4 FIU, 3-5 New Mexico State, and 6-2 Jacksonville State. Two games at home and two on the road. They can win three of those four. Jax State is tough, but the other three teams are mediocre.
It’s interesting because Minicucci has spent his entire collegiate career at UD. Four seasons now, which includes two at the FCS level and two at the FBS level. He could have transferred last year after throwing for 3,683 yards and 23 touchdowns en route to a 7-6 record and a bowl game victory, but stayed loyal and returned for a fourth season. He’s easily good enough to play for a mid or lower tier ACC type of school. He could probably hack it in the Big 12, no joke. I’ve watched enough no-defense Big 12 ball to know that he’d be just fine at a place like UCF or Cincy. Dude is fun to watch.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com