Costly mistakes, failed replay review don't detract from Delaware's showing in CUSA home debut
The night had a big-time football look and an FBS-level feel at Delaware Stadium.
With an overflow crowd of 19,716 watching and national television audience tuned in, that left it up to the Blue Hens to live up to those gaudy standards.
They did in every way, even though they were not rewarded with the victory their efforts certainly positioned them to earn.
Misfortune also fuels football outcomes, as it did for Delaware in a 27-24 Friday-night loss to Western Kentucky in the Blue Hens’ home Conference USA inaugural on Oct. 3.
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An interception returned by WKU for a touchdown, a fumble on a possible Delaware touchdown run and a missed last-second 42-yard field goal were decisive.
But they should not be the only lasting imprints of a game in which Delaware was poised to topple one of CUSA’s typically strong programs.
As they had in a 38-16 win at Florida International, the Blue Hens played liked they belonged in their new CUSA home and rougher Football Bowl Subdivision neighborhood. Despite having less than two years to do it, they’ve created a team and keenly conjured offensive and defensive schemes capable of succeeding at this level.
Delaware outgained WKU and its most-productive-in-CUSA offense 435-338 in total yards while running 25 more plays. Eleven different players caught passes for Delaware, a valuable variety. The Hens were penalized once to WKU’s eight.
But, again, games come down to pivotal moments and the Hilltoppers made those happen with Koron Haywood’s 25-yard interception return for a touchdown and Dylan Foster’s jarring hit on quarterback Nick Minicucci that forced his fumble into the end zone.
“We had so many opportunities to win that game and it just hurts,” said Minicucci, who blamed himself for the defeat due to the two turnovers.
One opportunity Delaware did not get, surprisingly, was to have a play reviewed with a replay after it appeared to have maybe earned the Hens a first down that wasn’t given.
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It was a 9-yard pass from Minicucci to Jo Silver, who was tackled out of bounds on the WKU sideline. He then lost a yard on a fourth-and-1 play from the WKU 22 with Delaware down 27-24 and 3:40 left.
Delaware coach Carty asked for a replay after the pass to determine what the spot should be for that fourth-down play, which might have actually been a first-down play, but did not get it.
“I thought the spot was close to being wrong,” he said.
The play clock also kept ticking, forcing him to call a timeout, after which, oddly, the referees moved the football up a yard but still shy of the first down.
“The communication [with the referees] was just a little bit tricky and not very great,” Carty said.
That was just another potentially pivotal moment in a night that, typically, was full of them.
While it did help spell defeat for Delaware, it didn’t cast a shadow over what was a riveting attempt to nail down what might have been an epic win on what was still a stirring night.
“We're good enough,” Carty said. “We're talented enough to win the games that we're playing. And that was one of the better conference teams and we obviously played well enough to win it and played just well enough to lose it.
“Unfortunately, it didn't come out our way this time. Hopefully we can continue to learn from those things, clean up some of the specifics that we did mess up and obviously keep the ball in our hands.”
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Contact Kevin Tresolini at [email protected] and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Blue Hens played big-time CUSA football in loss to WKU
Category: General Sports
