Nick Minicucci Throws for 414 Yards as Delaware Beats Western Kentucky 35-21 to Snap Road Skid

Western Kentucky had the quarterback who ran for 129 yards, the home crowd and a 21-14 lead before the second quarter was five minutes old. Delaware had Nick Minicucci, and on a Tuesday night in Bowling Green that turned out to be the better hand.

Delaware beat Western Kentucky 35-21 on Oct. 27 at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium, scoring the final 21 points of the night while its quarterback carved up the Hilltoppers for 414 passing yards and four touchdowns. Minicucci finished 32-of-38 with no interceptions, and according to Delaware Athletics (opens in a new tab), completed the first 18 passes of the game, a program record for consecutive completions to start a game. The Blue Hens moved to 4-4 and 2-2 in Conference USA. WKU fell to 3-5 and 2-2 in front of an announced 12,147.

It also ended a long-running road problem. Delaware had lost seven straight away from home before this one, per The Associated Press.

A first quarter with no defense in it

The opening 15 minutes played like a pickup game where nobody wanted to guard. WKU went 75 yards on eight plays to start the night, and Brock Glenn finished it with a 2-yard touchdown pass to CC Ezirim. Delaware answered almost immediately, with Minicucci finding Kaderris Roberts from 17 yards out to tie it at 7.

The Hilltoppers pushed right back. Zion Taylor punched in a 1-yard run with 3:41 left in the quarter, and WKU led 14-7. Then the game got weird for a moment. Dave Herard forced a Delaware fumble and recovered it at the Blue Hens' 37, a golden chance to go up two scores. Two plays later, Kevin Moore intercepted Glenn and handed the momentum straight back.

Delaware cashed it in. Minicucci hit Sean Wilson for a 21-yard touchdown early in the second quarter, and it was 14-14.

Glenn's legs kept WKU in it

If there was a reason for WKU fans to leave encouraged, it was Glenn. The quarterback broke loose on a 61-yard keeper that set up Ajay Allen's 5-yard touchdown run with 10:52 left in the half, and the Hilltoppers were back in front 21-14.

Glenn finished with 129 rushing yards on 17 carries. Per WKU Athletics (opens in a new tab), it was the first time a Hilltoppers quarterback topped 100 rushing yards in a game since Kawaun Jakes ran for 121 against Troy on Nov. 7, 2009. Glenn also went 25-of-37 through the air for 224 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, and that last number is where the night turned.

Allen added 73 yards on 12 carries. Moussa Barry led WKU with 80 receiving yards. True freshman Jonathan Stafford Jr. caught five passes, which WKU noted made it six straight games with at least five catches, the longest such streak by a Hilltoppers true freshman in 30 years.

The turning point: 59 seconds before halftime

Delaware tied it at 21 when Viron Ellison Jr. scored from 5 yards out with 7:25 left in the half. The drive that actually decided the game came next.

With the clock winding toward the break, Minicucci took Delaware down the field one more time and flipped a shovel pass to Jo Silver for an 8-yard touchdown with 59 seconds left. The Blue Hens went to the locker room up 28-21, and WKU never caught up again.

That first half was a clinic. Minicucci was 21-of-22 for 301 yards and three touchdowns before intermission, per the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer. When a quarterback is basically playing catch against your defense, a seven-point deficit feels a lot bigger than it is.

WKU coach Tyson Helton did not pretend otherwise. "He's a good football player and good football players make plays," Helton said of Minicucci, as reported by the Bowling Green Daily News. "When you throw the ball that well, it's hard to stop them."

Sean Wilson's big night

Wilson had the kind of game that gets a receiver noticed beyond the conference office. Wilson caught nine passes for 183 yards, and both touchdowns came at moments that mattered. The first tied the game at 14. The second, a 40-yard strike with 4:20 left in the third quarter, made it 35-21 and turned out to be the only points of the second half.

Delaware spread it around underneath, too. Roberts had seven catches for 43 yards and a touchdown. Silver did a little of everything, adding 49 rushing yards on 13 carries to go with the shovel-pass score. The Blue Hens finished with 494 total yards, per WKU's tally, to the Hilltoppers' 477.

This is also the second straight week Minicucci has looked like the most dangerous player in the league. A week earlier, in the first game back from a knee injury that had cost Delaware losses to Liberty and Middle Tennessee, Minicucci threw five touchdown passes as Delaware buried Missouri State 61-38. The AP noted that the 414 yards in Bowling Green pushed the career total to 6,459, fourth in program history.

The defense that made the night possible

Here is the part of the box score that gets overlooked. WKU scored three touchdowns before the second quarter was five minutes old, and then nothing over the final 40 minutes or so.

Delaware's defense did not exactly shut WKU down. The Hilltoppers ran for 232 yards and kept moving the ball into Blue Hens territory. It simply stopped them when it counted. Trace Scott III had back-to-back sacks to kill one drive. Karl Campbell's 42-yard field goal try clanged off the left upright. On the first play of the fourth quarter, with WKU threatening at the Delaware 17, AJ Graham intercepted Glenn for a career-first interception.

WKU's final three possessions all ended on downs. The last one was the most painful. With Glenn shaken up late, Rodney Tisdale Jr. led the Hilltoppers all the way to the Delaware 3, and a fourth-down pass fell incomplete.

Delaware coach Ryan Carty kept the explanation simple on Blue Hens Radio, as relayed by the Delaware News Journal. "We took care of the ball," Carty said.

What it means

For Delaware, a .500 record in its second Conference USA season comes with a real asterisk. The Blue Hens are a different team with Minicucci on the field, and the November schedule, starting Nov. 7 at Kennesaw State, looks a lot more manageable with a quarterback completing 84 percent of the throws. Carty sounded like a coach who believes the team has found its footing. "I think we understand who we are as a team," Carty said.

For WKU, the frustrating part is how much went right. Jaylen Wester and Westen Ard each had nine tackles, Mackavelli Malotumau added seven with two tackles for loss, and the Daily News reported that Wester, Malotumau and Rylen Su'a-Filo were back after missing two games over a court ruling on their eligibility. The offense moved the ball. The red zone and the turnover column undid all of it.

"We left a lot of things out there on the field," Stafford said, per WKU Athletics.

Malotumau put it more bluntly. "It's Western Kentucky versus Western Kentucky at the end of the day," the defensive tackle said.

The last word

The Hilltoppers beat Delaware 27-24 in Newark last October, so this one carried a little extra weight for the Blue Hens, even on a weeknight. WKU now heads to Middle Tennessee on Nov. 7, a game Helton framed in terms that need no translation. "This is a rivalry game, and we need to be clicking on all cylinders to go get that win," Helton told the Messenger-Inquirer.

As for Delaware, the formula is no longer a mystery. Protect the football, give Minicucci time, and let Wilson run under it. On Tuesday, that was more than enough. Every snap is in the official box score (opens in a new tab).

Sources: WKU Athletics recap and box score, Delaware Athletics, The Associated Press, Bowling Green Daily News, the Delaware News Journal and the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: WKU Athletics.