This photo was generated using AI
The University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens (3-3, 1-2 CUSA) turned the ball over twice in the first half leading to 14 Jacksonville State points in the Gamecocks’ 38-25 win Wednesday night.
NEWARK — The Fightin’ Blue Hens quarterback Nick Minicucci stood at his own 43 yard line in the shotgun formation. Three receivers lined up to his right as the junior received the snap needing to gain four yards on fourth down.
Minicucci looked toward the trio of receivers and connected with Jake Thaw on a curl route near the line to gain. Thaw turned to his left as a pair of Gamecock defenders descended upon him. Thaw powered through the tackle and stretched his arms out to guarantee the conversion, but instead of moving the chains Thaw’s effort resulted in a bigger Blue Hen deficit.
As Thaw pulled the ball back to his chest, freshman linebacker Mac Sanders ripped the ball loose. The ball dribbled down the field until safety Caleb Nix recovered it and ran 46 yards to the endzone. Nix’s score gave Jacksonville State a two possession lead it never relinquished, beating the University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens, 38-25, Wednesday night in Jacksonville, Alabama.
Thaw’s fumble was the second of three for the Blue Hens in the first half that resulted in the Gamecocks’ first two scores.
The first fumble occurred on the first play of UD’s second drive of the game on a pass from Minicucci to tight end Elijah Sessoms. Sessoms caught the junior’s pass and took a couple steps before colliding with safety Travis Franklin Jr. Franklin’s tackle forced the ball loose.
Walker O’Steen recovered the fumble and ran it back to Delaware’s 11 yard line. The Gamecocks offense scored a touchdown on their ensuing drive via a six yard run from Cam Cook earning an early advantage.
The Blue Hens second fumble resulted in Nix’s fumble recovery and the third was a minor blunder in the backfield by Minicucci that he fell on avoiding a third turnover.
The miscues were the main catalyst for Jacksonville State’s scoring in the half, because of the stellar job UD’s defense did at slowing CUSA’s top ranked rushing offense.
The Gamecocks entered the game averaging over 250 rushing yards per game led by the nation’s leading rusher, Cam Cook. Cook entered the game with 832 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns averaging over 130 ground yards a game.
The Blue Hens limited Cook’s impact to just 35 rushing yards in the first half and forced the Gamecocks to throw the ball 16 times — just one off from their 17 total attempts a week ago.
Jacksonville State quarterback Caden Creel executed well completing 11 of those throws in just his second start of the season. Creel’s biggest play of the first half was a 23-yard touchdown pass to his leading receiver Brock Rechsteiner that gave Jacksonville State a 21-0 lead halfway through the second quarter.
The Blue Hens offense struggled to generate any rhythm or flow following the turnovers. Their only score of the first half came before the two minute timeout on a one yard run from Viron Ellison Jr. It was the first of three touchdowns for the sophomore running back and it cut the Gamecocks’ lead to 15 going into half time.
The majority of the offense was a product of Minicucci’s right arm connecting with 11 different receivers throughout the night for 422 yards and a touchdown. UD tried to push the ball downfield throughout the night, consistently throwing deep passes to receivers matched up one on one downfield. The approach generated ten passing plays of 15 or more yards, but those big plays weren’t enough to sustain a comeback attempt.
UD outscored Jacksonville State by 2 points in the second half, but it couldn’t overcome the turnovers and season high 10 penalties.
Cook matched Ellison’s production with two more touchdown runs in the second half and finished as the game’s leading rusher with 117 rushing yards on 18 carries. Minicucci completed 32 of his 50 pass attempts for a 64 percent completion percentage. Kyre Duplessis caught six of those passes and finished with 90 yards leading all pass catchers. UD’s running game contributed a total of 34 yards.
The Blue Hens will have a week to regroup before welcoming Middle Tennessee into Delaware Stadium Wednesday, October 22. The Blue Raiders are 0-2 in conference play this season and sit three spots below UD in the CUSA standings in 11th place.
Related Posts:
Share this Post