Reasons to be encouraged, discouraged as Blue Hens begin Tuesday games

October means weeknight football for Conference USA’s collection of college football teams, which includes the University of Delaware.

The Blue Hens began with a Friday night bout last week and, beginning next week, will play on three straight Tuesdays.

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All are nationally televised, which is why Conference USA schedules this way, boosting exposure and revenue for the league and its 10 members.

Delaware’s 30-14 loss to visiting Liberty on Oct. 1, when the Hens trailed 30-0 entering the fourth period, was a reminder of how well a team must play to win at the FBS level. That’s especially true for a second-year member such as Delaware that is still building the type of roster needed to handle those demands.

Opinions certainly vary on what the Liberty loss means. The Blue Hens (2-3) plummeted to 117th, behind seven CUSA rivals, in this week’s ESPN power index. But they stayed third among CUSA schools and are 102nd overall in The Athletic’s weekly ranking of all 138 FBS teams.

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Who is worthy of finishing in the top two spots and playing in the CUSA title game will begin to become apparent this month, before decisive November arrives.

Until then, here are three reasons each to be encouraged or discouraged about the Blue Hens’ prospects:

Encouraging

Delaware’s next three games are at Middle Tennessee (2-3, 0-1), home against Missouri State (1-3, 0-0) and at Western Kentucky (0-1, 1-4). None of them appear to be as strong as Liberty (4-1). Furthermore, they are bottom three in the league in scoring defense and total defense. The Blue Hens appear quite capable of beating all three. They did defeat MTSU last year, lost a close one against WKU and did not play fellow FBS rookie Missouri State.

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Discouraging

Delaware coach Ryan Carty said after the Liberty loss that while Nick Minicucci was a clear No. 1 at quarterback heading into the season, there hadn’t much separation between the next four in practice. Minicucci, who was the second-team All-CUSA quarterback and one of the nation’s top passers last year, is “week to week,” Carty said, with his knee injury that kept him out of the Liberty game. The longer he’s out, the tougher it will be for Delaware to be at its peak offensively. Quarterbacks are as influential as anyone to a team’s success and Delaware has a very good one in Minicucci.

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Encouraging

With a week-plus of preparation before Delaware visits Middle Tennessee, the other quarterbacks have more time to get settled and find their groove under Carty’s watch if Minicucci remains sidelined. Sophomore E.J. Archield Jr. was the surprise starter and played 2½ quarters against Liberty ahead of Braden Streeter and Riley Trujillo, who had apparently been Nos. 2 and 3 on the depth chart before that. Streeter and freshman Tyler Bell each appeared in the game later and threw touchdown passes. Archield, a solid 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, has the smarts and skills to excel. He had some promising moments in which he exhibited a strong and accurate arm, and some elusiveness. He, or whoever gets the nod, will be better next game out and Carty is as capable as any coach at finding what works best for each that will most benefit the Blue Hens.

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Discouraging

Delaware has not run the football as well or as much as it needs to keep defenses guessing and complement the passing game. Delaware is last in the CAA with 98.8 ground yards per game, though having to play catch-up in losses to Vanderbilt, Virginia and Liberty plays a part in that. Leading rusher Jo Silver’s 42.2 ground yards per game rank 12th in the league. Perhaps more revealing is that Delaware is averaging just 3.3 yards per carry, which is tied for second worst in the league. That also makes one wonder if the Blue Hens might be overmatched in the trenches. Liberty demonstrated the value of a forceful running game in beating Delaware, as the Flames got 282 of their 440 yards on the ground. Delaware’s season-high rushing total was 112 yards in the win over FCS Merrimack.

Discouraging

Delaware has seen more passes thrown against it than any CUSA team and given up the second most passing touchdowns. The Blue Hens have also intercepted just one pass this year and need more.

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Encouraging

Other aspects of the defense have been better than last year, which is a good sign. Delaware’s defense is on the field a lot – the Hens rank 8th in time of possession among CUSA teams. But the fact opposing quarterbacks have completed just 58.5 percent of those throws is reassuring, as are Delaware’s league-best 16 sacks and the fact it is tied for second best in red-zone defense in CUSA.

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com 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: Reasons to be encouraged, discouraged as Blue Hens begin Tuesday games

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com