Carty, Blue Hens seek offensive revival in game at Middle Tennessee
· Yahoo Sports
The week since an underwhelming offensive showing against Liberty almost sounded like a period of soul searching.
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What it really was for the Blue Hens was a chance to rediscover who they are and make it work again, with some extra time to do so.
They’ll see if it was effective in their next Conference USA football game at Middle Tennessee on Oct. 13. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. (CBS Sports Network).
Coach Ryan Carty, to whom offensive football is a science requiring expertise and experimentation, had expressed regret and discontent after Delaware’s 30-14 loss to Liberty Oct. 2.
“This is as poor offensively in a two-game stretch than I’ve ever been in my entire life,” said Carty, the former Blue Hens quarterback who was offensive coordinator at New Hampshire and Sam Houston before becoming Delaware coach after the 2021 season.
The absence of proven starter Nick Minicucci, one of the nation’s leading passers in 2025, was surely a big part of that.
He’d hurt his knee in the second quarter of a 42-3 loss at Virginia Sept. 26 and been replaced by Braden Streeter. E.J. Archield Jr. was then chosen to start the Liberty game – and take his first collegiate snaps – with Minicucci still sidelined.
Delaware didn’t score any touchdowns against Virginia, which is the defending ACC regular-season champ. It didn’t score any until the last 10 minutes against Liberty, a typical Conference USA powerhouse.
Since then, the focus, Carty said, was for Delaware to “get back to playing the brand of football we need to play.”
That has typically been a type that makes football less fun for opposing defenses. “Detailed execution” is how Carty defined it.
Delaware was No. 1 in total offense in 2025 in Conference USA, quite an accomplishment for a first-year FBS-level program. Delaware was second in the Coastal Athletic Association in total offense its final year there in 2024.
That has typically been accomplished with a clever pass-oriented attack speckled with explosive plays downfield and complimented with a successful running game. But it’s been less apparent in recent games, though the quality of the opposition has certainly played a major role.
“What you saw the last couple weeks was also some solid defenses and some adverse situations,” Carty said, “and we didn't overcome those. And that's unfortunate because that is what I've seen from an offense and a team that we've been around, is that somebody can overcome maybe having an absence at quarterback.
“We can overcome rain. We can overcome an injury. We can overcome maybe being a little bit outmanned at certain places, like we might have been at Virginia. And we didn't do that as a unit on offense and as a team.”
Now they shall attempt to overcome at Middle Tennessee, or that is Carty’s hope from the 10 days that have followed the gut-wrenching loss to Liberty.
“We have to make sure that we do everything we can to put ourselves in that advantageous situation,” Carty said, “regardless of what the circumstances are in the outside world. We have to execute. We know what we can do, and our brand of football is what it's been.”
That brand, Carty added, demands “we play hard, we play physical, we play smart, play fast. We have explosive plays. We get the ball back on defense, and we hold onto it on offense. And we didn't do a lot of those things.”
Archield Jr. had been a surprise starter at quarterback for the Liberty game because the sophomore hadn’t played before. Braden Streeter had replaced Minicucci when he was hurt at Vanderbilt and Virginia, and fellow junior Riley Trujillo also got late snaps in Charlottesville.
Carty wouldn’t say who will play quarterback at Middle Tennessee. He did describe why Archield earned that role against Liberty.
“He just does everything correctly,” Carty said, carving the quarterback position down to its important elements. “He is 100 percent in his mental assignments. He's always going to be in the right spot. He's going to get you the right checks. He's going to make sure everybody's lined up correctly.
“He knows the offense inside and out, as good as I've had in that position in that room, and can do everything really well, and I think you saw that too. He's accurate enough. He can make all the throws. He can run the ball well, and so he allows you to execute your offense and get the ball to your playmakers.”
Those qualities didn’t add up to any points against Liberty, however, including Archfield having the football knocked loose from his grasp inside the Liberty 10-yard line while running for a possible touchdown.
Carty, who calls the plays, suggested he may have been too cautious and, therefore, perhaps prevented Archield from finding his groove.
“I think he did some really nice things,” Carty said, “and it was fun to see him go out there and have this opportunity.
“And so, when he gets his opportunity again, I assume he'll do even better because he's got that experience now, which is important.”
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: Carty, Blue Hens seek offensive revival in game at Middle Tennessee