Close games galore

Delaware’s last four home football games have been decided in the final seconds.

There’s no reason to expect anything different in the Blue Hens’ 2025 regular-season finale.

Delaware (5-6, 3-4) and UTEP (2-9, 1-7) kick off at 1 p.m. in the Conference USA game at Delaware Stadium on Nov. 29.

A victory makes Delaware bowl eligible in its first FBS-level season, though NCAA rules regarding transitional programs mean there must be a shortage of bowl-worthy teams for the Blue Hens to get a bid.

The last four Delaware Stadium matchups have ended on Nick Minicucci’s overtime touchdown run that beat UConn 44-41, a missed field goal in a 27-24 loss to Western Kentucky, a late onside kick recovery to beat Middle Tennessee 31-28 and Nate Reed’s 51-yard field goal that nipped Louisiana Tech 25-24.

It has certainly been riveting football theatre.

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UTEP, moving next year to the Mountain West, making this the first and likely last meeting between the schools, has had its own down-to-the-wire decisions, including in its last two games. The Miners were tied with Missouri State in the fourth period before losing 38-24 and were beaten by a late long field goal against Jacksonville State 30-27.

HOW TO WATCH: Texas-El Paso at Delaware football game on Nov. 29

 Such is the nature of Conference USA and life in the bowl subdivision, the Blue Hens have learned.

“This conference has been so, everything’s a close game,” Delaware coach Ryan Carty said. “There are so many overtime games. There’s so many times where those one-score games kind of go one way or another at the end of the game.’’

The Hens expect nothing different against UTEP.

“They’ve been in almost all of them,” Carty said of the Miners. “It seems like every week they’re either having a comeback victory or comeback loss, they’re in a three-point game, they’re in a seven-point game, one-possession game . . . Coach [Scotty] Walden has done such a great job of keeping these guys fighting together and fighting till the end. They play hard and they play physical and they finish games.”

Hen scratch

Delaware will honor 22 players in Senior Day activities pregame . . . Fintan Brose and Jack Hall will play in their 55^th Delaware games, which will tie them at No. 3 in UD history . . . Nick Minicucci is No. 1 in CUSA and fourth nationally with 290.5 passing yards per game, a UD single-season record. He is first in CUSA and No. 8 in FBS with 307.3 total yards per game. His 3,196 yards passing this year are fourth most in a UD season . . . Delaware is No. 1 in CUSA in both punt (15.7) and kick return (23.5) yardage . . . Delaware is 30-1 under Ryan Carty when scoring 30 or more points . . . UTEP has No. 2 passing defense (213.73 ypg) in CUSA but allowed 606 yards and seven touchdowns last two games . . . UTEP has No. 5 third-down defense in FBS (.294).

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.