Putting Up Numbers· college football

Delaware’s passing yards with Nick Minicucci and without Nick Minicucci

, ,

Against what the season’s ratings expected, Delaware was 27.6 yards over with Nick Minicucci and 17.3 yards under without Nick Minicucci over its last 21 games, 16 games against 3. The plain averages are 302.8 and 216.3, a difference of 86.4. Both neutral-site games were with Nick Minicucci. All 9 day games were with Nick Minicucci. Both opponents outside the major colleges were with Nick Minicucci.

Nick Minicucci, quarterback: 5,158 passing yards, 681 pass attempts and 432 completions in 19 of those 21 games, 93% of Delaware’s passing yards in those games.

3 games without Nick Minicucci is still too small a sample for the statistics to say much, but maybe you can find something if you squint.

passing yards a game over expected

A +44.9 difference in passing yards over expected with Nick Minicucci vs without Nick Minicucci is a bit unusual: shuffle which games were with Nick Minicucci and it comes up 12 times in 100.

A +86.4 difference in passing yards with Nick Minicucci vs without Nick Minicucci is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Nick Minicucciwithout Nick Minicucci
Delaware’s games, last 21 games, each marked with Nick Minicucci or without Nick Minicucci
SideDateGameResultpassing yardsExpected
Aug 28, 2025vsDDelaware StateW291—
Sep 6, 2025@ColoradoL312227.5
Sep 13, 2025vsUConnW265284.9
Sep 20, 2025@Florida InternationalW218282.3
Oct 3, 2025vsWestern KentuckyL314276.6
Oct 15, 2025@Jacksonville StateL422256.6
Oct 22, 2025vsMiddle TennesseeW281307.8
Nov 1, 2025@LibertyL344249.4
Nov 8, 2025vsLouisiana TechW304282.1
Nov 15, 2025vsSam Houston (neutral)L338290.3
Nov 22, 2025@Wake ForestL233234.5
Nov 29, 2025vsUTEPW311261.3
Dec 17, 2025vsLouisiana (neutral)W176294.9
Sep 3, 2026vsMMerrimackW435—
Sep 12, 2026@VanderbiltL240247.0
Sep 19, 2026vsCoastal CarolinaW302263.8
Sep 26, 2026@VirginiaL71242.2
Oct 2, 2026vsLibertyL257220.0
Oct 13, 2026@Middle TennesseeL321238.8
Oct 20, 2026vsMissouri StateW250301.1
Oct 27, 2026@Western KentuckyW414222.2

Method

Read against .

  • Expected is an offense and a defense a team, fit over every game of its season between two teams in the table with the game being read left out, plus 1.8 in 2025, plus 4.1 in 2026 for the home team (the edge the fit finds once strength is in), nothing at a neutral site.
  • Each expected number is then fit to the season’s games: a game bears out about 68% in 2025, 59% in 2026 of the difference the model predicts.
  • The shuffle keeps the season’s shape: the games are cut in two where one date leaves the least variance, each game is read against its stretch, and the sides are shuffled only inside each stretch.
  • Delaware State, Merrimack have no other game in the table, so those games have no expected number and sit out the second figure.
  • Who played is read from the schools’ box scores’ participation lists, which name every player who entered the game.
  • With him means he was the team’s quarterback that game, at least half of its pass attempts; a game he left early or came into late reads as without him.