Nate Reed had faith he'd nail decisive 51-yard field goal in Blue Hens' dramatic win
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Belief comes and goes, travelling between various likelihoods and possibilities, often battling its ruthless adversary, which is doubt.
Nate Reed only carried the former, not the latter, with him when he prepared to kick what would be the longest field goal of his career and give Delaware one of the most dramatic wins in its epic history.
Coach Ryan Carty even asked him if he needed a timeout, before Reed left the sideline at Delaware Stadium to try his 51-yarder, with Delaware down 24-22 against Conference USA rival Louisiana Tech.
“I didn’t want to ice him,” Carty said, “but I was like ‘Do you want to set? You want to relax?’
“He said, ‘Nope. Got it.’ ”
Reed had forced overtime with a dramatic kick in the Blue Hens’ win over Connecticut. He then missed one that would have forced overtime in a tough loss to Western Kentucky.
Such is the life of the kicker. Brutal lows one day. Giddy satisfaction on another.
And it’s why, after making all three of his field-goal tries in the first half of this game, just as he had last week at Liberty, Reed didn’t think about those kicks, despite the confidence they may have instilled.
He only thought about this kick.
“It’s just one kick, one moment,” he said.
And what a moment and what a beautiful view it was for Reed, his coaches and teammates and those smart of enough in a homecoming crowd of 17,912 to stay until the end, whether the finish is disheartening or delightful.
“Coming off my foot. I know I hit it well,” he said. “I think it actually did get tipped. Kind of slowed the rotation down.
“But just as soon as I hit it, I just kind of started running away [to celebrate].”
Reed’s kick with 12 seconds left made Delaware a 25-24 winner over a highly regarded Conference USA foe.
Delaware, in its first FBS-level season, is 5-4 with three games left and, therefore, one win from bowl eligibility with games left against Sam Houston State (0-9), Wake Forest (6-3 after beating 14th-ranked Virginia) and UTEP (2-7). However, as a transitional FBS member, Delaware may actually only go to a bowl if there are not enough other eligible teams.
The 51-yard field goal was the seventh longest in UD history and Reed’s eighth straight, tied for the fifth-longest streak in school history.
The field goal wouldn’t have been possible if Reed had not previously delivered a perfect onside kick with a bounce that eluded a Louisiana Tech player and was lovingly embraced on the sideline by teammate Ja’Carree Kelly. In the loss at Jacksonville State, Gavin Moul had similarly cradled the football on an onside kick.
It was all just another reminder that these outcomes are determined by one decisive moment after another. The Delaware touchdown that pulled the Hens within 24-22 with 34 seconds left – Nick Minicucci’s 3-yard pass to Elijah Sessoms – was only possible because of a fourth-down pass-interference call against the Bulldogs that kept the 75-yard drive alive.
Not to be forgotten in all the late-game drama was a sturdy showing by a Delaware defense that got ransacked in the 59-30 loss at Liberty, allowing 561 total yards.
Louisiana Tech, a week after scoring 55 points itself against Sam Houston, managed just 333 total yards.
“I said to the team at halftime that no one in the country can replicate what we have in this huddle in terms of trust and belief we have in one another,” said defensive lineman and captain Ethan Saunders. “… We never lost belief coming out of last week.”
There it was again, a belief that, despite the odds and potential for skepticism, Delaware could get the job done.
That outlook, despite a few disappointments, has characterized the Blue Hens’ first Conference USA season. This win was another reminder that Delaware made a wise move in its step up to the demanding, unforgiving FBS level.
It was on clear display Saturday, the type of gorgeous day that makes autumn so deeply appealing in these parts, even when it harbors disaster one moment and joy the next while carrying witnesses on an emotional merry-go-round.
“The atmosphere that we had today,” Carty said, “the energy in the stadium, the feel that you had, that people believed in what we were doing and wanted us to continue to fight, and they were fighting with us, was just so much fun to feel.”
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: Nate Reed had faith he’d nail field goal in Blue Hens’ CUSA win
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