Welcome back to Hoot State, welcome back to Saturday football, and welcome back to Kennesaw. Before we run through the first-ever matchup between the Owls and Blue Hens, let’s take a second to thank our friends at Section 103. If you’re looking celebrate homecoming with new Owls gear, catch them at Fifth Third Stadium today - or you can grab a discount online using promo code HOOT.

Saturday, Nov. 7 | 3:00 PM ET | ESPN+

Projections
Vegas: Delaware -1.5, Total: 57.5
SP+: KSU 28, Delaware 26
FEI: Delaware 25.4, KSU 24.8
FPI: Blue Hens by 0.6
Massey: KSU 30, Delaware 28

What’s at stake: A must-win on both sides, for different reasons. KSU’s season got a stay of execution by beating MTSU and the Owls remain alive in the chase for a second-consecutive bowl game. FPI still has the number a little short of 10% for the Owls, but that would shoot up considerably with a win over the Blue Hens - the best team left on the schedule. Delaware’s part of the 2-2 pack of teams technically in the CUSA title conversation, which has mostly become a two-horse race between Liberty and Jax State. The Gamecocks come to Newark to close out the season, so another slip-up would be required for the Blue Hens to catch up.

Delaware’s season so far: 4-4 (2-2 CUSA) with a three-point jump in SP+ since the summer. Delaware looked like a bit of a paper tiger to me during the preseason based on a modest amount of hype about returning production (25th nationally) and snaps (9th). I always find it hard to understand how we can make these two arguments at the same time: 1) Every good G6 team gets raided, and 2) [Insert team here] will succeed because of keeping the team together. Always feels a little bit contradictory. Adding the league’s worst portal class to a 7-6 squad didn’t inspire a ton of confidence in the upside, and I picked the Blue Hens 5th when a group of CUSA writers put together a preseason poll.

There’s still a lot of football left, but I would lean toward calling that one a bad take based on how the Blue Hens have looked with CUSA preseason offensive POTY Nick Minicucci healthy and in the lineup. They handled Merrimack, kept it within single-digits at Vandy, and won a slopfest with Coastal Carolina. Minicucci’s injury against Virginia threatened to derail the season, yet he returned after a three-game losing streak to get the Blue Hens back to .500 in CUSA play before heading to Kennesaw.

Minicucci’s stat line since returning to action: 52/67 for 639 yards and 9 TDs as the Blue Hens averaged 48 PPG in wins over Missouri State and WKU. I’m still not sold on the defense, but it may not matter if Delaware keeps putting up video game numbers with QB1 back in the lineup.

Jerry Mack: Delaware is “one of the best passing attacks in all of G6 football.”

Nick Minicucci vs. Marc Mattioli sounds like a matchup of Serie A managers, but that’s the headline battle. Kinda like my doubtful preseason take on the Blue Hens, I penciled Minicucci in as a potential Why Are You Still Here all-star - somebody who maxed out and gets a little inflated due to name recognition. Oops. He completed his first 18 passes against WKU and looks like he’s absolutely rolling as Delaware heads to Kennesaw.

Sure-handed Sean Wilson’s his primary target, with 40 catches, 591 yards, and 5 TDs for the Alpharetta native despite some QB uncertainty - to put it kindly - during Minicucci’s absence. They all somehow end up as highlight reel catches, too. Yesterday, I took a look at Wilson and the rest of CUSA’s wideouts during a season where the top-tier of the league - Wilson, Makai Jackson, Isaiah Myers - has been a real bright spot.

TLDR: Wilson has been awesome this season and wins a million 50/50 balls as a luxury possession receiver. There’s not a lot of catch-and-run in his game, as he ranks 21st out of 23 qualifying CUSA WRs in YAC/reception. It’s a similar situation as Isaiah Myers, minus about 5 inches of height. A more cynical person than myself might wonder if all the contested catch stuff is sustainable, but it’s been pretty sick to watch so far this season.

Wilson’s productivity and reliability for Minicucci means that the most important matchup of the afternoon will come between him and KSU corners Tay’vion Lawson and Luke Evans. Both corners put together their best joint game of the season against MTSU: 6 total targets for 3 catches and 13 yards while playing ~90 snaps, to make it even more impressive.

Different challenge against Delaware, obviously, but nice to see a step in the right direction after some bumps in the road at the backend of the defense at times this season. Wilson’s their main obstacle from a personnel perspective, though Donovan Lewis and the other WRs are good enough to acknowledge. They’re just anywhere near Wilson’s level at the moment.

What else should we watch on the Delaware offense? During his weekly presser, Mack noted another concern: Ryan Carty and the Blue Hens’ offensive braintrust really cooks up some creative action in the passing game. Past Wilson, I think the real matchup to watch is with Mattioli to see how the Owls prepare for some of the Coach Dan Casey bait from the Blue Hens.

A couple examples from the WKU film. First, a switch release scissors concept that puts the Toppers in a blender by inverting the receivers, and then crossing back over on the post/corner combo. Delaware makes Wilson’s limited slot usage (around 9% of snaps) count with a touchdown that looks like routes on air by the end.

Next: A sort of screen-and-go-and-go-again where one player from the bunch releases, and then the fake screen target slips into the vacated space.

Elsewhere on the Delaware offense, this is how PFF evaluates the rest of the Blue Hens:

C’s get degrees, as they say.

At tight end, Sessoms will get schemed open a time or two, despite not being a real factor in the passing game this season. He’s only logged 2 targets in three games this season, but 3 of his 9 catches went for 25+ yards. He’s also remarkably slow.

I’m not sure how much the running backs matter, to be honest. Delaware’s ideal game state is Minicucci slinging it around 35+ times and mixing in the zone-heavy scheme every so often. Lead back Jo Silver has only crossed the 15-carry threshold once this season. I like the change-of-pace back Kedarris Roberts better than both Silver and Viron Ellison. Despite the size difference, Roberts actually leads the trio in yards after contact per attempt by more than a yard and pitched in 242 receiving yards.

Like everything with the Delaware offense, it all comes back to the aerial attack and how the gravity of Wilson opens up the route tree for the rest of the Blue Hens.

Marcus Patterson plays Rush end now. There weren’t many players more versatile across the front line for the Owls last year, getting snaps all the way from a 0-technique out to a wide 9. He’s played plenty of snaps as a standup edge before, so getting a little further out on the perimeter is not that much of a stretch. Last week wasn’t a package or gimmick, though. He just straight up played a ton of outside linebacker, in a variety of situations.

Patterson lined up for 7 snaps in coverage against the Blue Raiders, which doesn’t sound like a lot until you remember he weighs 264 pounds and only dropped back 6 times in his entire career before this season. This visual was pretty wild to see.

Welcome to Patterson Island. Why’d KSU make the move? It’s sort of the opposite problem they had with Elijah Hill last season. One stat I will submit into evidence: The list of where KSU’s front-line ranks in pass-rush win rate against the rest of CUSA defensive linemen:

Last season, Patterson usually slid inside on obvious passing downs to make room for Hill. They can’t really do that this year, for a couple reasons: 1) Elijah Hill ain’t walking through that door, and 2) Patterson hasn’t been as consistent as the DTs he’d be taking off the field - like Miller and Grimes. Glancing over toward the strongside DE position, where Patterson typically played for most of the last two years in Kennesaw, Nwoha turned from a feel-good story into KSU’s best pass rusher. You’re not taking him off the field right now, either. Why not give him an extended look at Rush - something Mack talked about as far back as the Week 1 presser - and see what sticks?

There’s not many other options, anyway. Corey Kelly hasn’t played since Tennessee, Donovan Westmoreland hasn’t played since 2025, and Byron Jackson hasn’t played ever. Kai Russell might be on ice - either due to re-aggrevating an injury or completely giving up on a play against MTSU, hard to say which. That leaves Patterson, Greaves, and Zay Wilson as options, and Patterson seems to be the one they trust most to give them the flexibility to play in three- and four-down fronts without sacrificing too much one way or the other.

If the Owls feel like they can get away with Patterson in extended duty at OLB, Mattioli’s defense adds an extra dimension in blitz packages, too. They obliterated Roman Gagliano on one play last week by bringing Patterson, who was lined up on a receiver in the slot, up to the right tackle and getting the Blue Raiders to adjust the protection toward him, then sending the inside linebackers to the other side. It’s creates a funny cat-and-mouse game where the opponent has to treat it like a blitz, even though he’s spent 99.9% of his career starting from the same place that now scares the offense into a frenzy. If you don’t feel like you have a true game-wrecker on the outside, the pressure menu’s much bigger when starting from a three-down front.

For what it’s worth, Minicucci’s seen a ton of blitzes this year - 48.4% of dropbacks - and thrown for 9 touchdowns when opposing defenses send pressure.

One of the other wrinkles we’ve started seeing more often: True three-safety looks from the Owls, which is ironic given that’s Delaware’s bread-and-butter on defense. I couldn’t track down any All-22 from last week, sadly, but here’s one example of Isaac Paul closing the post on a dime package immediately after the snap.

An interesting look facing an empty formation in a situation where there’s not much out what the offense needs to do. As the Owls continue experimenting, this is another situation to monitor - especially against a pass-happy Blue Hens offense. One more potential coverage for Minicucci and the Delaware offensive staff to consider as they were putting together the gameplan for this afternoon.

For the Kennesaw State offense: What changed last week, outside of getting to play against a dreadful MTSU defense? To me, the clear difference was Rickie Collins' willingness to pull the trigger into tight windows and give his receivers a chance to make plays even if they're not wide open. See Dylan Gary's one-handers as a couple examples. On some of the choice routes, it also seems like a directive from the staff to push the issue and get more aggressive in taking the go route instead of settling for the curl or trying to bend a post. A lot of the calls from the fan base for Collins to sling it downfield ignore the fact that he can't throw it 30 yards if the WR gets a coverage cue to sit down at 10.

Against MTSU, Collins finished with an average target depth of 10.7 yards - highest of the season and only the third game in which he exceeded 6.5 air yards per attempt. KSU clearly saw MTSU's corners as a liability and acted on it, especially when the Blue Raiders pressed and failed to make a real physical impact. On throws targeting Jackson Lowe (tight coverage on Gary's TDs, exposed once the ball was in the air) and the rest of the CB room, Collins went 9/10 for 149 yards, including Gary's two touchdowns. As a unit, the receivers combined for 13 catches and 197 yards - and only two incompletions after dropping four passes against Liberty.

Can the Owls continue the step forward against the Blue Hens? It’ll be an intriguing tactical matchup when KSU has the ball, especially after a half bye week to get on the chalkboard. Led by DC Manny Rojas, Delaware’s own three-down, three-safety system takes influence from the Iowa State scheme purpose-built to stop the Veer and Shoot and other spread offenses in the Big XII. If you remember Louisiana Tech’s defense, that’s a decent comp for what the Blue Hens like to do.

From a coverage perspective, Delaware mixes it up nicely and will give Collins plenty to think about pre- and post-snap. This is how Rojas’ coverage selection looked last year:

One thing that caught my eye tracking Rojas’ defense on a game-to-game basis is that the blitz rate on passing downs has fallen pretty steadily since the opener.

Will Rojas opt to drop 8 and force Collins to carve him up? I’m thinking back to the Dexter Williams LA Tech game last year as what that looks like to succeed with small-ball passing game. Definitely possible, based on some of the conservative decision-making we’ve seen, but the margin for error is much tighter. Collins can’t get away with the catastrophic mistakes with the Delaware offense waiting on the opposite sideline.

Four guys to watch on the Delaware defense: