A picture of the pylon at Delaware Stadium during the Fightin’ Blue Hens first game of the 2026 season against Merrimack. Photo Credit: Dave Reeder.

The Kennesaw State Owls (3-6, 2-3 CUSA) defeated the Fightin’ Blue Hens (4-5, 2-3 CUSA), 42-40, on November 7, making the Blue Hens chance at a CUSA title improbable.

 

Delaware quarterback Nick Minicucci received the shotgun snap and took his drop while surveying the Kennesaw State defense. Minicucci kept his eyes downfield on fourth and six, but felt the Owl pass rush closing in. The Owl’s outside pass rushers forced Minicucci to step up in the pocket where their interior teammates awaited the senior’s arrival. 

Minicucci tried to navigate himself out of the pocket, but all the Owl pass rushers converged on him as he attempted to escape. Linebacker Tywon Christopher was the player to take him down, giving the ball back to the Kennesaw State offense with over four minutes to play in the third quarter.

Christopher’s third quarter sack was one of three sacks the Kennesaw defense accumulated throughout the game in the Owls’ 42-40 victory over UD, Saturday evening.

The Delaware offensive line struggled against the Kennesaw front seven throughout the night allowing the three sacks along with nine quarterback hurries. Minicucci seemed like he was scrambling on many of his dropbacks and the running game never gained any momentum, rushing for 85 total yards. 

Despite the struggles up front, UD still had a chance to come away with a win. 

Following the turnover on downs, Conference USA (CUSA) interception leader, George Mullins, picked off Owl quarterback Landon Varnes and returned it into Owl territory. The interception led to a Tucker Smack field goal that put the Blue Hens ahead, 34-33, near the end of the third quarter.

Varnes and the Kennesaw offense immediately bounced back, scoring 42 seconds into the fourth quarter on a 63-yard touchdown pass to Reed Jesiolowski. Jesiolowski was wide open running down the numbers on the left side of the field behind the Delaware secondary when Varnes hit him in stride for the long touchdown. The Owls attempted a two-point conversion, but the try was intercepted by Blue Hen defensive back Kevin Moore. 

A Delaware punt followed the Kennesaw State scoring drive and the Owls added a field goal on their next possession, increasing their advantage to eight with 8:25 left to play. 

Delaware’s offense continued to struggle after the field goal and ended their next two drives with a lost fumble and punt. The Blue Hen defense made key stops down the stretch and forced the Owls to punt the ball away late in the fourth quarter. The Delaware defense gave the offense one last shot to tie the game with a minute and 47 seconds remaining and 82 yards of field to traverse. 

Delaware’s offense capitalized on the opportunity and marched down the field to the Kennesaw State 17 yard line with thirty seconds remaining in the game. Minicucci attempted a pass on first down, but the throw was hurried and fell incomplete. Delaware’s signal caller attempted a second pass on second down and connected with receiver Bryson Graves running across the middle of the field. Graves out ran the Owl defense and crossed into the endzone with 24 seconds remaining in the game.

BRYSON GRAVES ‼️ pic.twitter.com/qp0TEYZezv

— Delaware Football (@Delaware_FB) November 7, 2026

The Blue Hens lined up for the two-point conversion and schemed up a play that seemed designed for Graves to sneak out into the left flat out of a condensed formation. Graves slipped as he started his route and Minicucci quickly pivoted his focus from Graves to the Owl pass rush bearing down on him. Minicucci scrambled to his right and threw on the run to Donovan Lewis in the back right of the endzone. Lewis made a diving effort for the throw, but was unable to come up with the catch.

Delaware’s onside kick attempt was recovered by the Owls and Kennesaw State went into victory formation to secure the win. 

The Blue Hens finished the game with 493 total yards of offense with 408 of those yards coming from the passing game. Minicucci finished with 35 completions on 54 attempts and two throwing touchdowns putting him two away from second place on Delaware’s all-time passing touchdowns list. Graves finished the game with a team-high seven catches and 125 receiving yards (both are career highs) notching his first career game of over 100 receiving yards. Jo Silver led the running back room with 39 yards on the ground. 

The Owls offense finished with similar totals with 446 total yards, 309 of which through the air. Kennesaw State did out rush the Blue Hens, 137 to 85, accumulating 107 of those rush yards in the second quarter. 

The Owls scored 17 points in the second quarter with both of their touchdowns coming via the run game and running back Boogie Woods III. Woods finished the game with 90 rushing yards on 15 carries to go along with the two scores. 

Blue Hen running back Viron Ellison Jr. also finished the first half with a pair of touchdowns, scoring one in the first quarter and his second in the second quarter.  

The first quarter got off to an explosive start after the Owls scored in the first 20 seconds of action. Redshirt senior Davis Bryson fielded the game’s opening kick-off and found a hole near the left side of Delaware’s kick coverage. Bryson took advantage of the opening and streaked down the left sideline passing the lone defender in his way, kicker Tucker Smack, en route to a 99-yard return touchdown. 

The Blue Hens answered with a methodical drive that lasted nearly seven minutes and ended with the first of Ellison’s two touchdowns. The Delaware defense followed with defensive tackle Trace Scott III’s first career interception and touchdown, giving the Blue Hens a 15-6 lead with a little less than seven minutes to play in the quarter.

Pick six ‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/cw34QGpFEz

— Delaware Football (@Delaware_FB) November 7, 2026

The Owls bounced back from the turnover and cut the lead to two with a drive that ended in a Rickie Collins eight-yard touchdown run along the right sideline. Originally called out of bounds before the score, the play was reviewed and deemed a touchdown due to Collins’ ability to reach the ball out past the pylon as his body was pushed out of bounds. 

That was the last snap Collins played in the game. Collins was on the sideline with ice on his right shoulder and his pads off when the Owls’ offense took the field at the start of the second quarter. Junior Landon Varnes took over under center and played the rest of the game finishing with 254 passing yards and a quarterback rating of 112.5.

The Owls’ win keeps them in the hunt for a bowl game with their overall record sitting at 3-6 with three games remaining on their schedule. 

The Blue Hens’ loss makes it very improbable they end the season with a chance at the CUSA title. 

Delaware sits behind Jacksonville State, Liberty, Middle Tennessee and is tied with New Mexico State in the CUSA standings. Delaware has already lost to Liberty and Middle Tennessee this season and will play New Mexico State and Jax State within the next three weeks. The Blue Hens would need to win out and hope for a pair of losses from Middle Tennessee and three straight losses from Jax State to have a shot at playing in the CUSA championship game.

Delaware is also a couple wins away from being bowl eligible. The Blue Hens will need to win two of their next three games to play in their second bowl game in just their second season at the FBS level. 

The Blue Hens’ next game is against FIU at home on Saturday, November 14. Kick-off will be at 3:00 p.m.

Ryan Colasanti joins Delaware Live following four years at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism, earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism. There he covered multiple sports for the school’s radio station as both a reporter and editor. Ryan is excited to return back to the state and cover all things Delaware sports.