Delaware started fast and put 15 points on the board in the 1st quarter for a 15-13 lead. The 2nd quarter belonged to the Owls. They scored 17 in it and went to the locker room ahead 30-25. With running back Spiller gone for the year and receiver Salazer still out, the preview expected Delaware to lean on the passing game, and it did. Minicucci's yardage shows it. The passing game kept Delaware in the game. It couldn't keep Kennesaw State off the board.
Boogie Woods III was the steady part of the Kennesaw State offense. He ran 15 times for 90 yards and 2 touchdowns, the same 2-score day he had in the win at Middle Tennessee. That was a back-to-back multi-touchdown day from the backfield, against a Delaware defense that had already given up 33 at Middle Tennessee and 38 to Missouri State. The board had moved toward the Owls since it opened, and they finished as the team that made the plays late.
The 3rd quarter was the one stretch where Delaware's defense held. Kennesaw State managed only a field goal, and the Blue Hens' 9 points put them up 34-33 heading into the 4th. That was the chance for Delaware to win on the road again behind its quarterback. Instead the Owls outscored them 9-6 in the 4th, and a Delaware offense that had put up 34 through 3 quarters couldn't get the touchdown that would have closed it out. A team that lost 3 games by 3 points or fewer this year was on the right side of a close one this time.
The search turned up no numbers for Sean Wilson, Collins' line or the turnover battle the preview called the swing factor, so those questions go unanswered here. The line score still shows how it went: 82 combined points, 4 lead changes by quarter, and a defense that gave up 30 in a half losing the game. Delaware drops to .500-minus territory at 4-5 and has now lost 2 games to Kennesaw State's opponents that Kennesaw beat. Kennesaw State has back-to-back wins for the first time in this stretch.
For Delaware, the takeaway is the defense, not the quarterback. Minicucci is healthy and throwing for 400 a week, and that keeps this team in every game it plays. The Blue Hens have now given up 33, 38, 21 and 42 in 4 of their last 5 games, and that's how a 400-yard passer ends up on the losing side.
