Delaware closed 2025 with a bowl trophy and its franchise quarterback coming back for more. New Mexico State is starting over at the position it needs most.
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DELNMSU
DELNMSU
OverUnder
Best BetDelaware
Delaware brings back its top passer, top target, and center off a bowl-winning season, while New Mexico State is still picking a starting quarterback in year 3 under Tony Sanchez. That gap in continuity is real, and it's the reason to back the Blue Hens to win outright on the road.
Delaware
+Minicucci, top target, center all return off breakout year
+Capped 2025 with a bowl win over Louisiana
+Coaching continuity under Ryan Carty entering year 5
−Still just second season at the FBS level
−Long desert road trip to close the season
−Absorbing 14 transfer newcomers into the mix
New Mexico State
+Home crowd at Aggie Memorial Stadium
+Added 30-plus transfers including praised WR James Jones
+Showed fight beating UTEP in 2025 rivalry game
−Finished 4-8 with a losing conference record in 2025
−Still working through a 3-way quarterback competition
−Defense searching for identity under a new QB room
This is a Conference USA game between two programs headed in very different directions. Delaware is riding real momentum after capping its second FBS season with a bowl win, while New Mexico State is trying to answer a quarterback question that never got settled in 2025. The trip to Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces closes out Delaware's regular season, and it lands right in the middle of a rebuild for the Aggies.
Nick Minicucci is the headline here. The Delaware quarterback threw for enough yardage last season to crack the national top 10, and he's back for a final year alongside his top target and his center — basically the whole engine of that offense returning intact. New Mexico State, meanwhile, is sorting through a 3-way battle at quarterback between returner Adam Damante and transfers Trey Hedden and Kalani McLeod, the kind of competition programs usually want resolved well before November, not still lingering into the fall.
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DEL Delaware
NMSU New Mexico State
Both rosters got an offseason facelift through the portal. Delaware brought in 14 transfers to round out its roster around Minicucci, while New Mexico State went bigger, bringing in more than 30 new pieces, including receiver James Jones, whom head coach Tony Sanchez has already called a special player. New Mexico State's staying power at home and its knack for finding a spark late in games — see last year's rivalry win over UTEP — gives it a puncher's chance no matter who wins the quarterback job.
Delaware Blue Hens
Nov 14?vs Florida International—
Nov 7?@ Kennesaw State—
Oct 27?@ Western Kentucky—
Oct 20?vs Missouri State—
Oct 13?@ Middle Tennessee—
Oct 2?vs Liberty—
Sep 25?@ Virginia—
Sep 19?vs Coastal Carolina—
Sep 12?@ Vanderbilt—
Sep 3?vs Merrimack—
New Mexico State Aggies
Nov 14?@ Missouri State—
Nov 7?vs Liberty—
Oct 28?vs Jacksonville State—
Oct 21?@ Sam Houston—
Oct 7?@ Florida International—
Oct 1?vs Western Kentucky—
Sep 26?vs New Mexico—
Sep 12?@ Hawai'i—
Sep 5?vs Mercyhurst—
Aug 29?@ Florida State—
Recent form.
Delaware finished 2025 at 7-6 with a middle-of-the-pack 4-4 mark in conference, then went out and beat Louisiana in the 68 Ventures Bowl to end the year on a high note. New Mexico State's 2025 was rockier — a 4-8 finish and a 2-6 conference record that had the Aggies in the bottom half of the standings. Coach Ryan Carty has stability and a proven quarterback working in his favor; Tony Sanchez is still trying to find both.
