Two programs that jumped from FCS to FBS almost overnight finally collide for the first time, and it's a total contrast in styles — a Blue Hens roster built on continuity against a Bears team that spent the offseason blowing itself up and starting over.
Bush’s Picks
MOSTDEL
MOSTDEL
OverUnder
Best BetDelaware
Delaware's the safer outright pick here mostly because of what it isn't dealing with: a quarterback competition, a new playbook and a new coaching staff all at once. Minicucci gives the Blue Hens a proven top-end passer in a league that didn't have many, and continuity matters in year two of an FBS jump.
Missouri State
+Went 7-6, 5-3 in CUSA a year ago
+Loaded up via portal — 22 newcomers, 9 on offense
+OC Mark Cala runs a proven Briles-tree spread system
−Brand-new staff and unsettled QB battle
−First-ever meeting with Delaware, no scouting history
−Entire coaching staff and system turned over in one offseason
Delaware
+Minicucci returns after 3,683 yards, 23 TDs in 2025
+19 returning players, most of the roster intact
+Won first-ever FBS bowl game, 20-13 over Louisiana
−Just 4-4 in CUSA play a season ago
−Still only its second season away from the FCS level
The headline storyline here is quarterback continuity, or the lack of it. Delaware brings back Nick Minicucci, who threw for 3,683 yards and 23 touchdowns last season and was one of the best passers in all of Conference USA. Missouri State, meanwhile, is still sorting out who even takes the first snap, with transfers Skyler Locklear and Henry Belin IV fighting it out behind a brand-new coaching staff led by first-year head coach Casey Woods, who spent last year as SMU's offensive coordinator.
Woods didn't just take over the Bears — he gutted the roster. Missouri State brought in 22 transfers this offseason, nine of them on offense alone, including three receivers, three offensive linemen and a running back, all running a scheme built by OC Mark Cala out of the Kendal Briles coaching tree. Delaware went the opposite direction, retaining 19 players off last year's roster with only two departures, which is about as much stability as a two-year-old FBS program can ask for.
Show fees
6:00 PM CT
Spread
ML
Total
MOST Missouri State
DEL Delaware
Both sides have real things to prove despite the different paths. Delaware just wrapped its first FBS season with a bowl win, and Missouri State actually finished with the better conference record in 2025 under a coaching staff that's now scattered — Ryan Beard left for Coastal Carolina, and interim man Nick Petrino ran the bowl game. New systems on one side, new continuity questions on the other.
Missouri State Bears
Oct 14?vs Kennesaw State—
Oct 8?@ Western Kentucky—
Sep 25?@ SMU—
Sep 19?vs Marshall—
Sep 12?vs Lindenwood—
Sep 5?@ Texas A&M—
Delaware Blue Hens
Oct 13?@ Middle Tennessee—
Oct 2?vs Liberty—
Sep 25?@ Virginia—
Sep 19?vs Coastal Carolina—
Sep 12?@ Vanderbilt—
Sep 3?vs Merrimack—
Recent form.
This is a first-ever meeting between these two programs, so there's no history to lean on — just two rosters that look nothing like they did a year ago running into each other on a Tuesday night in Newark. Whichever team's new pieces gel faster by late October is going to decide this one.
