Delaware at Kennesaw State
Delaware (4‑4) at Kennesaw State (2‑6) — Delaware is favored by 1.5. Delaware’s offense is at the 55th percentile on explosive plays; Kennesaw State’s defense is at the 89th.
How they got here
Last three games
Delaware · 4-4
Rated 41st in our preseason ratings, 74th now.
2-1 in its last three, capped by a 14-point win over Western Kentucky as a 2.5-point underdog.
Last three games
Kennesaw State · 2-6
Rated 158th in our preseason ratings, 145th now, up 13 spots.
1-2 in its last three — but nothing on this résumé beats a top-40 team yet.
L 21-24 @ Missouri State No. 136 of 668 teams
lost by 3 as a 2.5-point favorite
Biggest mismatch: Delaware’s explosive plays against Kennesaw State, 34 points
Each row ranks the two sides among all teams. The longer the line, the bigger the mismatch.
Delaware’s explosive plays against Kennesaw State’s defense
Delaware offense, 55th percentile · Kennesaw State defense, 89th
Kennesaw State’s success rate against Delaware’s defense
Kennesaw State offense, 53rd percentile · Delaware defense, 26th
Delaware’s passing EPA against Kennesaw State’s defense
Delaware offense, 58th percentile · Kennesaw State defense, 37th
What’s at stake
Delaware
- Delaware needs 2 more wins in the final 3 to reach bowl eligibility — 90% to get there with a win here, 56% with a loss.
- Delaware is coming off a 14-point win.
Kennesaw State
- Kennesaw State is 3 games back in Conference USA with 3 left to make it up.
- Kennesaw State is coming off a 16-point win.
Face-off
What each fanbase carries into this one.
Delaware
The chip · vs the national mediaDelaware arrived in the FBS with more championship history than most of the programs it now plays, and outsiders still talk about FCS-to-FBS jumps as programs proving themselves from scratch. The 68 Ventures Bowl win, in year one, against a bid nobody guaranteed them, was the fanbase's answer.
What this game touches
The 2007 national championship game loss to Appalachian State. Joe Flacco's Delaware team reached the FCS national championship game in 2007 and lost 49-21 to Appalachian State -- the program's clearest recent shot at a seventh national title, and the closest the Flacco era came to matching the Tubby Raymond-era championship standard.
Kennesaw State
The chip · vs the national mediaA program that didn't play a single football game before 2015 just won a conference championship, and outsiders are still treating it as a fluke rather than the product of real program-building. Owls fans watched Jerry Mack turn a 2-10 roster into a CUSA champion in one offseason and believe that's a system, not luck.
What this game touches
The Myrtle Beach Bowl blowout. After the worst-to-first CUSA title run, Kennesaw State lost the Myrtle Beach Bowl 41-6 to Western Michigan -- a reminder, right after the program's biggest win, that the breakthrough still has to hold up against fuller-strength competition.
Best players
Delaware
- Gavin Moul (LB) · 54 tackles
- Sean Wilson (WR) · 591 receiving yards
- Blake Matthews (LB) · 47 tackles
Kennesaw State
- Tywon Christopher (LB) · 63 tackles
- Baron Hopson (LB) · 58 tackles
- Rickie Collins (QB) · 1,617 passing yards
What to watch
Leading passer and rusher so far this season. Kennesaw State: Rickie Collins (1,617 passing yards).
The total has moved up 5.0 points since opening (51.5 → 56.5): books now expect more combined points.
The betting line, and the fans
Kennesaw State fans are feeling it more than most fanbases this week (63rd percentile among FBS fanbases), in line with the numbers.
Delaware favored by 1.5 · Total 56.5
Delaware by 1.5: where a favorite like this usually runs
Half of games8 in 10 games
Delaware’s chance through the game, if this goes like the 305 games since 2025 with a favorite of under 3.5 points.
Weather at kickoff
Typical at Fifth Third Stadium: 7:30 pm Saturdays score 95, 3:30 pm Saturdays 89
Delaware at Kennesaw State · Saturday, Nov. 7 · 3 pm ET · Fifth Third Stadium.
Weather score: 0 to 100, higher is better, for the first 3 hours and 20 minutes of the game. Ideal is 100, Comfortable 90 to 99, Mixed 75 to 89, Rough 50 to 74, Harsh under 50.
If it kicked off at
Typical at Fifth Third Stadium: noon Saturdays score 91, 3:30 pm 89, 7:30 pm 95.
- noon: 91, Comfortable
- 3:30 pm: 89, Mixed
- 7:30 pm: 95, Comfortable
Typical weather score at each kickoff time.
Typical means the average of regular-season Saturdays at this stadium, 2018 to 2025. It is not a forecast for this game.
Home field
Kennesaw State is worth +4.2 points (±6.0) more at home than on the road since 2018 — middle of FBS, 51st percentile.
57% at home, 25% on the road against FBS opponents (8-6 home, 6-18 away).
Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads +2.9 at home vs. away over 36 games — inside the ±9.6 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.
The visitors travel about 623 miles to get here.
Season profile
Week by week
Kennesaw State
- Wk 4Lat Arkansas State14-17
- Wk 6Lvs Jacksonville State26-27
- Wk 7Lat Missouri State21-24
- Wk 8Lvs Liberty6-34
- Wk 9Wat Middle Tennessee44-28
Delaware
- Wk 4Lat Virginia3-42
- Wk 5Lvs Liberty14-30
- Wk 7Lat Middle Tennessee30-33
- Wk 8Wvs Missouri State61-38
- Wk 9Wat Western Kentucky35-21
Power rating by week
Delaware is rated 5.8 points ahead as of week 10. Our power rating by week; higher is better.
The market
The spread moved 1.5 points toward Kennesaw State.
The total rose 5 points.
Spread: +3 → +1.5 · Total: 51.5 → 56.5
The books’ cut: 4.3%, the margin built into the odds
Conference standings
Going into this game: place in the conference, then conference record.
- Kennesaw State9th1-3
- Delaware3rd2-2