The Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders will play host to the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens on Tuesday, looking to stay undefeated at home and crawl back to .500 following a bye week. Delaware, also coming off a bye, will need its first road win of the year in order to avoid a three-game losing streak.
Delaware is a 1.5-point road favorite on Tuesday at -115 moneyline odds, while Middle Tennessee has -105 moneyline odds. The game total for the Conference USA contest is set at 47.5 points. Here is a preview of the Week 7 showdown featuring odds and lines from DraftKings Sportsbook.
Delaware Blue Hens at Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Preview
Delaware
The Blue Hens, no longer in the FCS, beat up on their old compatriots by blowing out Merrimack to open the season. They proceeded to lose by just nine at Vanderbilt, then beat Coastal Carolina 22-14. The ensuing road game at Virginia wound up as a 42-3 loss, though, and Liberty spoiled Delaware’s return home by besting it 30-14.
Delaware lost starting quarterback Nick Minicucci to a knee injury in the Virginia loss, leading to a three-man rotation at the position last week. EJ Archield Jr., Tyler Bell and Braden Streeter all got some run. Minicucci is only completing 57.3% of his passes with a 135.8 passer rating this season, but he led Conference USA in completions, attempts, passing yards and passing yards per game in 2025. His yards per completion has actually gone up from 11.4 to 14.2, and his passer rating is 0.4 higher as well. Minicucci also rushed for 235 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.
If the Blue Hens are without Minicucci again on Tuesday, it’s worth noting that the trio of Archield, Bell and Streeter combined for a 123.4 passer rating last weekend, totaling 257 yards, two touchdowns and an interception through the air plus 55 yards on 11 carries. They were unable to put a point on the board before the final 10 minutes of their Week 5 loss, however, while their top three running backs of Jo Silver, Kaderris Roberts and Viron Ellison Jr. rushed for just 47 yards on 14 attempts. On the year, Silver leads the way with 42.2 rushing yards per game but Roberts’ receiving work has him sitting at 45.4 scrimmage yards per game. Sean Wilson is Delaware’s top target in the passing game for the second year in a row, and now he has company in Oklahoma State transfer Da’Wain Lofton.
The Blue Hens’ offense ranks No. 92 in yards per play, No. 96 in yards per game and No. 112 in points per game, on top of boasting the 10th-lowest third-down conversion rate. On defense, they rank No. 73 in yards per play, No. 87 in points per game and No. 106 in yards allowed per game. Looking at the opponent-adjusted SP+ efficiency rankings, Delaware slots in at No. 118 overall. It has the No. 108 offense, No. 117 defense and No. 117 special teams, per that model.
Middle Tennessee
After handling an FCS opponent, Murray State, en route to a 38-14 win in Week 1, Middle Tennessee lost 28-26 to Marshall in Week 2. A 27-20 home win against Nevada got the Blue Raiders back over .500, only for them to lose 23-13 when they visited Jacksonville State for their Conference USA opener. Things didn’t get much better in Week 5, when Middle Tennessee lost 55-0 at Kansas.
Quarterback Roman Gagliano has tossed eight touchdowns and only one interception through five games this season, although his 182.6 yards per game and 121.2 passer rating leave much to be desired. Redshirt junior Cam’ron Lacy is far and away Gagliano’s favorite target with his 335 yards and four touchdowns on 31 catches, considering no other receiver has multiple scores or double-digit receptions in 2026. Antonio Martin Jr. has a similar stranglehold in the backfield with more than triple the rushing yards and four times as many carries as his next-closest teammate. He has cleared 400 yards from scrimmage on 75 touches, although he has only found the end zone once.
Middle Tennessee is averaging the 23rd-fewest points per game in FBS while allowing the 30th-most. Its third-down offense is even worse than Delaware’s, entering Tuesday with college football’s eighth-highest conversion rate allowed. Perhaps its best trait, however, is how well it protects the ball. The Blue Raiders have forced seven turnovers and only committed one, tying them for the 12th-best turnover margin in the nation.
According to SP+, Middle Tennessee ranks No. 129 in opponent-adjusted efficiency – 10th-worst in FBS. Its offense and defense both come in at No. 126, while its special teams unit is actually above average at No. 47.
Delaware Blue Hens at Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Pick, Best Bet
When these two teams faced off in 2025, Delaware won 31-28 at home. That Blue Hens team went on to finish .500 in the regular season and beat Louisiana in the 68 Ventures Bowl. Between Minicucci, Silver, Ellison, Wilson, linebacker Gavin Moul, safety KT Seay, cornerback Jamarion Kolagbodi, safety Kahlil Ali and coach Ryan Carty, many of the main contributors are back in 2026. And yet, the whole operation seems to drop off when Minicucci isn’t at the center of the offense. The run game isn’t particularly threatening in general, and it has been even worse with the question marks at quarterback.
With so much of this game hinging on Minicucci’s status, it’s hard to make a confident pick in either direction. Middle Tennessee should be able to play conservatively and come out with a win if Minicucci isn’t active, but it might be out of its comfort zone if the signal-caller is making explosive plays and changing up the pace of the contest.
Meanwhile, the combined point total of the Blue Hens’ last three games has come in under 47.5. The Blue Raiders have had that happen in two of their last three, with the lone over in that stretch coming as a result of 55 points from Kansas’ top-50 offense. Delaware’s unit isn’t that good, with or without Minicucci, so I’m leaning strongly towards a lower-scoring affair on Tuesday night.
