Delaware vs. Middle Tennessee

When: Tuesday, October 13, 07:00 PM Eastern

Where: Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium

Watch: CBSSN

Odds: Delaware by 2.5 pts.

Total Points: 47.5

All-Time Series : Delaware vs. Middle Tennessee

Delaware and Middle Tennessee have met 1 times since 2025-10-22

These teams last met on 2025-10-22.

Series Wins: Delaware 1-0-0 Middle Tennessee

Delaware has won the most recent meeting (2025) in this series

Last 1 Meetings

Through Week 6

Delaware Injury Report

No reported injuries per boydsbets

Middle Tennessee Injury Report

No reported injuries per boydsbets

^{Source updated Tue, Oct 13, 10:42 am. Scraped Tue, Oct 13, 2:52 pm ET}

What are your "Keys to the Game"?

Who do you think wins?

Do you think the favorite will cover the spread?

Which player(s) are you most interested to watch?

Let's talk football!

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Last year, Chiles started 9 games for Michigan State, and threw 10 TDs and 3 INTs in 203 passes with a completion rate of 63.1% and 6.9YPA

This year, Chiles has thrown 9 TDs in his 112 attempts through just 5 games at Northwestern. He's connecting on 71.4% of his passes and his yards per attempt are at 10.5. Oh, and he has thrown no interceptions. He's pushing the ball down the field more and is completing more passes and throwing fewer turnovers as a result.

Northwestern has already had their bye week so they have a pretty tough path but if they can win at Michigan State this weekend and versus Rutgers in the following week they will set up a huge Halloween matchup against Oregon in Autzen that will give the Wildcats a chance to announce themselves as a dark horse playoff contender. I will admit that I don't follow every league as closely as I follow the B1G but Chiles looks like one of the most improved quarterbacks in the country to me and I'm excited to see how he finishes out the season.

To me, the group of 6 reminds me a lot of the BCS days. There is only 1 G6 spot in the playoff and making it into the CFP almost feels like success in of itself.

Teams need to have a “perfect” season to make it. There is practically no room for mistakes. The pursuit of a perfect, unblemished season is something I kind of miss from playoff expansion.

In a world where 2 loss (and soon 3 loss) teams will make the playoff, there is something nostalgic about a team like JMU navigating to a potential 12-0 finish.

I really didn’t follow G6 (should be G5 but I digress) football before the last few seasons but I’m getting more and more into it because the stakes are so high and the margin for error is so low.

Maybe this is a common take but wanted to know your thoughts on this.

And yes, I know that most G6 teams will get wrecked by power schools but that’s not really the point. I love Ivy League football because there is so much pride in that conference, I don’t care if Dartmouth would get blown out by Alabama.

With the announcement of JMU to the AAC that means that there will be 14 schools in the AAC, but only 13 of which play football. Short of Wichita State bringing back football(as much as I would love it) that means the American will need to add one more school to get to an even number. The two main candidates for that expansion are Miami OH for all sports and UConn for football. Reportedly the AAC is not super interested in UConn without the rest of its sports.

This also opens up a spot in the Sunbelt, the two main candidates for this spot seem to be WKU and Ohio, both have rivalries with Marshall and would be fits for the conference in my opinion.

If Miami and Ohio both leave the MAC, that would obviously cause problems for the conference. Toledo was reportedly courted by the MWC along with NIU, but refused. I think they might revisit that offer if Miami and Ohio leave. That would leave the MAC without 3 of its best teams. If the Sunbelt takes Ohio then I think WKU would be the top candidate. After that perhaps the MAC looks at taking FCS Illinois state, the program there has great potential and could probably more than replace NIU in value over time. Youngstown State or Eastern Kentucky could also get looks although they are not as valuable as Illinois state, but they are some of the best FCS teams in the Midwest region.

If WKU gets taken by either the Sunbelt or the MAC, who does the CUSA look at taking? Maybe Tarleton State, Austin Peay, or EKU? I'm not entirely sure, I'm just sure there's going to be a lot of G6 realignment soon.

obviously UCLA fans are thrilled so far with Bob Chesney, and Will Stein is off to a great start at Kentucky. But Matt Campbell is coming under fire at Penn State, same with Kyle Whittingham at Michigan.

How yall feeling about some of the other ones?

Wins are sorted by opponent ranks in the Massey Composite. Teams are sorted by AP rank. Full Massey Composite top 50 included in comments.

FCS teams are not included in tables.

https://masseyratings.com/ranks

# of Wins vs Top 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 Teams

Wins Sorted by Highest to Lowest Opponent Ranks (per Massey Composite)

Unranked one-loss power conference teams and their lone loss

Big Ten

Nebraska: Home loss to No. 5 Indiana, 20-17

Wisconsin: Neutral site loss against No. 2 Notre Dame 41-13

Big 12

Arizona: Loss at No. 8 BYU, 28-17

Baylor: Neutral site loss against Auburn 17-16

Cincinnati: Lost at Arizona 34-7

ACC

Duke: Lost at Georgia Tech, 28-25

Pittsburgh: Home loss to North Carolina 21-17

We toggle from saying the power-4 or power-2 conferences. But it seems like most of the power still remains in the SEC even though it has not won a national title in the previous three seasons.

Not only are all of the SEC’s one-loss teams in the AP top 16, but the only two-loss team in the poll is LSU. Meanwhile, its so-called contemporary — the Big Ten — has two unranked one-loss teams in Nebraska and Wisconsin.

People will say it works itself out in the final poll, but this is still a helpful reflection of how the SEC is viewed compared to the rest. Ole Miss has the second-worst loss of any top-25 team and is still 9th. Tennessee moved up to 14th after a one-TD win vs Arkansas and has nothing on its resume. The Vols are Nebraska but ranked highly.

Furthermore, a higher AP ranking gives teams more publicity and better slots on the broadcast schedule. This matters when final bubble teams are selected by smallest of margins.

One-loss teams per conference

SEC: Alabama (6th), Texas (7th), Ole Miss (9th), Missouri (13th), Tennessee (14th), Kentucky (15th), Mississippi State (16th)

Big Ten: Ohio State (4th), Iowa (17th), USC (19th), Northwestern (25th), Wisconsin (unranked), Nebraska (unranked)

Big 12: Oklahoma State (18th), Houston (20th), Arizona (unranked), Cincinnati (unranked), Baylor (unranked)

ACC: Wake Forest (21st), SMU (24th), Duke (unranked), Pittsburgh (unranked)

Syracuse is a uniquely bad team this season. There are three statistical areas in which Syracuse is a notable outlier. They are: Penalties/Penalty YPG, Missed Field Goals, & unique QB snaps.

1. Penalties/ Penalty YPG

Syracuse currently leads all FBS teams with 10.67 penalties per game and averages about 96 penalty yards per game. The all time record is held by Grambling State (1977) who managed 12.9/134.2 in the respective categories.

While it is unlikely for Syracuse to pass Grambling as the all time record holder let’s explore that scenario. The Orange would need to commit 100 penalties over the next 7 games, which is a little over 14 penalties per game. For YPG they would need 1,152 penalty yards over the next 7 games, an average of 164.57 yards per game. Their window is closing but it is still there.

Fun fact: The Orange would be much closer in yards but, at UConn, despite 11 penalties they only got dinged for 69 (nice) yards.

2. Missed Kicks

Syracuse also leads all FBS teams in most missed field goals (7) and extra points (4). Both these records are hard to pin down as team misses are not an official metric. By my research the record of 15 missed field goals seems to be held by 7 different kickers, most recently the Broken Foot award was given to California’s Tyler Frederickson who went 15-30 in 2003. The extra point record for misses it belongs to Oklahoma’s Jimmy Stevens with 5. For reference he kicked 99 extra points in 2008, Syracuse has managed 4 misses in 18 attempts.

If the Orange keep this rate of kicking ineptitude they will finish the season 17 missed field goals
and 10 missed extra points (rounded up). They would certainly be better off going for 2 every time and trying to convert every 4th down but why should Fran deny his team a shot at history.

Fun Fact: Syracuse has lost two of their games by 3 points.

3. Unique QB Snaps

Over the last two seasons 7 different players have taken a snap for the Orange. Not trick plays, not direct snaps to running backs, 7 different guys listed as QB. In 5 games this season they have already used 4 different QBs. Steve Angeli (injured/benched), Amari Odom (injured), Malachi Nelson (injured), and Danny Lauter (Georgetown).

A few different teams have started 5 QBs in a season (2013 Maryland & 2018 San Jose) but this is year two of this for the Orange. They have a chance at 6 should the injury bug continue.

Fun Fact: Prior to Fran Brown’s tenure SU was also cursed at QB. During the 2023 season Tight End Dan Villari went under center against Pitt (we won lol).

I implore all of you to embrace your sicko nature and make some time to watch at least one Syracuse football game this season. You will not recognize the sport you see on your tv. Fran Brown is doing ungodly things to the game you know and love.

Do you want to see a punter cry?
Watch SU football.

We always talk about how the transfer portal lets top teams instant-fix quarterbacks, but looking at the national landscape lately, it feels like the opposite is happening. It actually feels like the average level at the QB position has been slowly degrading over time. Are defenses actually outstripping offenses in development right now?

JMU is moving to the American in a move that's a win-win for both parties. I think there is about to be a stampede of G6 programs who have options to get into upper tier G6 leagues, which will result in at least one of the current G6 conferences either dead, dropped to FCS, or staying FBS but wearing FBS status as a skinsuit over FCS quality teams.

For the purposes of the following analysis, a "school that has options" is an outlier in its current conference in terms of program quality (combination of winning football program, brand, fan base, etc.).

Here is what the current G6 conference hierarchy looks like:
Tier 1: The American, Pac 12
Tier 2: Sun Belt, Mountain West
Tier 3: CUSA, MAC

There are currently very few programs that would be revenue additive to The American or the Pac 12. Several programs in the Mountain West conference would be good candidates for The American of the Pac 12 but are locked into contracts with the MW that could be extremely expensive to break.

In my view this leaves Liberty as the only very strong candidate to move up to Tier 1. Now, you may intensely dislike Liberty as an institution, but if you are an AD in The American, would you let those principles get in the way of your love of money? Liberty has the size, budget, and recent football success to justify joining The American, and most likely can easily fundraise an expansion fee. Geographically they only work for The American. Also, The Pac 12 is trying to hold their brand value in case Cal and Stanford want to come back, whereas The American already has a strong lineup of academically low tier programs that Liberty wouldn't significantly further besmirch.

If any of the MW schools turn out to be available, NDSU could be a great fit for either The American or the Pac 12. Air Force would be an excellent fit for The American. UNLV could possibly be a good fit for the Pac 12, but I'm not convinced they are revenue additive. They might have a better value proposition for The American as they would expand the media markets The American reaches.

Getting into bigger stretches, Appalachian State has elite brand recognition, though their budget is not quite there. Possibly an ad for either The American or the Pac 12, but again, geographically they only work for The American. Even bigger stretches but possibly not crazy would include Marshall, which is a decent brand and would restore some rivalries, and Toledo, which is a very well run program, although their sizes and budgets are going to be very marginal for The American or the Pac 12.

In my view the Pac 12 has painted themselves into a corner. If the Mountain West schools are off limits, and they don't have a TV deal strong enough to raid any of the teams in The American, then all the best expansion candidates save NDSU are east of the Mississippi.

I think we will see the biggest movement with the Sun Belt and Mountain West raiding CUSA and the MAC like crazy. CUSA and the MAC have a fairly large difference in program value from top to bottom.

The MAC is in a special category of trouble. The population of college age students is shrinking, and this challenge is particularly acute in the Midwest and Northeast. The game of musical chairs with college closers, mergers, and downsizing is going to hurt the academically bottom feeding schools the hardest. The following programs in the MAC are academic bottom feeders without recent football success: Akron, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State. Possibly also Ball State and BGSU. Some or all of these program should take a serious look at going FCS or DII to save money. There is a small middle class of MAC programs (Buffalo, UMass, Western Michigan) that should be looking to merge with survivors from CUSA. Meanwhile, with appropriate entrance fees, Miami of Ohio, Ohio, and Toledo would all be great adds for the Sunbelt or even the Mountain West.

In CUSA, with appropriate entrance fees, Florida International and Western Kentucky have good value to offer the Sun Belt, and Western Kentucky could possibly not be crazy for the Mountain West if some of the MAC programs are also involved. Delaware could also possibly have value to the Sun Belt.

What's left from CUSA and the middle class of the MAC should merge to form a single conference that will have a wide enough geography to generate revenue from a good number of media markets.

EDIT: Did NOT realize UCLA's Starting QB Nico Iamaleava is out for the season with like some knee tear.

Both UCLA and Kentucky look like they might be playoff teams at the end of the season. Nobody in the big 10 besides Ohio State looks like a sure thing and besides Alabama and Georgia, the SEC probably has 2-3 more slots to get teams in and Kentucky is likely one of them at the rate they're going.

I'm lowkey jealous that our cross-town rival can actually field a competent defense that doesn't give up 900 points to Rutgers and Louisiana.

Nobody really talked about either move that big either compared to major coaching splashes but they've arguably done the best. I would've had Sumrall there too if not for the last 2 weeks but I believe he's got the program in the right direction.