Delaware vs. Western Kentucky odds, college football picks: Back Hilltoppers to win Conference USA shootout — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- SportsLine Projection Model has Western Kentucky winning 29-26 over Delaware in a 7 p.m. ET CBS Sports Network kickoff, with the leans on the Hilltoppers' ATS and the Over 55.5; a DraftKings same-game parlay of Hilltoppers moneyline plus Alt Under 67.5 was priced at +114.
- Nick Minicucci returned from a three-game absence to throw a school-record five touchdown passes and add a rushing score in Delaware's 61-38 rout of Missouri State, reaching 48 career TD passes to pass Bill Vergantino for third in school history; in last season's 27-24 loss in Newark, the 2025 CUSA passing and total-offense leader threw for 314 yards with a pick-six and three rushing scores.
- Delaware tied the Ryan Carty-era scoring mark with 61 points — the highest-scoring Conference USA game since October 2017 — scoring on nine straight drives and going 8-for-8 in the red zone with six touchdowns, while improving to 26-1 under Carty when winning the turnover battle.
- Western Kentucky held Sam Houston without a touchdown in a 16-3 win on Oct. 14, its first CUSA shutout in a win since a 73-0 rout of FIU on Sept. 24, 2022, trimming scoring allowed to 14.3 points per game over the last four — No. 2 in CUSA since Week 4 — with one touchdown surrendered in the past two combined; at Houchens-Smith Stadium the Hilltoppers have won 13 of their last 15 and eight of nine this season, averaging 43.0 points at home.
- Jaylen Wester and linemen Mackavelli Malotumau and Rylen Su'a-Filo won their latest eligibility round against the NCAA last week, so all three Western Kentucky starters can play again after missing the past two games, restoring three bodies on the defense.
- Brock Glenn threw for 127 yards and a touchdown and led Western Kentucky with 22 carries for 54 yards against Sam Houston in a 276-yard outing, part of back-to-back games with more rushing than passing for the first time since September 2013, while starter Rodney Tisdale Jr. has not started the past two because of a nagging ankle injury.
- Delaware ranks at or near the bottom of Conference USA and outside the top 100 nationally in scoring (28.4 PPG), total (396.4 YPG) and pass defense (270.3 YPG) despite leading the league with 18 sacks, has allowed at least 30 points in four straight games, and has lost seven straight road games — longest in CUSA — while sitting 1-8 away as an FBS program.
Why it matters: For bettors, the model's 29-26 Western Kentucky lean and the +114 DraftKings moneyline-plus-under parlay ride on a defense that has allowed one touchdown in two games, while Delaware's quarterback has just thrown five touchdowns in a 61-point outburst. A loss officially ends the CUSA title race for the Blue Hens, who trail Liberty and Jacksonville State at 3-0.
Ask SkimNews
