2026 Vanderbilt Football Early Opponent Preview, Game 2: Delaware

Something that has never happened before will occur in the afternoon of Sept. 12 this fall.

Vanderbilt and Delaware will meet on the football field for the first time ever. The Commodores and Blue Hens will meet at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville in the second week of the 2026 college football season.

Though a game that seemingly should be a convincing win for Vanderbilt, the Commodores will have to be careful when they see Delaware come to town. Delaware is still new to the FBS level of college football, but it went 7-6 with a bowl win over Louisiana in its inaugural FBS season.

Delaware is not afraid to play against power conference teams to build experience and try to grow the program and its schedule proves it with two power conference opponents.

Here is a breakdown and the game information for Vanderbilt’s second opponent of the 2026 season.

Offense

A season ago, Delaware’s success was largely due to its offense. The Blue Hens were one of the best offenses in Conference USA and the No. 35 offense in the country a season ago. The man that deserves a lot of credit for that is the job that quarterback Nick Minicucci did.

Minicucci threw for 3,683 yards and had a touchdown to interception ratio of 23-7. Minicucci is not a heavy runner. In fact, he only had 235 rushing yards on 112 attempts last fall. Minicucci is a pocket-passing quarterback that is comfortable in his abilities. This season, Minicucci is back for his senior season.

On top of that, Delaware also returns its leading rusher Jo Silver and its leading receiver Sean Wilson. Silver ran for 652 yards on 119 carries while Wilson came up with 877 yards and three touchdowns on three catches a season ago.

The expectations for Delaware offensively should be to have a similar type of production it had a season ago, especially with its starting quarterback, top running back and top wide receiver all returning this season.

The bad news for Delaware’s offense, though, is that it lost its second-best receiver Kyle Duplessis, who had 824 yards and five touchdowns a season ago.

Defense

Last season, Delaware’s achilles heel was its defense. Delaware allowed over 400 yards per game and 31 points per game in 2025, hence why the Blue Hens were involved with so many high-scoring games.

Delaware did try to add some defensive reinforcements in the transfer portal. Its defensive transfer class is highlighted by UAB defensive lineman James Steel and North Dakota State cornerback Jaquise Alexander.

It certainly seems like a season for Delaware defensive coordinator Manny Rojas to go out and prove that he is the right guy to oversee the program’s defense. While it is good that Delaware has a potent offense, it lost games last season because the defense could not come up with stops.

Schedule

Delaware is giving itself a nice challenge with its nonconference slate by scheduling a Vanderbilt team coming off a 10-win season. Additionally, Delaware will need to go to Virginia early in the season as well before hosting Coastal Carolina.

The interesting thing about the Conference USA schedule is that it hosts games on Tuesday nights. For example, the Blue Hens will play on back-to-back Tuesday nights in mid-October against MTSU and Missouri State.

Outlook

Delaware certainly surpassed expectations when it joined the FBS in 2025. Not many people thought it was going to make a bowl game and win it in the first year in the highest level of the sport.

Last season’s performance could create perhaps some unrealistic expectations in terms of how big of a jump Delaware can make this season. The Blue Hens have the experience and the pieces on offense to make a sizable jump. But ultimately Delaware’s ceiling depends on how the defense plays. If it improves significantly, Delaware could be a team that could compete at the top of C-USA. If it does not, maybe Delaware plays comparably to how it did in 2025.

The Game

Date: Sept. 12

Time: 3:15 p.m. CT

TV: SEC Network

Location: FirstBank Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee

Series history: These teams have never met

Last meeting: N/A

The Team

Coach: Ryan Carty, fifth year, 33-18 record

Offensive coordinator: Terence Archer

Defensive coordinator: Manny Rojas

2025 record: 7-6 (4-4 C-USA)

2025 rankings: 35th in total offense, 116th in total defense

Top Newcomer: Jack Small, offensive tackle from Duke

Biggest Question: Does Delaware continue to have success going into its second season at the FBS level or will the Blue Hens come back down to earth a little bit?

The School

Location: Newark, Delaware

Founded: 1921

Enrollment: 19,071

Nickname: Blue Hens

Colors: Blue, yellow and white

Mascot: YoUDee the Blue Hen

The Program

Last win in series: N/A

FBS championships: None

FBS Playoff Appearances: None

The Schedule

September 3: vs. Merrimack

September 12: at Vanderbilt

September 19: vs. Coastal Carolina

September 26: at Virginia

October 2: vs.Liberty

October 13: at Middle Tennessee State

October 20: vs. Missouri State

October 27: at Western Kentucky

November 7: at Kennesaw State

November 14: vs. FIU

November 21: at New Mexico State

November 28: vs. Jacksonville State

This is the second story in Vanderbilt on SI's early preview series of all 12 regular-season opponents for Vanderbilt football in 2026

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