FIU vs. Delaware 2025 Recap: Blue Hens Rout Panthers in Week 4, 38-16

It started off as a great game, but the C-USA kickoff between FIU vs. Delaware leaned heavily in one direction by the time the clocks showed triple zeros, which brings us to our 2025 football recap.

Delaware moved to 3-1 on the season after dispatching the Panthers by a score of 38-16. The Blue Hens had a great offensive performance, played great defense, and showed great discipline as an overall team. Meanwhile, FIU made backbreaking mistakes and played their worst game of the Willie Simmons era.

FIU vs. Delaware 2025 Recap

FIU’s Run Game Rolls On & Alex Perry Breaks Out

Things did not go great for FIU in this game. However,  all was not lost for the Panthers on the offensive side of the ball.

Like they have done all season, FIU had a large chunk of their success come from running the football. As a team, the Panthers averaged 4.7 yards per carry, notched 160 yards, and had a touchdown. The unit flowed through Kejon Owens, who posted 74 yards on 15 attempts. On his best touches, Owens was smooth, explosive, and kept the Panthers ahead of the sticks. He continuously showed the upper-level ability that has allowed him to get off to a great start in 2025, even if things did not come as easy against Delaware.

In this game against Delaware, Owens was joined by Anthony Carrie, who had a breakout performance. Notching 73 yards on six touches, Carrie had multiple breakaway runs that flipped the field and helped keep FIU in the game. On those touches, Carrie looked like on of the best players on the field. He looked decisive, fast, and very explosive against the Blue Hens. One could make the argument that if he got more touches, Carrie could have easily blazed past 100 yards on the ground. As this season progresses, Carrie should continue to be heavily involved.

And outside of the rushing attack, one wideout made his presence known for both the Delaware game and the rest of the 2025 season: Alex Perry. On the night, Perry had five receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown. He was one of the best route runners on the field, constantly creating separation on his routes. And crazily enough, there was room for more production. Between missed throws and miscommunications, the wideout could have truly had a monster day. Regardless of those missed opportunities, Perry was a threat after the catch, through traffic, and down the field. Put simply, Perry showed why he is the WR1 for the Panthers.

The Panthers have to make some improvements on offense, which became very apparent after this game. But if Perry, Owens, and Carrie perform in this manner consistently, the Panthers will win many more games than they will lose.

FIU Struggles to Throw & Rush the Passer

If a team has poor quarterback play and cannot rush the passer, they will likely not win the game. And, to put it simply, FIU did not get either of those things on Saturday night.

Keyone Jenkins had a very poor performance, despite what the numbers show. Yes, Jenkins completed 22 of 34 passes for 203 yards. Yes, he had a great touchdown throw late in the game. But for the majority of the contest, the quarterback was playing a huge role in keeping the offense underwater.

On their first drive of the game, Jenkins had a horrible interception in the red zone on a third down. With Alex Perry wide open in the end zone, Jenkins seemingly expected the wideout to flatten his route, and he threw the ball straight to Delaware’s Mysonne Pollard for an interception. And a drive after taking a 7-3 lead, Jenkins was fooled by the defense and got picked on a ball thrown into double coverage.

Seemingly stemming from this stretch of play, Jenkins was never the same against the Blue Hens. He held onto the ball much longer, causing the Delaware defense to consistently generate pressure. This cost the Panthers points before the half, as Jenkins took a third-down sack that caused FIU to rush their field goal attempt. He was inaccurate down the field, missing multiple wideouts for potential big plays or touchdowns. It, quite frankly, was a letdown performance from Jenkins after a great game against FAU.

On defense, the defensive line did not do its job of throwing the quarterback off of his spot.

The Panthers’ secondary, led by Mister Clark, Ashton Levells, and Shamir Sterlin, among others, provided great coverage and made things very difficult for the Blue Hens. However, Delaware’s Nick Minicucci, outside of a few throws, had the time to make plays down the field on a consistent basis for the Blue Hens. Because the defensive line struggled to generate pressure, the Blue Hens were able to have the chance to make big-time plays. Without that time, this game could have been very different.

The bye week comes at a perfect time for the Panthers, as they now have the chance to regroup ahead of a tough UConn game and the rest of their Conference USA slate. FIU has the opportunity to make the necessary changes to have a successful 2025 season over the course of its remaining games.

But to be frank, Jenkins and the defensive line cannot let down the Panthers the way they did at different points of the game. The quarterback has to be more decisive and accurate, while also being less willing to simply chuck the ball into random coverages. The defensive line, just like they did against FAU, needs to get after the passer and at least get quarterbacks off their spot.

The quarterback and defensive line are too important to the success of FIU, and without them playing at a high level, the Panthers may have more struggles going forward.

Delaware Sets the Tone

Welcome to FBS, Delaware! Or rather, Delaware is welcoming the FBS to their show.

On every side of the ball, the Blue Hens set the tone. The offense was schemed at a high level, and consistently put players in a position to succeed. It truly felt like Delaware had an answer for everything in this game, even if the execution did not occur.

Running backs Jo Silver and Viron Ellison Jr. were extremely dynamic, each posting over five yards per carry. Both players were elusive, explosive, and powerful. They had to battle for their yardage at times, which displayed their grit and tenacity as overall players. Ellison also flashed as a pass catcher, showing soft hands on his touchdown catch late in the fourth quarter.

In terms of wideouts, Delaware had players step up and make plays all night.

Sean Wilson had 78 yards on seven catches, as he consistently created space or made great catches through traffic. Kyre Duplessis was shifty and explosive in the open field whenever he touched the ball, while Nick Laboy had two of the better catches of the night on his touchdowns.

On defense, Mysonne Pollard was a ballhawk with two interceptions. Dillon Trainer and Gavin Moul provided some big-time hits and were everywhere for the Blue Hens on running plays; without their contributions, the Panthers would not have been forced into passing situations all game. In coverage, Jason Scott and Hasson Manning Jr. made some key plays to prevent some big-time passing plays. Add in a great all around performance from the defensive line, namely Keyshawn Hunter, and it is no wonder why the Panthers ran into some trouble on offense; the Blue Hens were flying around all game.

But most importantly, Delaware set the tone on special teams. Kyre Duplessis took a punt back 68 yards to truly blow this game open, and it ended up being something that FIU could not overcome. Just as he did on offense, Duplessis showed impressive speed, burst, vision, and strength to get what ended up being one of the daggers in this game.

The Blue Hens, unfortunately, cannot play in a bowl game, nor a potential conference championship. However, Delaware is definitely a threat in Conference USA going forward. Expect them to continue to show that fact going forward.

Mistakes Make the Difference

To keep this short, FIU failed at something they had been great at over the first three games of their season.

The Panthers did not lose the penalty, turnover, or special teams battles by a wide margin over the course of their first three games. As a result, they started 2-1 and competed at an extremely high level against Penn State in Week 2.

Against Delaware this week, the Panthers lost the penalty battle 7-2. They lost the turnover battle by a margin of 2-1. And in terms of special teams, FIU let up a backbreaking punt return touchdown and missed a key field goal ahead of halftime that would have made the score 24-10. That does not even dive into the red zone interception from Jenkins, which also resulted in a major swing in the game.

FIU needs to find its form after the bye week against UConn. Even if the Panthers face a team with more talent, they need to play clean football and avoid backbreaking mistakes. If they get back to this play style, things should go much better for FIU over the rest of the season

2026 NFL Draft Stock Risers

After every game for the remainder of the 2025 season (and going forward), we will highlight two draft-eligible players who may have helped their stock after the game. This will help readers, fans, and everyone else in between know some players to watch for going forward. With that being said, here are two risers from tonight’s FIU and Delaware game!

• LB Johnny Chaney Jr., FIU: Continuing his great season, Chaney Jr. racked up 13 total tackles and eight solo tackles. He has been a force all over the field in the run game for the Panthers, and he played a big role in mitigating potential big plays from the Blue Hens. He has great downhill speed, reaction ability, and underrated coverage ability. If he succeeds in conference play going forward, the linebacker’s stock will continue to climb.
• RB Jo Silver, Delaware: Like Marcus Yarns before him, the Blue Hens have another dynamite running back in Silver. His speed, power, movement skills, and vision that Silver showed against a tough FIU defense. Like Kejon Owens, Silver has had a very good start to the 2025 season, highlighted by a 179-yard performance against the UConn Huskies. If he continues to explode onto the scene in 2025, expect Silver to get a shot on the all-star circuit to truly prove his talent and draft stock.