Merrimack at Delaware

Delaware finished its first season at the FBS level a year ago at 6-6, and the offense held up fine at nearly 30 points a game, but the defense was the problem, allowing well over 30 a night as the program adjusted to a higher level of competition. Ryan Carty is back for a second season with that roster largely intact, which means the issues on that side of the ball are more likely to still be there than fixed after one offseason. Merrimack managed just over 20 points a game itself last year, modest by any measure, but Mike Gennetti's group opens the year against exactly the kind of defense that let teams move the ball with regularity in its debut season. Neither program walks in with a defensive identity strong enough to slow the other down, and season openers already tend to see both sides working out red zone execution and situational calls for the first time in live competition, the kind of sloppiness that shows up as points when the unit across the field can't get stops either. This total has more paths to going over than staying under. The OVER is the play tonight.