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University of New Hampshire Athletics
A pregame ceremony welcomed more than 13,000 fans to Wildcat Stadium.
Photo by: Gil Talbot
Game 2 Report: Oh, What an Opening Night
9/11/2016 3:12:00 PM | Football, UNH Insider
Mark Huddleston, into his 10th year as president of the University of New Hampshire, soaked up the electric atmosphere of Wildcat Stadium's opening night on Saturday.
He sang the praises of a football team whose success made the building possible, and the praises of all responsible for bringing the long-needed facility to campus.
"It's a transformative day for the University of New Hampshire, no question about it," Huddleston said in one interview shortly before the game began. "It's unbelievable. The finishing touches are superb. David May (associate vice president for business affairs) has done just an amazing job getting the food service up and running. Now all we've got to do is win a game."
At halftime, Huddleston noted that maybe the best part of the night had been touring the stadium and seeing nothing but smiles on fan after fan after fan.
The only thing necessary, he said, was to see the score turn around.
No. 24 UNH trailed Holy Cross 21-13 at the time.
On Friday afternoon, UNH senior cornerback Casey DeAndrade, walking through a hallway in the UNH Field House, acknowledged that yes, Holy Cross did like to pass the ball a whole lot.
Hopefully, DeAndrade said with a smile, they'll throw a couple my way.
Late on Saturday night with UNH finally leading and trying to hold off the Crusaders, Holy Cross quarterback Peter Pujals did go DeAndrade's way.
DeAndrade intercepted the pass, spun and raced down the right sidelines 28 yards to the first pick-six of his impressive career, sealing a 39-28 win and kicking off the wildest victory celebration – OK, it was also the first - in the history of Wildcat Stadium.
Most of the 13,242 in attendance – the largest crowd to ever attend a UNH home opener and including jam-packed student sections– began to whoop it up with even more fervor.
Oh, what a special opening night it was.
Senior running back Dalton Crossan (career-high 199 yards rushing and two scores), sophomore quarterback Trevor Knight (several fine runs and a career-best two TD passes), junior running back Trevon Bryant (nine carries, 79 yards and a score), DeAndrade, a punishing offensive line and many others provided the fireworks on the field. Atlas Fireworks capped off the night with its own show afterwards.
"It was good to see we had the resolve to come back," DeAndrade said. "The atmosphere was crazy. I looked up and the whole student section was packed. Even the other side was packed. It was a great atmosphere. It was a good one. It was a big win."
Crossan was in full agreement.
"Unbelievable," he said. "My hat goes off to the fans, students, everybody. It was an unbelievable atmosphere. Third downs were really loud. It was just fun to be in, to play in."
Fun to watch, too.
The smiles – on the fans and on Huddleston, on director of athletics Marty Scarano, on head coach Sean McDonnell and all the rest as they entered and exited the UNH locker room post-game - said it all.
"Waiting for the team to take the field you look at the video board, you look left, you look right and then at the student section behind you," McDonnell said. "We haven't seen that type of atmosphere around here. Everybody put their best foot forward. It shows what this university is capable of when it puts its best foot forward. It was pretty cool."
NEXT UP: DARTMOUTH AT A GLANCE
HOME-COOKING: BACK TO WILDCAT STADIUM
QUOTEBOARD
"We didn't get out of the gate the way we wanted, but we really fought back. We made some good adjustments on the defensive side of the ball. I thought our defensive backs when we settled in did a really nice job of slowing them a bit."
Head coach Sean McDonnell
"I told Dalton the way he practiced on Thursday and especially (Friday) after I watched him, play the way you practiced and things are going to go. The way he ran tonight, tough, hardnosed, explosive runs, making people miss. . . . he did a heckuva job."
McDonnell on Dalton Crossan
"It's the same old dungeon to us, but that atmosphere is pretty cool, that's for sure. . . . I know we've got a lot of young guys. But I think we've got some really good playmakers in this group. I know we've got a lot of talent and I think we can do some good things out there."
Senior linebacker and captain Ryan Farrell
"We have some young guys playing here and there. We took it on the chin a little bit in the beginning. It's always good to see us come back."
Casey DeAndrade
"It would have been nice to run away with it a little bit in the beginning, but I'm really proud of our guys. We were very resilient. We went down 14-0 and to not go in a hole and kind of collapse was good. We kind of came back one play at a time, I'm really proud of everybody. It's always good to get the first win. . . . I think third or fourth drive we really started to put the pieces together. The offensive line was unbelievable, really opening the holes."
Dalton Crossan
"They have a new quarterback and they've got to replace a very, very good football player (in quarterback Dalyn Williams). They have great speed and physical lines on both sides of the ball. Buddy Teevens has done a terrific job up there getting new talent in and turning it around and fighting for Ivy League championships."
McDonnell on Dartmouth
"I thought Trevor Knight showed a lot of people what went into the decision to start him, making plays with his feet and putting the ball on people. But we've got to do a better job of holding onto the ball. The offensive line improved its play and did a nice job of opening holes and being physical. Now we've got to do it day in and day out and be more consistent."
McDonnell on the offense
UNH BY THE NUMBERS
WILDCAT NOTES
Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu
He sang the praises of a football team whose success made the building possible, and the praises of all responsible for bringing the long-needed facility to campus.
"It's a transformative day for the University of New Hampshire, no question about it," Huddleston said in one interview shortly before the game began. "It's unbelievable. The finishing touches are superb. David May (associate vice president for business affairs) has done just an amazing job getting the food service up and running. Now all we've got to do is win a game."
At halftime, Huddleston noted that maybe the best part of the night had been touring the stadium and seeing nothing but smiles on fan after fan after fan.
The only thing necessary, he said, was to see the score turn around.
No. 24 UNH trailed Holy Cross 21-13 at the time.
On Friday afternoon, UNH senior cornerback Casey DeAndrade, walking through a hallway in the UNH Field House, acknowledged that yes, Holy Cross did like to pass the ball a whole lot.
Hopefully, DeAndrade said with a smile, they'll throw a couple my way.
Late on Saturday night with UNH finally leading and trying to hold off the Crusaders, Holy Cross quarterback Peter Pujals did go DeAndrade's way.
DeAndrade intercepted the pass, spun and raced down the right sidelines 28 yards to the first pick-six of his impressive career, sealing a 39-28 win and kicking off the wildest victory celebration – OK, it was also the first - in the history of Wildcat Stadium.
Most of the 13,242 in attendance – the largest crowd to ever attend a UNH home opener and including jam-packed student sections– began to whoop it up with even more fervor.
Oh, what a special opening night it was.
Senior running back Dalton Crossan (career-high 199 yards rushing and two scores), sophomore quarterback Trevor Knight (several fine runs and a career-best two TD passes), junior running back Trevon Bryant (nine carries, 79 yards and a score), DeAndrade, a punishing offensive line and many others provided the fireworks on the field. Atlas Fireworks capped off the night with its own show afterwards.
"It was good to see we had the resolve to come back," DeAndrade said. "The atmosphere was crazy. I looked up and the whole student section was packed. Even the other side was packed. It was a great atmosphere. It was a good one. It was a big win."
Crossan was in full agreement.
"Unbelievable," he said. "My hat goes off to the fans, students, everybody. It was an unbelievable atmosphere. Third downs were really loud. It was just fun to be in, to play in."
Fun to watch, too.
The smiles – on the fans and on Huddleston, on director of athletics Marty Scarano, on head coach Sean McDonnell and all the rest as they entered and exited the UNH locker room post-game - said it all.
"Waiting for the team to take the field you look at the video board, you look left, you look right and then at the student section behind you," McDonnell said. "We haven't seen that type of atmosphere around here. Everybody put their best foot forward. It shows what this university is capable of when it puts its best foot forward. It was pretty cool."
NEXT UP: DARTMOUTH AT A GLANCE
- The Wildcats play Dartmouth across the state at Memorial Field in Hanover on Saturday night at 7.
- Dartmouth had a 9-1 record last season.
- The Big Green earned a share of the Ivy League title with a 6-1 record in the league.
- UNH beat Dartmouth, 52-19, in Durham on Sept. 27, 2014 in the last meeting between the teams.
- This will be the second time the teams have met since 2009.
- It may be the final time for a while: Dartmouth has announced its non-conference games for the next few years and UNH is not on the schedule through 2020 at least.
- UNH has a 19-17-2 lead in the series.
- Dartmouth last beat UNH in 1976. The Wildcats are 18-0-2 since then.
HOME-COOKING: BACK TO WILDCAT STADIUM
- UNH's next home game in Wildcat Stadium is against William & Mary for Homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 3:30 p.m.
- Individual game, group and season tickets are available by CLICKING HERE or by calling 603-862-4000.
- Other regular season home games are against James Madison on Oct. 15 at noon, against Stony Brook on Oct. 29 at noon and against Albany on Nov. 12 at noon.
QUOTEBOARD
"We didn't get out of the gate the way we wanted, but we really fought back. We made some good adjustments on the defensive side of the ball. I thought our defensive backs when we settled in did a really nice job of slowing them a bit."
Head coach Sean McDonnell
"I told Dalton the way he practiced on Thursday and especially (Friday) after I watched him, play the way you practiced and things are going to go. The way he ran tonight, tough, hardnosed, explosive runs, making people miss. . . . he did a heckuva job."
McDonnell on Dalton Crossan
"It's the same old dungeon to us, but that atmosphere is pretty cool, that's for sure. . . . I know we've got a lot of young guys. But I think we've got some really good playmakers in this group. I know we've got a lot of talent and I think we can do some good things out there."
Senior linebacker and captain Ryan Farrell
"We have some young guys playing here and there. We took it on the chin a little bit in the beginning. It's always good to see us come back."
Casey DeAndrade
"It would have been nice to run away with it a little bit in the beginning, but I'm really proud of our guys. We were very resilient. We went down 14-0 and to not go in a hole and kind of collapse was good. We kind of came back one play at a time, I'm really proud of everybody. It's always good to get the first win. . . . I think third or fourth drive we really started to put the pieces together. The offensive line was unbelievable, really opening the holes."
Dalton Crossan
"They have a new quarterback and they've got to replace a very, very good football player (in quarterback Dalyn Williams). They have great speed and physical lines on both sides of the ball. Buddy Teevens has done a terrific job up there getting new talent in and turning it around and fighting for Ivy League championships."
McDonnell on Dartmouth
"I thought Trevor Knight showed a lot of people what went into the decision to start him, making plays with his feet and putting the ball on people. But we've got to do a better job of holding onto the ball. The offensive line improved its play and did a nice job of opening holes and being physical. Now we've got to do it day in and day out and be more consistent."
McDonnell on the offense
UNH BY THE NUMBERS
- The Wildcats evened their record at 1-1.
- Crossan's 199 yards rushing was the team's highest total since Nico Steriti had 201 yards against Old Dominion on Sept. 22, 2012
- The offense's 362 yards on the ground Saturday night was its most since it had 389 in that same ODU game.
- DeAndrade's pick was the seventh of his career. He also had three pass breakups.
- Knight completed 11 of his 18 passes for 190 yards and the two scores. He threw one touchdown pass last year.
- Knight rushed 18 times for 87 yards.
- Sophomore Rory Donovan caught two passes for 98 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown.
- Sophomore Neil O'Connor had four catches for 52 yards, including his first career TD grab of eight yards.
- Freshman Pop Lacey led all players with 14 tackles, 12 of them solo.
- Freshman Prince Smith, Jr. intercepted the last Holy Cross pass of the day.
- Sophomore defensive end Jae'Wuan Horton had one of UNH's two quarterback sacks.
- Redshirt freshman defensive end Josh Kania had the other.
- Wide receiver Jelani Greene played in the game. He joins Lacey and Smith as true freshman who have played this season.
WILDCAT NOTES
- Senior wide receiver Kyon Taylor did not play. He tore his ACL in practice last week and is out for the season.
- Legendary former Wildcat coach and National College Football Foundation Hall of Fame inductee Bill Bowes was honored at halftime. Bowes had a record of 175-106-5 in his 27 years as UNH head coach from 1972-1998.
Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu
Players Mentioned
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