No. 2 Football Defeats No. 23 UAlbany, 49-24

Saturday, November 1

6 pm

University of New Hampshire

7-1 , 5-0

University at Albany

6-3 , 2-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Albany (N.Y.)

New Hampshire

11/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

DURHAM, N.H. – Senior wide receiver R.J. Harris (Odenton, Md.) scored three touchdowns and senior defensive end Cody Muller (Telford, Pa.) led a stifling and opportunistic defense to lift the No. 2 University of New Hampshire football team to its seventh straight win, a 49-24 triumph over No. 23 Albany in front of a crowd of 3,536 on a wet and cold Saturday night in Cowell Stadium.

The Wildcats improved to 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association and are in sole possession of first place in the league. They had shared the top spot with No. 4 Villanova, which lost to Richmond, 10-9, on Saturday afternoon. Villanova fell to 7-2 and 4-1. Albany is now 6-3 and 2-3.

Next up for UNH is a game at Rhode Island on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

The Wildcat defense shut down Albany's running game and junior tailback Omar Osbourne in particular. Osbourne averaged 113.9 yards a game rushing entering the game and managed just 21 yards on his 10 carries.

"I thought it was a pretty good effort, especially by our ones and twos," said UNH head coach Sean McDonnell. "We talked about getting off to a fast start and we did it. Offensively we scored 14 in the first quarter. Defensively we knew we had to stop Osbourne, that's one of the things we talked about, stopping the run. . . . Just a good effort, great win for us against a much-improved football program."

In the first half, Albany had a net total of minus 3 yards rushing on 14 carries and UNH built up a 29-3 lead.

The Great Danes turned the ball over six times total in their first eight games. The Wildcat defense came up with four turnovers in the game, three on interceptions and one on a fumble recovery.

"It's always a focus for us," Muller said. "Every practice we go in and we preach turnovers defensively. We practice it. We go out there strip, interceptions, whatever it is and I think we got good pressure to make them force a bunch of throws. Our guys had great coverage. All those guys. They were all in the right spot."

Junior defensive back Dougie Moss (Huntsville, Ala.), sophomore defensive back Casey DeAndrade (East Bridgewater, Mass.) and junior linebacker Akil Anderson (Morristown, N.J.) had the interceptions.

UNH finished the game with 424 yards of offense, 237 yards on the ground.

Harris had 10 catches for 108 yards. It was the seventh time in eight games this season he has gone over 100 receiving yards and the 18^th time in his career.

Senior quarterback Andy Vailas (Bedford, N.H.) completed 18 of his 24 passes for 188 yards. Senior Nico Steriti (Toms River, N.J.) led the running game with 13 carries for 84 yards and a score.

Muller had two of the six Wildcat sacks of Albany quarterback Will Fiacchi (21-for-40, 215 yards, three TDs, three INTs). On a sack late in the second period, Muller both caused and recovered a fumble.

Four plays later, Harris scored on a 21-yard reverse to push UNH's lead to 29-3 with 41 seconds left in the half.

The Wildcats owned the first half.

They had 317 yards of offense – and the defense held Albany to just 102 yards – and Harris already had his three touchdowns, the first two on pass receptions and the third on the run.

Vailas completed 14 of his 19 first-half passes for 192 yards a couple of scores. Harris had eight catches for an even 100 yards at the break.

The Wildcats kept it going to open the second half and turned a pair of interceptions on consecutive possessions into a couple of touchdowns – the first an 18-yard run by Jimmy Owens (West Deptford, N.J.) and the second on a 1-yard run by Steriti - and a commanding 42-3 lead midway through the third period.

Steriti got things started in the game, scoring on a 25-yard run to cap UNH's first possession.

Vailas connected with Harris on touchdowns of 16 and 18 yards on back-to-back possessions spanning the first and second quarters to push the lead to 22-0 with 11:39 left in the half.

A Patrick Toole 24-yard field goal cut it to 22-3 midway through the second period, but before the Great Danes could get any closer, Muller and the defense came up with a series of turnovers and helped UNH take control of the game.

After next week's game at Rhode Island, UNH returns to Cowell Stadium for its last home contest, a Senior Day game, against Delaware on Nov. 15 at 1 p.m. For tickets, CLICK HERE or call (603) 862-4000, extension 5.