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University of New Hampshire Athletics
Thursday, August 31
Durham, N.H.
7 PM
University of New Hampshire
vs
Maine
No. 13 'Cats Play Host to Maine on Thursday Night Throwdown (Aug. 31)
8/29/2017 3:01:00 PM | Football
UNH and Maine Battle for the Brice-Cowell Musket in Season Opener
Thursday Night Throwdown
Maine (0-0, 0-0 CAA) at No. 13/16 New Hampshire (0-0, 0-0 CAA)
Thursday, August 31 • Wildcat Stadium • 7 pm
PROMOTIONS
Pregame iHeart Media Festival (Wildcat Village)
Student Giveaway
Postgame fireworks
QUICK HITTERS
New Hampshire is led by 19th-year head coach Sean McDonnell, who has guided the Wildcats to the NCAA FCS tournament each of the last 13 years (longest active streak in the nation).
UNH enters the week ranked No. 13 in the STATS FCS Preseason Poll and No. 16 in the FCS Coaches Preseason Poll, as well as No. 11 in the Athlon poll.
UNH has recorded seven or more wins 13 consecutive years; the stretch began in 2004 (10-3) and includes six double-digit win seasons with a program-record 12 in 2014.
UNH has an 11-7 record in season openers in the Coach Mac era with a split of 4-0 at home and 7-7 on the road.
Since the start of the 2007 season, UNH has a 50-8 record at home for an .862 win percentage.
The inaugural season at Wildcat Stadium in 2016 saw the program establish records for the highest single-game attendance (21,943; Oct. 1), highest opening game attendance (13,242; Sept. 10), highest regular-season average attendance (11,108) and highest overall average attendance (9,630).
The Wildcats return 13 starters – six on offense and seven on defense – from last year's team that finished 8-5 overall and tied for second in the CAA standings at 6-2.
Maine is the University of New Hampshire's strongest and longest standing rival in football: teams from the two schools first played in 1903. UNH holds a 54-43-8 edge in the series.
Thursday Night Throwdown will be the third time UNH plays host to Maine in a season opener. The Wildcats prevailed in both of the previous meetings – 1942 (20-7) and 1984 (21-13).
Wildcats-Black Bears is a rivalry that has had its swings through the years, decades and century. It was all Maine in the early going. Not only did Maine win the first eight games in the series before the teams played to a 0-0 tie in the ninth meeting in 1916, it outscored New Hampshire 108-4 through 1916.
New Hampshire posted its first win in the series 100 hundred years ago this season, 27-0, on Nov. 10, 1917.
The Wildcats have held the upper hand in recent years with seven straight wins in the series. That includes a pair of wins in 2013 when UNH beat Maine, 24-3, at home to get into the FCS tournament and then went to Orono and posted a 41-27 win in the second round of the playoffs.
Maine (0-0, 0-0 CAA) at No. 13/16 New Hampshire (0-0, 0-0 CAA)
Thursday, August 31 • Wildcat Stadium • 7 pm
PROMOTIONS
Pregame iHeart Media Festival (Wildcat Village)
Student Giveaway
Postgame fireworks
QUICK HITTERS
New Hampshire is led by 19th-year head coach Sean McDonnell, who has guided the Wildcats to the NCAA FCS tournament each of the last 13 years (longest active streak in the nation).
UNH enters the week ranked No. 13 in the STATS FCS Preseason Poll and No. 16 in the FCS Coaches Preseason Poll, as well as No. 11 in the Athlon poll.
UNH has recorded seven or more wins 13 consecutive years; the stretch began in 2004 (10-3) and includes six double-digit win seasons with a program-record 12 in 2014.
UNH has an 11-7 record in season openers in the Coach Mac era with a split of 4-0 at home and 7-7 on the road.
Since the start of the 2007 season, UNH has a 50-8 record at home for an .862 win percentage.
The inaugural season at Wildcat Stadium in 2016 saw the program establish records for the highest single-game attendance (21,943; Oct. 1), highest opening game attendance (13,242; Sept. 10), highest regular-season average attendance (11,108) and highest overall average attendance (9,630).
The Wildcats return 13 starters – six on offense and seven on defense – from last year's team that finished 8-5 overall and tied for second in the CAA standings at 6-2.
Maine is the University of New Hampshire's strongest and longest standing rival in football: teams from the two schools first played in 1903. UNH holds a 54-43-8 edge in the series.
Thursday Night Throwdown will be the third time UNH plays host to Maine in a season opener. The Wildcats prevailed in both of the previous meetings – 1942 (20-7) and 1984 (21-13).
Wildcats-Black Bears is a rivalry that has had its swings through the years, decades and century. It was all Maine in the early going. Not only did Maine win the first eight games in the series before the teams played to a 0-0 tie in the ninth meeting in 1916, it outscored New Hampshire 108-4 through 1916.
New Hampshire posted its first win in the series 100 hundred years ago this season, 27-0, on Nov. 10, 1917.
The Wildcats have held the upper hand in recent years with seven straight wins in the series. That includes a pair of wins in 2013 when UNH beat Maine, 24-3, at home to get into the FCS tournament and then went to Orono and posted a 41-27 win in the second round of the playoffs.
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