Game 11 Report: A Nice, Winning Way to Go Out - University of New Hampshire Athletics

DURHAM, N.H. – Junior safety Evan Horn paced the University of New Hampshire's standout defensive effort that resulted in Saturday's 28-10 triumph over the University of Maine in the Battle for the Brice-Cowell Musket in Wildcat Stadium.

Then Horn led the charge to get the musket itself back in Wildcat hands, too.

The whistles had barely sounded to end the game when Horn and his mates on defense headed to the Maine sidelines to reclaim the coveted trophy that had been in Black Bear custody for the last 15 months.

UNH closed out a perfect 5-0 season at home and the musket is back in the Jim 'Red' Hayes Locker Room in the UNH Field House and all is right with Wildcat Nation.

Yes, it would have been nice to sneak back into the NCAA FCS Division I tournament when the 24-team field for the event was announced early on Sunday afternoon, but that was not to be. UNH came up just short and was one of the last four teams considered but not picked – along with Colonial Athletic Association rival Towson, South Carolina State and Southern Illinois - according to the chair of the selection committee.

The Wildcats put themselves back in the running and discussion for the playoffs with Saturday's impressive performance.

"Just really proud of the guys, especially the seniors, finding a way to compete and go out like that and getting the Musket back to where it rightfully belongs," said interim head coach Ricky Santos. "The defensive effort all year has been outstanding, but I think they took it to another level today."

UNH bounced back from last year's 4-7 season, finished with a winning record at 6-5 overall and earned a share of third place in the Colonial Athletic Association at 5-3. Villanova was also 5-3 in the league. James Madison at 8-0 and Albany at 6-2 owned the first two spots in the league.

Then there's the Musket, that resides in the locker room of the winning team each season.

Maine had held it since beating UNH, 35-7, in last season's opener in Orono.

"It's a very special moment for our whole team," said senior receiver Malik Love of getting the cherished rifle back. "Coach harped on it all week about how big this game was, from the freshmen to the seniors. It was a very inspirational moment to get (the musket) back."

The Black Bears have not held onto the musket for more than one year at a time since 2002. The Wildcats have won the regular season game in the series in 16 of the last 18 meetings.

As it has most of the season, the defense led the way.

Maine's true freshman quarterback, Joe Fagnano, took over as starting quarterback when Chris Ferguson went down with an injury in the team's sixth game.

He led the Black Bears to four straight wins and they were looking to earn their own spot in the playoffs. UNH knocked those plans awry.

Maine finished with a 6-6 overall record and 4-4 mark in the league.

The Black Bears had scored an average of 38 points in each of their last five games and had scored at least 17 points in each of their games.

They managed little against a UNH defense that came up with three fumble recoveries, including one Prince Smith Jr. returned 30 yards for the last score of the game with 1:36 left in the fourth quarter.

In addition, sophomore Gunner Gibson, who plays defensive end as his regular assignment, lined up as a receiver in a goal line package and caught a 4-yard TD pass from freshman quarterback Max Brosmer to put a tight game out of reach with 1:48 left in the fourth quarter.

The defense held Maine to 313 total yards, its lowest total of the season, and well under its average of 400 yards.

"The last two weeks we haven't played up to our standards," Horn said. "We tackled well and created more fumbles in this game than I think we did all year."

The Wildcats had recovered three opponent fumbles all year coming into the game and two of those came last week in a 24-17 loss at Albany. They doubled the season total with three more Saturday.

"We made some plays, got some turnovers," said defensive coordinator John Lyons. "I think our kids were really focused and dialed in. It shows. That's how you've got to play all the time. We had some good ones and then we had some we let slip away. I thought the kids really did a great job today."

The good ones included a shutout second half and 28-20 win against a Villanova team that is in the playoffs and home wins over Elon, 26-10, Duquesne, 23-6, and Rhode Island, 27-24. There was a 20-14 win at then No. 22 Stony Brook and a tough 13-10 loss at Holy Cross in the season opening game.

The level of the opponent and the rivalry made this one nice, too.

"Maine's a very good offensive team," Lyons said. "They have some very good skill players. They have a very good scheme. They do a really good job getting the ball to their guys who can make plays. We've been playing hard all year, but sometimes we're not always as disciplined and we don't execute the way we should, but I thought we did today."

It was a great way for seniors such as cornerbacks Isiah Perkins and Smith, along with defensive end Josh Kania and linebackers Cam Brusko and Michael Balsamo, along with safety and captain Pop Lacey, who missed the last half of the season with a foot injury, to go out.

"I really, really am happy for them because this meant so much, particularly after the whipping we took last year from them," Lyons said. "I thought our guys really responded. They were really dialed in. They really understood what we were doing."

NEXT UP

UNH's 2020 schedule was announced last week.
The Wildcats begin the season with their FBS game at Kansas of the Big 12 conference on Sept. 5, 2020.
Their play their home and CAA opener against Richmond on Sept. 12.
There are five home games on the schedule.
UNH faces Merrimack College, which has moved up to Division I, for Homecoming on Oct. 3.
Other home games are against Stony Brook on Oct. 10, against William & Mary on Nov. 7 and against UAlbany on Nov. 14.
The Wildcats play at Rhode Island on Sept. 19, at Colgate on Sept. 26, at Elon on Oct. 24, at Towson on Oct. 31 and at Maine on Nov. 21.

HOME COOKING

Besides going 5-0 at home this year, the Wildcats improved to 18-5 overall in Wildcat Stadium.
The team's new home opened in 2016.
UNH is 60-10 at home since 2008.
That mark includes a 41-7 record against CAA teams at home.
All UNH Border Battles against Maine this year are presented by Buffalo Wild Wings.
Buffalo Wild Wings steps up to make sure Wildcat fans have the ultimate place to watch the games, eat wings, and get rewarded at select New Hampshire restaurants when the Wildcats win.
Visit UNHWildcats.com/borderbattle for details and participating locations.

QUOTABLE

"(Maine receiver) Earnest Edwards is as good a player as you're going to find, but our guys found a way to keep him in check all day. I think it started up front. We did a good job getting pressure. Then on the back end I thought we did a good job disguising coverages."

                                              Interim head coach Ricky Santos


UNH BY THE NUMBERS

The UNH defense recovered one opponent fumble in the first nine games of the season.
He Wildcats had five takeaways by fumble in their final two games.
They had three against Maine.
Senior defensive end Josh Kania forced the fumble that Smith returned for a TD with a sack of Joe Fagnano.
Sophomore defensive tackle Niko Kvietkus and sophomore safety Pop Bush had the other fumble recoveries.
Horn, Smith and senior cornerback Isiah Perkins forced fumbles.
Brosmer passed for a pair of scores.
For the season, he completed 183 of his 311 passes (58.8 percent) for 12 TDs and had 12 interceptions.
Gray led UNH in rushing for the season with 108 carries for 646, an average of six yards per carry.
His four rushing TDs led the team.
Gray's 4-yard rushing TD Saturday gave him a rushing score in each of the last three games.
Sophomore Carlos Washington Jr. carried 138 times for 601 yards and three scores.
Horn led the team with four interceptions and in tackles with 70.
Sophomore safety Pop Bush was right behind with 69 tackles.
Smith had 64 tackles and senior linebacker Cam Brusko had 59.
Senior Malik Love led the team with 48 catches for 542 yards.
Redshirt running back Dylan Laube and redshirt sophomore running back Carlos Washington Jr. had 28 catches each.
Laube had 412 yards in receptions and four scores.
Laube is third in the CAA in all-purpose yards at 137.2 yards per game.
Sophomore Brian Espanet had 25 catches for 340 yards and a team-best five TDs.
UNH is second in the league in scoring defense at 20.1 points per game.
The Wildcats allowed 22.8 points a game last year to finish fourth.
UNH scored 20.2 points a game, which was 12^th in the league.
The team scored 17.8 a game last year.
The Wildcats allowed 37 quarterback sacks last season.
They cut that number back to 19, which was third in the league.
Gibson led the team with 9.5 tackles for loss.
Kania and Kvietkus each had 8.
Kvietkus was tops with 5.5 sacks.
Horn, true freshman Oleh Manzyk, Gibson and Kania had four sacks each.
Junior Jason Hughes averaged 41 yards on seven punts Saturday and pinned Maine deep several times.
Hughes made his last seven field goal attempts of the season.
He was 14 for 17 for the year.
His 1.27 field goals per game is third-best in the league.
His field goal percentage of 82.4 is also ranked third.
The 14 field goals by Hughes are the most for a Wildcat since Mike MacArthur was 15-for-20 in 2013.
UNH's record for a season is 18 by Tom Manning in 2009.
Ricky Santos was named UNH's interim head coach when Sean McDonnell announced on Aug. 26 he was taking a leave of absence to deal with health issues.

Allen Lessels
@UNHInsider
Allen.Lessels@unh.edu

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Players Mentioned

Michael Balsamo

Max Brosmer

Pop Bush

Brian Espanet

Gunner Gibson

Evan Horn

Jason Hughes

Josh Kania

Niko Kvietkus

Pop Lacey

Dylan Laube

Malik Love

Oleh Manzyk

Isiah Perkins

Prince Smith Jr.

Carlos Washington Jr.