University of New Hampshire Athletics
Center Matt Mascia and the Wildcats will look to get the offense rolling against Dartmouth on Saturday at 1 p.m.
10/14/2021 2:46:00 PM | Football, UNH Insider
No. 23 'Cats Aim to Get Back on Track vs. Dartmouth for Family Weekend
DURHAM, N.H. – It's been a rollercoaster ride of a rivalry, the streakiest of series.
No. 23-ranked New Hampshire and undefeated Dartmouth renew their on-again, off-again football series on Saturday in Wildcat Stadium at 1 p.m. for Family Weekend, presented by Tuscan Kitchen, at UNH.
The Wildcats are looking to bounce back after a bye week that followed a pair of losses to a couple of tough opponents, most recently a 23-21 setback against then-No. 3 James Madison on Oct. 2 for Homecoming.
Fans can purchase tickets at UNHWildcats.com/Tickets or by calling the UNH Wildcats box office at 603-862-4000 (Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm). The game is on NBCSports Boston and also will be streamed at FloFootball.
Parking in Boulder Field and A Lot across from the UNH Field House is sold out. No parking passes will be sold on gameday. There is free parking available in faculty/staff lots and various other lots within walking distance of the Stadium.
UNH is 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Dartmouth is 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Ivy League and coming off a 24-17 overtime win against Yale last Saturday.
More than in-state bragging rights is on the line. The Big Green are working on a perfect season and aiming to gain momentum heading into five straight Ivy League contests to close the season.
The Wildcats need to get back on track in their quest for a CAA championship and to earn a spot in the FCS tournament for the first time since 2017.
"If we want to get to where we want to go – and that's have an opportunity to go to the dance at the end of the year, we've got to win these FCS games," said UNH head coach Sean McDonnell. "Beating a team that's 30-4 (since the start of the 2017 season) and 4-0 right now would put a lot of credibility in what we're doing."
The Wildcats qualified for the FCS tournament 14 straight seasons from 2004-2017. The Ivy League does not allow its team to play in the FCS playoffs.
UNH and Dartmouth first met in 1901 and the series was one-sided through the first 70 years. Dartmouth won the opening game, 51-0, and each of the first 16 games through 1972. UNH got its first victory, 10-9, in 1973 and Dartmouth won 24-13 in 1976.
Starting with a 10-10 tie in 1979, the Wildcats didn't lose in a run of 20 games _ they had 18 wins to go with a pair of ties in the span _ until Dartmouth took the most recent game, 22-21, in Hanover in 2016.
This year marks the start of a new string of games. The teams are scheduled to play each of the next two seasons and six times through 2028.
The Wildcats are coming off an impressive defensive performance against James Madison. They not only held the Dukes to fewer than half as many points as they had been scoring per game (53.3 at the time), they came up with three turnovers and returned two of them for TDs.
Freshman safety Noah Palm returned a fumbled punt 93 yards for a score and sophomore defensive back Randall Harris ran an interception back 18 yards for a TD.
The defense this week faces a Dartmouth offense that alternates a pair of quarterbacks who enter the game depending on the situation.
Derek Kyler is far more likely to throw the ball and Nick Howard will generally direct a running game.
"It's a really unique thing and I haven't seen a whole lot of this in my tenure," McDonnell said. "They do a great job with it. When Nick Howard comes in, it's a power offense. They're going to run the football with him and they'll do some very good schemes."
Kyler, 6-foot and 180 pounds, has completed 71 percent of his passes (59 of 83), which is fourth best in all of FCS. He's passed for seven touchdowns and has not been intercepted.
Howard, 6-foot-2 and 230, has averaged 7.2 yards on his 49 carries and has scored six touchdowns.
Running back Zack Bair averages 6.2 yards on his 54 carries and has two rushing touchdowns and also has caught a pair of TD passes.
It's time for the UUNH offense to step, said senior center and captain Matt Mascia. The Wildcats scored one touchdown on offense in each of the last two losses, to James Madison and the week before to Pittsburgh, an FBS team.
"We look back at JMU and I'll say it, that game was on us," Mascia said. "The defense played excellent. They scored 14 points for us. They're out there holding an excellent JMU offense to 24 points. If you would have written that script for us, I think we would have won that game nine out of 10 times based on saying we have to go out there and score two touchdowns. We all have to sit back on that and reflect and be like, 'we didn't get our job done.' That just adds fuel to the fire."
Sophomore quarterback Bret Edwards hit junior receiver Brian Espanet for an 8-yard TD pass for the offense's score against JMU. Edwards has completed 90 of his 139 passes (65 percent) with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. Espanet has five of the touchdown catches.
COMING UP
GAME NOTES
No. 23-ranked New Hampshire and undefeated Dartmouth renew their on-again, off-again football series on Saturday in Wildcat Stadium at 1 p.m. for Family Weekend, presented by Tuscan Kitchen, at UNH.
The Wildcats are looking to bounce back after a bye week that followed a pair of losses to a couple of tough opponents, most recently a 23-21 setback against then-No. 3 James Madison on Oct. 2 for Homecoming.
Fans can purchase tickets at UNHWildcats.com/Tickets or by calling the UNH Wildcats box office at 603-862-4000 (Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm). The game is on NBCSports Boston and also will be streamed at FloFootball.
Parking in Boulder Field and A Lot across from the UNH Field House is sold out. No parking passes will be sold on gameday. There is free parking available in faculty/staff lots and various other lots within walking distance of the Stadium.
UNH is 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Dartmouth is 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Ivy League and coming off a 24-17 overtime win against Yale last Saturday.
More than in-state bragging rights is on the line. The Big Green are working on a perfect season and aiming to gain momentum heading into five straight Ivy League contests to close the season.
The Wildcats need to get back on track in their quest for a CAA championship and to earn a spot in the FCS tournament for the first time since 2017.
"If we want to get to where we want to go – and that's have an opportunity to go to the dance at the end of the year, we've got to win these FCS games," said UNH head coach Sean McDonnell. "Beating a team that's 30-4 (since the start of the 2017 season) and 4-0 right now would put a lot of credibility in what we're doing."
The Wildcats qualified for the FCS tournament 14 straight seasons from 2004-2017. The Ivy League does not allow its team to play in the FCS playoffs.
UNH and Dartmouth first met in 1901 and the series was one-sided through the first 70 years. Dartmouth won the opening game, 51-0, and each of the first 16 games through 1972. UNH got its first victory, 10-9, in 1973 and Dartmouth won 24-13 in 1976.
Starting with a 10-10 tie in 1979, the Wildcats didn't lose in a run of 20 games _ they had 18 wins to go with a pair of ties in the span _ until Dartmouth took the most recent game, 22-21, in Hanover in 2016.
This year marks the start of a new string of games. The teams are scheduled to play each of the next two seasons and six times through 2028.
The Wildcats are coming off an impressive defensive performance against James Madison. They not only held the Dukes to fewer than half as many points as they had been scoring per game (53.3 at the time), they came up with three turnovers and returned two of them for TDs.
Freshman safety Noah Palm returned a fumbled punt 93 yards for a score and sophomore defensive back Randall Harris ran an interception back 18 yards for a TD.
The defense this week faces a Dartmouth offense that alternates a pair of quarterbacks who enter the game depending on the situation.
Derek Kyler is far more likely to throw the ball and Nick Howard will generally direct a running game.
"It's a really unique thing and I haven't seen a whole lot of this in my tenure," McDonnell said. "They do a great job with it. When Nick Howard comes in, it's a power offense. They're going to run the football with him and they'll do some very good schemes."
Kyler, 6-foot and 180 pounds, has completed 71 percent of his passes (59 of 83), which is fourth best in all of FCS. He's passed for seven touchdowns and has not been intercepted.
Howard, 6-foot-2 and 230, has averaged 7.2 yards on his 49 carries and has scored six touchdowns.
Running back Zack Bair averages 6.2 yards on his 54 carries and has two rushing touchdowns and also has caught a pair of TD passes.
It's time for the UUNH offense to step, said senior center and captain Matt Mascia. The Wildcats scored one touchdown on offense in each of the last two losses, to James Madison and the week before to Pittsburgh, an FBS team.
"We look back at JMU and I'll say it, that game was on us," Mascia said. "The defense played excellent. They scored 14 points for us. They're out there holding an excellent JMU offense to 24 points. If you would have written that script for us, I think we would have won that game nine out of 10 times based on saying we have to go out there and score two touchdowns. We all have to sit back on that and reflect and be like, 'we didn't get our job done.' That just adds fuel to the fire."
Sophomore quarterback Bret Edwards hit junior receiver Brian Espanet for an 8-yard TD pass for the offense's score against JMU. Edwards has completed 90 of his 139 passes (65 percent) with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. Espanet has five of the touchdown catches.
COMING UP
- The Wildcats have only CAA games left after Dartmouth.
- Two of them are home games.
- Richmond is in Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. for Halloweekend.
- The Wildcats close out the regular season with their rivalry game against Maine in the Border Battle for the Brice-Cowell Musket in Wildcat Stadium on Nov. 20 at 1 p.m.
- Tickets are available at www.unhwildcats.com or by calling the Whittemore Center Box Office at 603-862-4000.
- UNH plays at Elon on Oct. 23 at 1 p.m.
- The Wildcats are at UAlbany on Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. and at Rhode Island on Nov. 13 at 1 p.m.
- The UNH men's basketball team will play a Blue-White scrimmage in Lundholm Gymnasium after the football game at about 4:30 p.m.
GAME NOTES
- UNH has scored a pair of defensive touchdowns in each of its last two Homecoming games.
- Besides JMU, the Wildcats also did it against Elon in 2019.
- Linebacker Oleh Manzyk returned an interception 55 yards and safety Evan Horn had one 50 yards against Elon in 2019.
- Dartmouth opened the season with a 28-18 win at Valparaiso.
- The Big Green also have wins over Sacred Heart, 41-3, and Penn, 31-7.
- UNH and Dartmouth are among the least penalized teams in FCS.
- The Big Green have been penalized 15 times for 155 yards in their four games.
- UNH has been penalized 19 times in its five games for 143 yards.
- Rhode Island leads the CAA with a 3-0 record.
- Villanova and William & Mary are 2-0 in league games.
- UNH, Delaware, James Madison and Elon are all 2-1 and Towson is 1-1.
Players Mentioned
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OL
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DB
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