University of New Hampshire Athletics
Freshman safety Noah Palm dove into the end zone to cap his 93-yard TD off a fumble recovery.
10/3/2021 4:43:00 PM | Football, UNH Insider
Palm's TD Sparks a Bounce-Back Effort; Dartmouth Up Next on Oct. 16
DURHAM, N.H. – Freshman Noah Palm made his first career start at Pittsburgh a week ago and led the University of New Hampshire football team in tackles with 15.
Saturday, he started again vs. No. 3 James Madison at Wildcat Stadium in front of a Homecoming day crowd of 17,323 and sparked the Wildcats with an electrifying 93-yard fumble return for a TD in the second quarter.
UNH came up just short in the end and dropped a 23-21 defense-dominated decision to the Dukes. The Palm play helped initiate a wild battle that sent UNH into its off week on a mission to improve and then continue to prove it can contend with – and beat - the top teams in the country.
The No. 25 Wildcats play their next game on Saturday, Oct. 16 against Dartmouth on Family Weekend in Wildcat Stadium at 1 p.m.
Fans can purchase tickets at UNHWildcats.com/Tickets or by calling the UNH Wildcats box office at 603-862-4000 (Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm).
UNH coach Sean McDonnell was asked to assess his team at what amounts to a mid-point break in the season – his 'Cats are now 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association with six regular season games to go.
"Tough to tell," McDonnell said. "Tough to tell. We played two really good teams back-to-back. This week we showed up and played the way New Hampshire plays. The first three games, I thought we did enough to win games, which we do."
The Wildcats beat CAA teams Stony Brook and Towson to open the season and followed up with a win at Lafayette. Just over a week ago, they fell at Pittsburgh, 77-7.
One of the goals Saturday was to bounce back with a big effort after the Pitt problems.
Accomplished.
McDonnell and his players vow that the time between now and Dartmouth is more work week than break week.
"I deeply believe in my heart we've got a really good football team," McDonnell said. "We've just got to keep working at it to get better. These next two weeks have got to be improvement, get-better weeks, not just get healthy, get-by weeks. We've got to get better."
Junior receiver Brian Espanet, who caught his fifth TD pass of the year for the offense's only score on Saturday, was in full agreement.
"Three and two is not good enough," Espanet said. "Yeah, we played hard. We kept it close. But I think going into this week we're going to get better, we're not going to take a vacation week this week."
The offense, Espanet said, in particular needs to improve.
"The defense just carried us all game," he said. "The offense needs to do better and help them out. We finished one drive today. It wasn't enough. We've got to be better to help them out in the future."
The defense came up with a pair of scores on Saturday. Sophomore defensive back Randall Harris had the second TD when he jumped a Cole Johnson pass on James Madison's first play of the second half and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown.
The Wildcats jumped into the national rankings with their first two defensive scores of the season.
Seven teams have scored three defensive touchdowns. UNH and 10 other teams have scored a pair.
None could have been more exhilarating or hard-earned than Noah Palm's.
"That was something special," McDonnell said.
James Madison had just made it 10-0 and quickly was driving for another touchdown late in the second quarter. Johnson dumped a pass off to Kris Thornton and he was inside the UNH 10-yard line and looking for more when redshirt freshman safety Noah Stansbury closed in and stripped him of the ball along the sideline opposite the UNH bench.
"It was the damnedest thing, watching that thing," said defensive coordinator John Lyons. "It looked to me like the ball was going out of bounds. Then Noah (Palm) scooped it up and took off."
Palm raced down the right sideline and a bunch of his defender teammates joined him and blocked and ran interference on the way to the opposite end zone. Palm, cut toward the middle of the field, then back to the right. Stansbury, back up and in the play after causing the fumble, provided the final block and Palm dove for the right corner of the end zone.
"I think everyone saw with that return . . . He's got some grit," McDonnell said. "He fought his way through that."
Fifteen tackles in his first start. A highlight-tape return for a TD in his second.
It was UNH's longest fumble return for a TD in at least 18 years. Baron Flenory had one of 80 yards in 2005.
"I give Noah a lot of credit," McDonnell said. "This is a kid who's only played that strong safety position for two weeks and he made a play. When I look at kids like him. When I look at a guy like Evan Horn. They always seem to be making plays. I'm really pleased with the way Noah Palm played."
Palm ran the wishbone offense as a quarterback at Cocalico High School back home in Pennsylvania and Saturday night a video surfaced on Twitter, courtesy of @PaFootballNews of him scooping a fumble and returning it 92 yards for a score two years ago.
He did it a yard better Saturday.
Palm's position changed and he moved into a starting role after first Pop Bush and then Joe Eichman – who both were playing well - went down with injuries at strong safety.
"He's bailed us out there because we really got wiped out at that position," Lyons said.
Stansbury, a redshirt freshman, started the fumble-return scoring play and the freshman Palm, with the help of others, ended it.
Harris is a sophomore. Ryan Toscano, who led the team with 12 tackles Saturday, is a redshirt freshman and defensive end Josiah Silver, who had a couple of sacks and forced a fumble, is a freshman. That's naming just a few.
"We're playing a lot of young kids who are getting a lot of time who are just going to get better and better," Lyons said.
HOME AGAIN
- UNH resumes its intrastate series with Dartmouth on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 1 p.m. in Wildcat Stadium in its Family Weekend game.
- The Wildcats are off next Saturday, Oct. 9.
- Tickets for home games are available by calling the UNH Box Office at 603-862-4000 or at www.unhwildcats.com.
- UNH plays Richmond at home on Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. for Halloweekend.
- The Wildcats take on Maine in the Border Battle for the Brice-Cowell Musket at home on Nov. 20 at 1 p.m.
- UNH's home games may be viewed on NBCSports Boston and at www.FloFootball.com.
- The team's remaining road games are Oct. 23 at Elon, Nov. 6 at UAlbany and Nov. 13 at Rhode Island.
NEXT UP
- Dartmouth improved to 3-0 overall with a 31-7 win at Penn in its Ivy League opener Friday night.
- The Big Green also won at Valparaiso, 28-10, in their opener and beat Sacred Heart, 41-3, at home.
- Dartmouth plays Yale at home on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
- The Big Green and the Ivy league did not play in the fall of 2020 or spring of this year because of COVID-19.
- Dartmouth went 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the Ivy League in both 2019 and 2018.
- The team shared the Ivy title with Yale in 2019.
- Dartmouth beat UNH, 22-21, in the last meeting between the two teams in Hanover in 2016.
- The Wildcats had gone 18-0-2 against Dartmouth in the 20 meetings prior to that.
- Buddy Teevens began his second stint as Dartmouth head coach in 2005.
- He also coached the Big Green from 1987-1991.
NOTEWORTHY
- James Madison had not turned the ball over a single time in its first three games.
- UNH forced three turnovers _ an interception and two fumble recoveries - and had the two returns for TDs.
- Silver forced a fumble with a quarterback sack and defensive tackle Niko Kvietkus recovered it.
QUOTABLE
"Tough, tough, tough game here. Too many mistakes in crucial situations, which we can correct, which is good. I really liked the way we kept fighting all the way through it."
Head coach Sean McDonnell
"I thought that we practiced real hard this week. This loss going into our bye week leaves a bad taste in our mouth, but we have a lot of games left. We've just got to keep going and do our thing and play hard."
Redshirt freshman linebacker Ryan Toscano
"I was out of my seat because Noah's awesome. I see it in camp. Every time I have to block Noah I'm clenching my teeth because I know Noah's going to give me a pop."
Receiver Brian Espanet on watching Noah Palm's return for a TD
UNH BY THE NUMBERS
- The Wildcats are tied for sixth in the country with 12 turnovers gained.
- Two teams have 14 turnovers gained and three have 13.
- UNH defenders have intercepted eight passes and recovered four fumbles.
- They share the CAA lead in turnovers gained with Elon and Villanova.
- Espanet shares the CAA lead with five TD receptions.
- Sophomore quarterback Bret Edwards threw his ninth TD pass to Espanet.
- Edwards has completed 90 of his 138 passes for 916 yards with the nine TDs and two interceptions.
- Sophomore Dylan Laube leads the CAA with 139 all-purpose yards a game.
- Redshirt freshman Sean Lehane leads the CAA in punting average at 41.9 yards per punt with his nine kicks.
- Redshirt freshman Aidan Cadogan is third with a 41.7 average for his 21 kicks.
- Junior defensive end Gunner Gibson leads the CAA with 4.5 sacks.
- Silver has four sacks.
- Sophomore linebacker Bryce Shaw leads the team with 32 tackles.
- Stansbury has 29 tackles and Palm 27.
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