University of New Hampshire Athletics
Randall Harris heads to the end zone with a game-sealing pick-6.
9/2/2022 1:43:00 PM | Football, UNH Insider
Harris, Laube Lead 'Cats to Triumph in Debut for Santos
DURHAM, N.H. – His team in the process of putting the finishing touches on a dramatic and explosive win in his debut as head coach, Rick Santos spun his attention from the field and turned toward the sidelines and a whooping-it-up student section and crowd and added an exclamation point to the proceedings.
"Never flinch," Santos yelled. "Never flinch."
As much as anything, that summed up the University of New Hampshire's 31-21 triumph over new Colonial Athletic Association rival Monmouth University in front of 8,703 on opening night in Wildcat Stadium on Thursday.
The Wildcats took on and took out a team that just missed out on the FCS playoffs with a 7-4 record last year and is anxious to make the same kind of mark in the CAA that it has made in recent years in the Big South.
It was a team that returned a talented and veteran quarterback in junior Tony Muskett, who passed for 25 touchdowns and had only six interceptions last season.
A stat that jumps out from the Wildcat win? The UNH defense nicked him for three interceptions Thursday night – all in the second half and capped by a pick-6 by junior cornerback Randall Harris that covered 25 yards and sealed the deal with 4:07 to play. Harris had a pair of picks for the night.
The pick-6 was UNH's second touchdown in just over two minutes of play.
Junior running back Dylan Laube raced seven yards into the left corner of the end zone for the first that put UNH back on top, 24-21, with 6:20 left on the game.
Never flinch.
The Wildcats move on to Game Two at UAlbany – Saturday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. – with a nice dose of momentum coupled with motivation. They have lost their last three games to the Great Danes. UNH returns to Wildcat Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 6 p.m. to face North Carolina Central on Youth Sports Night.
Santos and his crew have plenty to work on going forward. And plenty to work with.
They committed far too many penalties Thursday night: the eight called against them covered 63 yards, but several were also declined.
The positives – starting with the big win - were many.
All were delivered with new people charting the way at every step. Besides Santos at the top, offensive coordinator Brian Scott was calling the plays on that side of the ball, Garrett Gillick was doing the same for the defense and Garrett McLaughlin had that role on special teams.
Each segment contributed at least one touchdown.
Santos raved about how his team hung in there and fought. The Wildcats owned the fourth quarter: they had 114 yards of offense in the period and allowed the Hawks only 14 while outscoring them 14-0.
"We talked about it all offseason, about how we wanted to have more resolve, how we wanted to have more mental toughness," Santos said. "Effort, accountability and toughness are some of our core values this year and I thought we were as mentally tough as a team as I've ever been around."
Down 21-17 after giving up their 17-14 halftime lead, UNH got the ball back with 11:20 to play in the fourth.
This time, despite a few more penalties, the Wildcats marched down the field until sophomore quarterback Max Brosmer threw to Andrew Edgar – a transfer from Illinois State – for a 33-yard gain and first down on the Monmouth 11-yard line.
Two plays later, Laube scored the winning touchdown.
Santos has vowed the Wildcats want to establish a strong running game. Laube scored UNH's first TD of the season on a 19-yard run in the first quarter.
The offense rush for 81 yards and the two scores. Last year, UNH had eight rushing touchdowns for the season.
Brosmer, who missed all of last season with a knee injury and played only his second game since the end of November in 2019, completed 18 of his 35 passes for 272 yards.
His favorite target was tight end Kyle Lepkowski. The 6-foot-4 junior had seven catches for 121 yards, including grabs of 25 and 26 yards as the Wildcats quickly went down the field to a 28-yard field goal from redshirt freshman Nick Mazzie to give them the 17-14 edge at the half.
"Kyle did a real nice job of getting open," Brosmer said. "He's a real big body. One thing he does really well is find space. I kind of fell back on him a little bit. When the going gets tough, find Kyle Lepkowski down the field."
Laube had five catches for 57 yards and Edgar three for 57 yards.
Brosmer was sacked once, and he took the blame for that one, and praised the play of the offensive line.
Sophomore defensive end Josiah Silver, who led the league with 12.5 sacks last year, got to Muskett for his first of the year on the final play of the first quarter to force a Monmouth punt. Silver made an impressive play to block the punt and junior Charles Briscoe III scooped the ball and scored from 35 yards out.
Besides his field goal and four conversion kicks, Mazzie also made a nice tackle to prevent a long return on his final kickoff.
In between the two interceptions by Harris, sophomore linebacker Zedane Williams had one to stop a Monmouth drive that had moved to the UNH 21-yard line.
"He (Muskett) definitely gave us a run for our money," Harris said. "First half, he was making plays we didn't think he could make. We came into the locker room and made some adjustments and we came out in the second half ready to rock and roll."
Junior linebacker Bryce Shaw led the Wildcats with 10 tackles and grad student defensive tackle Niko Kvietkus had eight, including a couple for loss.
"Just absolutely thrilled with the resolve of our team," Santos said. "Our guys hung together. We played four quarters. Scored a touchdown in three different phases. That doesn't happen often."
But his team never flinched and it happened on opening night.
"Never flinch," Santos yelled. "Never flinch."
As much as anything, that summed up the University of New Hampshire's 31-21 triumph over new Colonial Athletic Association rival Monmouth University in front of 8,703 on opening night in Wildcat Stadium on Thursday.
The Wildcats took on and took out a team that just missed out on the FCS playoffs with a 7-4 record last year and is anxious to make the same kind of mark in the CAA that it has made in recent years in the Big South.
It was a team that returned a talented and veteran quarterback in junior Tony Muskett, who passed for 25 touchdowns and had only six interceptions last season.
A stat that jumps out from the Wildcat win? The UNH defense nicked him for three interceptions Thursday night – all in the second half and capped by a pick-6 by junior cornerback Randall Harris that covered 25 yards and sealed the deal with 4:07 to play. Harris had a pair of picks for the night.
The pick-6 was UNH's second touchdown in just over two minutes of play.
Junior running back Dylan Laube raced seven yards into the left corner of the end zone for the first that put UNH back on top, 24-21, with 6:20 left on the game.
Never flinch.
The Wildcats move on to Game Two at UAlbany – Saturday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. – with a nice dose of momentum coupled with motivation. They have lost their last three games to the Great Danes. UNH returns to Wildcat Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 6 p.m. to face North Carolina Central on Youth Sports Night.
Santos and his crew have plenty to work on going forward. And plenty to work with.
They committed far too many penalties Thursday night: the eight called against them covered 63 yards, but several were also declined.
The positives – starting with the big win - were many.
All were delivered with new people charting the way at every step. Besides Santos at the top, offensive coordinator Brian Scott was calling the plays on that side of the ball, Garrett Gillick was doing the same for the defense and Garrett McLaughlin had that role on special teams.
Each segment contributed at least one touchdown.
Santos raved about how his team hung in there and fought. The Wildcats owned the fourth quarter: they had 114 yards of offense in the period and allowed the Hawks only 14 while outscoring them 14-0.
"We talked about it all offseason, about how we wanted to have more resolve, how we wanted to have more mental toughness," Santos said. "Effort, accountability and toughness are some of our core values this year and I thought we were as mentally tough as a team as I've ever been around."
Down 21-17 after giving up their 17-14 halftime lead, UNH got the ball back with 11:20 to play in the fourth.
This time, despite a few more penalties, the Wildcats marched down the field until sophomore quarterback Max Brosmer threw to Andrew Edgar – a transfer from Illinois State – for a 33-yard gain and first down on the Monmouth 11-yard line.
Two plays later, Laube scored the winning touchdown.
Santos has vowed the Wildcats want to establish a strong running game. Laube scored UNH's first TD of the season on a 19-yard run in the first quarter.
The offense rush for 81 yards and the two scores. Last year, UNH had eight rushing touchdowns for the season.
Brosmer, who missed all of last season with a knee injury and played only his second game since the end of November in 2019, completed 18 of his 35 passes for 272 yards.
His favorite target was tight end Kyle Lepkowski. The 6-foot-4 junior had seven catches for 121 yards, including grabs of 25 and 26 yards as the Wildcats quickly went down the field to a 28-yard field goal from redshirt freshman Nick Mazzie to give them the 17-14 edge at the half.
"Kyle did a real nice job of getting open," Brosmer said. "He's a real big body. One thing he does really well is find space. I kind of fell back on him a little bit. When the going gets tough, find Kyle Lepkowski down the field."
Laube had five catches for 57 yards and Edgar three for 57 yards.
Brosmer was sacked once, and he took the blame for that one, and praised the play of the offensive line.
Sophomore defensive end Josiah Silver, who led the league with 12.5 sacks last year, got to Muskett for his first of the year on the final play of the first quarter to force a Monmouth punt. Silver made an impressive play to block the punt and junior Charles Briscoe III scooped the ball and scored from 35 yards out.
Besides his field goal and four conversion kicks, Mazzie also made a nice tackle to prevent a long return on his final kickoff.
In between the two interceptions by Harris, sophomore linebacker Zedane Williams had one to stop a Monmouth drive that had moved to the UNH 21-yard line.
"He (Muskett) definitely gave us a run for our money," Harris said. "First half, he was making plays we didn't think he could make. We came into the locker room and made some adjustments and we came out in the second half ready to rock and roll."
Junior linebacker Bryce Shaw led the Wildcats with 10 tackles and grad student defensive tackle Niko Kvietkus had eight, including a couple for loss.
"Just absolutely thrilled with the resolve of our team," Santos said. "Our guys hung together. We played four quarters. Scored a touchdown in three different phases. That doesn't happen often."
But his team never flinched and it happened on opening night.
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