NH College Football: If it's not a must-win game for UNH, it's close
Oct. 11—UNIVERSITY of New Hampshire coach Rick Santos said he and his staff spent much of the team's bye week examining what's gone wrong for the Wildcats during the team's 2-3 start. Here's some of what they found:
For starters, UNH needs more production from All-American defensive ends Dylan Ruiz and Josiah Silver. Ruiz, who led the Coastal Athletic Conference with 12 sacks last season, has one sack this year. Silver recorded 8.5 sacks in 2022 — good for fifth in the CAA — but has half a sack this season.
"The big thing overall when we were doing some defensive self-scout was we have to be a little bit more efficient on first down," Santos said. "First and second down — if we can get to some obvious passing situations when we can kind of cut them free. Let them do what they do, (which is) rush the passer. They're as dynamic as anybody, but when offenses get to third and 5 or less, the entire playbook is open. That's when at times maybe they're trying to do a little bit too much as opposed to just playing their gaps and all that stuff.
"I think being efficient on first and second down is going to help those guys rush the passer and that's something we worked on this week. Hopefully we can get more efficient there."
Although the Wildcats have been held to eight sacks through five games, the defense has been efficient on third down. Opponents have converted on 21 of 67 third-down situations (30.9%) against UNH this season. Statistically, William and Mary is the only CAA defense that's been better on third down (17 of 70/24.3%).
The Wildcats are 12th in red zone offense, having scored points on 18 of their 24 possessions inside their opponents' 20-yard line. Four of those 18 scores have been field goals, however, and UNH has also turned the ball over a league-high five times in the red zone.
"I think we've had a pretty decent scheme down there," Santos said. "Timing has been a little bit off. ... I think there's some plays there to be made. I think it's just the windows down there are a lot smaller (and) the timing has to be very elite. So we worked on some of the timing issues down there (during the bye week). And also (looked at) the self-scout of what we've done well and finding ways to creatively move some stuff around so we can go back to doing some things that have allowed us to be successful.
"We're not far off, and that's the hard thing. You're 2-3 and at the end of the day that's simply not good enough five games in, but I also think we've made a lot of plays on both sides of the ball. If we continue to do that, I think those breaks are going to go our way. We'll continue to fight."
UNH (0-2 CAA) will face the University at Albany at home Saturday (1 p.m.) The Great Danes (4-2, 2-0 CAA) rose to No. 24 in this week's STATS FCS Top 25 Poll after beating Towson 24-17 Saturday. UAlbany's only losses came at Marshall (21-17) and at Hawaii (31-20), both of which are FBS programs.
UAlbany was picked 11th in the CAA preseason coaches' poll, but is off to a 2-0 start in the conference for the first time. UAlbany linebacker Dylan Kelly was named the CAA Defensive Player of the Week after he recorded 23 tackles — the most by a player in an FCS game this season — forced a fumble and had a fumble recovery against Towson.
The Great Danes also have two exceptional edge rushers in Anton Juncaj and A.J. Simon. Juncaj leads FCS with nine sacks, and Simon is sixth in that category with seven.
UNH enters Saturday's game ranked first among CAA teams in scoring offense (38.6), but 11th in scoring defense (30.4). UAlbany is second in defense (18.2) and eighth in offense (24.8)
"It's a huge game," Santos said. "Whether we were undefeated right now or we were 0-5, we'd say we need to win this game, but I certainly think there's a heightened sense of urgency right now. We gotta find a way to get one, and, as everyone knows, that can snowball rather quickly in the positive direction for us. ... This is as close to a must win as you're going to get."
Fuller a TD machineNorth Hampton resident Jordan Fuller, a junior running back at Holy Cross, was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after he produced 162 yards of offense, including a career-high 147 rushing yards, and ran for four touchdowns in Saturday's 55-27 victory over Bucknell.
It was the second time Fuller has rushed for four touchdowns in a game this season. He and former Pinkerton Academy standout Joe Segreti are the only two Holy Cross players in the program's history to have two games with four rushing touchdowns in the same season.
Fuller, who played at Winnacunnet High School, leads all FCS players in rushing touchdowns, total touchdowns (14) and scoring (14 points per game). He ranks ninth among FCS players in rushing yards (587).
Hawks' Forkner honored
Saint Anselm quarterback Drew Forkner was selected as the Northeast-10 Conference Rookie of the Week on Monday after he completed 19 of 27 passes for 187 yards and three TDs to help the Hawks defeat Bentley 24-17 Saturday.
Forkner was also selected as the NE10 Rookie of the Week after he tossed four touchdowns in a 42-21 victory over Post on Sept. 23.
Forkner, a freshman, has completed 59 of 99 passes for 591 yards and seven touchdowns in five games this season (four starts). He has not been intercepted.
Around the fields
Portsmouth's Thor Griffith, a senior defensive lineman at Harvard, is seventh on the team in tackles with 16 (five solo). Harvard (4-0) and South Dakota State (5-0) are the only unbeaten teams at the FCS level. ...
Goffstown High School graduate Jarrett Henault has started five games at quarterback for the University of New England (4-1) this season. He's rushed for a team-high 322 yards and six touchdowns on 59 carries (5.6 ypc). He's also completed 113 of 156 passes for 1,211 yards and seven touchdowns with four interceptions. ...
Merrimack's Devin Wood, a punter/defensive back for Saint Anselm, made the NE10 Honor Roll this week for his performance in Saturday's win against Bentley. Wood averaged 38.4 yards on eight punts, and picked up a first down when he ran for 12 yards on a fake punt in the fourth quarter. The Hawks trailed by seven at the time, and scored on their next offensive play. Wood also made four tackles and recovered a fumble. ...
Dartmouth linebacker Braden Mullen leads the Ivy league in tackles for loss (6.5) and sacks (5.5). ...
Franklin Pierce running back Alex Benitez is one of three players tied for the NE10 lead in rushing touchdowns with four. ...
Plymouth State running back Willie Lombard ranks fourth in the MASCAC with an average of 72.4 rushing yards per game. Lombard has run for 362 yards and four TDs on 69 carries this season (5.2 per carry).
