2012 game summaries
UNH 43, Central Conn. State 10
Old Dominion 64, UNH 61
Game Three • September 15, 2012 Cowell Stadium • Durham, N.H.
Game Four • September 22, 2012 S.B. Ballard Stadium • Norfolk, Va.
CCSU (0-3, 0-0) 3 0 0 7 -10 UNH (2-1, 0-0) 13 10 7 13 -43 1st 10:54 UNH Vailas 5-yd run (MacArthur kick failed) 3:43 CCSU Duque 33-yd field goal 1:58 UNH Allison 30-yd run (MacArthur kick) 2nd 11:58 UNH Spears 1-yd pass from Vailas (MacArthur kick) 0:00 UNH MacArthur 28-yd field goal 3rd 10:29 UNH Owens 5-yd run (MacArthur kick) 4th 14:22 UNH Setian 28-yd run (MacArthur kick) 12:59 UNH Owens 6-yd run (MacArthur kick failed) 1:08 CCSU Rose 38-yd fumble recovery (Duque kick)
0-6 3-6 3-13 3-20 3-23 3-30 3-37 3-43 10-43
INDIVIDUAL WILDCAT LEADERS
RUSHING UNH - Nico Steriti 12-104; Jimmy Owens 11-91, 2 TDs PASSING UNH - Andy Vailas 14-20-0, 122, TD RECEIVING UNH -R.J. Harris 6-67; Joey Orlando 5-36
UNH (2-2, 0-1) 16 24 14 7 -61 ODU (4-0, 1-0) 3 21 14 26 -64
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
CCSU UNH 15 19 50/121 52/331 113 128 13-30/4 15-24/0 234 459 4/41.0 5/27.4 3/2 4/3 3/21 5/55
DURHAM, N.H. – Nico Steriti rushed for a team-leading 104 yards, and four other University of New Hampshire running backs scored touchdowns as the 18th-ranked Wildcats knocked off Central Connecticut State, 43-10, in Saturday afternoon’s home opener at Cowell Stadium. UNH, which claimed its eighth consecutive victory in a home opener, upped its record to 2-1 on the season by defeating CCSU (0-3) for the seventh time in seven all-time meetings. Steriti (12 rushes-104 yards) paced a Wildcats’ rushing attack that accumulated 331 yards and averaged 6.4 yards/rush. Jimmy Owens carried 11 times for a careerhigh 91 yards and two touchdowns, and Chris Setian tallied a rushing score as part of his 11-carry, 81-yard effort. It was the most rushing yards by a UNH team since Sept. 16, 2006, when the ‘Cats ran for 417 yards in a win over Stony Brook. The five rushing TDs are the most since Nov. 12, 2011, at Towson. Making his first career start, quarterback Andy Vailas went 14-for-20 for 122 yards and a TD. R.J. Harris pulled down six catches for 67 yards to lead all UNH receivers. New Hampshire had four interceptions and limited the Blue Devils to 234 yards of total offense. Nick Cefalo grabbed the first two interceptions of his career, while Chris Houston and Steven Thames added picks. Matt Evans notched a team-high nine tackles, and Matt Kaplan added four tackles, one sack and two fumble recoveries. The Wildcats built a 6-0 lead with 3:48 left in the opening quarter on a five-yard touchdown run from Vailas. The signal caller concluded an 11-play, 79-yard drive by running off right tackle and breaking a tackle at the goal line. The Blue Devils drew within, 6-3, when Juan Duque booted a 33-yard field goal with 3:43 left in the first to punctuate a 17-play, 53-yard drive that lasted over seven minutes. UNH’s lead increased to 13-3 on a 30-yard TD run from Jared Allison (two rushes-22 yards, TD) with 1:58 left in the opening quarter. Allison, on his first collegiate touch, took an end around to the left side, switched directions when he was hemmed in and dashed around the right corner to the end zone. The ‘Cats bumped their advantage to 20-3 with 11:58 left in the first half when Vailas completed a third-and-one pass to tight end Harold Spears (three catches-14 yards, TD) in the back of the end zone. It was Spears’ first career scoring reception and put a ribbon on a nine-play, 80-yard drive. Mike MacArthur drilled his first field-goal attempt of the season, a 28-yarder on the final play of the half, to give New Hampshire a 23-3 halftime lead. CCSU opened the second half with the ball, but its drive ended on a Cefalo interception, his second of the game. Owens scored six plays later on a 5-yard run at 10:29 of the third to make it 30-3. The teams traded possessions throughout the remainder of the third quarter. Just 38 seconds into the fourth, Setian found a hole off right tackle and raced 30 yards for a TD with 14:22 left in the contest to stake UNH to a 37-3 lead. On the ensuing drive, Thames picked off pass to give the ‘Cats good field position at the CCSU 9-yard line. Owens scored his second TD of the day on a 6-yard run just two plays later to extend it to 43-3. The Blue Devils would conclude scoring as David Rose recovered a UNH fumble and returned it 38 yards with 1:08 left. Andrew Clements completed 10 of 21 passes for 98 yards and three INTs for CCSU. Rob Hollomon led the Devils’ rushing attack with 47 yards on 18 carries.
UNH ODU UNH UNH ODU UNH UNH ODU UNH ODU UNH UNH ODU ODU UNH ODU ODU ODU UNH ODU
Orlando 25-yd pass from Vailas (MacArthur kick) Brown 22-yd field goal Steriti 1-yd run (Setian rush failed) MacArthur 38-yd field goal Mayers 57-yd pass from Heinicke (Brown kick) Setian 15-yd pass from Vailas (MacArthur kick) Steriti 61-yd run (MacArthur kick) Vaughan 15-yd pass from Heinicke (Brown kick) Harris 73-yd pass from Vailas (MacArthur kick) Heinicke 9-yd run (Brown kick) MacArthur 32-yd field goal Orlando 15-yd pass from Vailas (MacArthur kick) Bailey 32-yd pass from Heinicke (Brown kick) Goodwyn 7-yd run (Brown kick) Vailas 67-yd run (MacArthur kick)
Mayers 12-yd pass from Heinicke (Mayers pass from Heinicke) Mayers 9-yd pass from Heinicke (Roberts pass from Heinicke)
Harper 2-yd run (Brown kick) Harris 45-yd pass from Vailas (MacArthur kick) Brown 25-yd field goal
7-0 7-3 13-3 16-3 16-10 23-10 30-10 30-17 37-17 37-24 40-24 47-24 47-31 47-38 54-38 54-46 54-54 54-61 61-61 61-64
INDIVIDUAL WILDCAT LEADERS
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs................................... Rushes/Yardage............................. Passing Yardage............................ Pass Comp.-Att./INT.................... Total Offense................................. Punts/Average............................... Fumbles/Lost................................ Penalties/Yards..............................
14:46 10:04 9:06 :48 12:42 10:15 6:56 4:02 2:50 2:25 0:00 12:25 7:10 1:38 1:05 13:04 10:09 4:39 3:22 :41
RUSHING UNH - Nico Steriti 21-201, 2 TDs PASSING UNH - Andy Vailas 23-38-1, 336, 5 TDs RECEIVING UNH -R.J. Harris 8-191, 2 TDs; Joey Orlando 7-81, 2 TDs
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs.......................................... Rushes/Yardage.................................... Passing Yardage................................... Pass Comp.-Att./INT........................... Total Offense........................................ Punts/Average...................................... Fumbles/Lost....................................... Penalties/Yards.....................................
UNH ODU
35 51/389 336 23-38/1 725 6/36.2 2/1 6/40
39 27/94 730 55-79/0 824 4/48.2 4/2 12/103
NORFOLK, Va. – Andy Vailas passed for 336 yards and five touchdowns Saturday afternoon at S.B. Ballard Stadium, but Old Dominion quarterback Taylor Heinicke set an NCAA Division I record by amassing 730 passing yards as the fifth-ranked Monarchs outlasted the No. 18/19 UNH football team, 64-61, in the highest-scoring game in CAA history. The Wildcats, who led by as many as 23 points (47-24) in the second half, dropped to 2-2 on the season and 0-1 in the league despite setting a school record with 35 first downs. ODU upped its overall record to 4-0 by winning its conference opener, and the Monarchs established an FCS record by racking up 824 yards of total offense. Jarod Brown snapped a 61-61 tie by kicking a 25-yard field goal with 41 seconds remaining to cap a record-shattering game that featured an astounding 1,549 yards of total offense –another NCAA FCS record. Heinicke completed 55 of 79 passes for five touchdowns without an interception. The sophomore added 11 rushes for 61 yards and a TD to set an FCS record with 791 yards of total offense. ODU’s top receivers were Nick Mayers, who snared 12 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns, and Antonio Vaughan, who posted 12 catches for 143 yards and a score. Vailas went 23-for-38 and was not picked off until his final pass of the game, a desperation second-and-11 pass from the ODU 49 intended for Joey Orlando with six seconds left. Vailas added 14 carries for 80 yards and a rushing TD to finish with 416 yards of total offense. Nico Steriti led all ball-carriers with 21 rushes for a career-high 201 yards and two TDs, and R.J. Harris collected eight receptions for a career-high 191 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Wildcats made an instant impact on the opening kickoff when Lamar Edmonds drilled ODU kickreturner Colby Goodwyn, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Akil Anderson at the Monarchs’ 25. One play later, Vailas found Orlando (seven catches-81 yards, two TDs) on a post-pattern scoring toss and a 7-0 lead just 16 seconds into the game. Steriti (career-high 226 all-purpose yards) accounted for all 76 yards of a four-play drive capped by his one-yard touchdown run with 9:06 remaining in the first for a 13-3 lead. The two-point attempt failed. The sophomore running back carried once for 12 yards before breaking free on his next attempt for a 63-yard gain to the 1-yard line. On the next play, he carried in for his first of two TDs in the game. The Wildcats parlayed the Monarchs’ second turnover of the game into a touchdown with 10:15 left in the second. Mayers fumbled a punt return that was recovered by Jimmy Vailas at the Monarchs’ 25. Chris Setian (10 rushes-70 yards; three catches-28 yards) rumbled for 12 yards on the first play of the subsequent drive before taking a screen pass from Andy Vailas on the next play 13 yards into the end zone, which staked the ‘Cats to a 23-10 lead. New Hampshire recaptured the momentum when Vailas completed a 73yard touchdown pass to Harris on a third-and-23 play to build the lead to 37-17 with 2:50 left in the half. It was the longest passing play for the Wildcats since a 77-yard hookup between R.J. Toman, who was in attendance, and Chris Jeannot on Nov. 15, 2008, against Massachusetts. Chris Houston led the Wildcats with 14 tackles, while Dontra Peters (13 tackles), Matt Evans (12 tackles) and Alan Buzbee (10 tackles) all finished with double-digit stops. The 61 points scored by UNH represented the most ever in a defeat and the highest totaled by the ‘Cats since a 63-21 win at Rhode Island on Nov. 11, 2006. ODU’s 64 points were the most allowed by New Hampshire since a 64-42 loss to Massachusetts on Nov. 19, 1988.