New Hampshire Wildcats: JMUSB CAA Football Preview #4
The Basics: The University of New Hampshire is tucked away in the eastern New Hampshire town of Durham. For some reason the school’s football program is overlooked by a lot of CAA fans. Maybe it’s because the Wildcats are football only members. Maybe there is a Southern bias and fans group all the New England schools together. Whatever the reason, it’s kind of silly considering that the Wildcats have made the playoffs for seven straight years. To go along with the team’s accomplishments, UNH players have had a number of noteworthy individual accomplishments. Former QB Rickey Santos won the Walter Payton Award in 2006 and one of his favorite targets, WR David Ball broke Jerry Rice’s FCS record for career touchdown receptions. In short, overlooked or not, UNH has a really good football program.
2009 Season Synopsis: UNH rode it’s high-scoring offense to a 10-3 record (6-2 in the CAA), highlighted by a 28-24 win against eventual National Champion, Villanova. Of course Villanova also provided the season lowlight, avenging that loss with a 46-7 drubbing in the playoffs. The Wildcats led the CAA in scoring, averaging nearly 32 points a game. The offense was a fairly balanced attack, good for 27 touchdowns on the ground and 20 in the air. UNH had several solid RB’s, without any one individual putting up big numbers. Chad Kackert led the team with 780 yards and 10 TDs on the ground. Scott Sicko was the top receiver, reaching the endzone 9 times and hauling in 57 receptions. The Wildcat D was solid, yet not spectacular, and was led by a trio of All-CAA second-teamers, LB Sean Ware, CB Dino Vasso, and S Terrence Klein.
What They Lose: The Wildcats will enter the 2010 season without two of last season’s top weapons. The aforementioned Sicko and Kackert are just 2 of the 5 offensive starters who are gone. On the defensive side of the ball, UNH will have to make do without 2 of their top 3 tacklers, Sean Ware and Terrence Klein. The Wildcats lose 6 defensive starters, including 3 from the line.
What The Bring Back: UNH returns 43 lettermen from a 10 win team. The team will be led by Senior QB R.J. Toman who had a bit of down year in 2009 with 15 passing TDs and 4 rushing. He’ll look to return to his 2008 form when he put up 28 in the air to go along with 6 on the ground. Last season’s second leading rusher, RB Sean Jellison is back to pace the running attack. Senior DB Dino Vasso will look to improve on his stellar 2009 campaign and 2008 CAA Defensive Rookie of the Year, Brian McNally, will anchor the D from his linebacker position.
Fact You Might Find Interesting From Wikipedia: Former Wildcat WR David Ball’s nickname was “White Rice”.
Fact You Definitely Won’t Find Interesting From Wikipedia:UNH’s Conant Hall was dedicated as a National Historic Chemical Landmark.
2010 Prediction: I am going to continue the tradition of overlooking the Wildcats. The loss of 11 starters combined with the departure of perennial whipping boys Northeastern and Hofstra, makes me think this is the year the Wildcats find themselves on the outside looking in come playoff time. My best guess is 5-6 overall and 3-5 in the conference.
