UNH enjoys travel with McDonnell
New Hampshire professor of football theory Sean McDonnell typically takes his plucky student-athletes on a trip at this time of year to an exotic-sounding, outof-the-way place to expand their football horizons.
He’s been doing it annually for the past 14 seasons.
“I’ve never been to South Dakota. I’d never been to Arkansas. This university has given me a great opportunity to travel and see a whole bunch of new places,” said McDonnell, who has the Wildcats (9-4) playing in the NCAA Division 1 FCS quarterfinals for the third time in the last five years.
UNH, which received one of the 14 available at-large invites, knocked off Central Connecticut, 14-0, at home before traveling to Conway, Ark., where the Wildcats stunned fourth-ranked Central Arkansas, 21-15.
Against a team that had surrendered only six sacks and 10 turnovers in 10 games, the UNH defense had four takeaways and recorded five sacks to turn back the nation’s No. 6 offense (37.6 points per game). UNH senior defensive tackle Rick Holt had nine tackles and 2.5 sacks.
“That’s what it’s all about. Everyone laughs at the Granite State, 6-0-3. It was our first time in Arkansas. It’s our first time in South Dakota. A lot of people felt we had no chance. No one gave us any hope. But the kids have that mindset to go out and play the game the right way. The kids have really come together,” said McDonnell.
McDonnell registered his 150th career victory with last week’s upset of Central Arkansas. He is 150-87 in 17 years as head coach.
The Wildcats have the longest current streak of consecutive years reaching the NCAA postseason. They are 2-6 in quarterfinal games but have won their last two, beating Southeastern Louisiana (20-17) in 2013 and Chattanooga (3530) in 2014.
The Wildcats get another chance tomorrow (3 p.m.) against No. 6 South Dakota State (10-2), which is riding a six-game win streak of its own.
South Dakota State is 6-1 at home in Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings, S.D. The Jackrabbits average 37.4 points a game and 443.3 total yards each outing. SDSU has a lofty 89 percent success rate in red zone visits.
“They’re one of the top eight teams in the country. They have some really great, great players. They have a 6-foot-4, 260-pound tight end who is the (Rob Gronkowski) of Division 1-AA. They have a 6-foot-4 receiver who is talented as all get-go. They have a quarterback who can run and throw it. This time of year, when you go out and play these types of teams, you really have to be ready to go out there and play your best football and play really, really well,” McDonnell said.
Taryn Christion broke the Jackrabbits’ program record for touchdown passes in a season (31) and career (68). Jake Wieneke has 272 career receptions, one shy of the Missouri Valley Football Conference record. Tight end Dallas Goedert has 66 catches for 1,049 yards and six scores. Goedert is only the third Jackrabbit in history with back-to-back 1,000yard receiving seasons.
UNH counters with a nifty offensive combination of quarterback Trevor Knight and receiver Neil O’Connor of Leominster. Knight, who received the 2017 New England Football Writers Div. 1 Season Gold Helmet Award on Tuesday, became just the fifth UNH quarterback to eclipse 3,000 passing yards in a season (3,197) and eighth to go past 5,000 (5,035) for a career.
O’Connor, one of 25 finalists for the Walter Payton Award, has 93 catches for 1,358 receiving yards, and 10 scores..
“It’s really cool. We’re very excited,” said Knight. “Nobody expected us to be here. They’re really tough, hard-nosed kids. They look like a big-effort team. They seem to stress that with everyone flying to the football.”