2018 New Hampshire Wildcats football team
The 2018 New Hampshire Wildcats football team represented the University of New Hampshire in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 20th-year head coach Sean McDonnell and played their home games at Wildcat Stadium. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. They finished the season 4–7, 3–5 in CAA play to finish in ninth place.
| 2018 New Hampshire Wildcats football | |
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| Conference | Colonial Athletic Association |
| 2018 record | 4–7 (3–5 CAA) |
| Head coach |
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| Defensive coordinator | John Lyons (7th season) |
| Home stadium | Wildcat Stadium (Capacity: 11,015) |
| 2018 CAA football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 4 Maine $^ | 7 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 9 James Madison ^ | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 16 Stony Brook ^ | 5 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 20 Towson ^ | 5 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 24 Delaware ^ | 5 | – | 3 | 7 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 19 Elon ^ | 4 | – | 3 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rhode Island | 4 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| William & Mary | 3 | – | 4 | 4 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Hampshire | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Villanova | 2 | – | 6 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Richmond | 2 | – | 6 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albany | 1 | – | 7 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Previous season
They Wildcats finished the 2017 season 9–5, 5–3 in CAA play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Central Connecticut and Central Arkansas before losing in the quarterfinals to South Dakota State.
Preseason
CAA Poll
In the CAA preseason poll released on July 24, 2018, the Wildcats were predicted to finish in second place.[1]
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Madison | 241 (21) |
| 2 | New Hampshire | 206 (2) |
| 3 | Delaware | 182 |
| 4 | Stony Brook | 169 |
| 5 | Elon | 168 (1) |
| 6 | Villanova | 164 |
| 7 | Richmond | 127 |
| 8 | Maine | 81 |
| 9 | Albany | 78 |
| 10 | Towson | 74 |
| 11 | William & Mary | 55 |
| 12 | Rhode Island | 39 |
Preseason All-CAA Team
The Wildcats had three players selected to the preseason all-CAA team including quarterback Trevor Knight being selected as offensive player of the year.
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Offense Trevor Knight – QB Neil O'Connor – WR Defense Quinlen Dean – LB |
Award watch lists
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walter Payton Award[2] | Neil O'Connor | WR | SR |
Schedule
| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 30 | 7:00 p.m. | at Maine | No. 7 | FCS/FSGO | L 7–35 | 6,597 | |
| September 8 | 6:00 p.m. | Colgate* | No. 20 | NBCS BOS | L 3–10 | 11,433 | |
| September 15 | 5:00 p.m. | at Colorado* | P12N | L 14–45 | 42,360 | ||
| September 29 | 1:30 p.m. | at No. 11 Elon | PAA | L 9–30 | 10,856 | ||
| October 6 | 1:00 p.m. | Holy Cross* |
| NBCS BOS | W 28–0 | 6,497 | |
| October 13 | 3:30 p.m. | Stony Brook |
| CBSI/CBS SportsLive NBCS BOS | L 7–35 | 17,687 | |
| October 20 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 24 Delaware |
| CBSI/CBS SportsLive NBCS BOS | L 14–38 | 11,992 | |
| October 27 | 3:30 p.m. | at Villanova | CBSI/CBS SportsLive | W 34–0 | 3,919 | ||
| November 3 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 3 James Madison |
| FCS/FSGO | W 35–24 | 7,741 | |
| November 10 | 1:00 p.m. | Albany |
| NBCS BOS | W 24–10 | 5,571 | |
| November 17 | 12:00 p.m. | at Rhode Island | CAA.tv | L 21–24 | 3,012 | ||
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- Source: Schedule
Game summaries
at Maine
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 7 Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Black Bears | 0 | 22 | 7 | 6 | 35 |
Colgate
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raiders | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| No. 20 Wildcats | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
at Colorado
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Buffaloes | 7 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 45 |
at Elon
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wildcats | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| No. 11 Phoenix | 7 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 30 |
Holy Cross
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crusaders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wildcats | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 28 |
Stony Brook
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seawolves | 14 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Delaware
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 24 Fightin' Blue Hens | 10 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 38 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
at Villanova
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNH Wildcats | 10 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 34 |
| Nova Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
James Madison
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Dukes | 3 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 24 |
| Wildcats | 14 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
Albany
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Danes | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Wildcats | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
at Rhode Island
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 |
| Rams | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
Ranking movements
| Week | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final | |||||||
| STATS FCS | 7 | 20 | RV | RV | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | ||||||||
| Coaches | 9 | 22 | RV | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | ||||||||
References
- Washburn, Rob (July 24, 2018). "James Madison Favored To Win Fourth Straight CAA Football Title in 2018". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- "FCS football: 2018 Walter Payton Award watch list". August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.