2018 Sacred Heart Pioneers football team

The 2018 Sacred Heart Pioneers football team represented Sacred Heart University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Mark Nofri and played their home games at Campus Field. They were a member of the Northeast Conference. They finished the season 7–4, 5–1 in NEC play to be NEC co-champions with Duquesne. Due to their head-to-head loss to Duquesne, they did not receive the NEC's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs and did not receive and at-large bid.

2018 Sacred Heart Pioneers football
NEC co-champion
ConferenceNortheast Conference
2018 record7–4 (5–1 NEC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMatt Gardner
Defensive coordinatorMichael Cooke
Home stadiumCampus Field
(Capacity: 3,500)
2018 Northeast Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 21 Duquesne +^  5 –1     8 –3  
Sacred Heart +  5 –1     7 –4  
Central Connecticut  4 –2     6 –5  
Wagner  3 –3     4 –7  
Saint Francis (PA)  2 –4     4 –7  
Bryant  2 –4     6 –5  
Robert Morris  0 –6     2 –9  
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Pioneers finished the 2017 season 4–7, 2–4 in NEC play to finish in a tie for fifth place.

Preseason

NEC coaches poll

The NEC released their preseason coaches poll on July 24, 2018, with the Pioneers predicted to finish in sixth place.[1] They did not place any players on the preseason all-NEC team.

Predicted finish Team
1Central Connecticut
2Duquesne
3Bryant
4Saint Francis
5Wagner
6Sacred Heart
7Robert Morris

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendance
September 16:00 p.m.Lafayette*
W 35–64,157
September 83:30 p.m.at Bucknell*
W 30–141,872
September 226:00 p.m.at Wagner
W 41–143,178
September 291:00 p.m.at Cornell*
L 24–433,620
October 63:00 p.m.Penn*
  • Campus Field
  • Fairfield, CT
L 27–314,503
October 136:00 p.m.at Dartmouth*
L 0–423,138
October 201:00 p.m.at Central Connecticut
W 28–255,117
October 271:00 p.m.Bryant
  • Campus Field
  • Fairfield, CT
W 49–261,678
November 3NoonRobert Morris
  • Campus Field
  • Fairfield, CT
W 38–71,556
November 10Noonat Duquesne
L 24–281,304
November 17NoonSaint Francis (PA)
  • Campus Field
  • Fairfield, CT
W 13–71,852
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Lafayette
1 2 3 4 Total
Leopards 3 0 3 0 6
Pioneers 7 14 7 7 35
See also: 2018 Lafayette Leopards football team

at Bucknell
1 2 3 4 Total
Pioneers 7 7 7 9 30
Bison 0 14 0 0 14
See also: 2018 Bucknell Bison football team

at Wagner
1 2 3 4 Total
Pioneers 7 21 6 7 41
Seahawks 0 7 7 0 14
See also: 2018 Wagner Seahawks football team

at Cornell
1 2 3 4 Total
Pioneers 3 7 7 7 24
Big Red 16 20 7 0 43
See also: 2018 Cornell Big Red football team

Penn
1 2 3 4 Total
Quakers 7 10 7 7 31
Pioneers 0 0 21 6 27
See also: 2018 Penn Quakers football team

at Dartmouth
1 2 3 4 Total
Pioneers 0 0 0 0 0
Big Green 21 14 7 0 42
See also: 2018 Dartmouth Big Green football team

at Central Connecticut
1 2 3 4 Total
Pioneers 7 0 14 7 28
Blue Devils 3 14 0 8 25
See also: 2018 Central Connecticut Blue Devils football team and Constitution State Rivalry

Bryant
1 2 3 4 Total
Bulldogs 14 6 0 6 26
Pioneers 14 13 13 9 49
See also: 2018 Bryant Bulldogs football team

Robert Morris
1 2 3 4 Total
Colonials 0 0 7 0 7
Pioneers 21 14 0 3 38
See also: 2018 Robert Morris Colonials football team

at Duquesne
1 2 3 4 Total
Pioneers 0 7 14 3 24
Dukes 14 7 7 0 28
See also: 2018 Duquesne Dukes football team

Saint Francis (PA)
1 2 3 4 Total
Red Flash 0 7 0 0 7
Pioneers 3 3 7 0 13
See also: 2018 Saint Francis Red Flash football team

References
  1. "Northeast Conference - Defending Champ CCSU Tops Preseason Coaches' Poll, Places League-high Seven on All-NEC Team". www.northeastconference.org.
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