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UNH Presser Points

A common thread in the University of New Hampshire’s last two games? No turnovers.

UNH came up with the game’s only turnover, a fumble, in a 34-0 victory over Villanova two weeks ago, and took advantage of six turnovers (four interceptions) in a 35-24 upset of James Madison last Saturday.

The key to beating Albany on Saturday?

“Hang onto to the football,” UNH coach Sean McDonnell said. “Just look at the last couple weeks when we’ve been successful. Haven’t turned it over.”

UNH (3-6 overall, 2-4 CAA) is tied for seventh among CAA team in turnover margin at plus-2. Albany (2-7 overall, 0-6 CAA) is 11th at minus-8. The Great Danes have lost 12 fumbles and have had eight passes intercepted.

UNH committed 15 turnovers in its first seven games (seven fumbles and eight interceptions) and went 1-6 during that stretch.

“That’s something that he (McDonnell) has always preached — winning the turnover battle,” UNH guard Jack Carroll said. “As a whole team, not just the offense holding onto the ball. The guys have done a good job the past couple weeks.”

Albany enters Saturday’s contest on a five-game losing streak, but three of those losses came by five points or less. The Great Danes are 0-4 on the road.

“They are a very physical football team when they’re running the ball and doing it well,” McDonnell said. “The last two weeks we’ve played pretty clean. I think that’s been the key to a lot of our good football. We’ve held onto the ball, we’ve played field position. Gotten off to fast starts. All the things we talk about, but it’s not gonna mean much if we don’t go out and do our job this week.”

FOOTNOTES

  • UNH ranks second among FCS teams in defensive touchdowns with four.
  • The Wildcats have a 4-2 record against Albany, but have lost the last two games.
  • McDonnell is tied with former UNH coach Bill Bowes for career CAA victories with 97. Former Villanova coach Andy Talley is first with 142, and Jimmye Laycock, who is in his final season at William & Mary, is second with 111. “You’re either doing something right or they can’t find anybody to replace you,” McDonnell said.
  • Albany running back Carl Mofor attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Md., the same high school as UNH linebacker Quinlen Dean. “I think he got offered (by UNH), but I don’t know if he took his visit or not,” Dean said. “I’d rather play against him than with him to be honest with you. He feels his team is good or whatever, but I know my boys are ready to roll. We’re ready to play this weekend. You guys (the media) can let their staff know that I was faster than him in high school, and I’m still faster than him. I look forward to playing against him.”
  • Vincent Testaverde, the son of former NFL quarterback Vinny Testaverde, has been Albany starting quarterback for most of the season. He’s averaging 214.2 yards passing per game and has thrown 11 TD passes and has been intercepted 12 times. Freshman Jeff Undercuffler started last week’s 21-16 loss to Delaware and completed 15 of 28 passes for 171 yards and was intercepted twice. Albany coach Greg Gattuso said Undercuffler will likely start Saturday.
  • Saturday’s contest will be UNH’s final home game of the season. The Wildcats will wrap up their 2018 schedule at Rhode Island on Nov. 17.
  • Gattuso on UNH: “New Hampshire is a team, like us, has fought threw some severe injuries to their team. When you lose your starting quarterback it can be a real problem. They have him (Trevor Knight) back and he looks as good as he ever did. He certainly has sparked them to play really well the last few weeks and they were very opportunistic against JMU. When you get turnovers and are able to convert them to touchdowns it just changes the way it plays. They’ve gottan our A-Game the last six quarters. We need to find a way to bottle that and bring it with us.”

 

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