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UNH 37, Towson 14

TOWSON, Md. – The University of New Hampshire improved its record to 3-0 in the Colonial Athletic Assocition and 3-1 overall by beating Towson 37-14 Saturday at Johnny Unitas Stadium.

Junior Dylan Laube (Westhampton, N.Y.) equaled a school record with a 92-yard punt return for a touchdown, sophomore defensive end Dylan Ruiz (Kissimmee, Fla.) racked up three of the Wildcats’ five first-half sacks and sophomore quarterback Max Brosmer (Roswell, Ga.) threw three touchdown passes to three receivers.

GAME STATISTICS

The Tigers, who fell behind 17-0 at halftime, dropped to 2-2 overall, 0-1 in the CAA.

Laube added 23 rushes for a game-high 114 yards and finished with 250 all-purpose yards.

The Wildcat defense sacked Tiger quarterback Tyrell Pigrome six times as part of a toal of seven tackles for loss. Junior Randall Harris (Walled Lake, Mich.) recorded a team-high six tackles. Ruiz finished with four tackles.

“We knew how explosive Pigrone was (running) and we’ve struggled containing the quarterback the last few weeks,” UNH coach Rick Santos said. “The entire game plan was to work hard on first and second  down and stop the run. When we got obvious passing situations we had to put a cage and a net around him, so we put in a few different defensive schemes. We were going to show pressure and then bluff some of the linebacker to kind of spy him and try to work to keep him in there and see if he could make consistent throws in the pocket.”

On the game’s opening kickoff, graduate student Adam Deese (Belmont, Mass.) recovered an onside kick off the foot of redshirt freshman kicker Nick Mazzie (Boxford, Mass.) on Towson’s 47-yard line. Mazzie capped the ensuing nine-play, 38-yard drive with a 25-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 10:34 left in the quarter. Redshirt freshman wide receiver Joey Corcoran (Montreal, Quebec) accounted for 24 of the 38 yards on the drive, including a 21-yard catch from Brosmer on a third-and-seven play from the 25.

With 35 seconds remaining in the first, Laube tied a 41-year school record by returning a punt 92 yards for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead. The original record was set by Dave Wissman against UMass in 1981.

The UNH offense scored its first TD of the game with 2:44 left in the half courtesy of a 14-play, 77-yard drive that chewed 8:27 off the clock. On third and 6 from the Tiger 20, Brosmer found Corcoran on the left sideline. The receiver spun away from a tackle and raced to the end zone, diving across the goal line for his second TD reception of the season.

The Wildcats upped the lead to 24-0 with 13:27 to go in the third when Brosmer completed his longest pass of the season, a 51-yard post pattern that hit graduate student Heron Maurisseau (Bellport, N.Y.) in stride for his second TD catch of the season. That duo connected for a 49-yard scoring pass last Saturday against North Carolina Central for the previous season long.

The Wildcats went ahead 31-7 with 3:10 left in the third on Brosmer’s third TD pass, this one a 10-yard slant to senior Brian Espanet (Hopedale, Mass.). It was Espanet’s first scoring reception of the season and the 13th of his career, most among active Wildcats. The touchdown put a bow on a seven-play, 52-yard drive. The first six plays of the drive were carries by Laube totaling 42 yards.

Mazzie hit a 25-yard field goal to boost the lead to 34-14 with 8:58 left in the contest. That closed a 13-play, 54-yard drive that lasted 7:01. He then split the uprights for a career-long 42-yarder with 3:25 left that staked the Wildcats to a 37-14 advantage.

Towson closed within 24-7 at 11:04 of the third quarter on a 17-yard pass from Pigrome to Robert Schwob. The Tigers scored again with 1:07 remaining in the third on Devin Matthews’ 2-yard run to trim the deficit to 31-14.

“Really proud with the effort the guys put forth,” Santos said. “We got humbled last week and lost a tough one (to N.C. Central) at home. It was a challenging week and I thought they prepared the way we needed them too. It ultimately showed up and we were able to get a tough win in the CAA.”

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  • Laube’s punt-return TD was the first for the Wildcats since Casey DeAndrade scored on a 90-yarder at William & Mary in 2015. DeAndrade is now UNH’s defensive backs coach/defensive pass game coordinator.
  • Laube eclipsed 100 rushing yards for the second time this season and fourth time in his career.
  • The Wildcats’ 24-0 and 31-7 leads in the third quarter marked their largest since holding a 28-3 advantage over James Madison at Wildcat Stadium in 2018.
  • UNH’s 17-0 halftime lead was its first first-half shutout since 2021 (20-0 at Stony Brook).
  • The 37-14 final was UNH’s largest margin of victory since it blanked Villanova 34-0 in 2018 at Villanova Stadium.
  • The Wildcats defeated the Tigers for the fourth straight time and improved to 11-3 all-time in a series that dates back to 1980.

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