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UNH Spring Game approaching

DURHAM –The University of New Hampshire football team hit the halfway point of spring training at about 7 on Wednesday morning – it was sunny and chilly in the mid-20s – on Bremner Field, steps away from Wildcat Stadium.

The Wildcats practiced back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, which meant consecutive very early mornings, but senior Bryce Shaw felt the energy was perhaps even higher than usual on Wednesday, the second day.

He was fine with the schedule.

“I mean, I love football, it’s as simple as that,” Shaw said after the practice. “Spring football can get into kind of a grind, especially halfway through. Dudes are coming in a little later. You’re tired, really tired, when you wake up. But you’ve just got to love the game and love the work.”

It’s all part of the mission.

“That’s what kind of separates you and what’s going to separate our team this year, if we can just outwork people,” Shaw said. “Because everyone in the country’s doing this, right? You’ve got guys who are going three, four times a week, lifting in between. Waking up early. You’ve got to find a way to separate yourself.”

The Wildcats found separation last year and won a share of the Colonial Athletic Association championship and made it back to the FCS tournament and they will look to do it all again in the fall.

The season starts with a road game at Stonehill College’s W.B. Mason Stadium in Easton, Mass. on Sept. 2 at 1 p.m. UNH plays its FBS game at Central Michigan on Sept. 9 before facing Dartmouth in its home opener on Sept. 16.

For now, the Wildcats have two weeks of their 15-practice spring session remaining, culminating with a Blue-White scrimmage game April 14 at 7 p.m. in Wildcat Stadium.

On Wednesday, the action on the field and give and take between offense and defense was spirited.

“Defensively, they were flying around, making it tough on us,” head coach Rick Santos said as he left the field. “The defense had a great day. The good thing is, those guys have played a lot of football for us so coach (Garrett) Gillick and the defensive staff can be extremely multiple in what they’re doing. I think we’re doing a much better job than we did last year of disguising coverages. Everything is looking like our base core, the safeties are in unison with the second level defenders. That’s ultimately the goal to try and confuse the quarterbacks and we’re doing a pretty good job with that.”

The team is led by juniors and seniors on both sides of the ball – overall 17 of 22 starters return.

The safety positions took a hit through graduation, but junior Zedane Williams has moved from linebacker to help shore up the back end.

“Right now he’s the starting strike and he’s s doing a phenomenal job,” Santos said. “It’s going to come with repetitions. He and Noah Palm are rotating in and they’re both doing a real good job back there.”

Senior Max Oxendine holds down another of the starting spots and junior Duncan Moreland is back healthy and competing with sophomore Brendan Tighe for the third, Santos said.

Senior Randall Harris and junior Noah Stansbury return as starters at cornerback.

“They’re continuing to impress, which is awesome,” Santos said.

Shaw and Ryan Toscano, a junior out of Bedford, N.H., lead a strong group at linebacker.  Toscano led the team with 72 tackles last year and Shaw had 46.

Defensive end will again be a strength with the return of junior bookends Josiah Silver and Dylan Ruiz, who both earned numerous honors after last season. Ruiz was second on the team with 60 tackles and led the CAA with 12 sacks. Silver was next with 55 tackles and was tops with 17.5 tackles for a loss and had 8.5 sacks.

Sophomore Broox Bolden has had a good spring and will be valuable on various special teams and work into the mix at cornerback, Santos said.

Junior Max Brosmer, who runs the show at quarterback, and senior Dylan Laube, a do-everything running back who’s a threat to score in numerous ways and led thre country in  all-purpose yards, are mainstays of the offense.

Brosmer is down a few of his throwing targets between graduation and senior tight end Kyle Lepkowski rehabbing from surgery.

Redshirt freshman Colby Ramshaw of Londonderry has done a good job stepping in for Lepkowski, Santos said.

Receivers Logan Tomlinson, a transfer from Wesleyan, and sophomore Joey Corcoran, will give the Wildcats some matchup advantages.

Corcoran led the team in receptions with 56 and receiving yards with 670 last year, when he had three touchdown receptions. Tomlinson was super productive at Wesleyan the last two seasons.

“I think the receiving corps overall has good depth,” Santos said.

Sophomore D.J. Linkins had 12 catches last season – five for touchdowns – and is versatile and can play any of the receiving positions. Grad transfer Heron Maurisseau led the team with six TD catches last season and is back. Sophomore Caleb Burke has been explosive in camp.

The Wildcats will keep at it heading into the Blue-White game on April 14.

“The next two weeks, I think, it’s just finetuning everything,” Santos said. “Spring ball is about getting better at the fundamental stuff. Schematically, we’re similar to where we were last year so it’s not about installing a new offense, new special teams units like we did last year. For us, it’s about getting better kind of individually and from a tactical standpoint.”

Last season, the Wildcats turned a 3-8 season in 2021 around to 8-3 in the regular season. They split a pair of playoff games to finish 9-4 overall.

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