New Hampshire Football Report

No. 13 Villanova 14, UNH 6

VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova  used two goal-line stands to defeat the University of New Hampshire, 14-6, on Saturday at Villanova Stadium.

Linebacker Shane Hartzell recorded a game-high 20 tackles for Villanova, which improved to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the CAA. UNH fell to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the conference.

Villanova quarterback Connor Watkins went 7 for 13 for 112 yards and tossed two TD passes. Devin Smith was Villanova’s leading receiver with three catches for 60 yards and a touchdown.


CAA STANDINGS


Seeing his first game action since sustaining an injury during UNH’s Week 2 loss at Central Florida, junior running back Myles Thomason established career highs with 20 rushes for 79 yards. He tacked on four receptions for 39 yards.

In his first career start, sophomore quarterback Barry Kleinpeter completed 14 of 22 passes for 125 yards and rushed 19 times for 42 yards.

Graduate student Logan Tomlinson led the UNH receivers with 56 yards on four receptions.

Senior defensive end Josiah Silver posted eight tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss (2.0 sacks) and a forced fumble.  Senior safety Duncan Moreland set a career high with eight tackles and a forced fumble and fumble recovery on the same play.

Villanova stopped UNH at the 1-yard line for the second time in the game to preserve a 7-3 lead at 13:45 of the fourth. Kleinpeter called his own number on 4th-and-goal from the 3 and rushed for 2 yards to the right before he was tackled by cornerback Isas Waxter one yard shy of giving UNH the lead.

Villanova then marched 99 yards on nine plays, capped by Watkins’ 25-yard TD pass to Smith for a 14-3 advantage with 8:21 remaining.

UNH went into hurry-up mode and drew within 14-6 on Nick Mazzie’s 40-yard field goal with 1:01 left. The 11-play, 57-yard drive took only 1:13 and made it a one-possession game. UNH was offside on its onside-kick attempt, and Villanova ran out the clock to earn the win.

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  • UNH won the time of possession (35:38-24:22).
  • Total offense was virtually even. UNH ran 65 plays for 254 yards and Villanova ran 47 plays for 257 yards.
  • UNH leads the all-time series with Villanova, 14-13.
  • Villanova’s last home win against UNH was Dec. 5, 2009, in an NCAA FCS quarterfinal game.
  • Villanova’s last regular-season home victory against UNH was Nov. 8, 2008.
  • This is the first time Villanova has won back-to-back games in the series since 2002-03.

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