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Advance: Monmouth at UNH

PRESSER POINTS

News and notes from the University of New Hampshire’s weekly press conference in advance of Saturday’s home game against Monmouth (1 p.m.):

This will be the fifth meeting between UNH (2-5, 1-3 CAA) and Monmouth (4-2, 3-0 CAA). The Hawks are 0-4 against the Wildcats.

Monmouth is ranked No. 23 in the FCS Top 25.

“To be back at home is always a good thing,” UNH coach Sean Goldrich said. “We got a great football team coming in here. … They’re well put-together on offense. Schematically, probably the best that we’ve seen. Defensive guys are the best we’ve seen up front.

“They play hard and find ways to win in the fourth quarter, which is obviously a challenge for us right now. We know they’re coming up here really wanting this one, given some of the history.”

UNH STATISTICS | MONMOUTH STATISTICS

CAA STANDINGS

— Monmouth quarterback Frankie Weaver ranks third in the CAA with 1,436 passing yards, second in completions with 138 completions and third in touchdown passes with 11 touchdown passes rank third. Goldrich on Weaver: “The thing that really stands out his his arm talent. He can step up and throw off platform and really push the ball down the field and do it at an efficient clip. He’s also a big player (6-foot-5, 215 pounds) so he’s not easy to bring to the ground. He has enough mobility where he can get out of the pocket and buy himself some time. It really helps when you have the weapons they have on the outside, too. … Gotta find ways to put some pressure on the kid.”

— Monmouth has allowed two sacks through six games, tied with Lehigh for the fewest in the FCS at 0.33 per contest. The Hawks have not allowed a sack since the first play from scrimmage at Western Michigan in Week 3. Center Kevin Shriner, a Preseason All-CAA selection, has played every offensive snap this season. Defensively, Monmouth ranks second in the CAA and 14th nationally with 2.50 sacks per game, while continuing to utilize a seven-man offensive line rotation.

— UNH is ranked fifth among FCS teams in blocked kicks with four, and the Wildcats are No. 2 with three blocked punts, including two by grad student wide receiver Josh Fillion.

— Goldrich recruited Monmouth defensive end Hunter Watson when he was at Delaware.

— Monmouth’s offense leads the CAA on third-down percentage (51.2%). Defensively, however, opponents have converted on 42-of-84 third-down situations (50.0%), whichis the highest rate allowed in the CAA.

— UNH QB Brooks Bentley passed for 267 yards and two touchdowns during last weekend’s loss at North Carolina A&T and is averaging 281.5 passing yards per game with four touchdown passes in UNH’s past two contests.

— Junior safety Jaeden Jones, the CAA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year leads Monmouth with 63 total tackles through six games. He has recorded 31 solo stops and ranks second in the CAA and ninth among FCS Team with 10.5 tackles per game.

— “We’ve never beaten this team,” Monmouth coach Jeff Gallo said. “We’ve been out-coached, out-toughed, out-played. “It’s a big challenge for our players. We have to go up there. It’s a prideful program. They have great tradition. We have to go on the road and win a CAA game. That’s our full focus. We haven’t been able to get over the hump against these guys. It’s an opportunity to do something we haven’t done before.”

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