KINGSTON, RI – Last week, they took a 14-point lead into the fourth quarter and couldn’t finish. So all week long, the Wildcats heard about it, and then on Saturday, they found themselves in nearly the exact same spot – up 12 going into the fourth quarter.
There was a moment when it looked like the University of New Hampshire football team might repeat last week’s mistakes, but it was only a moment. After it passed, the Wildcats scored 17 points in the final frame to pull away for a 39-17 win at Rhode Island (0-4) to even their record at 2-2 and open their conference schedule with a road win.
“Finishing is a mind set you have to have where you finish every single rep, every single play, every single drive,” UNH senior captain and linebacker Ryan Farrell said. “It says a lot more about what’s in here (pointing to his heart beneath a sweaty jersey and shoulder pads) than it does anywhere else. We had a little trouble finishing last week and it was huge that we turned it around this week.”
New Hampshire’s 12-point lead to start the fourth quickly turned into a 15-point bulge after Morgan Ellman capped a 15-play drive with a 24-yard field goal to make it 25-10 with 13:42 to play in the fourth. The UNH defense forced a three-and-out after that, but the Wildcats gave it back to URI when Trevor Knight was intercepted by Nas Jones at the URI 35.
An interception sparked Dartmouth’s comeback last week. So when URI went 65 quick yards and scored after Saturday’s pick to cut the lead to 25-17, there was that moment of, “Here we go again,” for the ’Cats.
But that vanished as the UNH offense responded with a 10-play, 63-yard touchdown drive. The Wildcats were facing a third-and-5 from the URI 12 at the end of the march, a spot where it looked like a safe run up the middle to set up a field goal would be the smart and safe call. Instead, UNH put the ball in Knight’s hands and the sophomore executed a play action fake, made the right read and put the ball on Neil O’Connor (six catches, 85 yards, two touchdowns) for a touchdown that made it 32-17 with 5:29 to play.
“I told the kids we’re going to be pretty aggressive today,” UNH Coach Sean McDonnell said. “That’s why we took the ball to start the game … we just have been playing on our heels and that’s my fault.”
Asked what he was thinking when that play call came in, Knight said, “mostly just being smart with the ball. We had the lead and we got to take what they give us.”
Knight (19-for-33, 207 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions) wasn’t doing that enough in the first three games, but against URI he threw more check downs and short balls. Those “taking what they give us” plays created rhythm and manageable down-and-distance situations for the Wildcats, which led to a 50 percent conversion rate on third down (10-for-20) and 75 percent on fourth (3-for-4). Coming into the game, UNH was just 8-for-39 on third (21 percent) and 2-for-5 on fourth (40 percent).
“I think we’re starting to settle in,” McDonnell said. “We’re finding out where the pieces fit with some of the things that we’re doing.”
The Wildcats put the game to bed less than a minute after O’Connor’s touchdown catch when Josh Kania forced a fumble that D’Andre Drummond-Mayrie recovered and returned 10 yards for a touchdown.
Not only did the UNH defense finish the game, it set the tone from the start by stifling Rhode Island’s ground game. The Rams ran the ball 31 times but gained just 85 yards, a 2.7 average. Farrell (fumble recovery), DeVaughn Chollette (two tackles for a loss), Jared Kuehl (forced fumble) and Kyle Reisert (1.5 sacks) each had seven tackles to lead UNH.
“I thought one of the major keys to the game was we stopped them in the run game,” McDonnell said.
UNH opened the scoring when Knight hit O’Connor with a pretty 22-yard scoring pass down the left sideline with 4:51 left in the first quarter. Rhode Island tied it late in the first when T.J. Anderson scored from one yard out. Knight put New Hampshire back on top with a tough, 1-yard run that was followed by a wide receiver (O’Connor) to defensive end (Riesert) 2-point conversion pass, giving UNH a 15-7 lead to take into the half.
A Rhode Island field goal made it 15-10 early in the third quarter before Trevon Bryant bulled in from three yards out to push UNH’s lead to 22-10 midway through the third. Bryant (5-foot-8, 185 pounds) had four carries for 31 tough yards on the drive, a muscled effort that amped the UNH sidelines.
“You wouldn’t think it, but Trevon packs a punch in that little body of his,” Farrell said. “Seeing him run over two guys on two consecutive plays, that gets the juices flowing for us.”
It also got the finishing kick flowing, which is exactly what the Wildcats needed.
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341 or at tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timosullivan20.)