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I was out of town this weekend and just watched the replay of the game. It was BRUTAL to sit through.

I have lots of thoughts:
- The opening drive started with a UNH kickoff returner fielding a line drive over his head and falling down at the 1. Pretty bad on first downs (shown here in yards - 1, 3, 0, 6, 1). Tons of 3rd downs. Went for it on 4th and 1. Took a sack on 3rd and 5. 20 plays. 9:24 off the clock. And results in a missed 38-yard field goal. Remember that last part.

- CCSU ran a pretty fast hurry up no huddle offense even with their backup. They march down and have 1st and goal before throwing a pick on a tipped pass.

- At this point each time had just one possession and the first quarter was almost over.

- UNH's first TD pass could have been intercepted.

- UNH dares them to throw it deep and consistently stuffs the run game because of it.

- UNH runs the Conque style of offense. Lots of short throws. The only really long play I remember was a pass behind to a WR behind the LOS who then took it like 40 yards.

- CCSU cost themselves several big plays due to penalties.

- CCSU starting qb (who is really the backup because their starter was suspended for hosting a party at his house; I hope that party was legendary) goes down with a shoulder injury at the start of the 4th quarter. CCSU's backup for the game is a true freshman who they were planning to redshirt. Instead of burning his redshirt, they play the last quarter running completely out of the wildcat. The RB almost immediately throws an interception 30 yards down the field.

- After missing two field goals and having another blocked, UNH apparently decides no matter what they will not send the FG unit back onto the field. They go for it on 4th and 4 and get a false start. They go for it again on 4th and 9 and pick it up on a quarterback scramble. I couldn't tell if it was a designed run. Trevor Knight - not THAT Trevor Knight - is a pretty decent runner. So after 12 plays and picking up that 4th down, Knight throws a terribly underthrown fade route in the endzone for an INT.

- CCSU comes back out in the wildcat and fumbles.

- UNH's final touchdown drive was just 11 yards. And it still was a struggle. They again went for it on 4th down and got it via a pass interference call.

- Some stats courtesy of the broadcast:
UNH has 7th best red zone defense in FCS. - But they are bad when they get there, ranked 120.
They are also 120th in sacks allowed. (! Out of 123 !) - They also are 98th in TFL allowed

- Other thoughts/comments:
CCSU defensive end #44 was really disruptive. (CCSU played a 4-3, but ... see also - our defense at #6 in sacks and #6 in TFL)
UNH has two receivers. Love (#1) and O'Connor (#82).
UNH coach said it will be his first ever visit to Arkansas.
Neither team showed anything on special teams returns.
Statistically, they don't do anything particularly well. They're #9 in interceptions with 16 this season. They throw it pretty well (16th), but they have to because they don't run it well at all (102nd).


Obviously all of this is based on seeing one game and my very unprofessional opinion, but I like our chances.

Welcome Skycop to UCAFANS...does your login name have anything to do with
your profession?

First of all welcome to UCAFANS.COM and hope you can make the trip to the stripes ( football field ). We are easy going here except when the game is in progress. What happened to wildcat O line? Your QB had to run for his life the whole game. What are the players we need to watch for?

Go Bears, Papa

One more item of interest. The Bears are going to be clawing, and the cats will be scratching.

NHU beat Georgia Southern by 10 and Lost to #1 JMU 21-0...

By the way, some of their players think the Purple and Gray field is cool...

Welcome aboard! Will you be making the long trek down here for the game? Hope to look out on the visitors side and see some UNH folks at the game.

Foot84, I will be wearing purple camo pants with a black veterans cap at the game. Hope to meet more of my fellow Bearbackers

Hello! Longtime UNH fan here. Just wanted to stop by and visit your board. Congrats on a great season. For those of you who have visited our board you’ll see most of us are very sour on this years team. We have been very spoiled - 14 straight playoff appearances - but most would agree this is our weakest (youngest) team during that stretch. When the streak started we had some outstanding offenses when Chip Kelly was our OC. We would put up 40 and 50 points a game. This years offense is much different. Our QB Knight is very athletic but can be inconsistent at times. We do have some playmakers at the skill positions but our O Line has not been playing well. The defense has kept us in games. Our D is very young but has played the run well. We tend to start off games playing a soft zone - almost a bend but don’t break defense. From what I’ve read, you guys shouldn’t have an issue but UNH is capable of keeping it somewhat close. We were in a very close game with JMU a few weeks ago before they scored late. Anyway, if you have any questions feel free to let me know.

One thing for sure, it`s football, anything can happen. Looks like the Bears started prepping for UNH ahead of time. Should be a good game.

GO BEARS!!!!!

Crazy to me how much our conference gets devalued and decried by folks from other conferences. Middle of the road CAA team is being argued to be on the same level as an SLC champion UCA team from what I’ve seen posted on different forums. Granted, all playoff games are tough and UNH is obviously a good team and has consistently really strong program over the years. But it does kinda piss me off how devalued we are as a conference.

In my opinion, A strong Missouri Valley Confernce and East Coast bias leads to much of the devaluation, however SHSU getting pounded in recent playoff appearances (it seems they get no credit for deep runs) plus a 9 team league means the Southland doesn't play many out of conference games to compare against. Finally, UIW, Houston Baptist, Northwestern, Lamar and ACU's won loss records have added little to our perception across the country. Hard to say those teams aren't weak. I do believe that UCA and McNeese are building models that will compete on a national level. Strong, hard nosed physical offenses and defenses, good coaching plus depth and balance. I also have a belief that ACU will soon be a force again due to good coaching, strong financial support and a rich tradition, plus Nicholls is improving. Hopefully, both the Bears and Bearkats will make a deep run this year. That would help the Southland's strength perception more than anything.

Don’t think anything will help as much as a couple deep playoff runs by us, Sam Houston, and maybe SELA or McNeese in the years to come. OOC games definitely help, but with our long conference schedule that’s hard to do.

ACU got the $$$, but the product on the field remains to be seen. Hopefully they come along as well.

I agree totally...I'm still confused as to why HBU and UIW were invited to join
the Southland Conference. They are obviously in large markets, Houston and
San Antonio but they are private institutions who started football programs from
scratch and seem to get very little fan support to say the least.

Lamar has no excuse...located in Beaumont Tx...a good Frisbee toss from
Houston, should be able to recruit and have a stable program.

Northwestern State and SFA seem to be up and down like a rollercoaster...
always have very good athletes but can't quite seem to find consistency.

McNeese, SELA, Sam and UCA have performed at a high level for a long time
and Nicholls is not far behind.

McNeese got the ROYAL SHAFT this year by being excluded from the playoffs...
very good team...especially on defense.

I have little doubt that the MVC is the best conf. from top to bottom...but the
gap is closing in my opinion.

UNH is located in Durham, NH about 15 miles NW of Portsmouth which is near the Atlantic coast, 33 miles NE of Manchester, 75 miles north of Boston and 1535 miles from Conway and The Stripes. Founded in 1866. Enrollment about 15,500. Mascot is Wild E. Cat. Long hockey tradition and "..throwin out the fish..."

Of course, pretty impressive football history.

Recap of season (5-3/8-4)- current Sagarin D-1 rank/ratings for opponents after score):

UCA is 97/62.
UNH is 152/51

Maine (BlackBears) , W 24-23 (162/48).....good win in rivalry game
Georgia Southern at Legion Field, W 22-12 (FBS/Sunbelt, 132/54).....good win
@Holy Cross, L 21-56 (199/38).........had to be a tough loss
Rhode Island, W 28-14 (189/41)
Bryant, W 45-17 (209/35)
@Stony Brook, L 24-38 (122/57)........playoff team.....
Towson, W 40-17 (175/44)
@James Madison, L 0-21 (no shame there) (55/73)
@William & Mary, W 35-16 (196/39)
Elon, W 16-6 (158/49)
@Albany, L 0-15 (165/47)..........had to be very disappointing
Central Connecticut State, W 14-0 (185/43)

Note Southland is 27 or 33 D1 conferences with an avg rating of 40. SLC has only three over 50 (UCA, SHS and MSU) while bottom 6 are ALL less than 39 with a low of 21.

CAA is 21st and rating of 51. Some of the difference is due to James Madison rated at 73 but Richmond, Stony Brook, Delaware and Villanova are all over 50. Other six less than 50 but none below 39.

CAA does have long tradition in playoffs and a certain amount of FCS elitism prevails but the Sagarin stats would imply CAA is better balanced plus has JMU at 73+......note this is more than 6 SEC teams including you know who.

Nevertheless, as one Wildcat poster here said the last two games were downers....a 15-0 shutout loss at Albany that was probably a 50/50 game pick and a 14-0 home win over a team with serious QB problems.

Will we see the team that beat Maine and Georgia Southern and held JMU on the road to only 21.............or the team that was shutout by Albany and squeaked by CCSU?

I have no doubt that NHU will bring their A game to Conway...wouldn't expect
anything less. Looking forward to the game and a unfamiliar opponent.
Don't get no better than playoff football in December...

BPSG
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GO BEARS