Monmouth Football dropped its first game since mid-September this past Saturday Nov. 8, as the New Hampshire Wildcats went into Kessler Stadium and defeated the Hawks.
The loss was Monmouth’s first in CAA play, and also their first loss against any FCS opponent this season. The Hawks entered the game ranked No. 6 in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll and No. 7 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, the highest rankings in the program’s history.
The teams started the games exchanging punts before Monmouth was able to get a drive going on their second attempt. They were able to get the ball within the New Hampshire 25-yard line before deciding to get aggressive on fourth down as they have all season. Freshman quarterback Frankie Weaver attempted a pass to senior wide receiver Maxwell James, but an incompletion led to a turnover on downs for the Hawks.
New Hampshire’s second drive ended in disaster, as sophomore quarterback Matt Vezza fumbled the ball on 2nd & 10, and it was recovered by junior linebacker Charlie Sasso. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Wildcats following the fumble set up the Hawks inside the New Hampshire 10-yard line. After failing to get anything going on first and second down, Weaver found graduate tight end Jack Neri wide open while under pressure for a Monmouth touchdown. After the extra point, Monmouth held a 7-0 lead with a little over three minutes remaining in the first quarter.
New Hampshire responded with another punt, and Monmouth once again found themselves in a fourth down situation in New Hampshire territory after a relatively good drive. The Hawks tried to get the first down on the ground with sophomore running back Rodney Nelson, but the Wildcats defense stood tall and stuffed Nelson, leading to the second turnover on downs of the game for Monmouth.
This time, New Hampshire took advantage of Monmouth’s offense failing to convert, as it only took them five plays to find the end zone. Vezza ran it in on his own for the score, and the game was tied at seven apiece.
Monmouth’s next drive ended in yet another fourth down situation in New Hampshire territory. They once again went for it, but Weaver’s pass intended for junior wide receiver Josh Derry was broken up, leading to a third turnover on downs in just five drives. New Hampshire was able to once again drive down the field, but this time their drive stalled and they had to settle for a field goal. Still, the Wildcats held a 10-7 lead.
After Monmouth went three and out on their next drive, the Wildcats once again stalled in Monmouth territory. New Hampshire elected to try a 53-yard field goal with sophomore kicker Nick Reed, and he booted it through to give the Wildcats a 13-7 lead.
Monmouth got the football back with only 44 seconds left in the half, but Weaver led the Hawks straight down the field. A 32-yard pass to Derry set Monmouth up in the red zone, and then a second pass to him on the very next play led to a Monmouth touchdown with 14 seconds to go in the half. It only took Monmouth 30 seconds to go 75 yards downfield.
Monmouth then tried to catch New Hampshire sleeping and faked the extra point attempt with a run, but New Hampshire was all over it, stopping the Hawks, thus keeping the score tied at 13 heading into halftime.
New Hampshire started the second half by getting stopped by the Monmouth defense. They sent the punt unit out on fourth down, but they then elected to pull some trickery themselves and fake the punt. Their attempt was successful, as junior wide receiver Josh Fillion was the one who threw the ball and got the first down for the Wildcats. New Hampshire drove straight down the field after the successful fake punt and capped off its drive with a 22-yard rushing touchdown by senior running back Myles Thomason.
After taking a seven point lead, New Hampshire continued to add on, as Weaver was strip-sacked on the ensuing Monmouth drive and New Hampshire recovered in excellent field position. They wasted no time scoring again, as Vezza threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to sophomore running back Denzell Gibson.
After falling down two scores, Monmouth’s high-flying offense was not able to respond. Their final three drives of the game resulted in a punt and two more fumbles. New Hampshire added another score late in the fourth quarter, and they ended the game with an impressive 34-13 victory over a consensus top 10 FCS team in the country.
After New Hampshire’s fake punt, Monmouth was outscored 21-0. Weaver threw for 233 yards, which is the most he’s thrown in a game after taking over for the injured Derek Robertson. He also threw for two touchdowns. Nelson ran for 88 yards on 19 carries, the first time he’s been held under 100 yards rushing since the loss to Charlotte earlier in the season. Senior wide receiver TJ Speight led the team in receiving with 89 yards on six receptions.
With the loss, Monmouth now sits at 5-1 in CAA play with two games left. They are one game behind the Rhode Island Rams, who are the only remaining undefeated team left in CAA play. Monmouth needs Rhode Island to lose at least one game in order to at least go to tiebreakers to determine the CAA champion. Rhode Island plays on the road at Maine and home against Hampton to finish its season.
Despite a CAA championship now looking less likely, Monmouth is still very much alive for an at-large bid in the FCS Playoffs. After the loss, Monmouth fell to No. 12 in both the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll and the Stats Perform Poll. Their next game is this Saturday, where they will travel to Greensboro to take on North Carolina A&T.
