"The next game is always the most important game." This powerful motto for UNH Football coach Sean McDonnell and his team is one the football community has believed in and preached since day one.
And those words have never been truer in regards to the #14 Wildcats (6-3, 3-3 CAA) upcoming contest against the eighth ranked Minutemen of UMass (7-2, 5-1 CAA) this Saturday at McGuirk Stadium (12 p.m.).
In terms of the Wildcats season, and especially their playoff hopes, this is the most important game of the season. More important then the Marshall, Delaware, and Hofstra games all rolled into one. (All of those games resulted in UNH victories, by the way).
Depending on the outcome of the game, this could be the second to last college football game for out going seniors such as Keith LeVan, Jeff Pammer, Matt Perdoni, and Ricky Santos. It may be a cliché, but this game is the quintessential "win and move on, lose and go home" game for the UNH football team's 2007 season.
Now that I've done my best to build up this game (remember, the most important one of the season), let me tell you why the Wildcats need to and will win this game.
Just a warning, this is one of those crazy, numerous possibility playoff situations for the FCS (formerly D-IAA) post-season. I myself had a few aneurisms, a stroke, and may be developing a tumor just from trying to understand how the 16-team field will look following Announcement Day on Sunday, Nov. 18.
So if you're going to continue reading, and I hope you do, take a breath, clear your mind, and stay focused.
The FCS post-season is different and better from the FBS (D-IA) because it is a playoff system. Sixteen teams are put into a bracket and they battle until two are remaining, and those two teams will travel to Chattanooga, Tennessee for the championship game. Eight of the teams receive automatic bids for winning their respective conference, and the other eight are chosen by a committee as at-large bids.
As it stands now, four teams have locked up their conference titles and automatic bids. In the Ohio Valley Conference, there is a very good chance that Eastern Kentucky will lock up the automatic bid. In the MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) Delaware State (8-1) and Norfolk State (7-2) will be going at it this Saturday, with the outcome having serious implications as to who will get that bid.
That leaves two conferences that do not have an outright contender for the conference title. The first is the Southern Conference, who has four teams still in contention for the conference bid. Which is rather surprising seeing as Appalachian State, who pulled off one of the greatest college football upsets in history against FBS powerhouse Michigan at the beginning of the year. But they currently sit in fourth place in conference standings.
The other conference in shambles is the Colonial, as there are six teams still vying for a playoff spot and five who can still win the conference. One of those teams is the Wildcats.
Now as they sit right now, UNH is in third place in the North Division in the CAA, behind UMass and Hofstra. The easiest road to the playoffs for the Wildcats would be to win this Saturday and next Saturday against Maine. That would give them and overall record of 8-3 and a conference record of 5-3, which is most likely good enough for a playoff spot. It wouldn't hurt if Northeastern stayed on their upset run and beat Hofstra this week and then next week Hofstra turn around and beat UMass the following week.
If UNH were not to win outright, they would need a lot of help. Mostly in the form of Delaware, UMass, Richmond, Hofstra, and even JMU to lose one game. And that is pretty unlikely.
And if UNH were to lose both games (which is highly unlikely, but could happen), they would need an act of God and a very generous selection committee in order to make the playoffs.
The biggest task for the Wildcats is to beat the Minutemen and stay in the top 16 in the national rankings. A fairly simple task, right?
Yes it is, because UNH can and will win this game against UMass. First, and the most obvious, is quarterback Ricky Santos. I don't know if you have heard of him. The reigning Walter Payton Award winning senior is the number one person you want leading your team in this situation. A senior, trying to avoid his season ending early, in a rivalry game. You can't make this stuff up.
But he isn't the only weapon that will lead to victory. Sophomore running back Chad Kackert is once again making a late season surge, and should be able to navigate his way around the Minutemen defense when Santos is not airing the all out to one of the top receiving cores in the nation.
And possibly for the first time all season, I will tell you that the defense will show up this Saturday, and they will dominate. It is true that they have been rather sporadic this season, but they have shown up when it counts. And this one counts. Plus they will come out looking to prove that last week's game against Northeastern and specifically the performance by the Huskies running back Maurice Murray was a fluke.
The defense is going to be hungry, and they will get their fill.
Never before this season has a game meant so much to the Wildcats. And never before has it been more obvious (except for maybe the Dartmouth game) that UNH will come out victorious.
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