Senior running back Chad Kackert rushed for 176 yards on 17 carries and scored two touchdowns while averaging 10.4 yards per carry on Saturday to lead the Wildcats past the Northeastern Huskies, 48-21.
The 176 yards were a career-high for Kackert, and the most he’s had since he rushed for 168 yards at Rhode Island last season. Along with his career day, Kackert passed Jim Quinn for eighth all-time on the UNH career rushing list. He was 10th all-time behind Curt Collins and Quinn going into Saturday’s contest.
While Kackert has certainly heated up as of late, especially after suffering a hamstring injury during a fall preseason practice, which required him to miss the first two games of the season, against St. Francis and Ball State. In his first game back at home against Dartmouth, he rushed for 71 yards and two touchdowns. He followed that up by scoring a touchdown in his next two games against Towson and Villanova.
He didn’t appear to be 100 percent however in the following two games against UMass and Hofstra. During those two games, Kackert gained a total 111 yards with no touchdowns. While these numbers may seem decent for some running backs, they are sub-par for one of Kackert’s explosive nature.
Prior to his performance on Saturday, Kackert hadn’t had that one breakout game. On Saturday, though, he surpassed his yard total for the previous two games combined, and he showed signs that he’s getting his legs back.
“It’s tough with an injury like that because, although it may seem minor, it slows you down and takes a while to get back up to speed,” said Kackert about his pulled hamstring. “Having a game like this is very satisfying, though, especially since I haven’t had one in a while.”
UNH head coach Sean McDonnell said that it’s no surprise to him how well Kackert has bounced back after starting the season on the injured list.
“It was his best game of the year,” said McDonnell. “He’s a strong, tough kid, and he knows how to break tackles. Today, he did a great job accelerating through the holes the line gave him and reading the defense. This is the way he’s been running his whole career, though.”
Even Huskies head coach Rocky Hager praised Kackert’s ability after the game.
“I got to give credit to him; he played great today,” Hager said. “We had no answer for his runs, and we couldn’t tackle him.”
With Kackert’s performance on Saturday, he now has rushed for 456 yards this season, scoring six touchdowns and averaging 4.7 yards per carry. He now has 2,097 career yards, just 140 yards shy of tying Avrom Smith for seventh all-time on the career rushing list. With three games left in the Wildcats’ season, accomplishing this should seem to be no problem for the recently surging Kackert.
It may even be possible to do in UNH’s next game against URI. Rhode Island not only has a 1-7 record, but they also have one of the worst defenses in the CAA, allowing an average of 413.4 yards per game of total offense. As far as their running defense is concerned, they allow on average 188.4 yards per game. And since UNH’s offense is built around its ability to run the ball effectively, expect to see Kackert getting a lot of carries against the Rams.
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