After racking up 176 yards rushing in last Saturday’s matchup with Northeastern, senior running back Chad Kackert, along with the rest of the Wildcat football team, looks to pick up right where he left off in this Saturday’s home contest against the University of Rhode Island.
With just three games remaining in the regular season, the Wildcats have their sights set on making a run deep into the FCS playoffs. But the mentality remains the same within the locker room and in practice: that their biggest game is always their next game, no matter who the opponent may be.
Kackert, who set a career mark for himself in rushing yards last weekend, said that everyone worked together really well against Northeastern, opening up a lot of holes in the Husky defense.
“Everyone was doing their part,” Kackert said. “Those plays are designed to get us a lot of yards, and when we do what we’re supposed to and our game plan works the way it should, you end up with a lot of yards, both on the ground and in the air. There are big games left on the schedule, but we’re going to go get Rhode Island this week.”
The Wildcats have bounced back to win their last two games in a row after dropping their first and only game of the season of the season thus far against UMass three weeks ago. They now look to extend that streak to three against a Rhode Island team that has struggled this year, to say the least. URI will be coming into Durham with a 1-7 record overall, and a 0-5 mark in the CAA. Their only win on the season came in week one against Fordham, in which they defeated the Rams 41-28.
UNH head coach Sean McDonnell said that their record doesn’t reflect how solid of a team they really are.
“You watch the tape and see how they’re attacking people right now, they’re sound at what they do,” McDonnell said. “The kid [Chris] Paul-Etienne played very well early this year. He’s a weapon; he can run, he’s got a cannon for an arm, and he’s a big kid who is a tough frame to take down. They’ve lost a couple of receivers along the way, but the two kids, [Tyquan] Bynum and [Shawn] Leonard, both stand out. They’re averaging over 13 yards-per-catch and have the opportunity to be explosive.”
Rhode Island lost starting running back Joe Casey early in the season to injury, and has had to call on several other backs to step up in his absence. URI’s rushing attack is currently led by freshman Ayo Isijola, who has 291 yards and a touchdown on 63 carries so far. Not far behind him is junior Anthony Ferrer, who 283 yards and three touchdowns on 77 carries.
Defensively for the Wildcats, McDonnell said that their main goal is to bring the URI running game to a halt. This will make the Rams throw the football more than they would like to, then rely on the defensive line to put pressure on Paul-Etienne and force him to throw the ball away. Coach McDonnell said they hope to achieve this with a four-man rush, which didn’t happen last year when the two teams met in Kingston, RI.
Senior linebacker Sean Ware said that Rhode Island is pretty similar to last year’s team, with a lot of good athletes and a solid quarterback.
“They’re definitely a big passing team this year,” Ware said. “They pass the ball probably about 70 percent of the game, so that will be a big emphasis this week for us in practice. We want to blitz this guy and get him uncomfortable so that he’ll make poor decisions with the ball, because if he has time in the pocket he will hit his receivers downfield.”
The Wildcats have won the last five meetings with the Rams, and hold the all-time series lead, 49-27-5. It was 2003 when URI last came out of this game on top, winning 55-40. Last year, UNH won the game in Kingston, 51-43, which was a closer game than most Wildcats had anticipated.
UNH currently sits atop the North Division of the CAA with a 4-1 conference record. Game time at Cowell Stadium is scheduled for noon on Saturday.
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