2018 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

2018 New Hampshire Wildcats football
2018 New Hampshire Wildcats football
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Record	4–7 (3–5 CAA)
Head coach	Sean McDonnell (20th season);
Defensive coordinator	John Lyons (7th season)
Home stadium	Wildcat Stadium
	Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

The 2018 New Hampshire Wildcats football team represented the University of New Hampshire in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 20th-year head coach Sean McDonnell and played their home games at Wildcat Stadium. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. They finished the season 4–7, 3–5 in CAA play to finish in ninth place.

2018 Colonial Athletic Association football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 4 Maine $^	7	–	1	10	–	4
No. 9 James Madison ^	6	–	2	9	–	4
No. 16 Stony Brook ^	5	–	3	7	–	5
No. 20 Towson ^	5	–	3	7	–	5
No. 24 Delaware ^	5	–	3	7	–	5
No. 19 Elon ^	4	–	3	6	–	5
Rhode Island	4	–	4	6	–	5
William & Mary	3	–	4	4	–	6
New Hampshire	3	–	5	4	–	7
Villanova	2	–	6	5	–	6
Richmond	2	–	6	4	–	7
Albany	1	–	7	3	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason edit

CAA Poll edit

In the CAA preseason poll released on July 24, 2018, the Wildcats were predicted to finish in second place.^[1]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	James Madison	241 (21)
2	New Hampshire	206 (2)
3	Delaware	182
4	Stony Brook	169
5	Elon	168 (1)
6	Villanova	164
7	Richmond	127
8	Maine	81
9	Albany	78
10	Towson	74
11	William & Mary	55
12	Rhode Island	39

Preseason All-CAA Team edit

The Wildcats had three players selected to the preseason all-CAA team including quarterback Trevor Knight being selected as offensive player of the year.

Offense

Trevor Knight – QB

Neil O'Connor – WR

Defense

Quinlen Dean – LB

Award watch lists edit

Award	Player	Position	Year
Walter Payton Award^[2]	Neil O'Connor	WR	SR

Schedule edit

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	7:00 p.m.	at Maine	No. 7	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME (Battle for the Brice–Cowell Musket)	FCS/FSGO	L 7–35	6,597
September 8	6:00 p.m.	Colgate*	No. 20	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	NBCS BOS	L 3–10	11,433
September 15	5:00 p.m.	at Colorado*		Folsom Field Boulder, CO	P12N	L 14–45	42,360
September 29	1:30 p.m.	at No. 11 Elon		Rhodes Stadium Elon, NC	PAA	L 9–30	10,856
October 6	1:00 p.m.	Holy Cross*		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	NBCS BOS	W 28–0	6,497
October 13	3:30 p.m.	Stony Brook		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	CBSI/CBS SportsLive NBCS BOS	L 7–35	17,687
October 20	3:30 p.m.	No. 24 Delaware		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	CBSI/CBS SportsLive NBCS BOS	L 14–38	11,992
October 27	3:30 p.m.	at Villanova		Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA	CBSI/CBS SportsLive	W 34–0	3,919
November 3	1:00 p.m.	No. 3 James Madison		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	FCS/FSGO	W 35–24	7,741
November 10	1:00 p.m.	Albany		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	NBCS BOS	W 24–10	5,571
November 17	12:00 p.m.	at Rhode Island		Meade Stadium Kingston, RI	CAA.tv	L 21–24	3,012
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries edit

At Maine edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Wildcats	0	0	0	7	7
Black Bears	0	22	7	6	35

Colgate edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders	0	10	0	0	10
No. 20 Wildcats	0	3	0	0	3

At Colorado edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	0	14	0	14
Buffaloes	7	21	10	7	45

At Elon edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	3	6	0	0	9
No. 11 Phoenix	7	17	3	3	30

Holy Cross edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Crusaders	0	0	0	0	0
Wildcats	14	0	14	0	28

Stony Brook edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Seawolves	14	7	7	7	35
Wildcats	0	7	0	0	7

Delaware edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Fightin' Blue Hens	10	7	14	7	38
Wildcats	0	7	0	7	14

At Villanova edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
UNH Wildcats	10	14	7	3	34
Nova Wildcats	0	0	0	0	0

James Madison edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Dukes	3	0	7	14	24
Wildcats	14	7	7	7	35

Albany edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Great Danes	3	0	0	7	10
Wildcats	7	3	7	7	24

At Rhode Island edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	0	7	14	21
Rams	3	7	7	7	24

Ranking movements edit

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	7	20	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	9	22	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

References edit

^ Washburn, Rob (July 24, 2018). "James Madison Favored To Win Fourth Straight CAA Football Title in 2018". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
^ "FCS football: 2018 Walter Payton Award watch list". August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.

[1] Washburn, Rob (July 24, 2018). "James Madison Favored To Win Fourth Straight CAA Football Title in 2018". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved July 24, 2018.

[2] "FCS football: 2018 Walter Payton Award watch list". August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.

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[2]