
UConn, Holy Cross, Harvard, CCSU, UNH and URI all had huge wins on Saturday – check out the Harvard, UConn and Brown stories on the homepage – while UMass melted down again (also on the homepage).
Here’s everything you may have missed from Week 8 of New England D1 football:
URI 58, Albany 17
The No. 15-ranked Rams hammered a bad Albany team on the road Saturday to remain unbeaten in the CAA.
Rhode Island (6-2, 4-0 CAA) led 10-0 after one and 31-3 at the half.
Devin Farrell was nearly perfect, going 19-20 for 333 yards and four touchdowns. Antwain Little added 72 yards on 16 carries with a score. Terrence Campbell had 10 carries, 39 yards and a score. Greg Gaines III was almost uncoverabe, racking up 153 yards on six catches with two TDs. Connor Finer caught two touchdowns and Will Dixon had one.
URI hosts in-state rival Bryant on Saturday.
CCSU 24, Wagner 17 (OT)
It took OT, but the Blue Devils remained atop the NEC standings.
A Brady Olson 28-yard TD pass to Paul Marsh Jr. with 11:51 left in the third put CCSU (5-3, 3-0 NEC) put the Blue Devils up 17-14. A field goal for Wagner with 8:55 left in the same quarter was the final bit of scoring for either team until OT.
Olson had an 11-yard rushing TD in OT and the defense forced a turnover on downs to seal it.
Olson finished with 251 yards passing (25-45) with a TD and two picks. He also added a rushing score on seven carries for 35 yards. Elijah Howard had 21 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown.
CCSU enters a bye week before hosting LIU in two weeks.
Holy Cross 28, Richmond 22
Dan Curran’s Crusaders finally got their first win of the season (1-6, 1-1) with a big upset over Richmond on the road.
After a bye week, Holy Cross rushed for 155 yards and four touchdowns as a team en route to the win. Jayden Clerveaux had 12 carries for 77 yards, Nyeoti Punni also had 12 carries (47 yards) and Joseph Williams added eight carries for 30 yards. Clerveaux, Punni, Williams and Domnic Campanile had the four TDs. Braden Graham was 13-25 for 91 yards. Ty Curran led the team with four catches for 39 yards.
Holy Cross led 14-10 at the half and the defense gave up just 218 yards passing while forcing one turnover.
The Crusaders host Colgate next weekend.
UNH 24, Campbell 10
After a blown opportunity against URI last week, the Wildcats went on the road and needed a 15-0 fourth quarter to pull out an important CAA win.
UNH (4-4, 2-2 CAA) trailed 10-9 in the fourth before a Matt Vezza four-yard TD pass to Myles Thompson and a two-point toss to Caleb Burke made it 17-10 Wildcats with 8:30 left. A six-yard TD run by Vezza one play after a fumble recovery by Darren Burton II sealed it with 1:48 to go.
Vezza finished with 230 yards and the touchdown on 24-40 passing. Thompson had 17 carries for 75 yards and Vezza added 60 yards on 10 carries. Burke had six grabs for 85 yards and Chase Wilson added nine for 76.
The defense was impressive too, holding the Camels – who had real, live camels at the game – to 225 total yards of offense.
The Wildcats host William & Mary next Saturday.
Yale 47, Stonehill 7
It was all Bulldogs in this double-local matchup. Yale (3-2) led 23-0 at the half and never looked back, dropping Stonehill to 2-5.
Dante Reno was 16-24 for 267 yards and a touchdown. Josh Pitsenberger had two rushing touchdowns with 69 yards on 13 carries. Wilhelm Daal also had a rushing TD and 46 yards on 11 carries. Jaxton Stallings had a huge day with 150 yards receiving on just five catches with a touchdown.
Jack O’Connell went 13-28 with 109 yards for the Skyhawks. Aidan Garrett had the lone touchdown on the ground.
Yale hosts Penn next week while Stonehill travels to Mercyhurst.
Dartmouth 30, Fordham 13
The Big Green kept momentum rolling after last week’s thriller, earning a nice non-conference win over Fordham.
Dartmouth (4-1) found itself in a tight battle, knotted at 6-6 before a 24-point second half to pull away from the Rams.
Grayson Saunier was 21-29 for 281 yards and two touchdowns. D.J. Crowther had a strong day on the ground, running for 91 yards on 18 carries and a touchdown. Grayson O’Bara led the receivers with seven grabs, 104 yards and a TD. Luke Rives also had four catches for 43 yards and a touchdown. Owen Zalc remained hot, going 3-3 on field goals.
The Big Green get back to Ivy League play hosting Columbia next weekend.
Montanta 43, Sacred Heart 21
The Pioneers dug a 22-0 first quarter hole against the No. 3 FCS team in the country on Saturday night and just couldn’t get out of it despite a strong showing the rest of the way.
Jack Snyder had 214 yards and two touchdowns on 20-26 passing. Mitchell Summers added 87 yards rushing on 18 carries with a score. Payton Rhoades led the receivers with six catches for 72 yards. Dean Hangey caught two TDs (5 catches for 51 yards).
Sacred Heart (5-3) hosts New Haven after a bye week.