By Ryan Barry
NEFJ Staff

DURHAM – The UNH Wildcats wrapped up spring practices with their annual Blue and White Spring game on Thursday night at Wildcat Stadium.

On the heels of a 2024 season that saw them reach the FCS playoffs for the 16th time in 20 years, this spring has seen a whole host of changes from the locker room to the coaching staff.

With a slew of key players graduating and assistant coaches being poached elsewhere, UNH head coach Rick Santos enters his fourth season with a number of questions, making this spring all the more important to assess the direction of his program.

Speaking after tonight’s mixed format game, which featured two quarters of football and a red zone offense vs. defense challenge, Santos was overall content with where his team is at after the spring.

“I think we’re trending in the right direction,” said Santos. “We’re very young on defense, but I thought those guys got better, and on the other side of the ball I like where we’re at, I like the ones right now.”

As for the game itself, Santos was pleased with his guys’ effort.

“We really just wanted to play the game a little bit with situational football as it comes up,” noted Santos. “Saw some really good things, certainly some things we need to clean up, but overall I thought we got better today.”

With that, here are six takeaways from Thursday night’s spring game

All three quarterbacks played

With Seth Morgan off to the NFL via a rookie camp invite to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Wildcats will need to replace their starting quarterback for a second straight season. Redshirt sophomore Matt Vezza led the majority of reps tonight and earned the start after a productive spring according to Santos. Vezza overall looked okay, and showed what he could do on his feet at times. Sophomore Tommy McLeish and redshirt sophomore Matt Festa shared reps on their unit and had a few moments as well. Division Two transfer Brooks Bentley did not play after picking up an injury in camp that’ll have him sidelined for at least the next six weeks, so it was tough not to see what he could do. A key theme for all three quarterbacks were missed throws, and while some looked defensive as a means of not throwing an interception or getting their pass catchers hurt, some were clearly off the mark. This position will no doubt be an area to watch for the Wildcats to see if they’ll have someone capable of leading this offense to the level that Morgan did last year.

Running backs look solid

The Wildcats were inconsistent at times in the backfield in 2024 and struggled to stay healthy. Tonight featured an encouraging backfield of senior Myles Thomason and redshirt sophomore Denzell Gibson who both flashed at times. Thomason’s speed and ability to cut through the tackles was on full display, as was Gibson’s hard nose running with his willingness to throw himself at guys at the line. Junior Nino Iacovino also had a few carries which was encouraging to see, as the Wildcats depth going into next year at that position is crucial to having a well rounded offense. If Thomason can take a step forward in his last year in Durham in particular, as well as keep honing in his pass catching skills, he could be a fun player to watch in the CAA.

Pass catchers encouraging

The losses of Logan Tomlinson and Joey Corcoran are difficult to replace both skill-wise and as leaders in the locker room. While their absences were apparent after their years of service to the program, the wide receivers had an overall good night. Senior Caleb Burke looked good throughout the game, and had arguably the catch of the night on a tipped ball that he hauled in falling down for a 25+ yard touchdown. Sophomore Logan Perez had some nice receptions, as did junior Noah Cundiff. An intriguing name to watch is Division Three graduate transfer Chase Wilson, who comes by way of a similar route as Tomlinson did when he arrived at UNH two years ago. He made the most of his opportunities tonight and figures to follow in the footsteps of his fellow Wesleyan man. As for the tight ends, junior Drew Danson caught the only other touchdown on the night, and newly named captain Colby Ramshaw also looked the part. That group in general has some big guys which should play well in the blocking game.

Defense in general stands out

Judging by the fact that this group returns the fewest starters from 2024, and considering how Santos noted the youth of the squad, you’d have thought that this unit would’ve struggled. Instead, the Wildcat defense was one of the standout groups of the night, winning the red zone challenge seemingly with ease to end the evening. The secondary, led by graduate safety and newly named captain Duncan Moreland, had several hard hits on their offensive brethren, and didn’t make things easy for their quarterbacks. For such a young core to have the night that they did is one of the most promising things to come away from the evening.

Front seven comes up big

The Wildcats defense seemed to register a “sack” at least once every other time that the offense took the field. Redshirt sophomore defensive end Jordan McAllister, redshirt freshman defensive end Ethan Aghakhan, and graduate defensive lineman Justice Akinmoladun, all were active up front and recorded a “sack” in the game. One of the more impressive names on the night was sophomore Trevor Barry. He combined for a tackle for loss with junior defensive end Huck Flanagan, had a huge hit on Thomason at the line of scrimmage, and was flying all across the field seemingly all game. Santos noted how the linebacking core was one of the youngest units on the team, so to see Barry play such a key part in the game was encouraging for the group’s development.

Special Teams had a night to forget

If there’s one takeaway before getting into the struggles from the special teams unit it’s that the Wildcats at the very least have a solid punter on their hands. Redshirt sophomore Matt Guidebeck was featured several times throughout the game and had some very nice punts. While a few were typical of what you’d see at the FCS level, others were impressive, making the returner have to back up a bit. The unit blocking for him, however, struggled mightily. Junior Barry Kleinpeter, a quarterback the past two seasons who appears to be transitioning away from the role, had an incredible punt block midway through the game that had the defense and special teams in a frenzy. He almost had another one a few drives later, along with the unit as a whole on at least two other occasions. The field goal unit also struggled mightily throughout the game, with sophomore kicker Greg Motorny missing most of his chances and having a kick in the red zone challenge blocked. No doubt this will be an area of focus this offseason.

The Wildcats are in a time of true transition. While there are several solid pieces to this team, the losses on both sides of the ball are definitely there, along with questions over the starting quarterback position. Santos has been here before, so if there’s a coach who can rise to the task and get the most out of their players it’s him.

UNH opens its season on the road this fall with a trip to North Carolina Central on Saturday, August 30th.