New Hampshire On Tap In Opener
HANOVER – The first six times Sammy McCorkle stood across the field from New Hampshire as an assistant on Buddy Teevens’ staff, the view wasn’t pretty.
In order, the Wildcats won those games, 49-20 (2005), 56-14 (2006), 52-31 (2007), 42-6 (2008), 44-14 (2009) and 52-19 (2014).
It wasn’t until 2016 that McCorkle finally saw the Big Green take the measure of its cross-state rival, 22-21. And, after a five-year hiatus in the series, Dartmouth made it two straight victories against the Wildcats with a 38-21 win in 2021.
Even though UNH has taken the last two matchups (14-0 in 2022, and 24-7 in 2023), McCorkle doesn’t have to be reminded the game now called the “Granite Bowl” is a lot more competitive than it used to be.
“It has really changed,” the third-year head coach said. “When we first got here, they were on the top and we were a program just trying to build, develop and improve. Those were tough games, hard games that were not even close.
“As the years went on, we slowly improved and the games got better. It’s a really good game between two good programs now.”
New Hampshire comes into Saturday's contest with a 2-1 record after a 34-29 loss at FBS member Ball State last week that saw the FCS team's upset bid end near midfield on the final possession of the game. The Wildcats, who opened with a 27-10 win at North Carolina Central before outlasting Holy Cross on a last-second field goal, 19-16, are ranked 23rd in the latest FCS Coaches poll.
“They had an opportunity to beat Ball State at the end,” said McCorkle. “They could be 3-0 right now, and just watching their first three games, that’s a top-10 type team right now in FCS football.”
Make that a top-10 type team playings its fourth game. McCorkle, who would love to see the Ivy League start earlier in the year to avoid opening against this kind of battle-tested team, tries to look at the bright side of the equation. New Hampshire already having three games means Dartmouth has the benefit of studying New Hampshire film while the Wildcats have seen nothing of this year’s Big Green.
“It’s a coin flip,” McCorkle said of who has the ultimate advantage. “It is what it is, and there’s nothing we can do about it, so we don’t harp on it.”
What McCorkle, his staff and players have seen on film is a UNH team led by a first-year starting quarterback who is averaging 191.3 yards per game through the air and leads the Wildcats with 53.3 yards per game on the ground (67.3 before sacks and lost yardage).
Getting up to speed for a first game is tricky. Getting up to speed for a true dual threat quarterback like 6-1, 200-UNH sophomore Matt Vezza is trickier still, although Dartmouth has the benefit of practicing against the same kind of quarterback every day in Grayson Saunier.
“Their quarterback can do it with his arm and his feet and how he runs that offense,” McCorkle said. “He does a really good job and makes their engine go.
“You can just tell he’s getting more comfortable with their offense each game. With a quarterback like that, you’ve got to make sure you are disciplined and doing your responsibilities with your eyes in the right place, because he can hurt you with his arm and definitely with his feet.”
Leading the Wildcats running backs in carries three games into the season is Myles Thomason, a 5-9, 185 senior who has 53 carries for 146 yards.
Although Thomason averages just 2.8 yards per attempt, McCorkle is wary.
“They always have good backs,” he said. “They find creases and can get in the open field quick. We’ve got to do a good job of being able to tackle in space because those guys do a heck of a job of making people miss in the open field.”
The top UNH receiving targets are Caleb Burke with 15 catches for 74.0 yards per game, and Chase Wilson, a grad transfer from Wesleyan with 11 catches for 52.7 yards per game. Counting his time at the Little Ivy DIII school, Wilson has 2,041 receiving yards in his career while Burke has topped 1,500 yards.
And don’t sleep on the UNH tight ends. Both Denin Limouris and Peyton Strickland had TD catches in the opener.
Dylan Maciulewicz, a 6-4, 308-pound right guard, headlines an offensive line that McCorkle said could be the biggest Dartmouth faces all year.
Defensively, the Wildcats have allowed opponents to complete just 47.6 percent of their passing attempts with three touchdowns and an FCS best three interceptions. While Ball State ran for 308 yards last week, in its two FCS games the UNH defense is allowing a respectable 129.5 yards on the ground. The Wildcats have nine sacks over their first three games, ranking fifth in the nation at 3.0 per.
“They've got dudes and it starts up front with those guys,” said McCorkle. “They've got guys that come off the edge. They have really athletic guys who create havoc. They put pressure on quarterbacks. They get in the backfield, and then their linebackers do a really good job of covering ground. They cover a lot of space, a lot of field, and their secondary is very athletic across the board.”
Special teams on both sides have been a strength for UNH. Kicker Nick Reed is 8-of-10 on field goals with a long of 52, and the game winner against Holy Cross. He leads the nation with 2.67 field goals per game. Punter Matt Guidebeck is averaging 40.1 yards with six of 14 kicks inside the 20.
On the other side, the UNH special teams already having a field goal block and a PAT block, and they a blocked punt for a touchdown in their game with Ball State.
“They're well-coached,” said McCorkle. “They do a really good job. They're a very aggressive unit and do a phenomenal job in all three phases. So it's going to be a huge challenge, and our guys know we've got to be sound in every phase.”
