2018 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

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 New Hampshire Wildcats football
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
2018 record	4–7 (3–5 CAA)
Head coach	Sean McDonnell (20th season)
Defensive coordinator	John Lyons (7th season)
Home stadium	Wildcat Stadium (Capacity: 11,015)

2018 CAA football standings
	Conf							Overall
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

Previous season

They Wildcats finished the 2017 season 9–5, 5–3 in CAA play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated Central Connecticut and Central Arkansas before losing in the quarterfinals to South Dakota State.

Preseason

CAA Poll

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

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

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

Schedule

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

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

at Maine

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

Colgate

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

at Colorado

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

at Elon

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

Holy Cross

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

Stony Brook

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

Delaware

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

at Villanova

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

James Madison

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

Albany

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

at Rhode Island

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

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	7	20	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Coaches	9	22	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

References

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.