2019 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

The 2019 New Hampshire Wildcats football team represented the University of New Hampshire in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by interim head coach Ricky Santos, due to longtime head coach Sean McDonnell taking a leave of absence for medical reasons.[1] The team played their home games at Wildcat Stadium and were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The Wildcats finished the season 6–5, 5–3 in CAA play to finish tied for third place.

2019 New Hampshire Wildcats football
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
2019 record	6–5 (5–3 CAA)
Head coach	Ricky Santos (interim) (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	John Lyons (8th season)
Home stadium	Wildcat Stadium (Capacity: 11,015)

2019 Colonial Athletic Association football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 James Madison $^		8	–	0					14	–	2
No. 18 Albany ^		6	–	2					9	–	5
No. 15 Villanova ^		5	–	3					9	–	4
New Hampshire		5	–	3					6	–	5
Towson		4	–	4					7	–	5
Maine		4	–	4					6	–	6
Elon		4	–	4					5	–	6
Richmond		4	–	4					5	–	7
Delaware		3	–	5					5	–	7
William & Mary		3	–	5					5	–	7
Stony Brook		2	–	6					5	–	7
Rhode Island		0	–	8					2	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2018 season 4–7, 3–5 in CAA play to finish in ninth place.

Preseason

CAA poll

In the CAA preseason poll released on July 23, 2019, the Wildcats were predicted to finish in seventh place.[2]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	James Madison	238 (20)
2	Towson	217 (3)
3	Maine	201 (1)
4	Elon	164
5	Delaware	162
6	Stony Brook	151
7	New Hampshire	109
8	Rhode Island	104
9	Villanova	84
10	Richmond	62
11	William & Mary	58
12	Albany	34

Preseason All–CAA team

The Wildcats had one player selected to the preseason all-CAA team.[2]

Defense Pop Lacey – S

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 7	1:00 p.m.	at Holy Cross*		Fitton Field Worcester, MA	Stadium	L 10–13	8,372	[3]
September 14	7:00 p.m.	at FIU*		Riccardo Silva Stadium Miami, FL	ESPN3	L 17–30	11,756	[4]
September 21	6:00 p.m.	Rhode Island		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	NECN	W 27–24	7,519	[5]
September 28	6:00 p.m.	Duquesne*		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	NBCSB	W 23–6	7,920	[6]
October 5	3:30 p.m.	Elon		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	NBCSB	W 26–10	17,132	[7]
October 12	6:00 p.m.	at No. 22 Stony Brook		Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium Stony Brook, NY	FloSports	W 20–14	5,599	[8]
October 19	1:00 p.m.	at No. 24 Delaware	No. 22	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	FloSports	L 10–16	16,730	[9]
November 2	1:00 p.m.	No. 11 Villanova		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	NBCSB	W 28–20	7,895	[10]
November 9	3:30 p.m.	at No. 2 James Madison	No. 23	Bridgeforth Stadium Harrisonburg, VA	FloSports	L 16–54	19,660	[11]
November 16	1:00 p.m.	at Albany		Bob Ford Field Albany, NY	FloSports	L 17–24	2,486	[12]
November 23	1:00 p.m.	Maine		Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH (Battle for the Brice-Cowell Musket)	NBCSB	W 28–10	10,061	[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Source:[14][15]

Game summaries

at Holy Cross

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	0	3	7	10
Crusaders	0	3	0	10	13

at FIU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	10	0	7	0	17
Panthers	7	6	7	10	30

Rhode Island

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	0	7	3	14	24
Wildcats	7	7	7	6	27

Duquense

	1	2	3	4	Total
Dukes	0	0	0	6	6
Wildcats	10	3	3	7	23

Elon

	1	2	3	4	Total
Phoenix	3	7	0	0	10
Wildcats	13	7	0	6	26

at Stony Brook

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	0	3	10	20
No. 22 Seawolves	0	7	7	0	14

at Delaware

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Wildcats	0	10	0	0	10
No. 24 Fightin' Blue Hens	0	10	3	3	16

Villanova

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Nova Wildcats	7	13	0	0	20
UNH Wildcats	7	0	14	7	28

at James Madison

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Wildcats	10	0	6	0	16
No. 2 Dukes	10	20	14	10	54

at Albany

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	7	0	3	17
Great Danes	7	10	0	7	24

Maine

	1	2	3	4	Total
Black Bears	7	0	0	3	10
Wildcats	7	7	0	14	28

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	RV							22			23	RV		RV
Coaches	RV							23			25	RV

References

1. Connolly, John (August 27, 2019). "New Hampshire football coach Sean McDonnell on leave for health reasons". Boston Herald. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
2. Washburn, Rob (July 23, 2019). "James Madison Picked to Capture CAA Football Championship in 2019". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
3. "New Hampshire vs. Holy Cross - Game Summary - September 7, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
4. "New Hampshire vs. Florida International - Game Summary - September 14, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
5. "Rhode Island vs. New Hampshire - Game Summary - September 21, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
6. "Duquesne vs. New Hampshire - Game Summary - September 28, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
7. "Elon vs. New Hampshire - Game Summary - October 5, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
8. "New Hampshire vs. Stony Brook - Game Summary - October 12, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
9. "New Hampshire vs. Delaware - Game Summary - October 19, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
10. "Villanova vs. New Hampshire - Game Summary - November 2, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
11. "New Hampshire vs. James Madison - Game Summary - November 9, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
12. "New Hampshire vs. Albany - Game Summary - November 16, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
13. "Maine vs. New Hampshire - Game Summary - November 23, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
14. "2019 Football Schedule". University of New Hampshire Athletics. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
15. "2019 New Hampshire Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 23, 2019.