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PREVIEW: Football faces New Haven on Saturday

10/8/2021 4:00:00 PM

MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College football team is in search of a Northeast-10 Conference victory on Saturday, traveling to the University of New Haven for a 1 p.m. showdown.

SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE HAWKS (1-3, 1-2 NE10)
Roster | 2021 Schedule | 2021 Statistics | 2019 Statistics | News | Game Notes (PDF)

UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN CHARGERS (3-1, 2-0 NE10)
Roster | 2021 Schedule | 2021 Statistics | 2019 Statistics | News

Last time out, Saint Anselm rallied back from a 27-0 deficit to the No. 24-ranked program in NCAA Division II, but came out on the losing end of a 34-21 contest against Bentley University at Grappone Stadium. Down 27-0 with just under 22 minutes left in regulation time, Saint Anselm struck for three consecutive second-half touchdowns, shrinking the Bentley advantage to 27-21 with 2:11 left in the game, but a late Falcons score eliminated the comeback chance.

Saint Anselm has totaled 1,410 passing yards across the first four games of the 2021 season. The team record for aerial yardage in four consecutive games was in 2012 when the Hawks racked up 1,726 passing yards from Oct. 20, 2012 to Nov. 10, 2012 (357, 430, 612, 327).

New Haven played to a 14-14 tie with Pace last time out, but pulled away with a 14-point fourth quarter to secure a 28-14 victory over the Setters. The Chargers defense stood tall in the second half, forcing Pace into two turnovers on downs and two punts while, on the offensive side of the ball, finished off two drives of nine or more plays with touchdowns to secure the victory.

The Chargers were the favorites in the 2019 NE10 Preseason Coaches' Poll and the Hawks were able to net a 37-31 win against New Haven on Oct. 12, 2019. In what proved to be an offensive shoot-out (at least three points scored by each team in each quarter), the Hawks scored on their last two offensive possessions to hold on to the narrow victory.

Live Stats and Live Video are available for Saturday's contest at New Haven.

DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS
  • For the third consecutive week, Saint Anselm sophomore Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas) was named the NE10 Rookie of the Week on Monday. He becomes the first Saint Anselm student-athlete to win the league's top rookie honors since Andrew Murphy '16 was so recognized in the three weeks spanning from Oct. 22-Nov. 5, 2012.
  • Against Bentley, Willoughby threw for 456 yards in the game, pitching three touchdowns and completing 47 of his 73 passes on the afternoon. Willoughby's 47 pass completions ties him for second place on the single-game list and his 456 yards thrown is the third-most by any Saint Anselm quarterback in team annals.
  • Willoughby's 456 yards against Bentley is the sixth-highest total by any quarterback in NCAA Division II this year and the second-most by a freshman or sophomore signal-caller in 2021.
  • In just four career games for the Hawks, Willoughby has thrown for 1,410 yards and has 10 touchdowns during that span. After debuting with 190 yards against NCAA Division I Merrimack to open the season, he has increased his aerial yardage in each consecutive game (344, 420, 456).
  • Willoughby is the NCAA Division II leader in completions per game (33.5) and is ranked second in total offense (355.8).
ANOTHER LONE STAR STATE PRODUCT
  • Junior Anthony Brown (Belton, Texas) earned the league's Special Teams Player of the Week honors on Sept. 27 after a strong game against Franklin Pierce.
  • Brown had an all-around solid game for the Hawks, scoring a 68-yard receiving touchdown thrown by Willoughby and later adding a 62-yard punt return for a touchdown (second-longest in team history) within the third quarter's final six minutes. He finished with five catches for 181 yards and two punt returns for 63 yards (fifth-most in single-game history).
  • Among NCAA Division II student-athletes, Brown is second nationally with one punt return touchdown, fifth in average punt return yardage (19.4) and seventh in all-purpose yardage per game (177.75).
  • Entering the contest against New Haven, Brown leads all Hawks in team history with 12.4 average yards per punt return and is second in average kick return yardage (23.3). His average yards per reception figure (13.91) is third all-time in team annals.
NEW HAVEN NOTABLES
  • New Haven is 3-0 this season against unranked programs, falling only to No. 24 Bowie State on Saturday, Sept. 18. In that game, the Chargers committed three turnovers, including two fumbles and an interception.
  • The Chargers have a well-rounded offensive attack, rushing for multiple scores against Bowie State and Pace while throwing for three or more touchdowns in its games against Franklin Pierce and Southern Connecticut State.
  • Four have carried the ball across the goal line for New Haven, including quarterback Connor Degenhardt and his four rushing scores. Jake Conlan averages 5.6 yards per carry, leading the team.
  • Degenhardt completes exactly 56% of his passes and has thrown seven touchdowns with three picks. His top target is Dev Holmes, who has caught four passes for touchdowns - he also leads the team with 430 receiving yards, ranking ahead of Javon Turner and his 150 receiving yards.
NE10 PRESEASON POLL
  • Saint Anselm was projected to finish sixth in the Northeast-10 Conference, according to the league's preseason coaches' poll released prior to the season. The Hawks have not placed sixth or higher in a season since the 2015 campaign (T-5th/10).
  • New Haven tops the 2021 NE10 Preseason Coaches' Poll, earning six first-place votes.
  • In 2019, Saint Anselm knocked off three of the league's top five programs in that season's preseason coaches' poll, downing New Haven, Assumption and Southern Connecticut State late in the year.
IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME
  • Against Franklin Pierce, Saint Anselm defenders combined for seven sacks, the most in a single game for the Hawks since the 2005 season. The Hawks also conceded just seven points in the game, just the sixth time in modern-day program history that Saint Anselm has allowed seven or fewer points in any game.
  • Franklin Pierce only scored once on its four trips to the red zone against Saint Anselm as the stout Hawks defense forced three turnovers on downs.
  • Fifth-year senior Ryan Sullivan (Stoughton, Mass.) also cracked the team's top-10 list for career tackles against Franklin Pierce, logging 219 since joining Saint Anselm in 2017 - entering Saturday's game against New Haven, Sullivan has posted 224 total tackles to rank 10th all-time in career history.
GETTING DEFENSIVE
  • Sophomore Ahmad Brown (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) jumped into the team lead with 29 tackles (16-13=29), logging 20 in the last two games alone. Against Bentley last Saturday, he posted nine unassisted takedowns.
  • At least six student-athletes have have 20 tackles on the year and the team has combined to post 34 tackles for a combined loss of 110 yards so far.
  • Saint Anselm has 11 sackls on the year for a combined yardage loss of 61 yards.
GRANITE STATE SHOWDOWN
  • Since the Saint Anselm football team returned as a varsity sports offering on the Hilltop in 1999, the Hawks have now racked up a 5-1 record against teams from the Granite State following this season's victory over Franklin Pierce. Saint Anselm is 4-1 in the modern-day series against Plymouth State University and is 2-0 against Franklin Pierce.
  • Including the team's intercollegiate schedules prior to World War II (1934-1942), the Hawks now own a 10-3 record all-time in varsity intercollegiate competition against Franklin Pierce, Plymouth State and the University of New Hampshire (5-2 all-time).
WHAT'S HAPPENING AT HOME
  • Saint Anselm snapped a five-season losing streak in its home openers with its 42-7 win over Franklin Pierce on Sept. 25. The Hawks had last claimed victory in a home opener on Sept. 20, 2014 against Bentley, winning by a 38-34 margin as part of a five-game winning streak to open the year.
  • In the Hawks last home opener against an NE10 opponent, Saint Anselm came out on the losing end of a 57-54 slugfest against Stonehill that went three overtimes under the lights on Sept. 8, 2018.
  • The Hawks posted a 3-2 record at Grappone Stadium in 2019, its first season above .500 at home since the 2002 season (3-2 home, 2-3 away; 5-5 overall).
For additional game notables, check out the Saint Anselm Game Notes packet.
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