By Conor Nevins
The Northeastern University football team (3-5, 2-3) lost a heartbreaker at Parsons Field Saturday in their Homecoming game against the No. 10 University of New Hampshire Wildcats (6-2, 3-2) 27-23. It was the third consecutive loss for the Huskies who, with three games remaining, are in danger of finishing the season without a winning record for the first time since 2001.
Once again, turnovers were the story of the day for the Huskies. Leading 23-21 with 5:24 remaining in the fourth quarter and NU looking to put the game out of reach, senior Shawn Brady was picked off by UNH’s Corey Graham, who would run it back 25 yards for a touchdown.
After a failed two-point conversion, Brady and junior wide receiver Cory Parks would engineer one final drive for the Huskies, bringing them to the UNH seven-yard line with 45 seconds to play in the game. However, Brady’s pass was tipped and intercepted by E.J. DeWitt, sealing the game for the Wildcats.
It was a career day for Parks as well as for freshman running back James West. Parks broke his reception record from a week ago with 12 catches for 168 yards and a touchdown. West set a career rushing record for the third straight game with 149 yards on 29 carries, reaching the end zone once.
Head coach Rocky Hager said he felt his team didn’t deserve to lose the game the way they did, but noted the importance of taking advantage of their offensive possessions, something the Huskies have had trouble with for the past few games.
“We need to take care of the ball in a better fashion,” Hager said. “If we executed better earlier in the game, we wouldn’t have had to worry about those plays that wound up costing us the game.”
The execution Hager was referring to was the slow start the Huskies had to begin the game. The Wildcats jumped to an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter, with quarterback Ricky Santos setting up two short yardage touchdowns, one he handed off to running back John McCoy, and one he kept himself to give UNH the early lead. The Huskies would respond in the second quarter, running off 17 unanswered points to give them the lead going into the half-time break. Shawn Gyles did his best Shawn Brady impersonation using a halfback option to find Shane Hopkins in the end-zone for NU’s first touchdown. A Miro Kesic field goal and a Brady to Parks touchdown would give the Huskies momentum going into the break.
Coach Hager’s team would find some turnover magic of their own in the third quarter, as junior cornerback Charles Hughley picked off a Santos pass and returned it to the UNH 31-yard line. A 26-yard Brady to Parks completion would set up a first and goal just 6 inches from the end-zone. However, the Wildcats defense stuffed four opportunities by the Huskies to punch in the touchdown, and UNH would take over on downs.
Hager said he felt the four and out at the goal-line took some of the swagger out of his team.
“Things weren’t the same after that,” he said. “It was like we weren’t as confident and it made for a long afternoon.”
Hager said he knows his team faces a difficult task to rid themselves of their current losing streak, especially with games given away due to turnovers and mistakes.
“I know that it is a bitter pill to swallow, but we have to continue to work hard and approach each and every game, each quarter and each play with the right attitude and preparation,” Hager said.
Never will that preparation be more useful than when the Huskies face the University of Massachusetts at Amherst at Parsons Field Saturday, marking the return of former NU coach Don Brown. Brown left the Huskies last year to take the head coaching job with the Minutemen. Under Brown, UMass is 4-5, 2-4 in A-10 play.
