No. 1 New Hampshire gets a test

Durham, NH (SportsNetwork.com) – Welcome to the No. 1 ranking, New Hampshire.

Now get back to the CAA Football season.

There are few breaks in the schedule of the elite FCS conference, and the New Hampshire Wildcats will face a difficult first assignment after moving atop The Sports Network FCS Top 25 when they host Delaware on Saturday.

The Wildcats (8-1), ranked No. 1 for the first time since 2006, are in first place in the CAA with a 6-0 mark and have won eight straight games since dropping their season opener at Toledo. They are one home win shy of tying the school record of 12 consecutive victories at Cowell Stadium.

“It’s amazing to me with the job that (UNH head coach Sean McDonnell) has done,” Delaware coach Dave Brock said, “somehow, someway he’s kept an underdog mentality, he’s kept an us-against-the-world mentality. It’s really the world against New Hampshire, that’s how I see it.”

New Hampshire has No. 1 quarterback Sean Goldrich back for a second straight start after he missed five games with a knee injury, but the Wildcats still fielded one of the nation’s more dangerous offenses in his absence.

McDonnell’s former longtime assistant Sean Devine is now in his second season as Delaware’s offensive coordinator under Brock, so the Blue Hens have familiarity with UNH. The Blue Hens have a strong pass rush and their team has steadied itself with two straight wins to improve to 6-4.

If they can post season-ending wins over New Hampshire and Villanova, the Blue Hens can make a case for an FCS playoff berth for the first time since 2010, when they reached the national championship game.

“I expect from Delaware what they’ve done all year long,” McDonnell said. “I think they’re going to be a great mix of run and pass. I think they’re going to be a big physical football team. I think they’re going to run the football to set a tone.”

New Hampshire has appeared in the postseason for 10 straight years – the active national high – and appear headed toward another playoff berth. But the Wildcats now have the target of being No. 1, so they might have to lift their play even higher, beginning Saturday against Delaware.

Categorized in: NCAA Football