In Depth Look: The NEC Rebrand Press Release

The NEC has become, well, the NEC, dropping the Northeast Conference name entirely. We’ve talked a little about how this is probably not a hint at expansion- if that happens, it’s probably not related to the name change. Still, the press release had some interesting nuggets to it that we’ll dive into. A rebrand- even one that more or less just simplifies what we already called the conference- does always indicate a changing direction for a company or conference, or at any rate clarifies an existing direction. Take World Wrestling Entertainment switching over to WWE- it was a deliberate move to drop wrestling from its name. You can take a lot of the same lessons here.

“That same drive has inspired the league to streamline its identity to reflect its geographic footprint and its vision for the future.”

This is probably the most important part of the press release. The NEC dropped Northeast to reflect who it is now and who it might be in the future. I don’t think this means imminent expansion, but I do think it points towards a willingness to consider areas outside of the New York City base of the conference- more on that later.

Having spoken to stakeholders, the idea is that with Chicago and Erie in the conference, “Northeast” is no longer appropriate. Cue, of course, plenty of people in Erie asking if they are now Midwestern- I’m not sure they’d necessarily agree! But if you’re located in New England or the NYC metro, you probably have a very different idea of the word “Northeast” than you do out here in the western reaches of the football conference.

I don’t think we can ignore the “vision for the future” part of the statement. Yet again, I want to specify that I don’t think this is a warning of imminent expansion. I can’t actually shoot down any possibility of it- I don’t think I’ve gotten a firm “no” from anyone who might have knowledge of the situation- but I have heard that it isn’t particularly promising from outside sources.

Another thing to consider is that conference realignment decisions are kept very close to the vest, so in any case it would seem unlikely that most of the hard-working folks at the NEC and interested parties outside of it would even be aware of ongoing discussions. So I’m not promising anything, just passing on the things I do know.

“NEC Front Row will showcase the new branding through a dynamic graphics package that introduces modern, eye-catching visuals.”

I just want to make note of this because it was brought up during a conference meeting and subsequently stated in a release from the conference that new software for NEC Front Row was approved. I wouldn’t expect Front Row to be sunset anytime soon, so exclusive media deals with ESPN or other companies certainly doesn’t seem to be in the cards.

“From its beginnings in 1981, the NEC has been anchored in the New York City metro area. Over time, the league has expanded to major urban centers such as Chicago, Boston, Hartford/New Haven, Syracuse and Erie.”

Just like some out there don’t seem to think Erie is in the Northeast, I myself thought New Haven was in the NYC metro area to begin with. So, clearly, we have a lot to learn out here in Pennsylvania and the league might have something to learn out on the East Coast.

But it is another reason to talk about a rebrand. While the vast, vast majority of those urban centers are definitively in the Northeast, it’s worth wondering if Syracuse and Erie are, well, so clearly Northeastern that they demand categorization as such. (Let’s also add Pittsburgh for football.) If you consider the Northeast as effectively the East Coast in New England and New York City, well, it might be time for a bit of a rebrand. And yes- while we’ve talked a ton about geographic differences in perception, even I am well aware that New York City is not in New England.

“Northeast Conference Refreshes Its Brand & Reintroduces Itself Simply As...’NEC’”

I’d like to close here with what I think is the most important outcome of all of this. The NEC didn’t do something drastic like destroy the rich history of a conference like the WAC in order to become something generic like the United Athletic Conference. The NEC has its own identity, and a refresh is not the same as destroying the past. It doesn’t make the FDU upset over Purdue seem like something from another league. This was an NEC team, and it still is.

And maybe best of all, I no longer have to put out editions of the magazine with “Northeastern” in the title to make sure fans who get the conference name wrong are able to find it. That’s worth celebrating.

Stonehill Lands Commitment From 2026 RB Saalem Frink

We’re still in season for 2025, but Stonehill is already building a 2026 class. This week, the Skyhawks landed running back Saalem Frink, a running back out of the City of Brotherly Love. He’ll be leaving the Liberty Bell behind and traveling to Shovel City to join a quickly rebuilding Skyhawks team. We caught up with Saalem to discuss his commitment and relationship with Stonehill.

Saalem, who compares himself to a Saquan Barkley and Marshawn Lynch with a little bit of Leveon Bell type of back, visited Stonehill and talked to the coaches. This  conversation, as it does in many cases, sealed the deal for him. “When I got to Stonehill, they talked about how mmuch they valued my skill and saw me as a great fit for the team,” said Frink.

And when he decided to commit? The atmosphere turned from a discussion of how he fit to how the Skyhawks would integrate him into the program

“When I told them I would commit, the conversation was mainly excitement and planning out what would happen next,” Frink said. “They also shared how they felt I would be a good addition to the team. I felt like it would be a perfect match.”

Frink also likes the trajectory of the program in Easton. “I like what they are building over there,” Frink said. “It felt like home.”

We often discuss how relationships form the backbone of recruiting in any league, but perhaps especially so in the NEC where NIL is rarely a consideration. In Frink’s case, he pointed to his relationship with Coach Berardelli as the strongest he’s developed.

Frink becomes the first recruit classified as a running back for Stonehill in this cycle. This is the 5th commitment the Skyhawks have received so far.

The Northeast Conference Changes Its Name to NEC, But That Doesn’t Mean More Change is Coming

The Northeast Conference is no more.

Now that I’ve got your attention.

The NEC has decided to go with the orphan initial approach, where now “NEC” means, quite literally, “NEC.” This is a popular move in the current geography-to-the-side state of conference realignment. I believe, in fact, that the ACC might well be doing the same thing. If they’re not, the whole “having teams in California” thing should probably convince them to reconsider.

The logic behind the move is very similar to that scenario for the Northe- er, NEC.

The league is still focused on the New York City area, but let’s be real here. The league is more spread out than ever before. There has usually been a presence in Pittsburgh with RMU being in the league for most of its existence, but additions in Erie and Chicago are, relatively speaking, stretching the definition of Northeast.

The alternative of rebranding entirely might or might not have been considered, but I’m certainly glad that it wasn’t what the league went with. The example of the WAC becoming the UAC recently has kind of demonstrated the disastrous effect this step can have on the history of college sports. Sure, the conference wasn’t exactly western anymore- no doubt about that- but why couldn’t they have gone with the orphan letter approach? It sure beats something generic like the UAC- or, somehow worse, the United Athletic Conference.

The real question that I’m expecting to be hit with is whether or not this means anything for further expansion. After all, the rumors are certainly swirling out there about Midwestern schools possibly searching for members- or a conference- in the short term. Is the NEC a landing spot for these schools now that the name has changed?

It’s a fun conspiracy theory, but everything I’ve learned and heard still indicates no upcoming membership changes to the NEC. I could be wrong- I certainly don’t know everyone who knows everyone- but it’s unlikely for the league to be adding or subtracting at this time. Besides, wouldn’t the expected move be to solidify the new membership- and then change the name?

It’s true that contracts for joining a conference will include a clause for not announcing joining the conference until it’s done so in conjunction with the school and the league. But it just doesn’t seem the way to go.

If you’re looking for a clue that the league might be expanding further into the midwest, you shouldn’t be looking at the name change.

The Program On The Hill

It’s not the kind of thing we talk about much anymore, but what Stonehill’s doing in 2025 is as much admirable as it is a throwback.

Looking at college football in 2025, there’s a lot of trends in program building that are downright predictable, if not exactly ideal. Take the transfer portal and its use in turning around struggling programs.

At the FBS level, a program like Virginia hit the transfer portal hard to try and turn around a program that had been struggling. It’s working in the case of the Hoos- they just downed Florida State, after all- but it’s a complete departure from what we used to see in college football. It speaks to how much the game has changed in this era of rapid fire coaching changes, conference realignment, NIL, and most notably the transfer portal. If your team and your recruits aren’t hitting for you, well, you go and buy a new team. Push out the old recruits via the transfer portal and bring in some new faces.

But it kind of stretches the idea that we’re ultimately here in support of higher education, opportunities at a degree, and building better people through the game of football. These can all be attributes of our sport and when college football is at its best, these attributes are present. You’re not seeing a ton of this at the FBS level anymore and the pressure to win now is immense.

It makes what’s happening at Stonehill all the more remarkable.

The Skyhawks went 1-10 last season (0-6 in conference) and heading into this season, something I saw on social media whenever New England football was talked about in depth (love when these conversations happen, by the way), there was often the same thing said about Stonehill- the Skyhawks weren’t very good last year, and they didn’t seem to add much to get better this year. Well, think about that line for a second.

There were always JUCO players and a limited amount of transfers that had to sit out a season by default, but adding players to right the ship? As in, for next season? That’s a foreign concept to college football as I grew up watching it. No, what you did was kept recruiting, kept developing, kept building your culture, and as your kids got older and more mature in your system they’d improve. But the flack Stonehill was taking was because they seemed to be sticking to that formula.

The Skyhawks weren’t active as buyers or sellers in the transfer portal. It led me to remark on a few occasions that Coach Gardner seemed to really know how to recruit to his school. At Stonehill, they didn’t seem to just be selling the idea of playing and transferring up to FBS. There had to be something about the kids they were bringing in that made them Skyhawks. Not just for a season or two, but they really seemed to be sticking around at an abnormal rate.

So instead of hitting the transfer portal, the Skyhawks changed up their strength and conditioning program. Something wasn’t working last year when they went 1-10, obviously, and it would be insane to go into the season with the same approach. There didn’t seem to be any thought of blaming the athletes or finding new ones. Instead, they set over 50% of their strength and conditioning records, got more reps, and brought back more starters on offense and defense than either everyone else in conference or close to it.

So they didn’t add much in the transfer portal. That’s a far cry from not doing anything to improve.

The other factor is that I’ve believed for as long as I’ve watched college football that continuity and experience are the two keys to how well a team will perform. It’s been thrown to the wind in our sport lately, but Stonehill seemed like a place where continuity and experience were going to be present in 2025. It led me to immediately point to the Skyhawks as a team that seemed poised for a big improvement in 2025. But these days, we’re conditioned to look for what the new additions are. The new playmakers replacing the talent you’re committed to developing. And maybe that’s what the problem was for a lot of people when they looked at the Skyhawks before the season. They were developing what they had, not chasing something new.

I don’t know that this kind of program building works everywhere anymore, and certainly don’t know if it works with every coach. But for a fan of old school college football like myself, well, Shovel City fits that old William Penn mentality of making a City On A Hill. Except what Stonehill does- regardless of how the rest of this season plays out- that’s an example of what I hope all programs strive to achieve. I’ll be watching closely and hoping that it keeps working.

NEC Blitz Announces Media Partnership With Buffalo State University Athletics

BETHEL PARK, PA- Just 54 miles separate two rivals in Western New York. They call it the Battle by the Lake, and we'll be bringing it to you in 2026.

We're thrilled to announce the other member of our dream team of radio coverage, Buffalo State University. The SUNY institution, located in Buffalo, NY, offers undergraduate and graduate opportunities including a Creative Studies degree. They faced Northeast Conference competition on the gridiron in 2024 with a short trip down the road to Mercyhurst in Erie, PA.

Publisher AJ Mayowski said, “Buffalo State is a storied program. Bengals football and hockey- both men's and women's- are well known in this part of the country, and the basketball team is a historic contender that's back on the rise. They're a force in the SUNYAC, one of the great leagues in the Northeastern United States. It's a conference that prioritizes regional competition among likeminded institutions as part of the holistic growth of the competing student-athletes. In other words, it's exactly what we're about.”

Buffalo State will host rival Fredonia in the Sports Arena on January 30th, 2026. This will be the 72nd meeting between the two schools on the hardwood. NEC Blitz will have full-court press coverage in the week leading up to the game on our website and our social media pages. Fittingly, this Northeastern rivalry will be our first digital audio broadcast of 2026, available on the NEC Blitz Internet Radio page on this website.

The Bengals finished 8-17 in 2024-25. Look for more select Buffalo State contests to be available via NEC Blitz Internet Radio in the near future.

NEC Football Power Rankings Week 6: Stonehill Gets Elevated

We called our shot early, and it seems to be looking pretty good in the beginning weeks of league play.

Of course, anything can happen. But here’s how early season predictions work. When you’re winning during the season, at any point at all, you need to celebrate how brilliant you are. You ignore your misses. And if your early wins turn into misses, forget it. You’ve celebrated it. Now, just go ahead and ignore the downfall.

We liked Stonehill taking on LIU and we loved Stonehill’s defense coming into the season, but what we saw against the high powered, difficult to plan for Sharks was beyond what we could have expected. Accordingly, the big story this week isn’t the change at the top (funny how that works), but that Stonehill- picked 8th by every other outlet I’ve had the pleasure of reading, picked 4th by NEC Blitz- is in the top half of the rankings and has doubled their win total from last season, with chances to have two additional wins on their resume. There’s holes in that resume, and the season is young. We’re still in September. But, still- take the wins where you can get them.

1. Duquesne

   The Dukes had no trouble handling New Haven in Pittsburgh, and while this is their best win to this point they looked dominant against the Chargers. New Haven was on a two game win streak including a big win over Albany, but after a good first drive the game was all Dukes. Joey Isabella had 3 touchdowns in the first half alone and Ty Riddell looked like one of the best quarterbacks in the NEC- he’s quietly been building a resume, and once the Dukes get into conference play we’ll get a chance to see him up against the rest of the league. He had no problems matching up with a stellar quarterback in AJ Duffy. Defensively, the Dukes once again looked dominant. The Dukes have won the two non-conference games they were supposed to win, lost the two expected FBS games, and were very competitive with a top 10 Lehigh team. They’re the favorite heading into conference.

2. Stonehill

   Stonehill’s still having some trouble getting into the end zone, but the defense has made the huge strides we hoped and believed that they could. LIU was held to 3 points, and while Stonehill was only able to muster 10 of their own, you do tend to win football games when you only give up a field goal. They forced Ethan Greenwood into two interceptions and Charles Battaglia will probably be the defensive player of the week in the league with 9 tackles and 2 sacks. The less obvious downside? Stonehill had trouble with penalties (12 for 90). They’ll have to clean that up if the offense isn’t able to get more points on the board, but in a league that looks low on dominant teams, a defense this good should make some more noise through the rest of the conference slate.

3. Central Connecticut State

   The Blue Devils traded two turnovers for two turnovers with Dartmouth, but it’s hard to win giving up 407 yards through the air. Nevertheless, there were still a lot of bright spots here and I’d consider them effectively tied with Stonehill- just better wins for the Skyhawks. Brady Olson continues to be careful with the ball and puts CCSU in a position to win every time Hard Hittin’ New Britain takes the field. He’s so seasoned that it’s hard to imagine the Blue Devils beating themselves this season. Unfortunately, there was just too much room for Dartmouth to throw, especially with a last second 50 yard touchdown to give the Ivy League school the lead and the win.

4. Long Island

   Despite the loss to Stonehill, the Sharks are not done this season and still have the big win against Eastern Michigan to buoy them somewhat. It’s hard to tell if Stonehill’s issue was their own offense or the good defense that that Sharks have shown this season. When- not if- the offense gets back to scoring points, LIU will get the wins back.

5. Mercyhurst

   The Lakers lost big in a buy game on the road to South Dakota State. Flush it and move on. We’re excited to see the Urena to Evans connection moving through the league slate.

6. Wagner

   Wagner got their first win in pretty dramatic fashion against Head Coach Mike Vick’s Norfolk State. The Seahawks have decided to go with Jordan Barton at QB for the time being, and he was able to throw for 2 TDs against 2 INTs. The big story might be the 108 yard game from Andre Hines, who also provided a touchdown. It’s a good win against an opponent getting lots of press prior to entering conference play.

7. Robert Morris

   RMU was idle this week. They’ll travel to former NEC foe Merrimack this Saturday before beginning league play (and a game we’ll be at!) with a big rematch against CCSU, which was the best game in the NEC last season.

8. New Haven

   New Haven struggled against Duquesne, but an interesting trend we’ve seen is that New Haven seems to be fantastic at scripting drives to start games. Zaon Laney had his best game with over 60 yards and a 51 yard scamper, but this one looked an awful lot like the contest against Mercyhurst. Might set up an interesting match for the Dukes and the Lakers in a few weeks.

9. Saint Francis

   Saint Francis was scoring points against Bucknell and went into the half with the lead. With the offense starting to wake up, the Red Flash are still only at 0-1 in conference despite the overall record and certainly have the potential to be more than a factor in league play- they still have the opportunity to make the playoffs with minimal help at this point! Without wins, though, there’s nowhere else to put them.

What Do We Really Know About CCSU?

Through four games, the league’s official favorite has gone 2-2. But with how strange out of conference schedules in the NEC can be, it’s an open question- well, what have we learned about CCSU to this point?

The Blue Devils have a win over in-conference Saint Francis, out of division AIC, a loss to FBS UConn, and a loss against non-conference Merrimack. It would be very hard to find a more diverse opponent pool than those four. Fortunately, I do think there are some insights to glean, even if nothing at this point in the season can really be concrete- especially when you’ve got four games against four categories of opponents. Here are three things we’ve picked up on so far:

1. Brady Olson Understands Ball Security

   It’s hardly a surprise that the Blue Devils are valuing possession and taking care of the football. They had a monstrous +14 turnover margin in 2024, and with that being a now-proven recipe for success, there’s no reason to do anything except try to replicate it. Fortunately, they’ve got the right QB at the helm to manage that. Olson isn’t flashy- he’s not likely to be in the conversation for NEC First Team at the end of the season- but he’s not giving the ball away, either. He’s spreading the ball out and, of course, letting Elijah Howard get the ball downfield on the ground and through the outlet passes. It’s been enough to score points against AIC and, in the second half, Saint Francis. Most importantly, he’s not putting CCSU’s defense in bad situations. Football is a long game, not a sprint. If you can control the pace of the game, win field position, and win the turnover battle, you’re usually able to win.

2. Chris Jean Picked Up Where He Left Off

   Jean has looked like the ballhawk he ended the season in 2024 as. It’s as though something fell into place for him at the tail end of last season. Sometimes those stretches look like variance, but the evidence is only compounding that Jean is a real force for CCSU- and that the opportunistic defense we saw last season might still be there in Hard Hittin’ New Britain. He’s already got 3 interceptions (including 2 against Merrimack) just 4 games into the season. He also picked up a blocked field goal in Merrimack game and returned it the length of the field, but a penalty brought it back to the 40 (Elijah Howard was able to score). Had the Blue Devils not had to spend the time marching down the field, the game against the Warriors could certainly have gone the other way.

3. The Defense Is Not A Problem

   We had wondered about the defensive line being able to reload in New Britain. It’s not clear that they’ll be able to replicate the absurd success they had last season, but what is clear is that the Blue Devils defense can keep them in any game. Flush away the UConn game and you’ve got a 7 point outing against Saint Francis, 7 points against AIC, and 16 points against Merrimack- but with a huge asterisk. Merrimack blocked a CCSU punt and recovered on the 5 yard line to set up the first touchdown of the game, followed by Olson’s only interception on the year setting up a field goal. Finally, an Elijah Howard fumble returned to the CCSU 29 set up another field goal. The Blue Devils are used to being on the winning end of these kind of turnover battles, but came out on the wrong side against Merrimack. This won’t happen every game, and those 13 points off of turnovers were the only reason Merrimack was able to come out on top. The defense looks stellar early in this season, and they’re certainly good enough for the Blue Devils to repeat in 2025.

Would Marist to the NEC Make Sense?

I mentioned recently that we’ll be adding Marist to our magazine coverage in 2026, which unfortunately kicked off a little bit of speculation (and I mean really minor- I got asked about it on Twitter a little) that Marist might be considering a move to the NEC. I’m flattered, but I possess no conference realignment news other than, as far as I know, all expectations are for the league makeup in the NEC both for football only and for all sports to be stable for the time being.

But it did set off a thought experiment for me- could Marist succeed in the NEC, and would the move make sense for the Red Foxes?

This is obviously for football only. Marist plays in the MAAC and with the current balance of power I wouldn’t anticipate an MAAC team making an all sports move to our league. But in football, there is no MAAC and even if there were, Marist plays in the non-scholarship Pioneer League. It was formed after a pretty bizarre ruling that if you have, say, a Division I basketball team, your football team must therefore be Division I. It left schools like Dayton and Marist in the Division I ranks for football but with no desire or room to begin offering scholarships. So the Pioneer league- which is coast to coast and throughout the country- was born.

College sports aren’t really in the same place now as they were at that time, though. At the mid-major level- our level- we’re seeing things like the split (or rather, new creation) of the United Athletic Conference and the Atlantic Sun. The football playing members are moving to the UAC, which was the WAC until recently; those with different ambitions are remaining in the A-Sun. There’s some geographic advantages here, too.

I agree that Marist in the MAAC makes the most sense for the Red Foxes; my question is, does Marist in the Pioneer league make the most sense?

The Red Foxes joined the Pioneer League in 2009. Since that time, they have had two winning seasons and one PFL co-championship. They have never made the FCS playoffs. So we can’t begin with the expectation that they’ve had a consistent level of success and need to remain in the Pioneer League to compete. It’s interesting, but the opposite may end up proving true. So far in 2025, Marist is 2-1, but those 2 wins were both against NEC schools. So from a competition standpoint, I really think it’s reasonable to suspect that Marist may be able to compete in the NEC now, without changing their scholarship rules. It’s not a slam dunk and the sample size here is obviously low. But with 2 wins against NEC foes (Marist went 1-10 overall last season), it’s at least worth considering if the Red Foxes necessarily would have to change much to compete. I’m not certain they’d be on a collision course with the title frequently, but, well, the NEC is a funny thing, and once again this is a program that has not had much success in many of its prior seasons.

The travel looks pretty good. Every one of these trips is a bus ride:

Poughkeepsie to New Haven: 77 miles

Poughkeepsie to New Britain: 90 miles

Poughkeepsie to Brookville: 97 miles

Poughkeepsie to Staten Island: 105 miles

Poughkeepsie to Easton: 206 miles

Poughkeepsie to Pittsburgh: 393 miles

Poughkeepsie to Erie: 398 miles

Of course, in the Pioneer League, the closest competitors are in Dayton, OH (653 miles) and Davidson, NC (690 miles).

The Red Foxes must be on planes pretty often to play their football games. Which makes me raise the question: well, why?

If a similar level of success can be experienced with close-by opponents, would it be worth considering? Are there really natural rivalries with Dayton and Davidson, at least compared to in state with LIU and Wagner and just down the road with New Haven and New Britain?

In other words, can a move to the NEC decrease travel expenses, travel time for students, add natural rivalries, provide road trips for fans, with every prospect of not changing the athletic outlook for the football program?

Yes.

So, no. I’ve got no information at all that Marist is realigning to the NEC.

But is there any good reason for them not to?

NEC Blitz Announces Media Partnership With Chatham University Baseball

BETHEL PARK, PA- NEC Blitz is thrilled to announce that we will be expanding our coverage to baseball- and not just within the Northeast Conference.

NECBlitz.com will be livestreaming exclusive audio coverage of college baseball in 2026 by entering a partnership with Chatham University. The professional quality work you’ve come to expect with our coverage of Northeast Conference schools will continue as the website makes its first foray beyond reporting and providing analysis.

NEC Blitz publisher AJ Mayowski said, “We believe baseball is unique in how it translates to audio depictions. All of us have fond memories of sitting on the porch in the summer, listening to our favorite play by play announcers describe the game and providing an experience that has never been duplicated through television. We’re thrilled to be able to bring that same experience to a new audience with Chatham University baseball. Go Cougars!”

Chatham University, located in Pittsburgh, PA, is a private university that competes in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference in Division III. Last season, the Cougars finished 10-10 in PAC play, 18-21 overall, and ended on a 2 game winning streak. Head Baseball Coach Nic Rush is the winningest coach in Cougars history. Chatham plays at West Field in nearby Munhall, PA.

Personnel for audio broadcasts will be announced in the near future. Initial expectations are for a weekly Cougars game to be provided on NECBlitz.com.

NECBlitz.com continues to be open to further partnerships with schools in our geographic area.

NEC Football Power Rankings Week 5: Playing Darts Blindfolded

I think I quote it like twice a week. In my first conversation ever with an NEC head coach, he told me: “Well, the NEC is a funny thing.”

And it is. There’s a reason I always point to this as the most fun you’ll ever have watching football. You never really know what will happen. The unpredictable nature of football lives in the NEC, even when it’s sometimes hard to find at other levels of competition. I think I know what’s coming. I’m as well-studied as anyone out there to know what’s coming. And even then, I’m looking forward to my well-educated spectacular misses. It never stops being fun here.

I hardly know where to move things, or if I should even move things at all, after this week. But after some deliberation, this is what I’ve come up with:

1. Central Connecticut State

   The loss to Merrimack was a heartbreaker and marked by a lack of points from the Blue Devils until the final frame. They took the lead with two touchdowns but lost on a last second field goal to the Warriors to drop to 2-2 overall. Elijah Howard ran for 91 and got involved in the passing game, but the Donovan Wadley revenge game was not to be and perhaps having this one in New Britain would have changed the outcome. Nevertheless, it was a fine defensive performance from CCSU and they remain the leader at 1-0 in conference play.

2. Duquesne

   Even though CCSU lost and you can mostly write off FBS losses (especially after no one was going to let the NEC sneak up on them following Long Island’s win over Eastern Michigan), you can’t really reward the Dukes after the Akron game. Again, write it off. We have something far more interesting on Saturday when New Haven comes to the Bluff. You hate to rely too heavily on the transitive property, but this will give us a chance to see how Duquesne stacks up compared to their in-state competition up in Erie. New Haven is on such a roll, though, that any conclusions will have to wait until the Dukes and Lakers meet.

3. Long Island

   It’s been two games since LIU was able to knock off FBS opponent Eastern Michigan, and in that time we’ve had two no-shows for Ethan Greenwood at quarterback and this past week Luca Stanzani did not participate. Chris Howell did what he could, but he ended up with a 0 TD to 2 INT ratio and the Sharks were able to score just 7 points on the #6 Rhode Island Rams. I would have loved to see what Long Island could have done if healthy- I think they could have absolutely hung with the Rams for the second straight season- but this is who they are for the time being and I’m not sure I can put them up any higher with the uncertainty at the most important position in football. A bright spot was here, though, with O.J. Ross running for 130 yards at the running back slot. That’s LIU. There’s 100 yard rushers all the way down.

4. Stonehill

   We’ll bump Stonehill up to fourth here as they were able to mount a furious comeback against Penn of the Ivy League that just fell short. Stonehill is 1-3 and yet are probably just a handful of plays from 3-1. Fascinatingly, they’re also one play from 0-4. You expect this is a bit of growing pains from a team that’s just gained some experience from the year prior, has improved, but maybe hasn’t really learned how to win yet. The game against Maine was a big start, but they’ll have to grow up in a hurry now with conference play ahead of them. LIU heads to Easton next and while we’re just not sure what quarterback we’ll see from the Skyhawks, how they’re able to contain whomever it is we’ll see- and if they can find the end zone just a little more often- will probably determine how this one goes.

5. Mercyhurst

   A virtual tie with Stonehill. I gave the Skyhawks the nod just because the offense was able to do a little more than Mercyhurst was, even against an absolute monster Montana State team that the Lakers had to go up against. They acquitted themselves well- incredibly well, actually- on defense, but the 3 red zone drives without points will probably go down as the missed opportunity for Urena and Co. The road trip goes on to South Dakota State this weekend before we get to see what the Lakers are really made of in conference play, and if they really are as good as the team that punched out New Haven just a few weeks ago.

6. New Haven

   Speaking of New Haven, the Chargers are on a 2 game win streak but have had fast starts with furious comebacks against them in the past two weeks. They’ve been able to hold on, but a 4 quarter performance is still missing from their repertoire. A.J. Duffy remains a dark horse for the first team QB conversation in the NEC, and if they can give Duquesne a fast start this week they’ll have a chance to really shock the league and shake up the Northeast. Everyone in the league saw the performance against Mercyhurst, but you can be sure everyone is aware of what the Chargers were able to do against Albany, too. Really looking forward to this one on the Bluff.

7. Robert Morris

   Bobby Mo had Dayton on the ropes in Moon Township but let the game slip away. A particularly troubling aspect was that quarterback Zach Tanner left the game and did not return. Quarterback was probably the one place with RMU where we really knew what they had and were excited about it, but now there’s a little more uncertainty for the Colonials. Ethan Shine is looking like a fine addition to their running back room, but after Tanner left the game the passing suffered a little and the offense had some of the trouble it’s shown earlier in the season.

8. Wagner

   Wagner took on FBS Central Michigan this Saturday. You can flush it and forget it. Wagner gave significant attempts to Jordan Barton in this one, and my suspicion is that we may not be completely done with the quarterback competition on Staten Island. Freshman Benjamin Newton also saw some time. It’s a fine idea to use the FBS game to see what you’ve got across the board as the Seahawks prepare to welcome Michael Vick’s Norfolk State team to Staten Island before a bye week will recover them from NEC play. This is the time to work out the kinks.

9. Saint Francis

   Against a team the Red Flash beat last season in a spectacular comeback victory, the offense yet again sputtered while posting its highest point total of the season, hitting double digits for the first time with 10 points. The bigger problem? Delaware State was able to score on Saint Francis early in the game, which we haven’t really seen much of to this point. We had wondered if the defense was finally getting tired late in contests and surrendering points. Now, you have to wonder if the frequent low scoring performances are becoming a problem, or if DeSean Jackson was just able to turn around the Hornets that fast. They’re not famous for winning performances at Delaware State, but unfortunately they were able to put together a convincing one in Loretto. With the Red Flash at 0-1 in conference, there’s just nowhere else to put them until they’re able to muster an offensive performance.

NEC Football Power Rankings Week 4: I’m Blue

If you are my age, you will remember a crucial debate from childhood: Red or Blue?

That is, which version of Pokemon is best? (Conventional wisdom, by the way, favored Blue entirely on the basis of Raichu being available in the Power Plant in late game.)

I digress. This past week in the Northeast Conference, we got to see the Blue Devils take on the Red Flash. It looked close for a half, but no defense can hold on forever without the offense helping them out, and in the second half the Blue Devils prevailed and pulled away to make it look easy. A far cry from last season’s tight battle. With LIU losing a homecoming heartbreaker, we have yet another leader at the top spot in the volatile early weeks of the Power Rankings.

1. Central Connecticut State

   No shocker here, as the Blue Devils pulled away from the Red Flash late and Elijah Howard made his presence known, returning to the field with a receiving touchdown on the second Blue Devils drive. His rushing totals were a bit limited (he only did have 12 carries), but his return means big things for the CCSU offense. It’s not clear they need him to have more than 12 carries at this point in the season, either. Donovan Wadley got going this week with a 39 yard catch, and Brady Olson has been taking care of the ball through the first 3 games with a 4 to 0 TD to INT ratio. And best of all? That defense looks like the same aggressive one that forced turnovers last year. I think we may have downplayed how good the Blue Devils really are up until this point.

2. Duquesne

   The Dukes lost to #10 Lehigh but played them tightly, giving them a contest throughout the entire game after taking it to Lincoln (PA) the week prior. The Dukes travel on the road to FBS Akron this week, which often means it’s another game that we can’t learn too much from. Joey Isabella looks like the best WR in the NEC to this point. The linebackers, which we thought would be a weakness, are actually one of the strengths of the team with multiple players capable of being named Prime Performers each week. Daniel Tarabella has emerged as one of the NEC’s top tight ends. It’s hard to punish Duquesne for a loss to the #10 team in the country, particularly when they showed that they’re able to compete with anyone at this level of football, but polls like this are fluid and the Dukes certainly control their destiny even after they face Akron.

3. Long Island

   The Sharks still have a dominant victory over FBS Eastern Michigan on their resume, but they fell to Sacred Heart in a tough loss on homecoming this past weekend and their ranking suffered for it. The Sharks surrendered 10 points in the 4th quarter including a winning field goal as time expired to fall by 3 points. Sacred Heart has looked better than expected this season (has also defeated Stonehill) but after a big run from Luca Stanzani (75 yards!) offense was tough to come by. Ethan Greenwood did not play in this contest. The Sharks have another big chance at an upset this week as they head to Rhode Island to take on a Rams team ranked as high as #6.

4. Mercyhurst

   The Lakers were able to play with Sacramento State, even leading 18-7 in the 2nd quarter and had it within a touchdown in the 4th. New Haven’s win over Albany also gives us some good context for their victory over the Chargers in Erie. Rylan Davison and Dylan Evans each caught a Urena TD pass. They’ll head to #4 Montana State next.

5. Stonehill

   Stonehill pulled off a road win at Maine which has been kicked around by football focused media in this part of the country as potentially the biggest win in program history. The miracle 4th and 21 pass to Brigham Dunphy shouldn’t take away from the overall season Stonehill’s had so far, though. They played Sacred Heart as well as LIU did, and this is a team that could certainly be looking at 2-1 right now. They’ll have to take on the Ivy League’s Penn next at home.

6. New Haven

   New Haven got their first win as a Division I program, rocketing out to a fast start in Albany and holding off the Great Danes for the remainder of the contest, giving AJ Duffy his second Offensive Player of the Week nod in the process. New Haven will host Division II Saginaw Valley State (1-2) on The Blue for their first home game as a Division I program.

7. Robert Morris

   RMU was able to beat West Liberty, but the offense still seemed to have some trouble getting started against the Division II program. The Colonials were able to get some touches in for Ethan Shine and Donta Whack, and Zach Tanner threw two touchdown passes to no interceptions although they limited their reliance on the pass game. They’ll host Dayton this Saturday.

8. Wagner

   Wagner played Georgetown well on the road but was unable to get much going on offense against Marist, losing 21-10 behind a turnover-hindered performance (5 turnovers to Marist’s 1). You can’t win when you’re giving up possessions in bulk- a theme behind the bottom two in our rankings this week. Wagner is 0-3 but probably had opportunities to win their past two games. They’ll get back on the road to face an FBS opponent in Central Michigan.

9. Saint Francis

   Saint Francis has a stellar defense that has kept them in games for a half most of this season so far, but the offense hasn’t been able to replace what they lost through the transfer portal including their top two running backs and best wide receiver. The Red Flash fumbled the ball 5 times, recovered only two of those, and threw 2 interceptions. You can’t win games giving up the rock five times. The Red Flash have been fantastic at playing defense, but their 7 points on Saturday was unfortunately their high on the season so far. You can’t win games in football unless you score points- it’s an obvious statement, but if you haven’t shown that you’re going to be able to win games, you can’t get out of the basement.

LIU Secures Commitment From 6th 2026 OL, 1st in Ohio

We already knew that LIU’s conference mates were in deep water. But the tides are coming in just a little further than before.

Jeffrey Martin, a 6’2.5”, 265-pound interior offensive lineman from Tipp City, Ohio, has announced his commitment to the Sharks. Martin becomes the sixth offensive line pledge in the 2025 class, underscoring just how much of a priority the trenches have become for Coach Ron Cooper and his staff.

Ohio isn’t exactly a pipeline for LIU- only three players on the current roster hail from the Buckeye State- but Martin felt an undeniable connection to Long Island. “It just feels different in Brookville,” he said. “I truly believe in what the program is doing and the staff they’ve built is incredible. I also have deep family ties to New York. My mom’s entire family is from Syracuse and parts of my dad’s family live on Long Island.”

We had to ask if Martin had caught LIU’s historic upset of Eastern Michigan earlier this season. Martin admitted it hit home in a special way. “Excitement in short, to see a program that has expressed major interest in you pull off a historic win is something that can’t be matched. It’s very exciting to know I’m committing to a program that is on an upward path.”

The commitment itself played out in a fittingly personal fashion. Martin explained, “I called Coach Pace with my parents and just talked about my future at first. I really don’t think he was expecting my commitment but when I told him, the excitement on both ends was felt. I truly believe this program is going to make me the best player I can possibly be.”

That relationship with Pace has been central throughout. “Definitely Coach Pace,” Martin said when asked if any coaches stood out. “I’ve built a relationship with him since January when he was still at his former school. Then, when he took the LIU job he continued to recruit me and had me out for camp in the summer. Coach Pace is definitely the coach who I’ve built the closest relationship with throughout this process.”

For LIU, the commitment adds yet another layer to a class that is clearly being built with a vision. Like any team, the priority is to protect the quarterback (check that. With LIU that’s quarterbacks), control the line of scrimmage, and start winning games up front. For Martin, it’s a chance to carry Ohio toughness to the NEC and add his name to the foundation being laid on Long Island.

GAME RECAP: New Haven Tames Albany, 24-17

No one deserved last night more than the New Haven fans. Since we’ve welcomed them into the league, it’s hard to think of a more passionate fanbase. I talked to these folks up in Erie. I’ve met them through the cyberworld of Twitter (X?) that we inhabit. And I’ve talked to their coaches, athletic director, their players, their athletic department staff… everyone that I think I could have talked to connected to the program at this point. And I can’t imagine finding a more passionate group of people anywhere.

I hope you all received a game ball in some way or another. You’ve earned it.

After a rocky two weeks for the program with losses against Marist and Mercyhurst, the Chargers got off of the bus and didn’t stop marching down the field for the entire first half. They exploded early with a 10-0 lead at the end of the first which grew to 24-7 at the half. AJ Duffy threw touchdown passes to three different receivers (Matt Chandler, Evan Chieca, and Nikkem Reynolds) and Liam Quigley added a 38 yard field goal. At one point, the Chargers led 24-0 before Albany finally pushed in a 1 yard run near the conclusion of the half.

It was a more balanced offensive attack for New Haven with 180 passing yards and 114 rushing. It took a village to get those yards on the ground, with Brian Thomas pacing the backs for 43 and Zaon Laney returning with 8 carries for 41. Joshua Tracey didn’t earn a touchdown through the air, but led receivers with 65 yards. It seemed like the ball had to get everywhere for New Haven to move the sticks, and in the first half they certainly accomplished that.

The second half required the defense to hold Albany out of the end zone as the offense finally was slowed down. Albany actually had 436 total yards, but with 396 of those through the air, there wasn’t much balance and definitely plenty of doubt that the Great Danes could run the ball if the occasion called for it. Albany quarterback Jack Shields through 53 times but was sacked 6 times by a hungry Chargers pass rush that was ready to let out some early season frustration. The Chargers forced three turnovers (2 INT, 1 fumble) while they took care of the ball. When you’re up 3 turnovers to none, you tend to win football games, regardless of how you’re outgained.

And make no mistake, the Great Danes could compile yardage. The 436 yards for UAlbany certainly dwarfs the 296 the Chargers could put up, but with turnovers and the 12 penalties they committed to 8 for New Haven, it was one of those games that reminds fans of offense that there’s a lot more to it than moving the ball in football. For one thing, you have to score, and Albany couldn’t do enough of that. Football is about discipline, taking care of the ball, and overcoming adversity. The Chargers handed Albany 24 points worth of adversity, and the Great Danes simply couldn’t overcome it even when they began to slow down the offensive side of the ball.

The game was finally sealed with Albany reaching the red zone and looking to tie up the game. Coach Powell’s defense had to stand firm just one more time. Holding them to a 4th down, Albany’s quarterback Shields dropped back to pass and was met by two Chargers who forced through the offensive line and brought him down for a sack. Give game balls to Stephen Conwell and Pete Melle for bringing down Shields when it mattered most, too. Duffy kneeled out the clock and New Haven got on the board at 1-2.

For New Haven, this is their first win as a Division I program and the first career win for Head Coach Mark Powell. This one goes in the media guides permanently for both of them. For the NEC, it caps off a curious weekend that saw the league go 2-0 against the CAA. The depth in this league might be surprising to pundits paying attention, but to NEC fans it just adds to the excitement for conference play to begin in earnest.

GAME RECAP: Stonehill #DIGs Deep, Overcomes Maine 13-10

Last season, we got the NEC Play of the Year in Week 1 with Rob Carter Jr.’s incredible interception against Utah State. So in comparison, waiting until the 3rd week of the season is much later into the year.

On a 4th and 21 and down 6-10 with just under 2 minutes to go, Jack O’Connell rolled out to his right, feeling the pressure from behind him. He hung a rainbow of a pass out into the air and toward the end zone, where captain Brigham Dunphy was able to go up and get it- a come from behind score in the most improbable setting. The extra point was true, and Stonehill went up 13-10, with their standout defense prepared to make another stop- they’d done it all day, after all- to close out the game.

I don’t put too much stock into these, but ESPN gave Maine a 94% chance to win the game heading into that 4th and 21. It swung to an 84.1% chance as the ball landed in Dunphy’s arms. Those swings are always fun to see.

Maine was able to drive the ball just into Stonehill territory, but Mo Seide broke up a desperation 4th down pass before the Black Bears could get into field goal range, and the Skyhawks could kneel it out and earn their first victory of the season. They had opportunities to secure this same type of win in Week 1 against Sacred Heart- a team that just took down Long Island- and were unable to make that one extra play. On Saturday, that was exactly what Stonehill was able to do.

How big of a win is this one? According to our friends at the New England Football Journal, it was the biggest in Stonehill football history. We’ve got a different focus than them, obviously, and count their first win against Duquesne as a sign of who the Skyhawks could be, but the point is well taken- beating a CAA team on the road is no easy task, and it’s definitely high up on that list.

The statline for this one isn’t gaudy. It was a defensive struggle as you’d expect from the final score. Looking for those hidden numbers that can point to how a team came out on top- this is usually turnovers, points off of turnovers, what have you- the only one that really stands out to me is the 4th downs. Both teams attempted two, and while Maine came up 0 for 2, Stonehill was able to convert on both of their attempts- even that seemingly impossible 4th and 21.

We had become accustomed to seeing Jack O’Connell throw the ball around and get completions, but he had just 14 for 132 yards in this contest. His one touchdown- the only one scored by Stonehill on the game- was the aforementioned 4th and 21 beauty. That accounted for 34 of his yards and all but 9 of Brigham Dunphy’s receiving yards. On the ground, things weren’t much flashier for the Skyhawks offense. Zavion Woodard had 30 yards and Jarel Washington accounted for 28. O’Connell rushed for 29 yards, but these were negated by 4 sacks leading to a net of -1 for him.

Defensively, the Skyhawks continue to shine. Richard Mosley III has been in the right place at the right time so far this young season, with another fumble recovery- his second in 2 games. Aidan Horodnik had 1.5 sacks, and in a game where Charles Battaglia seemingly was avoided (4 tackles) the rest of the defense stepped up and the tackles were spread around (Mosley led with 8). Mo Seide had two pass breakups, including the 4th down to seal the win.

Stonehill will host Penn in Shovel Town for their next action, with the hope to take down a CAA opponent and an Ivy League opponent in consecutive weeeks.

GAME PREVIEW: Lehigh at Duquesne

The #10 Lehigh Mountain Hawks are making the cross-state trip to take on Duquesne this Saturday at Rooney Field.

It’s been an interesting two games for the Dukes so far. While they’ve had an away game against a P4 opponent, that opponent was in the city and just down the road (actually closer to Duquesne’s campus than Pitt’s) at Acrisure Stadium. Next, they welcomed in D2 Lincoln (PA). Both games were lopsided, one in the favor of the opponent, and one in favor of the Dukes.

We had expected to see a more competitive Duquesne team against Pitt, reasoning that the strength of the Dukes is their offensive and defensive lines and that Pitt would be breaking in some new faces in the trenches. We had thought that the experienced OL from the Bluff would be able to hold off Pitt better. Unfortunately, Duquesne wasn’t able to compete with their P4 neighbors, and so we looked to the D2 game as a better test of what the Dukes might be capable of. They delivered in spades. Taj Butts looked superhuman on the first drive, but a lot of that was due to the push the Dukes were getting against the 3-4 front for Lincoln. They seemed like a wall in front of quarterback Ty Riddell, and from the first drive it became very clear that this would be a strength for Duquesne on that day, and when you win by a wide margin in the trenches, you almost certainly will win the football game.

But just like a game against a P4 opponent in Pitt can only tell us so much, a win over a Division II program just doesn’t shed enough light on who the Dukes are and how good they can be.

When the Dukes are on offense, we’ve seen Ty Riddell find his groove against Lincoln and even show some flashes against Pitt. Joey Isabella can play with any defense in the country, so he should be effective once again against Lehigh. TJ Burke (2 sacks already) and Matt Spatny lead a strong defensive line that will do all they can to emulate Pitt’s performance. Linebacker Brycen Edwards is also a standout for the Mountain Hawks. The pre-season Patriot League favorites will be very difficult to move the ball on despite the weapons Duquesne brings into the fray on Saturday.

On the other side of the ball, Lehigh rolls with quarterback Hayden Johnson, although he’s only been called on for 41 passes so far this season. He’s thrown for 2 TD to 3 INT and is completing 56% of his passes, which tells you that Lehigh will certainly be committed to the run. It’s a much better situation for Lehigh there. For one thing, Johnson is a threat in the running game, with a long of 20 already this season. But more importantly, the Mountain Hawks have a one-two punch that will likely be the best Duquesne will see all season in Luke Yoder (171 yards) and Jaden Green (167 yards). The Dukes have players on the line like A.J. Ackerman and Jack Dunkley who we know can rush the pass. Dunkley in particular has shown athleticism in being able to work in the run game even when it reaches the second level, and Tyson Meiguez at linebacker has been a revelation for Duquesne. This will definitely be an area that the Dukes need to win to pull off the upset. Yoder should still be effective no matter how good the Dukes are on Saturday, as he came into 2025 highly touted as a Patriot League pre-season first teamer.

This will undoubtedly be a tough challenge for the Dukes, but if they can win this one they’ll be expected to thrive the rest of the way through NEC play and their remaining FCS schedule. A Top 25 ranking is almost certainly on the line. It would be exciting, sure, but in the NEC, the only thing that really matters from a postseason perspective is winning the NEC. Therefore, this is a great chance for the Dukes to test themselves again this season and hopefully get a feel for what they’ve got when they head into the meat of the schedule. This one, just like the Pitt game, breaks down into trench warfare. If the experienced Duquesne OL can hold off an excellent frontline for the Mountain Hawks, and if the DL can slow down Lehigh’s vaunted rushing attack, this could go in favor of the Dukes. But it’s certainly a daunting task.

GAME PREVIEW: Saint Francis at Central Connecticut State

The title defense for the Blue Devils begins right here.

Central Connecticut welcomes in Saint Francis to Hard Hittin’ New Britain in a rematch of what was also the season opener for the NEC in 2024. (While New Haven at Mercyhurst is considered an NEC matchup, New Haven is not playing a full league schedule and so the game does not count in conference standings). Last year, it was one of the best games of the season: a game that could have gone either way with a fumble return setting the tone for CCSU’s opportunistic defense all season long, and winning them the close game in Loretto. It was a microcosm of Central Connecticut all season long, in one game.

This is Saint Francis’s last ever opener in the NEC with a move to Division III looming. They’ve yet to reach 7 points in a game with their first two contests coming against FBS opponents in Louisiana-Monroe and Buffalo. Meanwhile, Central Connecticut struggled against FBS and in-state rival UConn before dominating another long-time opponent in nearby Massachusetts, beating AIC 34-7. With one FBS opponent and one D2 opponent, it’s difficult to know what to expect out of the Blue Devils. The same could be said for the Red Flash, who have been punching up so far this season.

Looking at keys to the game, we expected a lot out of Saint Francis’s offensive line this season. It’s easily the most talented unit on their roster (Geno Calgaro does not count as a “unit” when we evaluate the linebackers) and an experienced group. The Blue Devils have had to rebuild and reload on the defensive front. It’ll be interesting to see if Saint Francis’s offensive line is able to push the Blue Devils back and get running room for their backs- and time for Nick Whitfield, Jr., to throw. Against FBS competition, it’s hard to evaluate who the Red Flash could be offensively. Against the top tier competition they’ve faced so far, they’ve looked like 2024 all over again.

If the Blue Devils defensive line isn’t up to the task against the Red Flash, they’ll have to rely on their ability to score. Elijah Howard was reportedly on crutches at the end of the UConn game, and he did not participate on Saturday against AIC. He’s the go-to for Central Connecticut, and his absence would be a major blow if he continues to miss time. We don’t speculate on injuries- hopefully he’s feeling well soon if he’s not well already.

The other interesting thing for the Blue Devils is that Donovan Wadley hasn’t really gotten going for them yet offensively. This would be a perfect time for a breakout game from the NEC 2023 Offensive Player of the Year, and the connection between veteran QB Brady Olson and Wadley is definitely one to watch, especially if Wadley has to become the primary weapon for the Blue Devils.

Defensively, we’ve already mentioned Geno Calgaro, and it’s likely that he’ll be a limiting force in the run game regardless of who lines up at tailback for Hard Hittin’. Calgaro has met the expectations placed on him this season by our outlet and others. While it’s been a tough two weeks for the Red Flash, they took a close game into the 4th quarter in Monroe although that success proved difficult to replicate in Buffalo. They’re still on the road when they travel to Connecticut, but the difference in depth an NEC team will see against any FBS team will not be present this Saturday. It seems likely that the Red Flash will be able to keep CCSU from being too explosive offensively.

This one is coming down to if Saint Francis can score. We think the defense will be able to keep it tight, but if they still can’t put points on the board, Central will be able to win in a close game.

NEC Football Power Rankings Week 3: Sharks Jump

I don’t think this is any surprise heading into this week. If you beat an FBS team- no, if you control the game against them, have a 4th quarter drive that takes up over 9 minutes, and never trail- well, you get to be first place in the power rankings. Congratulations to the Long Island Sharks, but this early in the season, volatility in the power rankings is everywhere.

1. Long Island

   You know the really brilliant thing that the Sharks have going for them? There can never be a quarterback controversy here. It was understood going into the season that Luca Stanzani and Ethan Greenwood would both play. Now that they’re doing that, it doesn’t really matter if Stanzani takes more of the snaps going forward; you can’t split the locker room when exactly what was expected to happen, well, happens. Long Island now has to take it back home to take on Sacred Heart; they’ll be expected to outscore the Pioneers easily, but if they can do that they have to hit the road to take on a Rhode Island team that’s been consistently ranked. You can’t get ahead of yourself, but taking on CCSU and Duquesne in subsequent weeks toward the end of the season might be the most important two game stretch in LIU Sharks football history. They just have to keep winning until then.

2. Duquesne

   Through no fault of Duquesne, they fall to second place after taking care of business against Lincoln (PA). They’ll welcome #10 Lehigh to the Bluff for next week in what will be one of the biggest games of the week for the NEC. Ty Riddell looked every bit what he showed a few glimmers of against Pitt on Saturday, Joey Isabella found the end zone, and we’ve got a Dukes team that has been all over the place here in terms of opponents, heading from the P4 to D2 and finally to a top 10 FCS team. They’ll then head off to Akron to face a G5. We might not really know what we have with the Dukes until October, but what we saw against Lincoln looked very promising.

3. Central Connecticut State

   The Blue Devils rebounded from facing a tough UConn team on the road to taking on American International at home. It was never in doubt for the Blue Devils, and now they’ll head straight into conference play by welcoming Saint Francis to Hard Hittin’ New Britain. An interesting wrinkle against AIC was that Donovan Wadley had one carry and one catch. You have to imagine that the former NEC Offensive Player of the Year is going to have a bigger role as the season goes on, and as he does that you’d assume that CCSU will further hit its stride. A big opportunity for him is coming up after the Saint Francis game when CCSU travels to former conference foe Merrimack- and Wadley’s former school.

4. Mercyhurst

   The Lake Show was out in full force, defeating New Haven convincingly and confirming that Dylan Evans is here to stay. Adam Urena threw for 347 yards, but the show was more than the signal caller. The Lakers garnered a massive 647 yards of total offense, with Brian Trobel running for over a hundred, sometimes from the wildcat, and rookie Mookie Gamble earning NEC Rookie of the Week honors. Unfortunately, we might be taking a brief break from the Lake Show, as road games against Sacramento State, Montana State, and South Dakota State will challenge the Lakers heavily. On the other hand, Youngstown State is a traditionally strong foe, and the Lakers hung with them well. We’ll have to see how Mercyhurst handles top flight out of conference competition before re-entering conference play.

5. Wagner

   Wagner led for much of the game against Georgetown, but couldn’t pull off the upset and dropped the decision to fall to 0-2. With how well they hung on, though, it seems unfair to punish them too hard. Wagner will be welcoming Marist to Grymes Hill for the first home game of their slate and the first time they’ve faced the in-state Red Foxes since 2008. They’ll be expected to win before they get back on the road to face FBS competition. Wagner looks like they’re talented, but it’s unclear yet if this is the breakthrough season that just feels like the program has been building up to.

6. Robert Morris

   Unfortunately for the Colonials, they weren’t able to do much of anything against the Youngstown State Penguins who had difficulty handling Mercyhurst the week prior. The transitive property strikes and we’re left wondering how Robert Morris will fare against Mercyhurst late in the season. However, we would caution against panic just yet. RMU is a transfer heavy team this season and underwent a lot of coaching turnover, including some late changes. It just might not have come together yet for the Colonials. They’ll have a chance to get right against West Liberty and while there’s some consternation in Pittsburgh, our opinion is to just be patient. Top flight competition, new coaches, and a roster that hasn’t come together yet would make anyone look pedestrian.

7. Stonehill

   The Skyhawks gave up 21 points in the 2nd quarter, but the offense looked to be making some improvements late in this contest. They’ll need it as they’re traveling 270 miles north to Maine. The 90 yard fumble scoop and score for the Skyhawks (Richard Mosley III) might have actually made this one look a little more competitive than it was. Jack O’Connell once again was completing passes, but this time he had some scoring and yardage might behind him, with 3 TD passes and 269 yards through the air. The best football for Stonehill is still up ahead for them this season, and I do still think this is a team with potential to make noise in league play. If they continue to make incremental improvements, you have to like them hitting their stride as conference play begins in earnest.

8. New Haven

   The Chargers weren’t able to stop the Lake Show on defense and the offense struggled as well on the road in Erie. Unfortunately, they’ll hit the road against Albany yet again and won’t have many reprieves this season. AJ Duffy threw for 183 with one TD through the air (he rushed for another) in the losing effort against Mercyhurst. Interestingly, they looked like they’d be very competitive early with a TD drive on the first possession, but as the game wore on they were unable to keep pace with the Lakers. This is still not a team that’s been fully healthy, missing Zaon Laney, and perhaps they’ll get better football under them as the season goes on.

9. Saint Francis

   The Red Flash dropped their second consecutive FBS game to Buffalo and scored their first touchdown of the season late. With CCSU coming up, we still don’t really have a great idea of what Saint Francis will do against like competition this year, but the defense had more trouble against Buffalo than they’d had against ULM and as such they’ll have to stay in the basement here. CCSU and Saint Francis played an incredibly close game in 2024, and an upset is certainly not out of the question as we’ll finally get a chance to see what the Red Flash will offer in 2025.

GAME RECAP: Long Island Chomps Down on Eastern Michigan, 28-23

There’s always the classic thought whenever you see any FCS team take down an FBS team. Did the FCS team sneak out with a win? Did they keep it close and get it to the 4th quarter where anything can happen? That’s always the way these games go, right?

Not a chance. LIU trailed for 0:00 of this football game. It’s probably something of a gift that Eastern Michigan made it look as close as they did. If the Sharks and the Eagles were still playing at the factory today- whatever day it is that you read this- Long Island would still be winning this football game.

There weren’t answers for Ethan Greenwood. And if there aren’t answers against MAC teams, you really have to start to wonder if there’s going to be answers for the talented signal caller in Northeast Conference play.

The first drive of the game read like the Sharks were playing a team that simply hadn’t done their homework, hadn’t prepared, or hadn’t taken the buildup to this one seriously. We saw Ethan Greenwood make defenses look silly throughout the second half of last year, but his 65 yard rushing touchdown (after previously converting a 3rd down with his legs) to break open the game looked like the team hadn’t realized just how hard Greenwood is to defend if you’re not able to match him athletically and schematically. You can’t go into a game against the Sharks playing vanilla defense- it really doesn’t matter who you are. Coach Creighton is one of the most respected head coaches and program builders in the nation, though, so I find it hard to buy that it’s any sort of coaching oversight- whatever you may hear from EMU fans in the aftermath of this one.

More than anything else, I think it’s just awfully hard to get a guy like Greenwood on the scout team. And when so much of what he does appears unscripted, well, how do you script it? Maybe there’s just no way to adequately prepare for what he brings.

Nor can you really figure out how to defend when Luca Stanzani- that is, the other Sharks quarterback- is catching the ball for 74 yards, making up the bulk of Greenwood’s passing total on the day (105 yards on 3 completions). Stanzani rushed for 2 TDs in addition to the 2 Greenwood TDs, with the latter rushing for an almost pedestrian 91 yards.

Stanzani added on 67 rushing yards, was 12 of 18 through the air, and threw for 143.

No truth to the rumors that they’re still trying to figure out who to make player of the week between two quarterbacks on the same team over at the NEC’s offices. Right?

Rafael Fasolino, whom we were very excited for heading into the season, came up clutch when needed as well- the Sharks did play defense in this game, too. On a 4th and 1 deep in their own territory, EMU chose to go for it and Fasolino stopped the ballcarrier at the line of scrimmage. Stanzani ran it in on the next play to make it a two score game.

One more absolutely mind-boggling stat here. The Sharks gave up a score on the next drive, but following that were able to put together a slow, methodical drive that took 16 plays to go 75 yards to drain 9:44 off the game clock. The NEC team bullied the Eagles, pushing them off the block again and again to gain the advantage back to two scores. While the Eagles scored again- like I told you, the game wasn’t as close as the score indicated- there wasn’t enough time and the Sharks came out of Ypsilanti with a win.

Coach Cooper is pretty close to objectively a top 3 coach all-time at Eastern Michigan (he was the HC there in the early 90s before taking the Louisville job), and so there’s no revenge game aspect here. Coach was as successful as anyone had been in Ypsilanti up to that time and moved on; certainly there were no hard feelings here. But Long Island played as though they fired him on the tarmac.

Craig D’Amico and I had this conversation before the season- there’s no longer a feeling of NEC teams being non-competitive outside of conference play anymore. You expect the NEC to compete with the Youngstown States and EMUs of the world now. But going into The Factory and coming out with a win? Well, get ready for your new reality. But there’s no resting on laurels in New York City.

After the game, Coach Cooper said "We played an FBS program on the road and I feel good about our effort. We played hard, we played together, and we fought through adversity. We need to enjoy this win right now and then move forward to next week."

This was the 3rd all time NEC over FBS win and the 2nd in just two seasons.

Enjoy the win. LIU opens up at home with Sacred Heart this Saturday. We’ll be watching, and hopefully poll voters do the same.

GAME OF THE WEEK: New Haven at Mercyhurst

It’s finally here- the first ever NEC game for the New Haven Chargers. While we only learned this spring that the Chargers would be joining Division I, it felt like a foregone conclusion- if anyone was coming up soon, it would be the Chargers. When they announced they’d be joining the NEC, there was little surprise anywhere in the sports world- more of a “it’s about time” feeling. That extended to the athletic department at New Haven, who posited (correctly) that they’d been operating as a Division I program for some time.

But the goodwill only lasts so long, and the first showdown with conference-mate Mercyhurst (albeit, as an officially non-conference game) won’t feel anything like two new best friends.

There’s no point in beating around the bush with the key storyline here. This game, from the outside, is all about Adam Urena vs. A.J. Duffy. The two quarterbacks were the best in the league this past week, with Duffy winning the league’s official offensive player of the week for the Chargers. On Thursday, we felt that Urena had dispelled a key storyline heading into the season- that the Lakers signal caller had put up numbers against poor competition and struggled in Division I. We never bought that for a second, and they don’t buy it in Youngstown anymore, either. He had a new favorite target emerge in Dylan Evans and threw for 311 yards and 2 TDs against the Penguins. Clearly, against a Missouri Valley defense, Urena was just as good as he ever looked.

And then A.J. Duffy took the field the next night, throwing for 377 yards on 31 of 55 passes with 2 TDs of his own. For all of the fingers being pointed at Urena’s competition last season, it’s worth noting that Marist had just one win the year prior when New Haven took them on in their inaugural Division I game. Still, the numbers don’t lie, and the counter-argument here- that Duffy had been without expected key contributor Zaon Laney at RB- only underscores what a performance Duffy had.

Both teams enter this one at 0-1 in what has been described as a likely rainy day out on Lake Erie. However, we could have easily had two 1-0 teams coming into this one with momentum.

Another interesting angle is that both New Haven and Mercyhurst were a few mistakes away from winning their respective games. In particular, the stat line for Mercyhurst in their 15-24 loss to Youngstown State reveals one very important difference between the two teams: turnovers. Mercyhurst lost a 4-0 edge to the Penguins when it came to losing the football. There simply can’t be doubt that the Lakers would have won this game had that margin been reversed- it’s awfully hard to win a game down 4 turnovers- but could the Lakers have won had it been 2-2? With a made field goal… I think it’s almost a certainty.

New Haven was 0-1 on field goals, but two muffed punts might have been the difference. The 31-14 score makes the game seem further out of reach than it was. If those two plays go the other way…

S&P+ has Mercyhurst a 2.2 point favorite on a neutral site. That obviously suggests we’ll have a tight game. It’s unclear at press time if New Haven will get Zaon Laney back in time, but weather permitting, this game should have fireworks and maybe- just maybe- the two best quarterbacks in an NEC that is loaded with good quarterback play.

NEC Football Power Rankings Week 2: Mulligan!

There’s no point in doing power rankings in week 1; that’s just your season predictions. For the NEC, in a lot of ways, there’s not always a ton of value in doing Week 2 power rankings, either.

The membership of our league was not upset, nor did it pull any upsets; everything went pretty much chalk with one exception- S&P+ had New Haven, a school playing their first Division I football game with a new team as a road favorite against Marist. Just pointing that out to be truthful. I think it’s not a huge stretch to say that context matters and whatever metrics go into S&P+ create a strong, fun system. That said, you can’t draw on much of New Haven’s production or performance in prior seasons given both the transition and the team’s lightning-fast rebuilding effort. So we’ll chalk it up as a possible upset, but realistically, I’m not real sure I’d put a ton of stock into that one.

So there’s not too much movement here, but here we go: our power rankings after Week 1.

1. Duquesne

   Duquesne had a tough first game against in-city rival (they call it the City Game, after all) Pitt in front of 53,006 fans. That’s actually more than the Dukes saw whenever they opened up the season against Florida State several years ago, but that makes a lot of sense. Not only were Pitt fans hyped up to see Duquesne, the Dukes faithful didn’t have much of a journey to go on a road trip, either. There was kind of a buzz around the game and in the press box opinion seemed fairly split as to whether or not Duquesne could muddy up the game with their offensive and defensive lines, or if Pitt was just too much for the Dukes to handle.

   In the end, it was definitely the latter. The Dukes fell 61-9, but they were very competitive in the first quarter and Pitt certainly got off to a slow start. The offensive line wasn’t able to stay on the field with the Pitt pass rush or run stuffers, but Joey Isabella certainly handled himself well with over 100 yards through the air, Ty Riddell showed some promise with a great deep ball when he had the time to throw, and Jack Dunkley had some big moments from an athleticism standpoint. Point being, we’re not penalizing the Dukes for this one. But we will not tweet for them to be ranked this week.

2. Central Connecticut State

   The Blue Devils had an in-state opponent of their own. While they got on the board first, they weren’t able to keep pace with what is expected to be a very good UConn team. Maybe the most troubling news is that Elijah Howard was on crutches on the sidelines during this game. Rob Gullo at the New Britain Herald tweeted out that it was a calf injury and that he’s been dinged up since camp. We do not speculate on injuries, but certainly hope Elijah is feeling better and is ready to go this week.

3. Robert Morris

   We’re giving Bobby Mo a little bit of a bump northward here as they were able to hang with a West Virginia team for a half (heading into the locker room at 10-3) and the defense that we hoped for out of the Colonials seemed to be present. There’s been a lot of coaching turnover for Robert Morris, but we liked the promotion of Coach Makrinos to defensive coordinator and oftentimes the problem against FBS teams (and especially P4 teams) for FCS teams is depth more than first string talent. That seemed to be the case as the Colonials might have gotten a little gassed later on as the game got out of hand. This is a West Virginia team welcoming back a previous head coach, so we won’t know exactly what they’ve got until later in the season. Still, it was a solid first half performance and enough to get a bump up here.

4. Mercyhurst

   I’m not all-in on the Lake Show after one week, but it would feel pretty criminal not to at least give them a few spots up after playing what was one of the most competitive games for the conference in week 1- in a situation where they were definitely expected to be playing up a few levels. The Lakers hung with the Youngstown State Penguins and showed off new wide receiver Dylan Evans, who caught 7 passes and looked like yet another weapon at receiver for Mercyhurst. Defensively, they hung well with well-regarded offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich’s first outing in Youngstown, although Gino Leone tells us that it may have been a somewhat vanilla gameplan. In any case, the Lakers were probably a handful of miscues away from winning this game. They’ve got a lot of tough road games ahead, but we’ll be in town to see them take on New Haven this Saturday.

5. Long Island

   You just can’t take that much from a game against Florida with 89,000+ fans in The Swamp at night. You just can’t. The negative here for the Sharks from a ranking perspective is that we didn’t really see much to tell us who they are this season yet. Stanzani and Greenwood weren’t able to get much going through the air, and Ingram and Ross pretty much split the tailback carries. Greenwood wasn’t the same weapon on the ground against a top-15 team as he is against more reasonable competition. Deion Richardson had a 28 yard catch, but other than that it was tough going for the Sharks and we’ll have a better chance to truly evaluate them next week against Eastern Michigan. Don’t consider this the Sharks dropping from the preseason so much as getting a better idea of some of the other competition and some more standout performances from them. Teams moved up; the Sharks didn’t really get knocked down.

6. Wagner

   The Seahawks opened up a new and improved stadium for Kansas on a weeknight and the atmosphere and talent from the other side was always going to be a little much to handle. We did get an idea on Wagner’s QB situation (it looks like it’ll be R-Fr Jack Stevens) and a viral interception came of the game from Jayden Brown. What did we say last year- the NEC is the Conference of Insane Interceptions. I’m not really convinced that there’s much to go on from the Seahawks offensively, but this might be an opportunistic team on Grymes Hill as Wagner did win the TO battle at 2-0 against Kansas.

7. Stonehill

   The Skyhawks barely made it to their game (reportedly, they got a flat tire and were almost late) and that might have had an impact offensively. Defensively, they were stout as expected, giving up only one touchdown (they surrendered a field goal and the offense gave up a safety). A 12-7 win is a tough way to lose in week one, but there were bright spots here. Charles Battaglia was as good as hoped for with 9 tackles, and Jack O’Connell was 30-39 through the air. Offensively, they’ll need to turn those completions into yards (212 through the air for O’Connell) and points. It’s not where we hoped Stonehill would start on week one, but it’s a long season.

8. New Haven

   New Haven hung with Marist in their first game in Division I and, much like Mercyhurst, had opportunities to win the game that weren’t able to be capitalized on, especially on special teams. You make your biggest improvement from Week 1 to Week 2, and gametime decision Zaon Laney will hopefully be healthy heading into Mercyhurst this weekend as we’re expecting rainy, grind-it-out weather up on Lake Erie. A.J. Duffy absolutely looks like the real deal, but we’re in a kind of wait-and-see mode on the Chargers until this Saturday when we get a real data point for them against Erie. The Chargers certainly look like they’ve got a playmaker under center, and I do not think next week is at all out of reach for this team.

9. Saint Francis

   Saint Francis headed into Louisiana-Monroe and after a weather delay weren’t able to get off the blocks offensively. Geno Calgaro had an outstanding performance with 12 tackles, and the Red Flash were able to block two extra points. Unfortunately, the longest play for the other side of the ball was 14 yards, and while the Red Flash were able to go into half time at 10-0, Louisiana-Monroe is not traditionally the same level as a West Virginia and so you have to adjust the credit that you give the defense accordingly. Still, just like every season in the portal era, the Red Flash lost plenty and were still able to rebuild their defense. Hopefully, we get a little bit of a better idea of what to expect offensively next week before they open up the NEC season on the road in Hard Hittin’ New Britain.