By Brittany Burke
Spring may be a time for baseball, with the cracking sound of the ball hitting the bat and homeruns, but with the release of the 2011-2012 football schedule and upcoming blue and white spring game, there can be nothing but football and touchdowns on the brain.
The Blue Devils will see action on Arute Field five times this upcoming season, including the scheduled opener. CCSU opens in the fall against non-conference opponents, but in-state rivals, the Southern Connecticut State University Owls, who haven’t played together since the 2007 season.
“I think overall it is an excellent schedule. Not only do we have our conference games, we have two excellent out of conference games against traditional FCS powerhouses, James Madison University and University of Massachusetts, which is good for our fans. That one’s on the road but it’s only an hour and a half away,” said Head Coach Jeff McInerney. “Then we get to play a traditional rival in Southern Connecticut which should be a lot of fun.”
The Division II Owls are set to take on the reigning Northeast Conference co-champions on Sept. 3. The Blue Devils are riding a 14 home-game win streak and are looking to continue the streak in the new season.
“You can never take [the win streak] for granted, we haven’t lost a home game in three years, but you can just never take it for granted you got to win your home games if you’re going to be a championship team and I think the guys feel comfortable, there’s a sense of tradition and I think that’s a big part of it,” said McInerney. “But the minute you think that just because you’re playing at home you’re going to win you make a grave error, because that just didn’t come easy. Those 14 straight wins did not come easy by any stretch of the imagination.”
The Owls are a division below the Football Championship Subdivision Blue Devils, but the last time the two teams met on Arute Field the competition drew in a crowd of 4,136. CCSU won the game 56-34 and are looking to do the same in the new meeting.
“Do I think it’s always good to play a former rival that’s a level below you, not always, you have nothing to gain if you lose, anything can happen in football, but I think it’s a good thing,” said McInerney.
SCSU gives the Blue Devils the imperative fifth home game, but tough play won’t begin until the following week. For game two, CCSU travels to Virginia to play James Madison University in their second non-conference game.
The Blue Devils’ have two tough non-NEC games scheduled for the new season. Midway through the season CCSU is set to travel to Amherst, Mass. to play the University of Massachusetts. Following a year in which the Blue Devils were named repeat champions, the two FCS football powerhouses will set a standard for CCSU to try and match.
However, two of the three Blue Devils’ losses came from non-conference opponents. Last year CCSU lost the season opener to the University of New Hampshire 33-3 and the game against Youngstown State 63-24.
Both of the non-conference road games have been scheduled to be part of two back-to-back road stints. The Blue Devils will play at JMU one week prior to playing Wagner on the road to begin NEC play. The same pattern is scheduled for CCSU two weeks later. Following two straight home games against Monmouth and Sacred Heart, the Blue Devils will travel to UMass and then Pittsburgh seven days later to play conference rivals Duquesne.
“[The road stint will] put a strain on [the team], but we’ve got to mix steel with fire and we’ve got to go down there to JMU, get used to the road, play against a team which is opening up their new stadium, there will be about 37,000 there, it’ll be a lot of fun for them. Then come back home, come back regroup, coach ‘em up and at least we’ll be ready for the next week,” McInerney said.
The CCSU football team will finish the season on the road against Bryant on Nov. 19, playing the final home game on Nov. 12 versus Robert Morris.
“A lot of close games is what I’m looking forward to. We’re trying to three-peat, we want to win the league outright and get the automatic bid but we also want a championship and I think it’s like every year, they’re always tough, it’s always a struggle and you got to get your team better and you’ve got to get your team better for the long haul,” said Coach McInerney.
Football season is still months away, but before the Blue Devils take on the Owls the team will play each other in the annual blue and white game on Friday April 29.