By Brittany Burke
Entering the week seven bye, the CCSU football team sits on a 4-2 record, remaining undefeated in NEC conference play, which is exactly where Head Coach Jeff McInerney expected his team to be, heading down the final stretch.
“I’m really pleased so far, we’re four and two. There’s nothing obviously ever goes as planned so there’s always disappointment and you always correct it,” said coach McInerney. “It starts with me I made mistakes and we got to correct them…you’ve got to evaluate it the last five weeks.
“It’s up to the football gods. We just got to go out there and compete and let the chips fall where they may. We’re in position but we can’t guarantee anything, don’t know but we’ll try.”
The Blue Devils faced two tough out of conference road opponents early in the season at New Hampshire and Youngstown State in Ohio, dropping to UNH 33-3 in week one and to Youngstown, 63-24 in the third week. Despite those poor showings, CCSU has recovered and won four games, continuing a winning streak at home.
“We knew with a new quarterback in this situation that New Hampshire was going to be tough we knew that the travel to Youngstown and their tradition was gonna be tough,” said Coach McInerney. “We went into those games trying to win them obviously, but we knew it was gonna be hard and we knew we had to win Bentley, Bryant, Sacred Heart and Duquesne to get to our bye week.”
The Blue Devils defense gave up a combined 645-yards rushing in the losses against UNH and YSU. The roughest time for the run defense might have been in the win against NEC opponent, Duquesne, during homecoming weekend.
Despite the win, the Blue Devils were almost forced into an overtime situation with under three minutes to play in the fourth, allowing the Dukes to score twice and shorten the lead to within the realm of a two point conversion. The Blue Devils managed to hold the Dukes, but the team took a step back in the recent progress made on the run defense.
Running back Larry McCoy ran all over the Blue Devils defense in last week’s win, rushing for 246 of his team’s 290 yards. Whenever the ball was strategically put into his hands he exploded all over the field and managed the double digit runs continuously.
“This week one of the areas we have to improve is the run defense. If we can stop the run we’ll have a great opportunity to win a championship. If we don’t stop the run our chances are going to be not great,” said coach McInerney.
We’re just not consistent. We’re not horrible we just give up too many long runs. It’s ok to get an eight or nine yard run, but you can’t give up the 40, the 30, the 50 ,the 60 yard run and that has been a problem all year. At New Hampshire, at Youngstown and it reared its ugly head against Duquesne, and if we can stop those plays we have a chance and that’s all anybody could ask.”
Offensively there have been some major adjustments in the CCSU roster this season, including transfers Gunnar Jespersen at quarterback and Everette Benjamin filling the void at running back.
The two transfers have steadily gotten used to the CCSU style of play and have proven themselves as offensive leaders. Jespersen has made the start in all six games completing 74-for-114 attempts with 914-yards and five touchdowns with just two interceptions on the season. The quarterback is second on the team in rushing with 341 rushing yards.
Jespersen trails Benjamin, who made the switch from fullback, his position at Hofstra, to running back. Benjamin leads the team in rushing yards with a net of 690-yards. Richie Martin is the top receiver for CCSU with 354-yards, while freshman Chris Linares leads the team in interceptions with two.
“Our offensive line has really gelled and played well which is the key, when your offensive line plays well. And we’ve gotten some receivers developed when Josue [Paul] was out which was the key so it’s not just them; they’ve got a lot of help,” said Coach McInerney of Jespersen and Benjamin’s impact on the team.
Paul is back in the CCSU lineup, debuting in the win over Duquesne. Paul offers a new threat to CCSU’s receivers, giving Jespersen an outlet that can go deep and complete the long passes.
“I think Josue will work his way back into it, but we’ve developed some other weapons and he’ll get his share of plays but the other guys will get their share of plays and it just gives us a deep threat that can catch a deep ball.”
A bye week doesn’t mean a break for the team, who is preparing for longstanding rival, Albany, next week. The Blue Devils are reaching the meat of the season following the bye, which consists of back to back road trips to Robert Morris and Monmouth in November.
“We knew we’ve got to be at our best starting after this bye week. We have two tough games with Albany and Wagner. Then we have those two roads trips and ended up on senior day with St. Francis and you can’t take anybody for granted,” said Coach McInerney. “So we’re right where we thought we’d be. Now we have to go out and play. We got an opportunity and it’s going to be October 22, we’re undefeated, what more can you ask for now we just got to make a play.”
The Blue Devils return to CCSU on Oct. 30 when they take on Wagner at 12 p.m.