Football Travels to Bryant on Saturday at 1 p.m., Looking to Move to 2-0

Today's Game • The Blue Devils play their fourth road game in four weeks Saturday afternoon as they continue Northeast Conference play on the road at Bryant.  The Blue Devils are coming off a record-breaking performance at Robert Morris last Saturday as they won their seventh straight NEC game, the longest active streak in the conference.  Following today's game, Central returns home for two straight weeks, hosting Sacred Heart on Oct. 20 and Wagner on Oct. 27.

FULL GAME NOTES

 

A Record Day for the Offense • The Blue Devils set a new school and NEC record with 699 yards of total offense in the 56-35 win over Robert Morris on the road last weekend.  Central rushed for 358 yards and passed for another 341 in the victory and had 31 first downs.  The Blue Devils averaged 11.1 yards per play on the day and punted just once.

 

DJG to the House • Junior running back Drew Jean-Guillaume was named the Northeast Conference Offensive Player of the Week last week. He averaged 12.6 yards per touch and scored three times. Jean-Guillaume piled up 239 yards from scrimmage including a career-high 157 rush yards (the second-best individual rushing total in a NEC game this season). In addition to averaging 12.1 yards per carry, the junior tied for the team high in receptions by making six grabs for 82 yards.

 

Two for 100 • Jean-Guillaume (157 yards) and sophomore classmate Aaron Dawson (102) yards became the first CCSU teammates to rush for 100 yards in the same game since 2011 (Chris Tolbert and Brian Fowler vs. Bryant, 11/19/11).

 

Dolegala Has a Day Too • Senior quarterback Jake Dolegala posted an efficient and productive day in a record-breaking 56-35 road victory at Robert Morris on Saturday.  Dolegala set a new school-record for total offense with 408 yards in the victory for the Blue Devils.  He finished an impressive 19-of-22 for 341 yards and a pair of touchdowns through the air, and rushed seven times for 67 yards and another score in the win.  Dolegala's 341 passing yards matched a career-high.  His 67 rushing yards, which amounted to 9.6 yards per carry, were also a career-high.  With his 341 passing yards Dolegala became the 10th quarterback in league history to pass for 7,000 career yards.  He is currently eighth all-time with 7,207 career passing yards. 

 

Most Since 2006 • The Blue Devils' 56 points in the NEC win over Robert Morris marked their most points in an NEC game since 2006, when they beat St. Francis U 62-21 in New Britain. 

Into the Record Book • First-year kicker Francis Cole, a junior, kicked his way into the football record book in the road loss at Lafayette two weeks ago.  Just before halftime Cole kicked a school-record 50-yard field goal to put the Blue Devils up 17-14. It was the first 50+ yard field goal in school history, topping the record of 49 set by Mike O'Sullivan vs. Springfield in 1984. 

 

Blocked Punts • Sophomore DJ Exilhomme blocked a key punt just before halftime three weeks ago in the road win at Fordham, leading to a CCSU touchdown with under a minute to play before halftime. The blocked punt was the third of the year for the Blue Devils. Exilhomme was named the NEC Special Teams Player of the Week.

 

Ibeh With the Pick 6 • Junior Grant Ibeh recorded his second career interception and took it to the house to give the Blue Devils a 24-13 lead and win over Fordham earlier this season.  It was his first career touchdown.

 

Bagley to the House • Junior defensive back Tajik Bagley became the first Blue Devil since 2003 to return a punt for a touchdown when he returned a Columbia kick 82 yards for a score in the first quarter on Sept. 15.  The last Blue Devils to return a punt for a touchdown, prior to Bagley, was former defensive back Donnie Rose, who returned a punt 90 yards vs. Monmouth on Nov. 1, 2003.  

 

Shutout • The Blue Devils posted a 55-0 shutout victory over Lincoln (PA) on Sept. 7 in front of over 5,000 fans at Arute Field.  It marked the first shutout for the Blue Devils since they defeated Robert Morris at home 34-0 during the 2015 season.  

 

Mushaw WAS the Match! • For the past four years, head football coach Pete Rossmando and the Blue Devil football program have teamed up with the Be The Match Program to add more than 750 CCSU students, faculty and staff to the national bone marrow registry. This past year they got word that one of the people they had signed up had been chosen as a match. Junior linebacker Mike Mushaw was recently selected as a match, and this summer he donated his marrow to help save the life of someone he has never met.  CCSU football has joined the efforts of Villanova football head coach Andy Talley to raise awareness of the need for marrow donors and helping patients receive life-saving transplants. Talley and others have helped recruit thousands of potential donors to the registry by encouraging their football players, other students and their peers on other teams to sign up, along with friends, family and teachers. Last year alone, close to 10,000 people joined the Be The Match Registry through Get in the Game. Save A Life. donor registry drives. 

Northeast Conference Champions • The Blue Devils won their fifth Northeast Conference title with an undefeated 6-0 league record in 2017.  It was the first unbeaten conference season for an NEC team since 2008.  The league title is the fifth for CCSU since the 2004 season, and their first since 2010. 

 

Eight Straight Wins • Prior to last season's loss to New Hampshire in the FCS playoffs, the Blue Devils won eight straight games in a single season for the first time in school history. The last streak of nine or more straight wins came from 1954-55 when CCSU won nine straight games (all six games of 1954 and first three of 1955).

 

Rossomando Coach of the Year and Eddie Robinson Finalist Head coach Pete Rossomando was named the NEC Coach of the Year last season.  He was also an Eddie Robinson Award finalist for the National Coach of the Year Award.

 

Interceptions for a Score • The Blue Devils have now returned eight interceptions for a touchdown in their last 28 games, dating back to 2016. Junior Grant Ibeh intercepted a pass and returned it 19 yards for a score in the 24-13 win over Fordham on Sept. 22, 2018. CCSU tied an NCAA record by returning an interception in four straight games from Sept. 23 through Oct. 14, 2017.

 

Overtime, Again • The Blue Devils played one of the most memorable games in school history in 2017 topping Wagner 51-45 in 4OT on Staten Island.  The game is the longest in school history and the ninth-ever overtime game for CCSU.  The Blue Devils are now 6-3 all-time in overtime.  Central had previously played three double overtime games and was 1-2 in those games.  They lost 23-17 at Robert Morris in 2006, won 49-48 at Monmouth in 2010 and lost 51-44 at Lehigh in 2013, all in double OT.  

 

NEC Front Row • Thanks to a continued partnership between the Northeast Conference and the Pack Network, live webcasts of NEC sports will be available free of charge on NECFrontRow.com. The site will carry every CCSU NEC football game this season, excluding those games designated by the NEC to air on ESPN3/ESPN+.