Football Wins Fourth Road Game, Moves to 5-1 With Win at Columbia

The Central Connecticut football team moved to 5-1 overall on the season with a 24-14 road victory at Columbia on Saturday afternoon.  The win is the fourth road win of the season for the Blue Devils, the most of any team in the country at the FCS level.  The Blue Devils put up 511 yards of total offense against one of the country's best defensive teams in the win.  Senior quarterback Aaron Winchester passed for a career-high 299 yards and a touchdown, and rushed for 94 yards and a second score as CCSU put up 212 yards of rushing yards in the game.

POST GAME INTERVIEWS

HIGHLIGHTS

The Central defense held Columbia to 214 total yards of offense in the game, including just 46 yards rushing on 27 carries.  Columbia quarterbacks finished the game just 13-of-28 for 168 yards, and the Blue Devils held the Lions to 3-of-13 on third down conversions.  The Blue Devils haven't allowed a rushing touchdown since the third quarter of the Valparaiso game on Sept. 14.

The Blue Devils are 5-1 overall for the first time since the 2009 season when they started the season 7-1.  

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Central Connecticut 24, Columbia 14
Records: CCSU (5-1, 1-0 NEC), Columbia (1-3, 0-1 Ivy)
Location: Robert K. Kraft Field | New York, NY

COACH QUOTE

• "We hit some big plays in the first half.  That's a top-10 defense in the country, physical, tough, we knew they were going to make adjustments," head coach Ryan McCarthy said.  "Finally we popped one at the end when we needed it the most.  Both sides of the ball played very well, the offense in the first half and the defense all game long.  They came through in the second half when we needed them the most.  That was a good performance."

KEY MOMENTS

• The Blue Devils got on the board with a 71-yard touchdown pass from Winchester to Lucas in the first quarter.  It was the longest passing play of the season for the Blue Devils and Lucas' third touchdown of 70+ yards this season.
• Senior kicker Francis Cole kicked a season-long 45-yard field goal in the 2nd quarter to up the lead to 10-0.
• The Blue Devils put together a 95-yard drive just before halftime to take a 17-7 lead.  The drive took just over a minute and include 65-yards of catches from junior Tyshaun James.
• Up 17-14 late in the fourth quarter, Winchester rushed for a career-long 62-yard touchdown run with 2:25 to play to push the lead to 10.

NUMBER TO KNOW

4 - The number of road wins this season for CCSU, tied for the most in the country at the FCS level (Villanova).

NOTES

• Today marked the third-ever meeting between the two teams.
• The Blue Devils outgained Columbia 234-30 in the first quarter. In the last two weeks CCSU has outgained its opponents 398-33 in the 1st quarter.
• Central outgained Columbia 378-101 in the first half, and held the ball for 20:19.
• Central posted over 500 yards of total offense (511) for the first time this season and the first time since last season at Bryant (Oct. 13) when they had 667.
• Winchester finished the game with a career-high 299 yards passing and added 94 yards on the ground.  He accounted for two touchdowns.
• CCSU had two players post 100+ receiving yards.  Tyshaun James had 126 on four catches, and Keonte Lucas had 114 on four catches.
• Lucas added 84 yards rushing on 17 carries.
• Central held the ball for 38:40 in the game, their second straight week with over 38 minutes of possession time.

UP NEXT
The Blue Devils return home to host Bryant on Homecoming next Saturday at 1 p.m.