New Hampshire Wildcats (1994)

For its homecoming game this season, New Hampshire wore a retro uniform inspired by what the Wildcats wore in the 1980s and '90s. (You can see some pictures here. They don't look exactly like the vintage duds, but I have very low patience for people who whine about inaccurate throwbacks as if it's world hunger or something.) The unis were hyped with this awesome Twitter video showing lovingly grainy, fuzzy clips from the olden days. One of the clips was from their dramatic Yankee Conference-clinching win over Boston University in 1994 ... which bring us to today's topic.

The '94 Wildcats made the NCAA I-AA (FCS) tournament for the first time in three years — and the last time for another decade. Here is an excellent highlight video from that season. For all the Wildcats did in the Ricky Santos/David Ball era a decade later, the '94 bunch might have been the most entertaining team they ever offered to the public: Dramatic wins, dramatic losses, defensive players scoring all the time, a versatile QB ... the list goes on. 

Let's take a closer look:

The Team: UNH ran the table with an 8-0 YC mark, the first time the Wildcats had gone unbeaten in league play since 1975 and the last time until 2014. But nothing was decided until the season finale against BU; the Wildcats were 7-0 in the YC, the Terriers 6-1. A win would give UNH the YC's automatic NCAA berth. A loss, and hope the NCAA gods like you that day. James Madison, also in the NCAA hunt, lost to lowly Northeastern that day to fall to 9-2 overall, 6-2 YC, putting the Dukes on the bubble. (They got in and reached the quarterfinals.)

The Wildcats led the Terriers 24-10 in the second quarter, but were down 38-24 in the fourth. UNH scored two TDs to force overtime. (In 1994, only the YC and maybe one or two other leagues used OT. Elsewhere, tie games were still the law of the land.) In the first possession of the second OT, UNH took a 52-45 lead on a "Philly Special" when halfback Matt Mezquita threw a TD pass to quarterback Jim Stayer. BU scored a TD of its own in the "bottom" of the frame ... but its extra point attempt bounced off a Terrier helmet and the UNH fans stormed the field. 

"This is the most exciting game I've ever coached," misty-eyed UNH coach Bill Bowes told The Boston Globe after the game.

UNH was rewarded with a home game against Appalachian State in the first round of the NCAA tourney, the first home playoff game in program history. But the Wildcats let a 10-0 fourth-quarter lead slip away and the Mountaineers forced OT (which in the playoffs, of course, was and is the law of the land). Appy State took a 17-10 lead on its first possession and won the game by that score when UNH fumbled on its first play and the Mountaineers recovered. 

The Wildcats finished No. 12 in the I-AA rankings.

One odd tidbit: Of UNH's 12 opponents that year, four (UMass, UConn, Appalachian State, James Madison) have since joined FBS, while three others (BU, Northeastern, Hofstra) have long since dropped the sport.

UNH QB Jim Stayer could pass, run and even catch the ball,
as he showed in the regular-season finale.

The Players: In researching this bunch, what struck me was the players' versatility. Mezquita, a running back, ran for three TDs and threw for two more, including one in the BU game. All-YC linebacker Warren Armes scored three TDs as a running back, and all-American defensive end Mike Foley scored from the tight end spot in a 42-14 win over Richmond.

Stayer threw for over 2,000 yards and 12 TDs (and, of course, that TD catch against BU), while Avrom Smith ran for over 800 yards and 11 TDs, plus two more through the air and another via kickoff return. Foley, Armes, DL Joe Fleming and DB Jim Conannon were named to the all-YC first team. Foley also won the Bill Knight trophy given the to the MVP of the UMass game, the first defensive player to win the honor.

Defensive end Mike Foley (91) was a threat at tight end, too.

The Coach(es): I've probably mentioned head coach Bill Bowes in a million other posts, but here's the CliffsNotes version of his career:

• Went 175–106–5 at UNH from 1972-98; leads the program in seasons and wins;
• Won four Yankee Conference titles, making the NCAA playoffs each time (1994 was his last);
• Is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame;
• Played at Penn State from 1962-64;
• Had only five losing seasons; including his first two, while he was presumably rebuilding the program.

But check out Bowes' staff. Offensive coordinator Sean McDonnell succeeded Bowes as head coach and led the Wildcats to 14 straight NCAA tourneys; running backs coach Chip Kelly became McDonnell's OC, revamped the Wildcats' offense, and went to coach at Oregon and UCLA (sandwiched around a couple NFL stints); and offensive line coach Jack Bicknell Jr. was the head coach at Louisiana Tech for eight seasons (he is now the OL coach at North Carolina). That's a pretty stacked lineup.

This screen grab from UNH's 1994 highlight video shows, from left,
Sean McDonnell, Bill Bowes and (I think), Chip Kelly.

The Uniforms: As is the case with Bowes, I've discussed the classic UNH look in many other posts. In this day and age, when teams change their unis on a weekly basis, the Wildcats trotted out the same design with minimal changes for close to 25 years. As a Penn State alum, Bowes would be pretty familiar with maintaining tradition. Although I do wonder why UNH wore names on the home jerseys only. The Wildcats began wearing the Yankee Conference patch on the front  in 1993.

The Fallout: The good times form 1994 did not carry over into '95, as the Wildcats dropped their first three games out the gate (all against YC foes) and finished 6-5. The '96 team bounced back with an 8-3 record and a No. 18 ranking in the I-AA poll, but did not receive an NCAA invite.