October 16, 2025
Football Travels To Wagner Saturday For NEC Clash
CCSU has won back-to-back games entering the contest
The Central Connecticut State football team closes out a two-game road swing with a Saturday evening trip to Staten Island to take on NEC foe Wagner College. The Blue Devils enter the game at 4-3 overall and 2-0 in league play, while the Seahawks are 1-5 on the year and 0-1 in NEC action.
CCSU and Wagner are meeting for the 37th time on the gridiron, and the Blue Devils lead the series 20-16. CCSU has won seven consecutive meetings, dating back to a 51-45 4OT game on Staten Island in 2017. The squads first played in 1937, a 32-0 CCSU win, the first of five games pre World War II, in which CCSU, then known as Teachers College of Connecticut won three.
CCSU Game Notes | NEC Front Row | Live Stats
QUICK HITS
• Malachi Wright, the NEC Defensive Player of the Week, made a career-high 15 tackles against RMU, the most in a single-game this season in the NEC. He has 30 tackles in the past four games.
• Elijah Howard leads the NEC in rushing at 80.3 yards per game and on Saturday became the first NEC running back to have consecutive games with 100+ yards against DI opponents this season. He has eight touchdowns this season, 11th in FCS
• CCSU did not commit a turnover versus RMU, the fourth time this season they have accomplished that feat and are 12th in FCS in turnovers gained, with 12 take-aways this season and are 14th in turnover margin at 0.86
• Of the 23 FCS quarterbacks that have 1,200 or more passing yards this season, Brady Olson has thrown the second fewest interceptions and his 12:1 TD to INT ratio is fourth in the nation
• Adam Lechtenberg's first NEC victory as head coach came versus Wagner, 17-3 on 10/21/23 on Staten Island. He is 8-7 in NEC play as the Blue Devils head coach.
• The Blue Devils next NEC win will be the 100th all-time. CCSU has the most NEC wins of any league member since the conferences inception in 1996.
• The CCSU defense has allowed just 9.5 points per game in its first two league games, and have posted scoreless quarters in 6-8 versus NEC foes
• CCSU has stopped opponents on 6-8 of their fourth down conversion attempts and rank fifth nationally in 4th down defense efficiency
• CCSU is averaging 6.9 TFL per game, 15th in the country, with 18 players having at least 0.5 TFL and led by 7.0 from Jack Stoll
• Devon Anderson has the longest interception return in the NEC this season, after taking a pick back 55 yards for a touchdown in the win over RMU. It's the first INT for a touchdown since Luquay Washington took a pick back 47 yards versus SFU on 10/1/22.
• Chris Jean remains second in FCS in passes defended, averaging 1.57 per game, with three interceptions and eight PBU
• Jack Hennessey ranks 24th nationally in field goal percentage at .800 and is 30th in field goals per game at 1.14
• David Pardo has a career-high 21 catches this season, resulting in a team-best (and career-high 290 receiving yards). He has two touchdown catches, the first of his career this season. He made a career-high six catches versus Dartmouth and has a dozen catches in the past three games.
• Carter Banks leads the Blue Devils at 3.5 sacks this season, as seven Blue Devils have combined for 14 total sacks and an NEC best 2.0 sacks per game, with six in the past two games
• Brady Olson has to spread the ball around, with 14 players catching at least one pass this fall. Ten different players made at least one catch in wins over AIC and SHU. CCSU as 1,476 receiving yards this season, a league-best average of 210.9 yards per game.
• Chris Jean has 25 career passes defended, tied for 10th in FCS and the only none senior in the top-20 of active players. is the FCS active career leader with 1.25 passes defended at 1.25 per game. He is tied for the top spot in interceptions per game, 0.33, per game, thanks in large part to a program-tying three interceptions in the win over Duquesne in 2024 and had his second multi-interception game, with two, versus Merrimack in 2025.
• Brady Olson is 72-104 (69.3%) passing the last three games with eight touchdowns and no interceptions
• Michael Trovarelli has made 10 catches, for 112 yards over the last three games, with touchdown catches versus Dartmouth and SHU. He is fourth on the roster with 14 catches this season, averaging 10.6 yards per catch and has three receiving scores.
• The Blue Devils offensive line at RMU started a senior, two freshmen and two sophomores who have a combined 64 appearances, with 29 of those coming this season
• Elijah Howard moved into fourth-place all-time on the Blue Devils career rushing list at RMU and has 2,406 yards on 485 carries in 29 games at CCSU, with 11 games of 100 or more yards rushing
• CCSU is +15 scoring on the year, 186-171, with a 104-78 advantage after halftime and a scoring edge in every segment except the second quarter
• CCSU leads the league in red zone defense at .724, stopping foes 8-29 times, and red zone offense, scoring 23-26 (88.5%) chances. Those numbers are 19th and 25th nationally
