Less than two weeks away from their opening game at Holy Cross, the wildcats held their annual Blue-White scrimmage on Sunday. In the midst of a quarterback battle, five different quarterbacks took the field that morning. As the dust settles on camp, redshirt freshman Bret Edwards seems to be emerging as one of the frontrunners to win the starting job. However, Coach McDonnell is keeping his cards close to the vest.
“It’s still a competition,” said Coach McDonnell following the Blue-White scrimmage. “All the guys did a pretty decent job of doing what they have to do. They showed some escapability which is important.”
Edwards completed 18 of 19 attempts, while tallying 176 yards and two touchdowns – leading the position on the day. The redshirt freshman navigated the pocket well, even showing some promise by way of the run. Edwards added 28 yards on five rushes. Coach agreed that Edwards’ stat-line looked impressive but wouldn’t give an inch on which way he’s leaning for his week one starter.
“It’s hard to tell from sitting in the back where I was, but all five kids played well today.”
Following his monster performance Edwards remained humble, giving praise to his offensive line.
“The line has definitely improved. They’re doing a great job.”
Still over a week until the regular season kicks off, Edwards remains focused on helping his team win, regardless of his position on the depth chart.
“I’m not going about that mindset,” said the quarterback when asked how he thought he fared in the position battle. “We’re still competing, we’ve still got another week of camp left. I’m just going to go out there and compete, and if I don’t come out on top, I just want to see this team win.”
The other standout from this weekend’s scrimmage was sophomore wideout, Brian Espanet. Espanet reeled in three touchdowns on 11 catches and 169 yards. Edwards – who was on the other end of two of the touchdowns – had nothing but good things to say about his receivers.
“[Espanet] had an incredible day today. We have a couple other guys that we can rely on, and that we know can make plays. If we get all these guys ready, we’ve got four or five receivers that we can count on.”
The Wildcats will open up their season in Worcester, Massachusetts when they line up against Holy Cross. UNH shut out Holy Cross 28-0 when they met last season. That gave UNH their first win of 2018 after dropping their first four. The team won’t play at home until week three on September 21 when they face Rhode Island.
