Colonial Clash

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Colonial Clash
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History
First meetingMassachusetts 10, New Hampshire 4 (1897) [1]
Last meetingNew Hampshire 27, Massachusetts 21 (2011)
Next meetingNone scheduled
Number of meetings74
All-time seriesUMass leads, 43–28–3 [1]
Largest victoryNew Hampshire, 56–7 (1921)
Current streakNew Hampshire, 2
Longest UMass win streak6 (1969–74, 1977–82)
Longest UNH win streak4 (1953–56, 1994–97)
MVP Trophy: Bill Knight Trophy
Colonial Clash
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UNH
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Locations of UMASS and UNH

The Colonial Clash was an annual college football rivalry game played between the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) and the University of New Hampshire (UNH). The two teams first played each other in 1897, and met annually from 1952 through 2011. The rivalry was branded as the Colonial Clash beginning in 2010. However, the new branding didn't last for long. In 2012, UMass transitioned to the Football Bowl subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I, discontinuing the rivalry. In 74 playings, UMass has won 43 games, UNH has won 28 games, and there have been three ties. Beginning with the 1986 playing, the MVP of the game was awarded the Bill Knight Trophy.

Contents

History

The first game played between the two schools took place on October 2, 1897, in Amherst, Massachusetts. Massachusetts won the game by a score of 10–4. [2] [3] At the time, UMass was known as Massachusetts Agricultural College and New Hampshire was officially New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts. They had formed a loose association with other public colleges in New England such as present day UConn and Rhode Island for the purpose of scheduling football matchups between the schools.[ dubious discuss ]

The colleges continued to schedule matches intermittently through 1922, but then had a 30-year hiatus until next meeting in 1952. [1] They then met annually through the 2011 season, along with one playoff game as part of the 2006 postseason. [1]

In August 2010, the matchup was branded as the "Colonial Clash", coincident with an arrangement to have the game played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, during the 2010 and 2011 seasons. [4] The 2010 matchup, a 39–13 win by New Hampshire, [5] was the first college football game played at Gillette, [6] the home stadium of the NFL's New England Patriots. The 2011 game, the second (and to date, most recent) playing under the Colonial Clash branding, was also won by UNH, 27–21. [7]

UMass leads the all-time series, 43–27–3, a winning percentage of .610, although UNH has the edge in games played since 1990, 14–9. [1] From 1958 through 1989, UMass won 26 of the meetings, losing only six times, including only one instance of back-to-back losses to their rival (1975 and 1976). The most successful run for New Hampshire occurred from 1990 to 2002, when the Wildcats won 10 matchups and lost only three.

In 2012, UMass moved up to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the NCAA's highest level of college football. The Minutemen joined the Mid-American Conference (MAC) at that time, then in 2016 became an independent. UNH remained in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). No meetings between the programs have been scheduled since 2011, leaving the future of the rivalry in doubt.

Game results

Massachusetts victoriesNew Hampshire victoriesTie games

Trophy

The Bill Knight Trophy is annually given to the Most Outstanding Player of the Colonial Clash. A new trophy is cast each year, therefore allowing the honoree to keep his award permanently.

History

The award is named after Bill Knight, long-time Sports Information Director at the University of New Hampshire, who died in November 1985. In addition to his duties at UNH, Knight was a past President of the New England Sports Information Directors Association, a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee at the 1984 Winter Games, and a recipient of the Irving T. Marsh ECAC Service Bureau Award. He also served as the Information Officer of the Yankee Conference. Knight was inducted into the University of New Hampshire 100 Club Hall of Fame on October 2, 1987. [8] First awarded to Tim Bryant of UMass in 1986, the Bill Knight Trophy has been given to the most outstanding player of each playing of the Colonial Clash since then.

Recipients

YearWinnerPositionTeamResultLocation
1986Tim Bryant QB UMassUMass, 38–31 Amherst, MA
1987Bob JeanQBUNHUNH, 17–10 Durham, NH
1988Dave PalazziQBUMassUMass, 64–42Durham, NH
1989Gary WilkosQBUMassUMass, 34–28Amherst, MA
1990Matt GriffinQBUNHUNH, 36–18Durham, NH
1991Matt GriffinQBUNHUNH, 35–28Amherst, MA
1992Jim StayerQBUNHUNH, 20–13Durham, NH
1993John Johnson FB UMassUMass, 15–13Amherst, MA
1994Mike Foley DE UNHUNH, 14–11Durham, NH
1995 Jerry Azumah TB UNHUNH, 32–29Amherst, MA
1996Jerry AzumahTBUNHUNH, 40–7Durham, NH
1997Jerry AzumahTBUNHUNH, 28–10Amherst, MA
1998 Marcel Shipp TBUMassUMass, 27–26Durham, NH
1999Adrian Zullo WR UMassUMass, 34–19Amherst, MA
2000Stephan LewisTBUNHUNH, 24–16Durham, NH
2001Stephan LewisTBUNHUNH, 35–24Amherst, MA
2002Stephan LewisTBUNHUNH, 31–14Durham, NH
2003Jason PeeblerWRUMassUMass, 44–30Amherst, MA
2004 Steve Baylark TBUMassUMass, 38–21Durham, NH
2005 David Ball WRUNHUNH, 34–28Amherst, MA
2006Jason HatchellDEUMassUMass, 28–20Durham, NH
2007 Matt Lawrence TBUMassUMass, 27–7Amherst, MA
2008Matt Parent LB UNHUNH, 52–21Durham, NH
2009Jon HernandezTBUMassUMass, 23–17Amherst, MA
2010Matt EvansLBUNHUNH, 39–13 Foxboro, MA
2011Dontra PetersTBUNHUNH, 27–21Foxboro, MA

Notes

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "New Hampshire vs Massachusetts". College Football Data Warehouse . Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2020 via Wayback Machine.
  2. "M. A. C., 10; N. H. C., 4". The New Hampshire College Monthly. Vol. 5, no. 2. November 1897. pp. 44–45. Retrieved February 29, 2020 via Wayback Machine.
  3. "Football Season Opened". The Berkshire Eagle . Pittsfield, Massachusetts. October 4, 1897. p. 1. Retrieved March 1, 2020 via newspapers.com.
  4. "UMass, UNH rivalry game rebranded 'Colonial Clash'". The News Journal . Wilmington, Delaware. August 19, 2010. p. 26. Retrieved March 3, 2020 via newspapers.com.
  5. Larson, Craig (October 24, 2010). "Wildcats are the class of the Clash". The Boston Globe . p. C17. Retrieved March 3, 2020 via newspapers.com.
  6. Larson, Craig (October 23, 2010). "Evans hitting stride at UNH". The Boston Globe . p. C6. Retrieved March 3, 2020 via newspapers.com.
  7. Vega, Michael (October 23, 2011). "UNH bids adieu to UMass with win". The Boston Globe . p. C15. Retrieved March 3, 2020 via newspapers.com.
  8. "The Bill Knight Award". Newenglandfootball.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.