2012 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

The 2012 New Hampshire Wildcats football team represented the University of New Hampshire in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 14th-year head coach Sean McDonnell and played their home games at Cowell Stadium. They are a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. They finished the season 8–4, 6–2 in CAA play. Due to Old Dominion (7–1 in CAA play) being ineligible for the CAA title, the Wildcats finished in a four way tie for the CAA championship. They received an at-large bid into the FCS playoffs where they lost in the second round to Wofford.

2012 New Hampshire Wildcats football
Colonial Athletic Association co-champion
FCS Playoffs Second Round, L 7–23 vs. Wofford
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 11
FCS Coaches	No. 13
2012 record	8–4 (6–2 CAA)
Head coach	Sean McDonnell (14th season)
Offensive coordinator	Ryan Carty
Defensive coordinator	John Lyons
Home stadium	Cowell Stadium (Capacity: 6,500)

2012 Colonial Athletic Association football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 6 Old Dominion ^		7	–	1					11	–	2
No. 18 Richmond +		6	–	2					8	–	3
No. 13 New Hampshire +^		6	–	2					8	–	4
No. 15 Villanova +^		6	–	2					8	–	4
No. 17 Towson +		6	–	2					7	–	4
No. 19 James Madison		5	–	3					7	–	4
Maine		4	–	4					5	–	6
Delaware		2	–	6					5	–	6
William & Mary		1	–	7					2	–	9
Rhode Island		0	–	8					0	–	11
Georgia State		0	–	0					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Georgia State's conference record was 0–0, and it did not occupy a spot in the overall standings. Old Dominion was ineligible for the conference championship because of its announced departure for Conference USA in 2013. Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	7:30 PM	at Holy Cross*	No. 14	Fitton Field Worcester, MA		W 38–17	12,291
September 8	12:00 PM	at Minnesota*	No. 14	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	L 7–44	47,022
September 15	12:00 PM	Central Connecticut*	No. 18	Cowell Stadium Durham, NH	UNHTV	W 43–10	7,784
September 22	12:00 PM	at No. 5 Old Dominion	No. 18	Foreman Field Norfolk, VA	CSN	L 61–64	20,068
September 29	12:00 PM	No. 8 Delaware	No. 20	Cowell Stadium Durham, NH	UNHTV	W 34–14	7,058
October 6	3:30 PM	at Georgia State	No. 14	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA		W 44–21	9,531
October 13	12:00 PM	Richmond	No. 12	Cowell Stadium Durham, NH	UNHTV	W 44–40	12,834
October 20	12:00 PM	at Maine	No. 12	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME (Battle for the Brice-Cowell Musket)	CSN	W 28–21	4,873
October 27	12:00 PM	at Rhode Island	No. 12	Meade Stadium Kingston, RI		W 40–20	5,127
November 3	12:00 PM	William & Mary	No. 11	Cowell Stadium Durham, NH	UNHTV	W 28–25	5,521
November 17	12:00 PM	No. 19 Towson	No. 7	Cowell Stadium Durham, NH	CSN	L 35–64	5,531
December 1	2:00 PM	at No. 9 Wofford*	No. 11	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	L 7–23	6,346
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network FCS Poll released prior to game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Source: Schedule

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
Sports Network	14	14	18	18	20	14	12	12	12	11	10	7	11
Coaches	12	12	18	19	22	17	13	14	12	11	10	7	13

References