Albany

This weekend's game with Albany (1:00 pm, WMCX) is the biggest of the season for the Hawks as they take on Albany, who is undefeated in the NEC just as MU is. The contest will be a hard fough, grind it out style game as both teams will run the football. Conversely, both defense do a good job against the run, so it will be interesting to see who can impose their will on the other team.

I believe that MU's David Sinisi and the offensive line will establish tempo and Brett Burke is the difference. The QB from Wall has been nothing but steady in his time under center (or in Monmouth's case, in the Pistol), and I believe the fifth-year senior, as well as MU's linebackers, will determine the outcome of this one. No prediction, because the Hawks have won 5 straight, with most of them not having one, so we're keeping that trend going. I will be back tomorrow night to check in after the game and sort out the entire NEC picture.

Monmouth's Homecoming win over CCSU

The Hawks defeated Central Connecticut State 30-20 on Homecoming this past Saturday. Monmouth looked especially good in the game as they appeared in control for the majority of the contest. Central took a 6-0 lead early, but MU responded with 27 unanswered points to take control. Walter Payton Award watch list member, awarded to the best player in FCS, David Sinisi had another stellar day with 194 rushign yards and four touchdowns. With those four scores, Sinisi ties former Wagner back Rick Sarille for the all-time conference lead with 300 points.

From my perspective, the Hawks probably could have scored 50 points in the game with how Sinisi was running. TE John Nalbone had a huge first half and then was pretty quiet, but the game was never in doubt after halftime.

With the stretch run coming and Monmouth down to their final three games for the NEC Championship, including this week's HUGE game at Albany, the blog will turn up the coverage and deliver two updates a week before gameday. I'd like to know your thoughts as well as MU makes a push for the league title.

Monmouth-Wagner

The Hawks won their fourth straight game, and third straight to open NEC play, with a 31-17 win over Wagner on Saturday. MU rushed for 195 yards and Brett Burke was an efficient 23-of-28 on the day completing passes. More on this game to come early this week, but I want to pose the question to you out there, is Monmouth hitting the stride? The Hawks have now scored 30 or more points in each of their last four games, all wins.

I look forward to responses, and I will catch up with everyone early this week.

Monmouth-Saint Francis

The Hawks are rolling now after winning their third straight, and second consecutive NEC game to open league play, over Saint Francis 42-15 on Saturday. David Sinisi ran for a school-record 247 yards in the game on 32 carries (7.7 ypc!!) and scored four rushing TD's. The funny thing about Sinisi's performance is that he could have probably gained about another 50 yards easily, but with the game well in hand got some time to rest late in the 4th quarter.

The Game Ball (something new I'd like to introduce to the blog) goes to the offensive line, who opened up holes so big in the Red Flash defense that I might have been able to run for about 80 yards on Saturday, and only b/c I run about 8.5 40-yard dash. The o-line continued to get the job done, and all the credit in the world goes to Nick LoCastro, Joe Hurley, Andrew Musick, Shawn Wright and Kevin Sterling up front. Also, tight end John Nalbone, who also had a career-high 91 receiving yards, and RB Marion Easley deserve a lot of credit for their job blocking.

That was the best I have personally seen the Hawks look all season, and if it wasnt for a lull in the second quarter, they probably could have scored 60.