September 24, 2025
Football Welcomes Dartmouth For Homecoming Game
The Blue Devils are 2-0 this season on Arute Field and have won seven consecutive home games
The Central Connecticut State football team returns to Arute Field on Saturday to host Dartmouth in the Homecoming Game. Kickoff is set for 12:00 pm.
CCSU Game Notes | Watch on NEC Front Row | Livestats | Tickets
Saturday's meeting will be the fourth all-time between the two squads, with the Big Green holding a 3-0 advantage. The two teams played on Arute Field in 2015, a 34-7 victory for Dartmouth. The teams last met in 2024, a 20-6 win for the Big Green in Hanover.
QUICK HITS
• Chris Jean had two interceptions at Merrimack, his second multi-interception game of his career and now has seven picks (three in the last two games) in his last five games played dating back to last season. He was named Defensive Player of the Week in the NEC for the second consecutive week.
• Elijah Howard had two rushing touchdowns at Merrimack, the third straight game that at least one CCSU player has scored two touchdowns in a game. He had 107 APY Saturday and was named the NEC Offensive Player of the Week
• CCSU is 2-0 at home this season and have won seven straight home games after going 5-0 in 2024
• Navon Mitchell was credited with a blocked field goal at Merrimack, the Blue Devils first blocked kick of the season
• Chris Jean is sixth amongst active FCS players with seven career interceptions, and most among sophomores in that category. He is 9th in the nation this season at 0.75 interceptions per game. Jean has four pass breakups as well, and his 1.75 passes defended a game is 7th in the nation. Jean is second on the team with 24 tackles, 21 of them solo stops.
• The Blue Devils were a season-high +5 in turnovers in the win over SFU. Entering play this week CCSU is +1.00 or the year in turnovers, ninth in the NCAA and are 9th in FCS in turnovers gained, at +4.
• For each of the past three games the Blue Devils have had a player with two touchdowns. Donovan Marcus rushed for a pair of touchdowns in the win over AIC. He then paired with Elijah Howard in the win over SFU to become the first duo to both score twice in the same game since 10/19/19 when Aaron Winchester (2 rushing) and Kyren Pettaway (2 receiving). did so. Howard then rushed for a pair of scores at Merrimack.
• Brayden Hall leads the NEC, and is 14th in FCS with his 12.3 yards per punt return this season. He has returned 10 punts, with a long of 28 during the season and is the only NEC punt returner averaging over 7.5 yards per return. Jadon Turner is third in the NEC at 24.0 yards per kick return with a long of 30.
• Elijah Howard (10.0/game) and Donovan Marcus 6.0/game) are first and third in the NEC in scoring. Howard has five touchdowns, three on the ground, while Marcus had four scores, also with three on the ground.
• The Blue Devils have stopped opponents on 4-5 of their fourth down attempts, and moved up to 7th in FCS at .200 in 4th down conversion percentage defense
• The Blue Devils defense is 16th in the nation with 7.0 TFL per game as a unit, with 13 different players recording at least a half TFL. Tymaine Smith (vs AIC), Gavin Taylor (vs SFU) and Jack Stoll (Merrimack) have the single-game highwater mark with 2.0 TFL this season. In the AIC win, 10 different players recorded at least one TFL. The Blue Devils had 11 TFL against AIC.
• Brady Olson has to spread the ball around, with 11 different players catching at least one pass this spring. Ten different players made at least one catch in the win over AIC. CCSU as 743 receiving yards this season, an average of 185.8 yards per game.
• CCSU is 14-16 in the red zone this season, scoring nine touchdowns and converting 6-7 field goal attempts. The 87.5% success rate is second in the NEC.
• Eight Blue Devils have at least one PBU this season, led by four apiece by Stylz Mitchell and Chris Jean.
• CCSU is 40th in the NCAA with 2.0 sacks per game, which is second in the NEC. The Blue Devils did not have a sack at Merrimack. Reggie Darkah is first on the team at 2.5 sacks and six different players have at least one sack this season.
