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CASTLETON, Vt. - Christopher Newport University will be looking for its tenth straight victory Saturday afternoon when the 21st-ranked Captains take on the Spartans of Vermont State-Castleton. Kickoff for the first meeting ever of the schools is set for 12:00 noon at Dave Wolk Stadium.
Paul Crowley's squad is 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), while Castleton has a 2-2 overall record and an 0-1 league mark.
"A long trip like this builds character and makes us stronger," Crowley said heading into the road trip. "I think every time we're together as a team for a road game, we develop stronger bonds and learn more about each other. The camaraderie that develops really does make us a more cohesive unit and down the stretch of a game or a season that sometimes can be the difference."
CNU is coming off an exciting conference opener at Rowan last Saturday that saw the Captains battle back from a 20-6 first half deficit to win in double overtime over the Profs, 49-41. The victory, the ninth straight for the Captains dating back to last year, set a new program record for consecutive wins. The previous high of eight straight was set during the 2008 season when CNU went 8-2 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament as Champions of the USA South Athletic Conference.
Christopher Newport junior quarterback
Connor Barry continues to sizzle for CNU, again the top quarterback in the country in pass efficiency for the second straight week. The Vienna, Va., product has thrown for 17 scores with just one interception this season, and has 80 completions in 120 attempts so far. He has thrown for 1,377 yards and is currently tied for second in the country in touchdown passes, behind only Utica's Tyler Szalkowski, who has thrown 18 scoring strikes. He is also second in yards per pass attempt with 11.5 behind only Maryville's Bryson Rollins (12.0).Barry has been named the NJAC's Offensive Player of the Week three times, including the last two weeks, and was also named to the National Team of the Week this week by D3football.com.
This is the first year VSU-Castleton has been a member of the NJAC, and the Spartans opened conference play last week with a 32-7 loss at William Paterson. Castleton opened the season with a 16-12 victory at Westfield State, and followed with a home win over Norwich, 30-8. The Spartans ended September with a home loss to New England, 35-8, before opening NJAC play last Saturday.
Vermont will become the 13th state the Captains have played in over the 25-year history of the program. CNU has seen action in a dozen different states, as well as the District of Columbia, since the start of football in 2001. Indiana became the 12th state in the opener last season when the Captains traveled to the Hoosier state and beat Trine University, 42-6. Here are the states the Captains have played in and CNU's record in each state: Virginia (101-51), New Jersey (16-10), North Carolina (18-5), Maryland (5-12), Pennsylvania (4-6), Tennessee (5-0), Delaware (0-4), Texas (0-2), Georgia (1-0), Indiana (1-0), Alabama (0-1), Ohio (0-1), and D.C. (1-0).
Saturday's game will complete the first half of the regular season for CNU. All Christopher Newport games are broadcast live on the Home of the Captains, Xtra 99.1 FM and CNUsports.com. The pre-game show Saturday will begin at 11:30 a.m.
Links are provided at the top of this story to the live video of the game, which will be produced by Castleton on a pay site only, as well as the CNU Radio Broadcast and the complete CNU game notes package.
