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EWING – Since Kean University’s football program’s inception in 1970, the College of New Jersey and Kean have been bitter rivals. But, since 2007, Kean has dominated the matchup, winning seven of the last 10 matchups.
TCNJ will host the Cougars, Oct. 21st, at noon in its homecoming game, as the Lions look to take a first step toward re-evening the rivalry and avoid a 1-6 start to the 2017 season.
Kean has spoiled the College’s homecoming in the past.
In 2012, TCNJ fell to the Cougars 34-30. What was supposed to be a hard-fought win for the Lions turned into a crushing defeat when Kean scored a touchdown with less than 40 seconds left on the clock.
The legendary head coach of the Lions at the time, Eric Hamilton, was interviewed after the game by Chris Molicki, a writer for The Signal – TCNJ’s student-run newspaper.
“With all the talent a team like Kean has, we never felt like we had the game under control,” Hamilton said at the time. “A couple of plays in the fourth quarter might have helped us keep them out, but in the end, they wore us down and made the plays they had to.”
Fast-forward five years to this homecoming game. Both teams have faced tough, nationally-ranked, opponents, but Kean has the luxury of a veteran head coach (Dan Garrett) that has been with the program since 2006, winning New Jersey Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors twice since his tenure started.
TCNJ, on the other hand, is still developing and transitioning to new systems under head coach Casey Goff who has only been with the team since July.
Goff feels confident in his team. All around the locker-room there seems to be a confident that exudes from this Lions team, according to defense line coach Marcel Wynychuck.
“Guys have grown into their positions,” Wynychuk said. “Guys are really starting to understand the systems. They are really starting to have confidence in themselves. They are starting to reap the rewards of that after last week’s win. They are playing better now than they did in week one.”
The Lions will look to keep their momentum going with quarterback Trevor Osler, after last week’s win against NJAC rival Rowan University. Osler has had back-to-back career highs in passing yards the last two weeks, earning him NJAC Player of the Week last week.
“As far as Trevor is concerned, he’s a senior that works his balls off,” Goff said. “He works hard in the film room, so he has a great understanding of what’s going on in game situations. He knows where to go with the football.”