On Sept. 19, 2026, the University of New Hampshire’s Wildcat football team hosted the Harvard Crimson in Wildcat Stadium. Unfortunately for the home team, the Crimson were an astounding 17-point favorite. The Wildcats did an excellent job of shutting down the veteran Crimson offense in the first quarter. By the end of the first, the upset looked extremely promising.
In addition to the hopeful win, the Wildcat fans got hyped for the annual chalk toss, held every year at the beginning of the Wildcat football season. The Cat Pack, made up of both students and alumni, have participated in this hype event for decades, and if tradition continues, hopefully many more to come.
The chalk toss was initiated by the Cat Pack leaders, where they handed out handfuls of ‘chalk’ to the participants, waited for the countdown, and threw the smokey handfuls into the air to get pumped up for the game, to bring the UNH community together, and to bring victory to UNH.
Shortly after however, the Wildcat’s hype train wore off quickly as the Crimson opened the second quarter with a 1-yard touchdown (TD).
With their first redzone opportunity, the Wildcats stayed in the game with a rushing TD, but their fire went out quickly after the Harvard 20-yard option reverse touchdown, which extended their lead to 7.
Shortly after, a brutal interception in their own territory in the final 20 seconds of the half brought the Crimson back into the redzone, which led to a two-score lead. The Wildcats headed back into the locker room, heads hung low, down 21-7.
The Crimson got the ball after half, the Wildcat defence looked fierce and they forced the Crimson to either punt or try to go up another three. Fortunately for the Wildcats, the career-long field goal came up just short. The teams traded interceptions, ending in a Harvard field goal, which set the score 24-7.
With defeat already in sight, the Wildcats went three-and-out which ultimately caused another Crimson TD. The teams traded possessions until Harvard took a knee, winning the game 31-7.
Sadly, tradition wasn’t enough for the Wildcats to get the victory. Maybe next week the Wildcats can get the win when they travel to play Sacred Heart, who is currently 0-2.
