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FCS team of the week: Resilient CCSU is playoff-bound
(STATS) - Central Connecticut State coach Pete Rossomando loves that his team's preparation has remained constant all season, whether the Blue Devils were 0-3 back in September or getting ready for Saturday's de-facto Northeast Conference title game.
The calmness and focus paid off in the fourth quarter when they scored two touchdowns in the final six minutes and survived a missed field goal to win 28-27 at Duquesne and clinch the program's first bid to the FCS playoffs.
The STATS FCS Team of the Week is guaranteed at least a share of its fifth conference title and the first since 2010. The Blue Devils are on their first seven-game winning streak in 50 years.
"I thought our kids played hard - really, really impressed with the way they battled. I mean, we were down 13 late," Rossomando said.
Junior quarterback Jacob Dolegala played the hero, accounting for 299 yards of total offense and all four CCSU touchdowns.
Things were seriously in doubt for CCSU after Duquesne scored 20 points in an 8-minute, 35-second span over the third and fourth quarters to go ahead 27-14.
But Dolegala capped a 93-yard scoring drive with a 16-yard touchdown run with 5:16 left. Then, after a CCSU stop deep in Duquesne territory, the Blue Devils had great field position on their next possession and turned it into running back Cameron Nash's 18-yard catch and run for a score at the 2:17 mark. Frankie Palmer's PAT put them ahead by a point.
Duquesne drove from its 23 to the CCSU 1. With five seconds left, the Dukes went for a game-winning field goal, but John Domit missed from 18 yards out on a tough angle.
"Our kids just never wavered," Rossomando said.
And they're playoff-bound.
