With just days separating New Hampshire from its first game of the 2019 college football season, Roger Brown weighs in on three things he learned from the Wildcats' blue/white scrimmage on Sunday:

1. Bret Edwards Is Trending Up & To The Right

No player helped himself more than quarterback Bret Edwards.

Edwards, a redshirt freshman from Lowell, Mass., is competing with true freshman Max Brosmer (Roswell, Ga.) to replace Trevor Knight as the team’s starting QB. Edwards posted impressive statistics — he completed 18 of 19 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns — and showed good mobility in the pocket.

Edwards didn’t see any game action last season and missed much of spring practice with bicep tendonitis. 

“Last year was a learning year for me so I was out there timid, not knowing where to put the ball sometimes, but this year I’ve put in a lot of work,” Edwards said. “Santos (quarterback coach Ricky Santos) has helped us out a lot with reads and coverages and just making us feel comfortable back there.

“I just think the offense was clicking. The O-line was holding their blocks, making the right blocks. The wideouts were running crisp routes. Everybody was just doing their job and when everybody does that it makes the game easier and you can move the ball and make plays.”

UNH coach Sean McDonnell said he was also impressed with how Brosmer performed. Brosmer, who graduated from high school early and joined the UNH program in January, completed 6 of 8 passes for 99 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

“That’s a pretty impressive stat,” McDonnell said after looking at Edwards’ completion percentage. “It’s good to see him play that way. Still a competition though. Walking away from here we’re about 15, 16 practices in. Next week, real important, we’ll figure out where we’re going with that (QB) position.”

2. Uncertainty Remains At Inside Linebacker

It’s still uncertain who will line up at inside linebacker next to Michael Balsamo when UNH opens the season Sept. 7 at Holy Cross.

Linebacker figured to be a position of strength for the Wildcats, but that changed when Quinlen Dean transferred to Marshall following spring practice. Other than Balsamo, a senior who has played in 24 games (four starts) in the past two seasons, UNH has little experience at that position.

“Mike Balsamo’s going to be the No. 1 linebacker, I can tell you that,” McDonnell said. “Then I think you got (Cameron) Brusko, (J.J.) Jerome … our two freshmen have played pretty well  — (Zedane) Williams and (Oleh) Manzyk — and then Nellie Thomas played pretty good (in the scrimmage).

“We’re gonna get in this mode next week where we start separating a little bit, when we see how they do in good on good.”

Balsamo, who began his college career as a safety, was named one of four team captains Sunday. The other captains are senior safety Pop Lacey, senior cornerback Isiah Perkins, and senior running back Evan Gray. 

3. Espanet Breaks Out

The Wildcats may have found a receiver to complement senior Malik Love.

Sophomore Brian Espanet opened some eyes by catching 11 passes for 169 yards and three touchdowns. Two of his TD catches came from Edwards (26 and 4 yards), and Brosmer threw the other one (13 yards).

His strong performance came one day after he drew the ire of the UNH coaching staff.

“I chewed his tail off (Saturday),” McDonnell said. “He had a bad practice. I was very happy to see him come back and play the way he did. He’s a talented kid, and now we have to make sure that he continues to practice like he (played) here. Can’t happen once. It has to happen every day in my mind. Things we saw on high school tape showed up here today. Those things usually don’t lie, but he’s gotta get better. Gotta keep getting better.”

UNH graduated receivers Neil O’Connor and Kieran Presley, who accounted for 104 of the team’s 183 receptions last year. Espanet finished the 2018 season with three catches for 19 yards.

Love caught a team-high 59 passes as a freshman and followed that up with 70 receptions as a sophomore, but he missed most of last season with a hamstring injury. He’s the only wide receiver on the roster with significant game experience.

Espanet isn’t a blazer, but he is a big target (6-foot-3, 205 pounds).

“Thought I had some good weave in my routes to be able to get separation,” Espanet said. “Offensive line did a great job giving Bret and Max time to get the ball out. … I think I did my job well getting open and securing the ball. We’re on to the purple. On to Holy Cross.”

Here are the eight UNH games (five home, three away) scheduled to be streamed live by FloFootball this season:

Sept. 21 vs. Rhode Island* (6 p.m.)
Sept. 28 vs. Duquesne (1 p.m.)
Oct. 5 vs. Elon* (3:30 p.m.)
Oct. 12 at Stony Brook* (6 p.m.)
Oct. 19 at Delaware* (1 p.m.)
Nov. 2 vs. Villanova* (1 p.m.)
Nov. 16 at Albany* (1 p.m.)
Nov. 23 vs. Maine* (1 p.m.)

* CAA Conference Game