Know the opponent: Central Connecticut
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – With the 2017 Bryant University football season less than two months away, Bryant Athletics will take a look at all 11 opponents the Bulldogs will face this season.
The Bulldogs will head on the road in week 8, as they make the short trip to the Constitution State to face Central Connecticut on October 21.
Opponent: Central Connecticut (Website)
Date|Time: Saturday, Oct. 21 | 12:00 PM
Location: Arute Field (New Britain, Conn.)
All-time series: Central Connecticut leads, 5-4
First played: Aug. 30, 2008 | CCSU 42, Bryant 35 (New Britain, Conn.)
Last played: Sept. 24, 2016 | Bryant 45, CCSU 25 (Smithfield, R.I.)
Series History: Bryant and Central Connecticut will be meeting for the 10th-straight season in 2017. The Blue Devils hold a 5-4 lead in the all-time series thanks to four-straight victories from 2008-11. Bryant, however, has won four of the last five meetings and has scored 28+ points in each of the last five games. The Black and Gold are 2-3 against the Blue Devils on the road, dropping a 35-33 affair back in 2015.
Last time they met: Playing in front of 4,514 fans on Homecoming and Reunion Weekend, Bryant outscored CCSU 21-0 in the second quarter and racked up 460 yards of total offense on its way to a 45-25 victory.
QB Dalton Easton accounted for three touchdowns, two throwing and one rushing, while Hunter Taute carried the ball six times for 30 yards and two scores. He also caught three passes for 36 yards in one the best all-around games of his career.
Then redshirt freshman Jean Constant (Delray Beach, Fla.) opened the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown run on a reverse and TDs from Taute, Easton and Keenan Thompson extended Bryant's lead to 28-7 at the half. Taute would add another rushing score in the second half and Joe Fine's (Cumberland, R.I.) 34-yard TD reception put the game away in the fourth quarter.
Throwback: Bryant came from behind to defeat Central Connecticut, 28-25, on Nov. 10, 2012. After starting the year 0-4 in Northeast Conference play, the Bulldogs took a three-game winning streak to CCSU in an attempt to finish at .500. The Blue Devils jumped out to a 17-7 lead in the second quarter but Ryan Barrett's 15-yard TD reception with 1:42 left in the half sparked the Black and Gold. Jordan Brown would give Bryant the lead with a one-yard run in the third quarter and Ricardo McCray made it 28-17 with a 49-yard scamper with 1:15 left in the third.