All five of the Week 7 games involving Coastal Athletic Association teams were either decided by one score, or within one-score margins in the fourth quarter. 

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• Rhode Island Defeats Brown 31-21 To Win Governor's Cup

All five winners came out on top thanks to big-time performances in the closing period. Here are three takeaways from a Saturday marked by clutch play all around the CAA. 

Special Teams Getting Things Done 

Rhode Island, which has made a habit of winning tightly contested games on its way to a 5-1 record, keeps finding new ways to come out on top. 

In its Week 7 Governor's Cup matchup with in-state rival Brown, the Rams special teams delivered the pivotal play. 

Gabe Salomons, who had a monster game for the Rhode Island defense with two tackles for loss, broke through to block Chris Maron's field-goal attempt with 8:44 remaining. The would-be game-tying kick instead allowed URI to slam the door. 

Peppering the Brown defense with Devon Silas carries, the Rams ate more than six minutes of the clock before Devin Farrell carried for a touchdown to seal the 31-21 victory. 

Devin Farrell does it himself 😤#CAAFB | @CAAFootball | @RhodyFootball pic.twitter.com/kBxRnPypEw

— FloFootball (@FloFootball) October 12, 2024

A blocked kick didn't seal the win for fellow CAA Week 7 victor New Hampshire, but it turned the tide in the Wildcats' 17-10 road win at Elon. 

With its offense struggling to get anything going against a feisty Phoenix defense, UNH got the jump-start it needed from Zeroun Skinner's block of Elon punter Jeff Yurk. 

That set up Seth Morgan and the Wildcats offense at the Elon 10-yard line just before halftime. Morgan cashing in the opportunity with a touchdown pass to Logan Tomlinson sent UNH into intermission with a boost that carried into the second half. 

Seth Morgan threads the needle 🪡#CAAFB | @CAAFootball | @UNH_Football pic.twitter.com/fcITUrDnjt

— FloFootball (@FloFootball) October 12, 2024

It wasn't just blocks playing a key part in CAA Week 7 wins, though. Specialists don't often get the credit they deserve for a perfectly executed kick or well-done coverage, but UAlbany's defeat of Bryant underscored the importance. 

Great Danes punter Owen Lawson boomed a 44-yard beauty with less than three minutes and UAlbany nursing a one-touchdown lead. The kicked, downed at the one-yard line, pinned the Bulldogs with limited options for their must-score drive. 

UAlbany's defense capitalized on the field position, culminating in Marcus Winfield's fourth-down sack of Jarrett Guest to give the Great Danes offense the ball inside the Bryant 10-yard line. A couple Jojo Uga carries later, UAlbany had a two-touchdown lead and was on its way to a second straight victory, improving to .500 on the season with the 24-17 decision. 

Defensive Difference-Makers 

Before the 2024 season, New Hampshire edge Josiah Silver cited former Wildcats teammate and current Las Vegas Raider Dylan Laube as inspiration. Silver recognized in Laube's trajectory that an NFL draft-worthy talent can catch the pros' attention at UNH. And did Silver ever deliver an attention-grabbing performance in Week 7. 

In one of the most dominant individual performances of this campaign at any level of the game, Silver racked up five tackles for loss including four sacks against Elon. 

Silver's now recorded at least one sack in three of New Hampshire's last four games, and his 12.5 tackles for loss are second-most in the nation. Along with continuing to prove his NFL potential, Silver has jumped to the forefront of the midseason Buck Buchanan Award conversation. 

While Silver likely sewed up National Defensive Player of the Week honors, his wasn't the only exceptional Week 7 performance on defense. In snagging his second interception of the season, Ty Davis completely flipped Delaware's 44-21 win over Maine. 

Highlights: New Hampshire vs Elon

The Black Bears were game for the challenge against the undefeated Fighting Blue Hens, pulling to within a two-point margin in the fourth quarter thanks in part to yet another big special-teams play. In this case, it was Trevin Ewing's 60-yard return of a punt to set the Maine offense up in Delaware territory. 

A goal-line touchdown rush from Tavion Banks capped the 35-yard drive and had the Black Bears in striking distance. But the Blue Hens going 74 yards in 10 plays to answer with a Zach Marker touchdown pass to Jake Thaw provided some breathing room — then Davis broke the game open. 

More noteworthy defensive performances from the CAA in Week 7: 

• UAlbany defensive lineman Chiebuka Aduaka made his first two sacks of the season, part of the Great Danes' seven sacks at Bryant. 
• Xavier Holmes racked up 13 tackles, including two for loss and a sack, in Delaware's win over Maine. 
• Ryan Toscano pitched into New Hampshire's incredible nine sacks at Elon with one. He also broke up a pass and produced a quarterback hurry in the best defensive effort of the season for the Wildcats.

Coming Through in the Clutch 

In a week defined by hard-fought matchups, the most cool-in-the-clutch performance of Week 7 may belong to Towson quarterback Sean Brown.

Brown's two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Jaceon Doss and Carter Runyon flipped a two-point deficit into a two-touchdown advantage for the Tigers. That proved invaluable down the stretch, as Towson held off Norfolk State, 28-23. 

Towson improved to .500 heading into the back half of its season and has a winning streak going into a huge matchup in Week 8 vs. Stony Brook. The Seawolves, idle in Week 7, have been one of the most surprising teams through the first half of the 2024 season. The winner of next week's showdown sets itself up nicely for a push toward the postseason in the final month of the regular season. 

When Do The 2024 FCS College Football Playoffs Start?

The FCS playoffs begin on November 30, 2024.

The 2024 Division I FCS College Football Championship game will be played on January 6, 2025, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

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