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NEC Offensive Player of the Week: Galen Combs, Robert Morris
NEC Defensive Player of the Week: Khalil Hunter, Robert Morris
NEC Special Teams Player of the Week: Liam Quigley, New Haven
NEC Rookie of the Week: Davon Smith, Jr., Central Connecticut

Previous NEC Releases: Preseason Poll Release | Streaming/TV Package Release

NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Galen Combs, Robert Morris
Wide Receiver, Sophomore, 6-2, 190, Cincinnati, OH/Withrow (Charleston)
Week Zero Stats: 3 TD (2 offensive), 104 receiving yards, 4 receptions, 26.6 yards per reception, 22 punt return yards (blocked punt and recovery for TD)
Combs stole the show in Robert Morris’ season debut at Wagner on Saturday, a matchup that also served as the first NEC game of the 2026 campaign. The sophomore wide receiver accounted three of the Colonials’ four touchdowns to help his team cruise to the commanding 28-7 win. Combs, who closed out the day with a career-high — and league-leading — 104 receiving yards on four catches, set the tone early when he blocked a punt, recovered it and returned it 22 yards for a first-quarter score. Later in the game, the Cincinnati native gave Robert Morris a 21-7 cushion with 2:03 left in the third after he hauled in a 64-yard touchdown pass from Carson Haggard. Combs put the game away in the fourth quarter, delivering his third score of the day on a 15-yard pass with 5:35 to go in the fourth. He is the first Colonial to garner NEC Offensive Player of the Week distinction on Opening Weekend since two-time All-NEC First Team running back Sam Dorsett did so in 2003.

NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Khalil Hunter, Robert Morris
Linebacker, Redshirt Senior, 6-1, 225, Miami, FL/St. Thomas Aquino’s (Florida A&M)
Week Zero Stats: 8 tackles (3 solo), 2.5 TFL (8 yards), 1.5 sacks (6 yards)
Hunter delivered a lockdown effort for a Robert Morris defense that did not concede a touchdown in Saturday’s season-opening win at Wagner. With the Seahawks’ lone score coming by way of a pick-6 in the second quarter, Hunter and the Colonials coasted to the 28-7 win in a game that also served as their first NEC contest of the 2026 campaign. Hunter, a redshirt senior linebacker from Miami, racked up a career-high eight tackles, including three solo stops, to go along with a league-leading 2.5 tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks. Thanks to the Floridian’s contributions, Robert Morris limited Wagner to just 97 total yards of offense, six first downs and a 1-of-6 mark on third-down conversions. He is the first Colonial to earn NEC Defensive Player of the Week recognition since Oct. 28, 2024, when Jamar Shegog took home the honor. 

NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Liam Quigley, New Haven
Kicker/Punter, Senior, 5-8, 195, Berkeley Heights, NJ/Governor Livingston
Week Zero Stats: 3-for-4 FG (38, 35, 19 yards), 1-1 PAT, go-ahead FG with 4:07 remaining
Quigley helped New Haven avenge last year’s season-opening defeat to Marist on Friday when he converted on the go-ahead field goal — a 19-yarder — with 4:07 left to play in the fourth quarter at DellaCamera Stadium. That field goal, which was his third of the evening, capped a game-ending 12-0 run that sealed the thrilling 22-21 triumph against the Pioneer League foe. A product of the Garden State, Quigley put the Chargers on the board and gave his team the early advantage with his first score, a 38-yard field goal at the 8:57 mark of the first quarter. With his team facing a 21-10 deficit, the veteran converted on a 35-yarder with 10:57 to go in the third to spark New Haven’s comeback. Quigley racked up 10 points in the win and was the lone NEC kicker to put up double digits on the weekend. This is his first career NEC Atlantic Tomorrow's Office Special Teams Player of the Week award, and the first for a Charger in program history.

NEC/ATLANTIC TOMORROW'S OFFICE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Davon Smith, Jr., Central Connecticut 
Running Back, Sophomore, 6-0, 190, Baltimore, MD/Mervo
Week Zero Stats: 105 kickoff return yards (21-yard long), 6 kickoff returns, 36 rushing yards, 8 carries, 142 all-purpose yards
Smith racked up a team-best 142 all-purpose yards on Saturday against a stiff competitor in South Dakota, which entered the season opener as the No. 12 team in the nation. The sophomore running back eclipsed the century mark in kickoff return yards after he totaled a personal-best 105 on six attempts. In addition, Smith, who hails from Baltimore, contributed 36 rushing yards on eight carries, both of which are career-best marks.


#NECFB PRIME PERFORMERS (Week Zero)

Rafael Fasolino, LIU (LB, R-Sr)
Fasolino stuffed the stat sheet in LIU’s season opener at No. 10 North Dakota on Thursday night. In addition to delivering a game-high 10 tackles, including eight solo stops, the redshirt senior linebacker added a pick and one quarterback hurry for the Sharks, who pitched a second-half shutout against the Fighting Hawks.
 
Luca Stanzani, LIU (QB, Gr)
For the fifth time in his career, Stanzani registered at least one passing touchdown and one rushing score when he put up one apiece at No. 10 North Dakota on Thursday. The veteran quarterback threw for 173 yards and helped the Sharks cut a 42-point halftime deficit in half with his two second-half scores.
 
Teddy McDuffie, MU (LB, Jr)
McDuffie pushed No. 9 Youngstown State’s offense back a total of eight yards after he delivered 1.5 sacks in Mercyhurst’s season opener in the Buckeye State on Saturday. The junior linebacker closed out the contest with seven tackles, including four solo stops. 
 
AJ Duffy, NHVN (QB, Gr)
Duffy sandwiched a pair of crucial touchdown passes between two Liam Quigley field goals to help New Haven storm back from an 11-point deficit and seal the come-from-behind 22-21 home win over Marist on Friday night. The graduate student racked up a game-high 311 passing yards to pace all NEC quarterbacks during Opening Weekend.
 
Isaac Glaudin, NHVN (WR, Jr)
Glaudin came one receiving yard shy of the century mark in New Haven’s 22-21 victory against visiting Marist on Friday night. The junior wide receiver’s lone touchdown catch — a 39-yarder from graduate student AJ Duffy — pulled the Chargers within two before senior kicker Liam Quigley completed the comeback with a 19-yard field goal with 4:07 left to play.
 
Galen Combs, RMU (WR, So)
Combs, the NEC Offensive Player of the Week, was spectacular in Robert Morris’ NEC debut at Wagner with 104 receiving yards, four catches and three touchdowns, including two offensive scores. The sophomore wide receiver set the tone for the Colonials in the 28-7 win after he opened the scoring with a blocked punt, recovery and 22-yard return for a touchdown in the opening quarter. 
 
Khalil Hunter, RMU (LB, R-Sr)
Hunter anchored a Robert Morris defense that held Wagner without an offensive touchdown in Saturday’s NEC-opening 28-7 triumph at Hameline Field. The redshirt senior linebacker delivered three solo tackles, five assisted stops, 2.5 tackles for a loss of eight yards and 1.5 sacks for a loss of six yards to also garner NEC Defensive Player of the Week distinction.
 
Julio Tatis, WAG (DB, Jr)
Tatis put Wagner on the board in its NEC and season opener on Saturday with a pick 6. Returning his first career interception 40 yards, the junior defensive back also contributed four solo tackles.

 
#NECFB SLATE ROUTES (AROUND THE LEAGUE IN 9 SENTENCES):

CENTRAL CONNECTICUT: Opening the 2026 campaign at then-ranked #12 South Dakota, Central Connecticut is set to take on another top 25 FCS opponent on Sept. 19 in #1 Montana State.

CHICAGO STATE: History was made in the Windy City on Saturday when Chicago State hit the gridiron of SeatGeek Stadium for the program’s inaugural football game against Roosevelt.

DUQUESNE: Duquesne, which was idle during Week Zero, kicks off 2026 with three-straight road contests, beginning with a tilt at FBS opponent Air Force on Saturday.
 
LIU: LIU held #10 North Dakota scoreless in the second half of Thursday’s season opener, forcing a turnover on downs and a missed field goal before registering an interception in that stretch.

MERCYHURST: Thomas Sydeski kicked off a new era of Mercyhurst football at #9 Youngstown State on Thursday as it marked the former offensive coordinator and quarterback coach’s head-coaching debut. 

NEW HAVEN: In each of New Haven’s last two games dating back to the 2025 season finale, the Chargers have overcome double-digit halftime deficits to score wins vs. Merrimack and Marist.
 
ROBERT MORRIS: Robert Morris took down Wagner in Staten Island on Saturday for the Colonials’ first season-opening road victory since the 2003 campaign.
 
STONEHILL: Stonehill, which outgained Bryant in passing yards by a 96-yard margin, held a Bulldogs’ squad that averaged 203.7 passing yards per game a year ago to 108 yards in Saturday’s season debut.

WAGNER: Registering at least one pick in each of its last three NEC games dating back to last season, Wagner has also had at least one defensive score in each of those contests.


#NECFB EXTRA POINTS:

• Three NEC squads ran through the FCS gauntlet with Opening Weekend games against teams ranked inside the top 15 of the Stats Perform Preseason Poll. Mercyhurst kicked off 2026 at #9 Youngstown State, LIU began its season at #10 North Dakota and CCSU faced #12 South Dakota. 
• LIU graduate quarterback Luca Stanzani registered a touchdown throw and a rushing score at #10 North Dakota, marking the fifth time in his career he accomplishes the feat.
• Stanzani has 14 rushing scores on his career, the sixth-most among all active FCS players and the third-most among the subdivision’s returning quarterbacks.
• LIU redshirt senior quarterback Ethan Greenwood has amassed 1,560 career rushing yards to rank fifth among active FCS players and second among quarterbacks behind Southern Illinois senior DJ Williams (1,829).
• New Haven’s 22-21 home win over Marist avenged last year’s season-opening defeat — a 31-14 final — suffered at the hands of the Red Foxes in Poughkeepsie. 
• New Haven graduate student AJ Duffy threw for 300-or-more yards against a Division I opponent for the third time in his career in Friday’s win over Marist with 311. 
• The Chargers’ signal caller has turned the trick twice against the Red Foxes, previously accomplishing the feat in New Haven’s first-ever Division I game last season on Aug. 29 after racking up 377 yards through the air.
• New Haven senior wideout Nate Burleson II is the son of CBS’s NFL Today host Nate Burleson, who played 11 seasons in the NFL with the Vikings (2003-05), Seahawks (2006-09) and the Lions (2010-13).
• A transfer from Nevada, Burleson II had two receptions for 78 yards in his Chargers’ debut against Marist, including a 46-yard touchdown catch from AJ Duffy that helped fuel the team’s game-ending 12-0 that secured the come-from-behind 22-21 win.
• Robert Morris has won each of its past three games against Wagner when facing the Seahawks in Staten Island.
• New Haven is set to make its NEC debut on Saturday when it hosts Stonehill at 12 pm. The two squads last met in 2021 as members of the NE10, a tilt that went in favor of the Chargers by a 42-20 final. 

2026 #NECFB WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS:

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Aug. 31: Galen Combs (Robert Morris)
Sept. 7: 

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Aug. 31: Khalil Hunter (Robert Morris)
Sept. 7: 

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Aug. 31: Liam Quigley (New Haven)
Sept. 7: 

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Aug. 31: Davon Smith, Jr. (Central Connecticut)
Sept. 7: