The Worcester State Lancers football team represents Worcester State University in college football at the NCAA Division III level. The Lancers are members of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC), fielding its team in the MASCAC since 2013. The Lancers play their home games at John F. Coughlin Field in Worcester, Massachusetts.[2]
| Worcester State Lancers football | |
|---|---|
| First season | 1962 |
| Athletic director | Michael Mudd |
| Head coach | Zach Besaw (interim) 1st season, 2–2 (.500) |
| Stadium | John F. Coughlin Field (capacity: 2,500) |
| Field surface | FieldTurf |
| Location | Worcester, Massachusetts |
| NCAA division | Division III |
| Conference | MASCAC |
| Past conferences | Independent NEFC |
| All-time record | 185–181 (.505) |
| Rivalries | Fitchburg State (Sterling Cup) |
| Colors | Blue and gold[1] |
| Mascot | Lancer |
| Website | wsulancers.com |
Their head coach is Adam Peloquin, who took over the position for the 2020 season.[3]
Conference affiliations
edit- Club team (1969–1984)
- Independent (1985)[4]
- New England Football Conference (1986–2012)[5]
- Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (2013–present)[6]
Championships
editConference championships
editWorcester State claims 3 conference titles, the most recent of which came in 1997.
| Year | Conference | Overall Record | Conference Record | Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | New England Football Conference | 9–2 | 8–0 | Brien Cullen |
| 1996 | 10–1 | 8–0 | ||
| 1997† | 8–3 | 7–1 |
† Co-champions
Division championships
editWorcester State claims 4 division titles, the most recent of which came in 2011.
| Year | Division | Coach | Overall Record | Conference Record | Opponent | CG result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | NEFC South | Brien Cullen | 7–2 | 5–0 | Plymouth State | L 0–40 |
| 1988 | 7–3 | 5–1 | Plymouth State | L 0–62 | ||
| 2000† | NEFC Bogan | 7–2 | 5–1 | N/A lost tiebreaker to Bridgewater State | ||
| 2011† | 8–3 | 6–2 | N/A lost tiebreaker to Framingham State | |||
† Co-champions
Postseason games
editBowl games
editWorcester State has participated in seven bowl games, and has a record of 1–6.
| Season | Coach | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Brien Cullen | ECAC Bowl | RPI | L 12–69 |
| 1996 | ECAC Bowl | Ithaca | L 21–27 | |
| 1997 | ECAC Bowl | RPI | L 13–14 | |
| 2001 | ECAC Bowl | Curry | W 36–35 | |
| 2002 | ECAC Bowl | RPI | L 29–55 | |
| 2003 | ECAC Bowl | UMass Dartmouth | L 7–21 | |
| 2011 | ECAC Bowl | Salve Regina | L 6–26 |
List of head coaches
editKey
edit| General | Overall | Conference | Postseason[A 1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Order of coaches[A 2] | GC | Games coached | CW | Conference wins | PW | Postseason wins |
| DC | Division championships | OW | Overall wins | CL | Conference losses | PL | Postseason losses |
| CC | Conference championships | OL | Overall losses | CT | Conference ties | PT | Postseason ties |
| NC | National championships | OT | Overall ties[A 3] | C% | Conference winning percentage | ||
| † | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage[A 4] | ||||
Coaches
edit| No. | Name | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | DC | CC | NC | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brien Cullen[10] | 1985–2019 | 346 | 181 | 165 | 0 | 0.523 | 130 | 111 | 0 | 0.539 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 5× NEFC Coach of the Year (1987, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2011) |
| 2 | Adam Peloquin[11] | 2020–present | 20 | 4 | 16 | 0 | 0.200 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 0.250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
Year-by-year results
edit| National champions | Conference champions | Bowl game berth | Playoff berth |
| Season | Year | Head Coach |
Association | Division | Conference | Record | Postseason | Final ranking | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Conference | |||||||||||||
| Win | Loss | Tie | Finish | Win | Loss | Tie | ||||||||
| Worcester State Lancers | ||||||||||||||
| 1983 | 1983 | Brien Cullen | Club team | |||||||||||
| 1984 | 1984 | |||||||||||||
| 1985 | 1985 | NCAA | Division III | Independent | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1986 | 1986 | NEFC | 4 | 5 | 0 | 7th | 4 | 5 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1987 | 1987 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1st (South) | 5 | 0 | 0 | Conference champions | — | ||||
| 1988 | 1988 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1st (South) | 5 | 1 | 0 | Conference champions | — | ||||
| 1989 | 1989 | 4 | 5 | 0 | T–2nd (South) | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1990 | 1990 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2nd (South) | 5 | 1 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1991 | 1991 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 5th | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1992 | 1992 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 8th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1993 | 1993 | 6 | 3 | 0 | T–3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1994 | 1994 | 8 | 2 | 0 | T–3rd | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1995 | 1995 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1st | 8 | 0 | 0 | L ECAC Northeast Bowl | — | ||||
| 1996 | 1996 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1st | 8 | 0 | 0 | L ECAC Northeast Bowl | — | ||||
| 1997 | 1997 | 8 | 3 | 0 | T–1st | 7 | 1 | 0 | L ECAC Northeast Bowl | — | ||||
| 1998 | 1998 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 4th (Bogan) | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1999 | 1999 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 6th (Bogan) | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2000 | 2000 | 7 | 2 | 0 | T–1st (Bogan) | 5 | 1 | 0 | Conference champions | — | ||||
| 2001 | 2001 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 2nd (Bogan) | 5 | 1 | 0 | W ECAC Northeast Bowl | — | ||||
| 2002 | 2002 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2nd (Bogan) | 5 | 1 | 0 | L ECAC Northeast Bowl | — | ||||
| 2003 | 2003 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2nd (Bogan) | 5 | 1 | 0 | L ECAC Northeast Bowl | — | ||||
| 2004 | 2004 | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–4th (Bogan) | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2005 | 2005 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4th (Bogan) | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2006 | 2006 | 4 | 6 | 0 | T–4th (Bogan) | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2007 | 2007 | 4 | 6 | 0 | T–4th (Bogan) | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2008 | 2008 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 7th (Bogan) | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2009 | 2009 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 8th (Bogan) | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2010 | 2010 | 5 | 5 | 0 | T–4th (Bogan) | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2011 | 2011 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1st (Bogan) | 6 | 2 | 0 | L ECAC Northwest Bowl | — | ||||
| 2012 | 2012 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 5th (Bogan) | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2013 | 2013 | MASCAC | 3 | 7 | 0 | T–8th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2014 | 2014 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2015 | 2015 | 4 | 6 | 0 | T–4th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2016 | 2016 | 3 | 7 | 0 | T–6th | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2017 | 2017 | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2018 | 2018 | 2 | 8 | 0 | T–8th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2019 | 2019 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 9th | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| Season canceled due to Covid-19 | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2021 | Adam Peloquin | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7th | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — |
| 2022 | 2022 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 8th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2023 | 2023 | — | — | |||||||||||
Notes
edit- ^ Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.[7]
- ^ A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
- ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[8]
- ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[9]
References
edit- ^ "Worcester State Style Guide". Retrieved December 7, 2018.
- ^ "No. 14 Union Football Topples Worcester State". Union College Athletics. September 11, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
- ^ "Peloquin Named Head Football Coach". alumni.worcester.edu. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
- ^ "Celebrating 50 Years of Football". alumni.worcester.edu. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
- ^ "NEFC Timeline".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference". MASCAC. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
- ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
- ^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
- ^ Toland, Jennifer. "College football: Brien Cullen retires after 37 years as Worcester State football coach". The Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
- ^ Toland, Jennifer. "'Our program is on its way to having continued success,' Spencer's Adam Peloquin earns full-time job for Worcester State football". The Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Retrieved March 18, 2023.