Fitchburg State Falcons football
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2nd season, 5–15 (.250)
| Fitchburg State Falcons football | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First season | 1984 |
| Athletic director | Matthew Burke |
| Head coach | Izzy Abraham 2nd season, 5–15 (.250) |
| Location | Fitchburg, Massachusetts |
| Stadium | Elliot Field (capacity: 1,200) |
| NCAA division | Division III |
| Conference | MASCAC |
| Colors | Green and yellow[1] |
| All-time record | 130–293–1 (.308) |
| Bowl record | 0–3 (.000) |
| Conference division championships | |
| 2 NEFC Bogan Division (2004–2005) | |
| Rivalries | Worcester State (Sterling Cup) |
| Mascot | Falcons |
| Website | fitchburgfalcons.com |
The Fitchburg State Falcons football team represents Fitchburg State University in college football at the NCAA Division III level. The Falcons are members of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, fielding its team in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference since 2013. The Falcons play their home games at Elliot Field in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.[2]
Fitchburg State is known for the longest college football losing streak at the time, which ended in 1989 after thirty-plus losses. The school was featured in many news sources, such as The New York Times, ESPN, and many local newspapers.[3] Fitchburg State defeated Southeastern Massachusetts on October 14, 1989, by the score of 33–7. Thanks to notable plays by the defence, including a recovered fumble by Paul Camick a sophomore at the time, It was the first Fitchburg State win in over four years. In the ensuing celebrations at Fitchburg, five people were arrested.[4]
On September 9, 2023, Taylor Crout became the first female football player to play a non-kicking position in an NCAA game at any level, which she did for the Falcons as a cornerback.[5]
The Falcons’ head coach is Izzy Abraham, who took over the position for the 2024 season.[6]
- New England Football Conference (1986–2012)[7]
- Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (2013–present)[8]
Championships
Division championships
Fitchburg State claims 2 division titles, the most recent of which came in 2005.
| Year | Division | Coach | Overall Record | Conference Record | Opponent | CG result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | NEFC Bogan | Patrick Haverty | 8–4 | 6–0 | Curry | L 7–17 |
| 2005 | 8–3 | 6–0 | Curry | L 7–14 |
Bowl games
Fitchburg State has participated in three bowl games, and has a record of 0–3.
| Season | Coach | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Patrick Haverty | ECAC Bowl | Springfield | L 7–53 |
| 2005 | ECAC Bowl | Bridgewater State | L 17–34 | |
| 2015 | ECAC Bowl | Alfred | L 10–11 |
List of head coaches
Key
| 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
| No. | Name | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dave Secino | 1984–1989 | 53 | 4 | 49 | 0 | 0.058 | 2 | 24 | 0 | 0.058 |
| 2 | Vin Keough[12] | 1990–1992 | 27 | 4 | 23 | 0 | 0.148 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 0.150 |
| 3 | Mike Woessner[13] | 1993–1995 | 47 | 4 | 22 | 1 | 0.167 | 3 | 21 | 0 | 0.125 |
| 4 | Chris Nugai[14] | 1996–1997 | 19 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 0.158 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 0.063 |
| 5 | Dave Flynn[15][16] | 1998–2001 | 38 | 16 | 22 | 0 | 0.421 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 0.458 |
| 6 | Patrick Haverty[17][18] | 2002–2006, 2011–2017 | 121 | 62 | 59 | 0 | 0.512 | 44 | 41 | 0 | 0.518 |
| 7 | Paul McGonagle[19][20] | 2007–2010 | 39 | 12 | 27 | 0 | 0.308 | 10 | 18 | 0 | 0.357 |
| 8 | Jim McGuire[21][22] | 2018–2019 | 20 | 4 | 16 | 0 | 0.200 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 0.188 |
| 9 | Scott Sperone[23][24] | 2021–2022 | 15 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 0.067 | 0 | 10 | 0 | .000 |
| 10 | Mark Sullivan[25] | 2022 (interim) | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 |
| 11 | Zach Shaw[26][27][28] | 2023 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .000 |
| 12 | Izzy Abraham | 2024–present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 8 | 0 | – |
Year-by-year results
| 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 | ||||||||
| Fitchburg State Falcons[29] | ||||||||||||||
| 1984 | 1984 | Dave Secino | NCAA | Division III | Independent | 0 | 9 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1985 | 1985 | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||||||
| 1986 | 1986 | NEFC | 0 | 9 | 0 | 11th | 0 | 9 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1987 | 1987 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 6th (South Div.) | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1988 | 1988 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 7th (South Div.) | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1989 | 1989 | 3 | 7 | 0 | T–5th (South Div.) | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1990 | 1990 | Vin Keough | 2 | 7 | 0 | T–4th (South Div.) | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1991 | 1991 | 2 | 7 | 0 | T–6th (South Div.) | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1992 | 1992 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9th | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1993 | 1993 | Mike Woessner | 0 | 8 | 1 | 9th | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1994 | 1994 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 7th | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1995 | 1995 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 9th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1996 | 1996 | Chris Nugai | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9th | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1997 | 1997 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 8th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1998 | 1998 | Dave Flynn | 3 | 7 | 0 | T–5th (Red Div.) | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1999 | 1999 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 3rd (Red Div.) | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2000 | 2000 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3rd (Bogan Div.) | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2001 | 2001 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 7th (Bogan Div.) | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2002 | 2002 | Patrick Haverty | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3rd (Bogan Div.) | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2003 | 2003 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4th (Bogan Div.) | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2004 | 2004 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1st (Bogan Div.) | 6 | 0 | 0 | L North Atlantic Bowl | — | ||||
| 2005 | 2005 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1st (Bogan Div.) | 6 | 0 | 0 | L Northeast Bowl | — | ||||
| 2006 | 2006 | 4 | 5 | 0 | T–4th (Bogan Div.) | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2007 | 2007 | Paul McGonagle | 3 | 6 | 0 | T–5th (Bogan Div.) | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2008 | 2008 | 4 | 6 | 0 | T–3rd (Bogan Div.) | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2009 | 2009 | 4 | 6 | 0 | T–6th (Bogan Div.) | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2010 | 2010 | 1 | 9 | 0 | T–7th (Bogan Div.) | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2011 | 2011 | Patrick Haverty | 2 | 8 | 0 | 8th (Bogan Div.) | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2012 | 2012 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 7th (Bogan Div.) | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2013 | 2013 | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2014 | 2014 | MASCAC | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–4th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2015 | 2015 | 8 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | L Robert M. "Scotty" Whitelaw Bowl | — | ||||
| 2016 | 2016 | 5 | 5 | 0 | T–6th | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2017 | 2017 | 3 | 7 | 0 | T–7th | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2018 | 2018 | Jim McGuire | 2 | 8 | 0 | 7th | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2019 | 2019 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 8th | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| Season canceled due to COVID-19 | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2021 | Scott Sperone | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 0 | 10 | 0 | 9th | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — |
| 2022 | 2022 | Scott Sperone (games 1–5) Mark Sullivan (games 6–10) |
1 | 9 | 0 | 9th | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2023 | 2023 | Zach Shaw | 0 | 10 | 0 | 9th | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2024 | 2024 | Izzy Abraham | 2 | 8 | 0 | 10th | 1 | 8 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2025 | 2025 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 9th | 2 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
