HAMPTON — Facing a top-10 team and the nation’s leading rusher was tough enough for Hampton University. Yet had the Pirates executed better in the red zone and not hurt themselves with killer penalties … who knows?

Instead, No. 10 Monmouth came out with a 28-10 win on homecoming Saturday before a crowd of 8,693 at Armstrong Stadium. Rodney Nelson easily eclipsed his per-game rushing average of 143.6 yards and scored all four touchdowns for the Hawks, who are 10th in the FCS Stats Perform poll.

As for Hampton (2-7, 0-5 Coastal Athletic Association), which was six yards away from making it a three-point game at halftime, it came down to mistakes and missed opportunities.

“Our guys played hard,” HU coach Trenton Boykin said. “We talked about it all week to get ourselves to the fourth quarter and be right there. We said, ‘Let’s get to the fourth quarter and be a strike away,’ and we were a strike away.

“But we’ve got to be disciplined. Right at the moment we needed that to happen, we didn’t get that part taken care of. We’ve got to get that fixed. It’s something that’s been an Achilles’ heel for us all season.”

Final statistics were not available by press time, but Hampton had eight penalties for 70 yards after three quarters. Perhaps the most critical came in the third quarter when, trailing 14-10, HU stopped the Hawks on fourth-and-goal.

After moving the sticks for some breathing room, quarterback Braden Davis and tight end Christian Greenlaw connected for a 47-yard pickup to set up first down at the Monmouth 24.

Or would have if not for a holding penalty, which brought the ball back to the Hampton 24.

Asked about that play, Boykin answered, “I didn’t like the call.”

Maybe just as agonizing were two possessions in the first half in which Hampton had first-and-goal, but came away with a total of three points.

The first came on the Pirates’ opening possession after forcing a punt. Donovan Shepard’s 15-yard run set up first-and-goal from the 3-yard line. But after three rushes moved the ball only as far as the 2, Boykin sent out the field-goal team. Brett Starling’s 19-yarder put the Pirates ahead 3-0 midway through the first quarter.

Monmouth (7-1, 4-0) scored on consecutive drives, both on Nelson runs, to take a 14-3 lead. But on its final possession of the first half, after a 25-yard run by Davis, HU had first-and-goal from the 6-yard line.

On the next play, Maxwell Moss swept the left side and sprinted to the end zone for an apparent touchdown. But there was a flag, and a holding penalty moved the ball back to the 16.

A strip-sack on the next play ended the threat, and Monmouth kept its 14-3 lead at halftime.

“We had one we get three points out of, and we have another where we’re on the 6-yard line and don’t get it,” Boykin said. “Our guys fought hard, and we put ourselves in position where we wanted to be in the fourth quarter.”

Monmouth was without quarterback Derek Robertson, who injured his shoulder last week against Stony Brook. He has completed nearly 72% of his passes and entered the weekend fifth nationally (first in the CAA) in pass efficiency.

https://www.dailypress.com/2025/10/25/no-10-monmouth-repels-hampton-universitys-upset-bid/