UNH back Dylan Laube was CAA Special Teams Player of the Year. (Photo courtesy of UNH Athletics)

RICHMOND, Va. – Junior quarterback Max Brosmer (Roswell, Ga.) of the University of New Hampshire football team was named the recipient of the CAA Football 2023 Chock Boone Leadership and Excellence Award on Tuesday. Senior running back Dylan Laube (Westhampton, N.Y.) was honored as the Special Teams Player of the Year.

Those major awards were two of 13 conference accolades UNH received. Brosmer was voted quarterback on First Team Offense while Laube was selected First Team Offense as both a running back and punt returner.

Laube also received recognition on Second Team Offense as a kickoff returner. Senior tight end Kyle Lepkowski (Adamstown, Md.) and senior offensive lineman Osho Omoyeni (Lowell, Mass.) were voted Second Team Offense as well.

Junior defensive linemen Dylan Ruiz (Orlando, Fla.) and Josiah Silver (Hampton, Va.) were named Second Team Defense.

UNH had a trio of Third Team honorees: grad student wider receiver Logan Tomlinson (Manchester, Conn.) and senior offensive lineman Matt O’Neill (Weymouth, Mass.) on Offense, and senior Charles Briscoe III (Bowie, Md.) as special teams on Defense.

Junior linebacker Ryan Toscano of Bedford made the Honorable Mention list. Also of note, all three of the team’s captains on offense received CAA conference awards.

The Chuck Boone Leadership and Excellence Award is presented annually to the CAA Football player who embodies the highest standards of leadership, integrity, teamwork and sportsmanship in his academic and athletic achievements.

Brosmer, co-recipient of last year’s CAA Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, graduated in May 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science: Medical and Veterinary Science (3.88 cumulative GPA) and is pursuing a master’s in kinesiology: exercise science.

In 11 games, Brosmer completed 294 of 459 passes for 3,464 yards and 29 touchdowns. That’s an average of 314.9 yards per game on a 64.1 completion percentage. Those numbers rank second on UNH’s list of single-season superlatives in completions, pass attempts and passing yards.

The captain leads FCS football in three statistics: passing yards, passing yards per game and total offense (325.0 yards/game). He also ranks #2 in passing touchdowns, points responsible for (208) and points responsible for per game (18.9), as well as #4 in completions per game (26.64).

Brosmer, who entered the season with a pair of 300-yard passing games, passed for 300+ yards five consecutive games and topped 300 passing yards six times overall in 2023. In fact, he surpassed 400 passing yards three times and threw multiple TDs in 9 of 11 games, including the same stretch of five games the threw for 300+ yards (Sept. 23 to Oct. 28).

Brosmer passed for a career-high 493 yards at FBS school Central Michigan; he completed 23 of 51 passes with four TDs. He had career highs of 41 completions and 60 attempts at Rhode Island; he threw for 430 yards a pair of touchdowns and also had a 20-yard TD run.

In the Homecoming game vs. UAlbany, Brosmer accounted for four touchdowns — three via the air (19, 53 and 6 yards) and one on the ground (two yards). He completed 29 of 49 passes for 342 yards.

He was named the FCS National Performer of the Week by College Performance Awards on Sept. 5, following the season opener at Stonehill College in which he completed 19 of 25 passes for 284 yards and career-high five TD passes for a season-high 237.4 QB efficiency rating.

Off the field, Brosmer is a national SAAC member. He volunteers for Be the Match, an organization that is the global leader in bone marrow transplantation, and for Read Across America. Every summer, he returns to Centennial High School to help coach the football team and also holds private QB sessions with local quarterbacks in the Atlanta area.

He was named a semifinalist for the 2023 William V. Campbell Trophy, which recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership.

In the Fall 2023 semester, Brosmer is a Graduate Assistant in an Intro to Exercise class. He has also assisted in Dr. Michael Brian’s lab research.

As an undergrad in 2022, Brosmer was named to the FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team and College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. He was also a two-time inductee to Chi Alpha Sigma, National College Athlete Honor Society.

Brosmer is the third UNH recipient of the Chuck Boone Leadership and Excellence Award. The previous honorees were Chris Zarkoskie in 2012 and Casey DeAndrade in 2016.

Laube compiled 2,095 all-purpose yards and a total of 18 touchdowns in 10 games – he did not play in the regular-season finale. He ran the ball 160 times for 749 yards and nine TDs, caught 68 passes for 699 yards and seven TDs, had 15 kickoff returns for 467 yards and a TD, and 16 punt returns for 180 yards and one score.

With those stats, the captain led UNH in rushes, rushing yards, rushing TDs, receptions, receiving yards, TD receptions, kickoff return yards and KO return average, and punt return yards.

Laube is the national leader in all-purpose yards for the second consecutive year with an average of 209.5 yards per game. He is also #2 in both total touchdowns (18) and scoring (10.8 points/game); #3 in kickoff returns (31.1 yards/return); #5 in combined kick returns (647 yards); #8 in receptions per game (6.8); and #16 in punt returns (CAA-best 11.2 yards/return).

Laube led UNH in rushing yards 9 of 10 games played, in receptions seven times and receiving yards four times. Laube topped 100 rushing yards twice (180 vs. Dartmouth; 132 vs. Villanova) and 100 receiving yards twice, as well as 200 all-purpose yards six times.

Laube scored at least one touchdown every game with a total of 18 TDs. He had a rushing TD in 7 of 10 games and a receiving touchdown in six games.

Laube was named CAA Special Teams Player of the Week twice (Sept. 4 & 25) and received a total of five awards Sept. 11 following his record-setting performance. Laube finished with a school-record 295 receiving yards Sept. 9 at Central Michigan. His 12 catches included 80- and 71-yard touchdowns. He amassed a season-high, but not career-high, 371 all-purpose yards in that game.

He topped 300 all-purpose yards against Villanova; he finished with 19 carries for 132 yards and two touchdowns, 10 catches for 75 yards and three kickoff returns for 103 yards.

Laube carried the ball a career-high 33 times for 180 yards in the win against Dartmouth. He matched his own UNH record (shared with three others) for longest kickoff return with a 100-yard touchdown at Delaware.

In the season opener at Stonehill, Laube had a 58-yard punt return TD, 23-yard receiving TD and 11-yard rushing TD — all in the first quarter.

In the game vs. Towson, Laube rushed 22 times for 92 yards and a pair of TDs; he also had 130 kickoff return yards and 29 yards on one punt return for 251 all-purpose yards.

Laube recorded a career-high 13 receptions for 128 yards and a TD at Rhode Island.

Lepkowski had 39 catches for 492 yards to rank third on the team in both stats. He also had three TD receptions. He recorded a season high of five catches five times, including three consecutive games vs. UAlbany, Stony Brook and Rhode Island. Lepkowski also pulled in five catches for a season-high 83 yards and a TD at Delaware. He recorded a career-long 56-yard catch for a touchdown in the finale against Maine.

Omoyeni, the third captain to be honored, was the center of the offensive line for the first nine games of the season before being sidelined by injury the last two games, which ended his streak of 24 consecutive starts. With Omoyeni leading the offensive line, UNH ranks No. 5 in the nation and leads the CAA by averaging 37.5 points per game. The Wildcats also lead the conference in passing (319.2 yards/game) and rank second in total offense (434.4 yards/game).

Ruiz tied for sixth on the team in tackles with 35, including 19 solo stops. He ranked second in both tackles for loss (eight) and sacks (four), and was also credited with two quarterback hurries. Ruiz recorded a season-high six tackles at Central Michigan and matched that total at Rhode Island with a personal best five unassisted tackles. He also had a season high of two tackles for loss, including a sack, at URI.

Silver ranked fourth on the team and tops among defensive linemen with 43 tackles (23 solo). He led the ‘Cats in both tackles for loss (9.5) and sacks (five), as well as quarterback hurries with eight. Silver also blocked a punt. The 9.5 tackles for loss tied for 12th in the CAA and the five sacks tied for 10th.

Silver finished with a season-high eight tackles (three solo), including two behind the line of scrimmage, at Central Michigan. His other season highlights included two sacks and three QB hurries against UAlbany. In the game at Monmouth with the Hawks driving late in the first half, Silver sacked the quarterback on consecutive plays to push them out of field goal range.

Tomlinson, a first-year Wildcat, had 42 catches for 618 yards and seven touchdowns. He tied with Laube for the team lead in TD receptions and ranked second in both receptions and receiving yards. On the CAA leaderboard, he tied for sixth in TD catches and ranked 11th in receiving yards. Tomlinson’s top game in 2023 came against UAlbany when he had nine catches for 144 yards and two TDs – all season highs. He finished the season with eight catches for 121 yards and a touchdown vs. Maine.

O’Neill was one of two UNH offensive linemen to start all 11 games as he lined up at right guard every game. He ended his Wildcat career with 24 consecutive starts and 29 career starts. O’Neill was also instrumental in paving the way for UNH’s highly-productive and high-scoring offense that ranked fourth in the nation in passing offense (317.8 yards/game) and 13th in first downs (247).

Briscoe III ranked second on the team and third in the country with three blocked kicks as the Wildcats led FCS with 10 blocked kicks. Briscoe III was credited with nine tackles (six solo) as well as one forced fumble and a pass breakup. He was honored as CAA Special Teams Player of the Week following the game vs. Towson; in that game, Briscoe III blocked two kicks and forced a fumble on a kickoff return; he was also credited with three tackles.

UNH ended the 2023 season with a 44-25 victory against Maine to retain the Brice-Cowell Musket and finish with a winning overall record (6-5).

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