| Bridgewater State Bears football | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First season | 1894; 131 years ago (1894)[a] |
| Athletic director | Marybeth Lamb |
| Head coach | Joe Verria 9th season, 49–34 (.590) |
| Stadium | Swenson Field (capacity: 1,600) |
| Field surface | FieldTurf |
| Location | Bridgewater, Massachusetts |
| NCAA division | Division III |
| Conference | MASCAC |
| Past conferences | NEFC |
| All-time record | 335–238–7 (.584) |
| Bowl record | 4–5 (.444) |
| Playoff appearances | 4 (1999, 2000, 2012, 2016) |
| Playoff record | 0–4 (.000) |
| Conference titles | 7 |
| Rivalries | Massachusetts Maritime (Cranberry Bowl)[1] |
| Colors | Crimson, white, and black[2] |
| Mascot | BRISTACO the Bear |
| Website | bsubears.com/football |
TheBridgewater State Bears football team representsBridgewater State University incollege football at theNCAA Division III level. The Bears are members of theMassachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC), fielding its team in the MASCAC since 2013. The Bears play their home games at Swenson Field inBridgewater, Massachusetts.[3]
The Bridgewater State football team has been one of the most successful athletic teams at the school since the program was started in 1960. Bridgewater State is a member of theMASCAC, which will sponsor football for the first time in its history beginning in 2013. Bridgewater State was formerly a founding member of theNew England Football Conference from 1965 to 2012. The new MASCAC football conference will consist of nine schools. These member schools are Bridgewater State University,Fitchburg State University,Framingham State University,Massachusetts Maritime Academy,Westfield State University,Worcester State University,Plymouth State University,UMass-Dartmouth, andWestern Connecticut State University. Bridgewater State will begin MASCAC play in 2013.
Their head coach isJoe Verria, who took over the position for the 2016 season.[4]
Known as Bridgewater Normal, the team played throughout the 1890s and 1920s before being disbanded in 1925.[5] In 1959,athletic director andbasketball coachEd Sweeney announced that football would return as a varsity sport after students voluntarily taxed themselves seven dollars per year to fund the restart of the team.[6]
The team began play in 1960 with a four game schedule.
Head coach Chuck Denune recently completed his 11th season at the helm in 2015. In 2012, the Bears ended the regular season with a 9–1 record and qualified for the NCAA Division III National Tournament with an at-large bid for the third time in the program's history. Bridgewater State also qualified for the NCAA Division III National Tournament in 1999 and 2000. The Bears lost in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Division III Tournament toWidener University ofWest Chester, Pennsylvania by a score of 44–14. The Bears football team finished the 2012 season with a 9–2 overall record and finished in 2nd place in the New England Football Conference standings. Bridgewater also hosted the 2011 (ECAC) Eastern College Athletic Conference Northeast Bowl and competed againstAlfred University. Unfortunately, the Bears lost 41–10, and finished the 2011 season with a 7–4 record.[7]
The most successful head football coach in Bridgewater State's history isPeter Mazzaferro. Coach Mazzaferro was the head football coach at Bridgewater from 1968 to 2004 (36 years) and is one of the most successful Division III football coaches in history. During his coaching tenure, he led the Bears to 2 NCAA D-III National Tournament appearances, 8 NEFC League Championships, 3 MASCAC Championships, and 2 ECAC Postseason appearances. With an overall coaching record of 209–157–11, Mazzaferro is the 57th winningest coach in NCAA College Football history, and he is regarded as a coaching legend in the New England region and is further regarded as one of the greatest Division III college football coaches of all time.
Bridgewater State claims 7 conference titles, the most recent of which came in 2023.
| Year | Conference | Overall Record | Conference Record | Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | New England Football Conference | 9–1 | 6–0 | Peter Mazzaferro |
| 1992 | 9–1–1 | 8–0 | ||
| 1997† | 7–3 | 7–1 | ||
| 1999 | 10–1 | 6–0 | ||
| 2000 | 8–3 | 5–1 | ||
| 2016 | Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference | 8–3 | 8–0 | Joe Verria |
| 2023† | 7–3 | 7–1 |
† Co-champions
Bridgewater State claims 7 division titles, the most recent of which came in 2008.
| Year | Division | Coach | Overall Record | Conference Record | Opponent | CG result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | NEFC South | Peter Mazzaferro | 9–1 | 6–0 | Maine Maritime | W 14–10 |
| 1990 | 8–2 | 6–0 | Plymouth State | L 7–26 | ||
| 1991 | 8–2 | 6–0 | UMass Lowell | L 7–10 | ||
| 1998† | NEFC Red | 7–3 | 5–1 | N/A lost tiebreaker toMaine Maritime | ||
| 1999 | 10–1 | 6–0 | No championship game held | |||
| 2000† | NEFC Bogan | 8–3 | 5–1 | Salve Regina | W 27–24 | |
| 2008† | Chuck Denune | 7–3 | 6–1 | N/A lost tiebreaker toMaine Maritime | ||
† Co-champions
Bridgewater State has appeared in the Division III playoffs four times, with an overall record of 0–4.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | First Round | Ursinus | L, 38–43 |
| 2000 | First Round | Hobart | L, 0–25 |
| 2012 | First Round | Widener | L, 14–44 |
| 2016 | First Round | Alfred | L, 27–33 |
Bridgewater State has participated in ninebowl games, and has a record of 4–5.
| Season | Coach | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Peter Mazzaferro | ECAC Bowl | Alfred | L 27–30 |
| 1992 | ECAC Bowl | RPI | L 25–28 | |
| 2005 | Chuck Denune | ECAC Bowl | Fitchburg State | W 34–17 |
| 2006 | ECAC Bowl | Coast Guard | W 41–22 | |
| 2007 | ECAC Bowl | Plymouth State | L 21–24 | |
| 2011 | ECAC Bowl | Alfred | L 10–41 | |
| 2015 | ECAC Bowl | Carnegie Mellon | L 13–48 | |
| 2018 | Joe Verria | New England Bowl | Salve Regina | W 34–19 |
| 2022 | New England Bowl | Catholic | W 34–24 |
| 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 theCollege Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overallwinning percentage[A 4] | ||||
| No. | Name | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | DC | CC | NC | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ed Swenson[13][14] | 1960–1967 | 47 | 14 | 33 | 0 | 0.298 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2 | Peter Mazzaferro[15][16] | 1968–1986, 1988–2004 | 339 | 195 | 137 | 7 | 0.586 | 148 | 82 | 0 | 0.643 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 0 | – |
| 3 | Jim Crowley | 1987 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0.444 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.600 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 4 | Chuck Denune[17][18] | 2005–2015 | 112 | 75 | 37 | 0 | 0.670 | 55 | 24 | 0 | 0.696 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 5 | Joe Verria[19] | 2016–present | 63 | 37 | 26 | 0 | 0.587 | 48 | 24 | 0 | 0.667 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | – |
| National champions | Conference champions | Division 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 | ||||||||
| Bridgewater State Bears[20] | ||||||||||||||
| 1960 | 1960 | Ed Swenson | NAIA | — | NAIA Independent | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1961 | 1961 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1962 | 1962 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1963 | 1963 | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1964 | 1964 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1965 | 1965 | NCAA | College Division | NEFC | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1966 | 1966 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1967 | 1967 | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1968 | 1968 | Peter Mazzaferro | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1969 | 1969 | 3 | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1970 | 1970 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1971 | 1971 | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1972 | 1972 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5th | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1973 | 1973 | Division III | 5 | 5 | 0 | T–3rd | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1974 | 1974 | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–5th | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1975 | 1975 | 7 | 3 | 0 | T–4th | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1976 | 1976 | 6 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1977 | 1977 | 6 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | |||||
| 1978 | 1978 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 7th | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1979 | 1979 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 8th | 3 | 5 | 1 | — | — | ||||
| 1980 | 1980 | 5 | 3 | 1 | T–4th | 5 | 3 | 1 | — | — | ||||
| 1981 | 1981 | 3 | 6 | 0 | T–7th | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1982 | 1982 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4th | 5 | 3 | 1 | — | — | ||||
| 1983 | 1983 | 4 | 5 | 0 | T–5th | 4 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1984 | 1984 | 2 | 7 | 0 | T–7th | 2 | 7 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1985 | 1985 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3rd | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1986 | 1986 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4th | 6 | 1 | 2 | — | — | ||||
| 1987 | 1987 | Jim Crowley | 4 | 5 | 0 | T–2nd(South) | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1988 | 1988 | Peter Mazzaferro | 5 | 4 | 0 | T–4th(South) | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 1989 | 1989 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1st(South) | 6 | 0 | 0 | L ECAC North Bowl | — | ||||
| 1990 | 1990 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1st(South) | 6 | 0 | 0 | Division champions | — | ||||
| 1991 | 1991 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1st(South) | 6 | 0 | 0 | Division champions | — | ||||
| 1992 | 1992 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1st | 8 | 0 | 0 | L ECAC Northeast Bowl | — | ||||
| 1993 | 1993 | 5 | 5 | 0 | T–3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1994 | 1994 | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–3rd | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1995 | 1995 | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1996 | 1996 | 5 | 5 | 0 | T–5th | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 1997 | 1997 | 7 | 3 | 0 | T–1st | 7 | 1 | 0 | Conference Champions | — | ||||
| 1998 | 1998 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1st(Red) | 7 | 1 | 0 | Conference Champions | — | ||||
| 1999 | 1999 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1st(Red) | 6 | 0 | 0 | LNCAA Division III First Round | — | ||||
| 2000 | 2000 | 8 | 3 | 0 | T–1st(Bogan) | 5 | 1 | 0 | LNCAA Division III First Round | — | ||||
| 2001 | 2001 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3rd(Bogan) | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2002 | 2002 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 4th(Bogan) | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2003 | 2003 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3rd(Bogan) | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2004 | 2004 | 6 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd(Bogan) | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2005 | 2005 | Chuck Denune | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2nd(Bogan) | 5 | 1 | 0 | W ECAC Northeast Bowl | — | |||
| 2006 | 2006 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2nd(Bogan) | 6 | 1 | 0 | W ECAC North Atlantic Bowl | — | ||||
| 2007 | 2007 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2nd(Bogan) | 5 | 2 | 0 | L ECAC North Atlantic Bowl | — | ||||
| 2008 | 2008 | 7 | 3 | 0 | T–1st(Bogan) | 6 | 1 | 0 | Division champions | — | ||||
| 2009 | 2009 | 7 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd(Bogan) | 5 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2010 | 2010 | 5 | 5 | 0 | T–5th(Bogan) | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2011 | 2011 | 7 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd(Bogan) | 5 | 2 | 0 | L ECAC Northeast Bowl | — | ||||
| 2012 | 2012 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2nd(Bogan) | 6 | 1 | 0 | LNCAA Division III First Round | — | ||||
| 2013 | 2013 | MASCAC | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | |||
| 2014 | 2014 | 4 | 6 | 0 | T–6th | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2015 | 2015 | 7 | 4 | 0 | T–2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | L ECAC Legacy Bowl | — | ||||
| 2016 | 2016 | Joe Verria | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1st | 8 | 0 | 0 | LNCAA Division III First Round | — | |||
| 2017 | 2017 | 2 | 8 | 0 | T–7th | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| 2018 | 2018 | 8 | 3 | 0 | T–2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | WNew England Bowl | — | ||||
| 2019 | 2019 | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | — | ||||
| Season canceled due toCovid-19 | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2021 | Joe Verria | NCAA | Division III | MASCAC | 6 | 4 | 0 | T–2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | — |
| 2022 | 2022 | 7 | 4 | 0 | T–2nd | 6 | 2 | 0 | WNew England Bowl | — | ||||
| 2023 | 2023 | — | — | |||||||||||
