The Kean University football team has been picked to finish third in the New Jersey Athletic Conference preseason poll, as announced at NJAC Media Day on Tuesday, August 7. The Cougars were also selected as the league's "dark horse" by the NJAC's eight coaches, while three-time defending champion, Rowan University, received five first place votes and was the preseason favorite. Kean received votes in the D3
football.com Top 25 Preseason Poll and was also named among the "Best of the Rest" by Street & Smith's in their Division III preview.

The Cougars enter the 2007 season coming off the program's first winning season since 1994 after capturing just the second Eastern College Athletic Conference football championship in program history.

Picked a year ago to finish in eighth and last place in the New Jersey Athletic Conference preseason poll, the Cougars surprised, going 7-4 overall, and 4-3 in conference play to place fourth, with head coach Dan Garrett earning NJAC Coach of the Year honors by his peers in his first year at the helm.



The Cougars open the 2007 campaign with the program's first August contest, when they host USMMA-Kings Point on Friday, August 31. After non-conference games against Albright College and future-NJAC member Morrisville State University, Kean travels to Buffalo State University on Saturday, September 29, for the first of seven straight NJAC games.

One of the most highly decorated players in program history, senior A.J. Roque (Matawan, N.J.) has helped turn the program around and enters his senior season as the school's most prolific passer. The 2006 NJAC Offensive Player of the Year and a Don Hansen's Football Gazette Honorable Mention All-American, Roque broke his own school record for passing yards and touchdown passes in a season last year with 2,320 yards in the air and 19 scoring strikes.

In 30 career games under center, Roque has accumulated 5,980 passing yards and thrown for 46 touchdowns, while also holding the top-five single-game passing totals in school history.



In addition to his
quarterbacking accolades, Roque has also earned All-NJAC accolades as a punter. Last season, he punted 39 times for 1,387 yards, averaging 35.6 yards per attempt. Roque has 6,092 career punting yards in 173 attempts and is just 725 yards and 24 attempts away from becoming the all-time leader in both categories.