UAlbany Honors ‘Hometown Heroes’ Saturday in Opener

The UAlbany Great Danes began their season by visiting a national powerhouse in No. 4 ranked North Dakota State University last Saturday. The Danes fell 28-6, but showed some awesome signs of potential for this season against a team that has won 8 of the last 10 FCS National Championships. The Great Danes played well. UAlbany led the first half with more total yards than the Bison. UAlbany Head Coach Gattuso joined The Drive with Charlie & Dan on Tuesday and pointed out a lot of positives for the Great Danes on both sides of the ball.

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Sophomore Quarterback Jeff Undercuffler and senior running back Karl Mofor will look to get back in a groove after being very limited by a nationally NDSU defense. Undercuffler was 16 for 28 netting 183 yards with two costly interceptions. North Dakota State held UAlbany to just 22 yards on the ground on 19 attempts. Mofor, an All-American, ran for 82 yards on 23 attempts last season against the Rams.

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Rookie wideout Roy Alexander couldn’t have asked for a better start to his collegiate career. The Fort Myers, Florida, native hauled in four passes for 113 yards. His key play was a 67-yard reception for a touchdown to end the first half.

Photo Credit Tim Sanger
Rhode Island is another tough opponent for the Great Danes. The Rams were picked to finish sixth in the 2021 CAA Preseason Poll, finishing with 121 points two spots ahead of UAlbany. URI opened their season last week with a 45-21 win over Bryant, piling on 508 total yards of offense. The Rams and Great Danes faced off in the weird spring schedule in Albany, with Rhode Island defeating the Danes 17-10 in overtime.

UAlbany will celebrate their home opener with halftime fireworks. Saturday’s game will mark the first time fans return to Casey Stadium for football since the end of the 2019 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UAlbany will take the opportunity to honor "Hometown Heroes," as they have for most of the past decade during the football season. In addition, the Great Danes will recognize the 20th anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11. Great tickets are available at ualbanysports.com/tickets. Thanks to my buddy Taylor O'Connor, the Assistant Director of Digital Content and Communications over at UAlbany for all of the information and photos.