Pageholder Do Not Print Predicted NEC Finish: 1St University at Albany
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Pageholder Do Not Print Predicted NEC Finish: 1st University at Albany Albany Great Danes 2008 Record: 9-3, 7-0 NEC 2008 NEC Finish: 1st Gridiron Classic Champions 2009 schedule - toid Date Opponent Time 9/5 at Georgia Southern 6:00 pm 9/12 at Massachusetts 6:00 pm Albany has produced a winning confer- 9/19 Maine 4:00 pm ence record in every one of its 10 sea- 9/26 Sacred Heart 4:00 pm sons as a Northeast Conference member. 10/3 at Saint Francis (PA) 1:00 pm The streak consecutive winning seasons has 10/10 Duquesne 1:00 pm gone unmatched by anyone in conference 10/17 Bryant 1:00 pm history with Robert Morris’ run of six straight 10/24 at Monmouth 1:00 pm (1996-2001) standing closest. The Great 10/31 at Central Conn. St. 12:00 pm Danes joined the league for the start of the 11/7 Robert Morris 1:00 pm 1999 campaign, which resulted in a 6-1 NEC 11/21 at Wagner 1:00 pm record and second-place finish. Since gain- ing membership, Albany has compiled a 54- NEC Games in Bold 16 league mark while capturing four NEC crowns (2002, 2003, 2007, 2008). 2008 results David McCarty Date Opponent Time Walter Payton Award Candidate 8/30 at No. 5 Massachusetts L, 28-16 McCarty enters his senior season 9/13 at Hofstra W, 22-16 (OT) riding a pair of impressive streaks. 9/20 at No. 10 New Hampshire L, 32-24 The bruising back has scored a touch- 9/27 at No. 12/17 Delaware L, 38-7 down in 20 straight contests and has 10/4 at Duquesne W, 33-23 eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark 10/11 Central Conn. St. W, 24-22 in each of his prior eight outings. The 10/18 at Sacred Heart W, 26-21 hard-running McCarty surpassed the 10/25 Saint Francis (PA) W, 27-3 century mark in 11 of 12 games last 11/1 Monmouth W, 35-17 year in upping his career total to an 11/8 at Robert Morris W, 41-7 Albany-record 19 100-yard games. 11/15 Wagner W, 30-11 Only nationally-ranked Delaware pre- 12/6 Jacksonville W, 28-0 vented him from reaching the single- game triple-digit total in 2008. NEC Games in Bold Five-Year Win Chart 2009 Outlook UAlbany Three is the magic number in the Capital reer-high 271 and four touchdowns, McCarty Region this season. powered the Danes to a 28-0 shutout of Pio- 2008 9 No program in Northeast Conference his- neer League champ Jacksonville. tory has secured three consecutive outright The Great Danes enjoy continuity at the other league crowns, let alone three straight unde- offense skill positions as well. All-NEC receiver feated seasons. Tim Bush, who gained a fifth year of eligibility 2007 8 Not having lost a conference game since due to medical hardship, owns Albany's single- the 2006 season finale, Albany has the oppor- season receptions record (67). Senior quarter- tunity to accomplish both feats in 2009 and back Vinny Esposito has a 17-7 career record reigning NEC Coach of the Year Bob Ford wel- as a starter and has thrown for 25 touchdowns 2006 7 comes back six preseason all-NEC performers to only 16 interceptions during that span. to help in the effort. Despite opening the 2008 season with three While the Great Danes eye consecutive title of four games against top-10 teams in FCS, Al- No. 3, all eyes will be on the man who wears bany managed to lead the NEC in both scoring 2005 5 jersey #3. defense (18.2 ppg) and rushing defense (119.1 Walter Payton Award candidate David ypg). The Great Danes' three preseason all- McCarty, the league's all-time single-season NEC selections from that side of the ball had rushing leader (1,852), returns for his senior much to do with that. Sophomore defensive 4 season at tailback. After moving from flanker end Eddie Delaney made 37 tackles and broke 2004 into the backfield prior to the 2007 campaign, up six passes. Senior captain Justin Brancaccio McCarty has rushed for a program-record 3,355 led the linebacking corps with 91 tackles. Mean- yards and 26 touchdowns in 24 games as the while, senior Dave Casale was all over field in starter. The All-American tailback was at his making 74 tackles and seven interceptions. best in the Gridiron Classic. Running for a ca- 16 University at Albany Leading Returnees Depth Chart Rushing Att. Yds. Avg./G TD Offense Defense McCarty 357* 1852* 154.3 13 TE 25 CHRIS KENNEALLY (Sr., 6-0, 235) DE 53 MIKE KELLY (Jr., 6-2, 235) Passing Comp.-Att.-INT Yds. TD 32 Paul Booker (R-Fr., 6-4, 230) 56 Marc Wargo (So., 6-2, 235) Esposito 167*-277*-10 1934 13 LT 64 VINCE GONZALES (Jr., 6-4, 275) D T 91 TREVOR ANDERSON (Jr., 6-2, 285) 77 Jordan Migliore (R-Fr., 6-6, 295) 95 Zach Gallo (So., 6-0, 245) Receiving Rec. Yds. Avg./G TD L G 55 KYLE O'KEEFE (So., 6-3, 275) DE 97 TONY SPARANO (Sr., 5-11, 245) Bush 67 794 66.2 5 78 Andrew Stevens (Jr., 6-4, 280) 96 Eddie Delaney (So., 6-6, 235) Tackling Total Solo Asst. Sacks C 75 KEVIN RICHARDS (Sr., 6-2, 270) OLB 50 RICH DUFF (Sr., 6-1, 210) Brancaccio 91 35 56 1.0 62 Andy Sparano (Jr., 5-11, 270) 11 Jon Morgan (R-Fr., 6-2, 210) R G 62 ANDY SPARANO (Jr., 5-11, 270) ILB 54 JUSTIN BRANCACCIO (Sr., 6-0, 230) Passes Def Total BrUp INT Avg./G Casale 14 7 7 1.17 66 Matt Faughnan (Jr., 6-3, 275) 45 Dave Plungas (R-Fr., 6-2, 230) R T 71 KEITH PEIFER (So., 6-4, 280) ILB 51 CHRIS SIMPSON (Sr., 6-0, 230) 70 Justin Anderson (R-Fr., 6-5, 280) 57 Chris Wilk (So., 6-2, 230) 2008 Team Stats WR 1 TIM BUSH (Sr., 5-9, 185) OLB 21 DAVE NICOMINI (Sr., 6-3, 230) Pts./G Yds./G Pass-Rush 86 Bryon King (R-Fr., 5-10, 165) 24 Chris Blais (Jr., 6-0, 202) Offense 26.1 363.2 162.6-200.6 Defense 18.2 300.8 181.8-119.1 W R 85 JASON POORE (Jr., 6-6, 210) C B 18 ROSS BERTRAND (Jr., 5-11, 185) 87 John Lullen (So., 6-2, 195) 37 Kareem Cooper (So., 5-9, 185) Take Give Margin Per Gm QB 7 VINNY ESPOSITO (Sr., 6-1, 210) S 28 EMERSON KINSEY (Sr., 6-1, 215) Turnovers 27 17 -10 0.83 9 Frank Blasinsky (Sr., 6-0, 195) 22 Justin Hassan (R-Fr., 6-1, 190) Gm Total Per Gm FB 46 JUSTIN PETERSEN (So., 6-0, 230) FS 31 DAVE CASALE (Sr., 6-2, 220) Time of Possesion 12 346:44 28:53 25 Chris Kenneally (Sr., 6-0, 235) 27 Jeff Benway (So., 5-11, 200) TB 3 DAVID McCARTY (Sr., 6-0, 215) C B 2 JEAN JUSTE (Sr., 5-10, 190) 5 Justin Gannon (Sr., 5-6, 175) 19 Daniel Avery (So., 5-9, 165) Special Teams P K 13 HERB GLASS (So., 5-11, 180) KR 5 JUSTIN GANNON (Sr., 5-6, 175) 68 Bobby Woods (Jr., 5-9, 185) 86 Bryon King (Fr., 5-10, 165) P 68 BOBBY WOODS (Jr., 5-9, 185) P R 5 JUSTIN GANNON (Sr., 5-6, 175) all-time records 14 Paul Layton (Fr., 6-1, 210) 86 Bryon King (Fr., 5-10, 165) Year Record Albany 1973 7-2 vs. the NEC 1974 9-0 Quick Facts 1975 7-2 Opponent Record Bryant 0-0 1976 4-5 CCSU 10-3 1977 9-2 Duquesne 2-0 General Information Sports Information 1978 7-3 Monmouth 7-4 Location: Albany, NY Sports Information Director: Brian DePasquale 1979 6-3 Robert Morris 6-4 Founded: 1844 SID Phone: (518) 442-3072 Sacred Heart 9-2 1980 5-5 Saint Francis (PA) 10-0 Enrollment: 12,750 (undergraduate) SID Fax Line: (518) 442-3139 1981 7-3 Wagner 11-1 Nickname: Great Danes SID Cell: (518) 331-3714 1982 6-3 Colors: Purple and Gold SID e-mail Address: bdepasquale@ 1983 3-7 President: George M. Philip uamail.albany.edu Faculty Representative: Dr. Teresa Harrison Press Box Phone: (518) 442-5895/5897 1984 5-5 Athletic Director: Dr. Lee McElroy Athletic Hotline Phone: (518) 442-DANE 1985 9-2 SWA: Jan Brown Website Address: ualbanysports.com 1986 4-6 Home Field/Capacity: University Field/5,000 1987 5-5 Athletic Phone: (518) 442-2562 1988 5-5 SINCE JOINING THE NEC 1989 5-4 Year Record NEC Football Information Coaching Staff 1990 3-7 1999 7-2 6-1 Head Coach: Bob Ford Off. Coor./Quarterbacks: Ryan McCarthy 1991 5-5 2000 5-6 5-3 Overall Record/Years: 234-165-1/40 years Offensive Line: Mike Morita 1992 6-4 2001 7-3 5-2 Record at UA/Years: 225-143/36 years Wide Receivers: Eric Evans Inaugural Football Season: 1973 Running Backs: Jamie Casullo 1993 6-4 2002 8-4 6-1 2008 Record: 9-3 Tight Ends: Samson Brown 1994 4-6 2003 7-4 6-1 NEC Record/Place: 7-0/1st Defensive Coordinator: Mike Simpson 1995 3-7 2004 4-7 4-3 Offensive System: Multiple Defensive Backs: Drew Christ 1996 7-3 2005 5-6 4-3 Defensive System: Multiple Defensive Line: Bill Banagan 1997 11-1 2006 7-4 5-2 Off.