Football Brings No. 25 Villanova To Albany For First Time On Saturday

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Battling a slew of injuries, the University at Albany football team looks to get back on the winning track when the Great Danes host No. 25 Villanova Saturday at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on the American Sports Network.

UALBANY, VILLANOVA SERIESSaturday’s meeting will mark just the second between UAlbany and Villanova. The Wildcats own a 1-0 lead in the series, winning 2014’s Nov. 15^th meeting, 48-31, on their home field. Villanova was ranked No. 6 in the nation at the time.

SCOUTING VILLANOVAThe No. 25 ranked Wildcats enter the weekend with a 2-3 overall record and 1-1 mark in the CAA.

Coming off a pair of losses to Penn (24-13) and William & Mary (38-16), Villanova looks to get back on track against UAlbany. In their 28-21 come-from-behind victory over conference foe Delaware on Sept. 19^th, the Wildcats lost starting quarterback John Robertson for the remainder of the season with a knee injury. Robertson is the reigning CAA Offensive Player of the Year and Walter Payton Award winner -- given to the best player in the FCS. Villanova is now relying on redshirt freshman quarterback Zach Bednarczyk who has thrown for 406 yards and two touchdowns with a .515 completion percentage (35-68-3). Kevin Gulyas has served as the team’s top receiver, recording 17 receptions, 321 yards, and two touchdowns. In the ground game, Javon White leads Villanova with 52 carries, 271 rushing yards, and a touchdown. Defensively, senior Don Cherry leads the Wildcats with 46 tackles, including 18 solo, two sacks, and a forced fumble.

SCOUTING UALBANYThe Great Danes come off a 39-7 homecoming loss to Maine after falling behind 20-0 in the first quarter. The Black Bears held UAlbany to just 172 yards of offense. UAlbany is 2-1 at home this season, winning their first two games at Bob Ford Field vs. Rhode Island (35-7) and Duquesne (17-14). Offensively, redshirt sophomore quarterback DJ Crook leads the team with 984 passing yards and seven touchdowns, completing 94-of-171 attempts. True Freshman Zee Roberson leads the receivers with 34 catches, 312 yards and two touchdowns, while redshirt sophomore Brad Harris has recorded 20 receptions for 284 yards and a touchdown. Redshirt freshman Elliot Croskey leads the ground attack with 399 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 109 carries. Defensively, redshirt junior Rayshan Clark leads the team with 51 tackles (41 solo) and three interceptions, while redshirt freshman Julian Cox has recorded 49 tackles (30 solo), three sacks, an interception, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.

A UALBANY WIN WOULD…- Improve UAlbany’s record to 3-4 overall.
- Give UAlbany a 1-1 all-time record vs. Villanova.
- Give UAlbany a 3-1 home record this season.
- Improve UAlbany’s all-time varsity record to 267-179.
- Improve Coach Gattuso’s career record to 107-41.
- Improve Coach Gattuso’s record at UAlbany to 10-9.

A UALBANY LOSS WOULD…- Make UAlbany’s record 2-5 overall.
- Give UAlbany an 0-2 all-time record vs. Villanova.
- Give UAlbany a 2-2 home record this season.
- Drop UAlbany’s all-time varsity record to 266-180.
- Drop Coach Gattuso’s career record to 106-42.
- Drop Coach Gattuso’s record at UAlbany to 9-10.

LAST TIME OUT
For the sixth straight meeting between the squads, the visiting team came out victorious as Maine spoiled UAlbany’s sold-out homecoming game with a 39-7 defeat. The Great Danes were held to just 172 yards of offense, netting five rushing yards and 167 passing yards. Redshirt sophomore quarterback D.J. Crook completed 17-of-30 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown, but the Black Bears’ pressure forced two interceptions and five sacks in the game for a loss of 31 yards. Freshman Zee Roberson served as Crook’s top target, hauling in a career-high nine receptions, 102 receiving yards, and a touchdown. Running back Elliot Croskey caught three passes for 25 yards, while rushing a team-high nine times for 14 yards. Defensively, redshirt junior cornerback Rayshan Clark tied UAlbany’s Division I record with 18 tackles in the game, including 17 solo. He also had a 28-yard interception and a pass breakup.

CHANGES TO THE TWO-DEEP
From week one to week seven, UAlbany’s two-deep has changed immensely due to injuries and unforeseen circumstances. On the offensive side of the ball, left guard Michael Senn has been out the last two weeks to injury and WR Josh Gontarek is suspended indefinitely from the team. Defensively, the Great Danes are thin at linebacker, losing Michael Nicastro to a season-ending knee injury, and Colin Cooper, DaSharnte Thompson, and Neil Morrison after concussions last week. In addition, UAlbany missed safety Kyle Sakowski last week and most likely this week due to a shoulder and arm injury.

INEXPERIENCED LINEUP
This week, 29-of-43 players listed on UAlbany’s offensive and defensive two-deep are true freshmen, freshmen, sophomores, or redshirt sophomores. On defense, 16-of-21 players on the depth chart are underclassmen and on offense, 13-of-22 are either in their first or second season.

UALBANY MEETS 30^th RANKED TEAMSaturday’s meeting with No. 25 Villanova will mark the 30^th time UAlbany will play against an FCS ranked opponent. The Great Danes have played at least one ranked opponent every season since 2002. UAlbany’s last win over a ranked opponent was on Sept. 22, 2012. The Danes beat Maine, who ranked #23 in the Sports Network Top-25 Poll and #22 in the FCS Coaches Poll. UAlbany owns a 5-22 record against ranked foes.

TURNOVERS GALOREUAlbany ranks 15th in FCS and third in the CAA for turnover margin (+7, 1.17/game). In back-to-back weeks, the Danes forced six turnovers, which both tie a single-game program record -- At James Madison (9/19), UAlbany logged a program-record five interceptions and a fumble recovery; In the win over Rhode Island (9/12), the Great Danes recovered four fumbles and intercepted the ball twice. Prior to this season, the last time UAlbany forced the opposition to turn the ball over six times was against Towson on Sept. 1, 2001.

IN THE RED ZONERanking third in the CAA, the Great Danes have an 84.6 percent success rate in the red zone, going 11-for-13 this season. UAlbany started the season strong, going 2-for-2 at Buffalo, 4-for-4 vs. Rhode Island, and 3-for-3 at JMU, before going 1-for-2 vs. Duquesne and 0-1 at Holy Cross, and 1-1 vs. Maine. With a balanced ground and pass game, UAlbany has scored five rushing touchdowns and five passing touchdowns inside the red zone.

ATHLETICS RECEIVES $10 MILLION GIFT
UAlbany President Robert J. Jones, Foundation President George R. Hearst III and Athletic Director Mark Benson announced Oct. 8^th that the University received a $10 million gift to support the football stadium and other facilities, expand scholarships for student-athletes, and address additional priorities in athletics. The gift was made by The Bernard and Millie Children’s Foundation, which was established by the son of Bernard and Millie Duker, William Duker ’75, of Westerlo and New York City, his wife Sharon (Casey) Duker, and their son William "West" Duker. The stadium is now named Tom & Mary Casey Stadium, in honor of Sharon (Casey) Duker’s parents.

NOMINATE A VETERAN OR ACTIVE SERVICE MEMBER TO BE HONORED AT NOV. 14TH GAME
On November 14th, the University at Albany will be honoring the nation’s veterans and active service members at the third annual Todd J. Clark Memorial Game in partnership with Wounded Warrior Project with personalized recognition on the game-worn uniforms. In addition, the Great Danes will honor servicemen and servicewomen, active and retired, at halftime of the UAlbany-New Hampshire football game on Bob Ford Field.  Each honored service member will receive two tickets to the game and a commemorative item. Fans are encouraged to nominate friends or family members to be honored.

UALBANY NCAA TEAMS TO BE HONORED AT HALFTIME
In 2014-15, UAlbany competed in a school-record six NCAA Tournaments, while winning nine conference championships, and was one of three universities in the country to have its men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, field hockey, and women’ golf teams make NCAA Division I Tournament appearances -- the others were Duke and North Carolina. 

Those six teams will be honored at halftime of Saturday’s game.

UP NEXT
The Great Danes break for bye week and return to action on Saturday, Oct. 31 at Richmond. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.