UAlbany Wins Northeast Conference Football Championship and Earns Gridiron Classic Bowl Berth

UAlbany will head to Pioneer League Champion Dayton to play in the GridIron Classic. The football program also has a deserved chance to gain a berth into the Football Championship Series playoffs, and will wait until the playoff field is released.

Courtesy: UAlbany Athletics

New Britain, Conn. – Sophomore tailback David McCarty rushed for a career-high 247 yards and two touchdowns as UAlbany wrapped up its first Northeast Conference championship in four years with a 49-14 victory over Central Connecticut State on Saturday, Nov. 17 at Arute Field.

UAlbany (8-3, NEC 6-0) will represent the conference in the Gridiron Classic on Dec. 1 against Dayton, the Pioneer Football League co-champion. The Great Danes, who finished the regular season by winning seven in a row, will make their first postseason appearance since 2002.

“Our offensive and defensive lines just took over,” said UAlbany’s Bob Ford, whose program captured their third NEC crown in his 35th varsity campaign as head coach. “(David) McCarty has the ability to make moves going forward and then he goes by you. This (championship) just puts us in line with the other teams at the university who have achieved excellence since we transitioned to Division I.”

Central Connecticut State (6-5, NEC 4-2) tried to rally from a 21-0 deficit by marching 76 yards in 11 plays with the second-half kickoff. Jo Jo Freeman, who ran for 71 yards on 15 carries, keyed the drive, while quarterback Ryan Holmes completed a fourth-down pass to keep the sequence alive. Holmes, a 6’3” senior, flipped a six-yard touchdown pass to tight end Greg Grochowski.

The Blue Devils, who had won 12 of their last 13 home games, were looking for more on the next time they touched the ball. But Holmes, who completed 10-of-20 for 66 yards, was forced to throw an incomplete pass when defensive end Jon Volpe applied heavy pressure on a play that originated at the UAlbany 35. The Great Danes then dominated the action from that point by reaching paydirt on their next three possessions.

McCarty, who piled up the second-highest single-game rushing total in school history, broke through the line clean and raced down the left sideline on a 47-yard scoring run for a 28-7 advantage with 3:37 remaining in the third period. Sophomore tailback Justin Gannon, who added 55 yards on the ground, did the bulk of the work in setting up quarterback Vinny Esposito’s four-yard scoring toss to tight end Dan Archer on the first play of the fourth quarter. The 49-yard drive began after Michael Dungey, a senior defensive tackle, recovered a Holmes’ fumble.

McCarty, who toppled the 100-yard rushing mark for the fifth consecutive game and seventh time this season, completed his highlight reel on a 52-yard touchdown run with 12:00 to play. He swept around left end and picked his way through the defense on the sideline en route to the goal line. CCSU’s James Mallory added a 27-yard TD run, and UAlbany’s George Williams came up with another touchdown on a 37-yard fumble return to complete the scoring.

“I can’t say enough about my offensive line,” said McCarty, whose team became just the fifth NEC team to go undefeated in conference play. “Their defense was starting to slow down in the second half and it’s easier to run when you have dual threats. Our defense caused turnovers, we made adjustments as a team, and then we (the offense) scored touchdowns.”

The Great Danes opened the contest with an 11-play, 67-yard scoring march. McCarty took an option pitch 16 yards to set up a first-and-goal at the CCSU eight-yard line. After Esposito ran seven yards over left tackle, Omar Johnson reached the end zone on a one-yard blast for a 7-0 lead.

Josue Paul returned the subsequent kickoff 54 yards to give the Blue Devils great field position. But defensive tackle Tom Pandolf sacked Aubrey Norris, who rotates at quarterback with Holmes, at the UAlbany 38. Norris fumbled and Pandolf completed the play by recovering the ball.

“We’re not the biggest or fastest defensive line but we want it more,” explained Dungey, whose nationally-ranked unit forced five turnovers and accounted for five sacks. “We basically came in together as a group. Sharing it (the title) isn’t the same as wanting it for yourself.”

UAlbany used a 14-point second quarter to build a comfortable halftime margin. McCarty set up his team’s second touchdown with a dazzling 56-yard scamper where he knifed through the line and cut back to his left. Johnson, a 225-pound senior, powered over right guard two plays later on a two-yard TD run. The Great Danes went to work again on their next possession with an eight-play drive. In a third-and-seven situation, Esposito scrambled to his right and hit flanker Mike Wall with a 31-yard scoring pass. Wall worked back to the ball and dove in the end zone to make the catch.

“We were confident coming into the game,” stated UAlbany inside linebacker Colin Disch, a senior who had nine tackles. “We had a big stop in the third quarter and weathered the storm. McCarty’s run pretty much took the wind out of their sails. We have great chemistry, everyone gets along, and we are so into it that we want to keep playing through December.”



Paw Prints

... UAlbany won its fifth conference championship since the mid-1990s (Northeast – 2002, 2003 & 2007 and Eastern Football Conference (1997 & 1998) ...

... The Great Danes became the fifth team in NEC history to go undefeated in conference play (Robert Morris – 1997, 1999 & 2000 and Sacred Heart – 2001) ...

... UAlbany tied the program’s Division I FCS record with its eighth win ... the Great Danes went 8-4 in 2002 ...

... UAlbany’s seven-game winning streak is the program’s longest since 1998 ...

... The Great Danes last played in the postseason in the 2002 campaign and defeated Duquesne, 24-0, in the ECAC Football Classic ...

... David McCarty’s 247 rushing yards is the second-highest single-game total in the program’s history ... Tom DeBlois ran for 286 on Nov. 15, 1975 against Springfield ...

... The Great Danes rushed for a season-high 341 yards, the 24th time they have run for 300 or more yards as a Division I FCS program ...

... Senior inside linebacker Colin Disch became the third player in NEC annals to reach the 400-career mark in tackles (408) ...

... Head coach Bob Ford recorded his 225th career victory at the collegiate level ... Ford, the second winningest active coach at the Division I FCS level, has a 225-161-1 career record ...

... UAlbany and Dayton will play in the second annual Gridiron Classic on Saturday, Dec. 1 ... San Diego defeated Monmouth, 27-7, in last year’s game ...