UAlbany Football Falls to 10th-Ranked New Hamsphire's Second-Half Rally in 32-24 Contest

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Durham, N.H. -- R.J. Toman passed for 255 yards and four touchdowns as New Hampshire rallied for a 32-24 non-league victory over UAlbany on Saturday, Sept. 20 at Cowell Stadium. The Wildcats are ranked No. 10 in both the Sports Network and FCS Coaches national polls.

UAlbany (1-2) took a 24-23 lead with 6:16 left in the third quarter when quarterback Vinny Esposito eluded a blitzing linebacker and hit Chris Kenneally in the seam with a 20-yard scoring pass. Esposito complete 21 of 31 attempts for a career-high 283 yards.

New Hampshire (3-0) regrouped on its next possession. Chad Kackert, who rushed for 106 yards on 16 carries, ran for a first down on fourth-and-one at midfield. Toman, using a play-action fake, ddrilled a 24-yard touchdown to Mike Boyle for the go-ahead points in the fourth lead change of the contest. The two-point conversion pass failed, but UNH added a 45-yard field on the first play of the final period.

The Great Danes, who were played the third of four straight Colonial Athletic Association opponents, had two opportunities to draw even. David McCarty, who ran a school-record 39 times for 130 yards, helped lead his team inside the UNH 5-yard line, but Esposito’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete. Cornerback Ross Bertrand blocked a punt with 3:51 remaining; however, UAlbany stalled out on downs at the UNH 24.

“New Hampshire may not have as much talent as UMass or Montana, but they play hard on every down,” UAlbany coach Bob Ford said. “The momentum went back and forth, but we made too many mental mistakes. We battled back and had a couple of chances in the home stretch.”

The Wildcats, who were meeting the visitors for the first time on the gridiron, threw an inter caption on their first play from scrimmage, but survived to take a 7-0 lead. Tight end Scott Sicko, who was wide open on the left sideline, hauled in a 65-yard scoring pass from Toman on his team’s next offensive set.

UAlbany used a flea-flicker play to set up its first points when Esposito took a pitch back from wideout Tim Bush and delivered a 41-yard strike to Daniel Bocanegra. Herb Glass later connected on a 47-yard field goal, tying the third-longest kick in program history. Bush had six receptions for a career-high 109 yards.

The Great Danes reached the end zone on its next two possessions to build a surprising 17-7 advantage. McCarty capped a 12-play march with a 19-yard touchdown run. The junior tailback took a toss and cut off right tackle. Esposito’s throwing and running produced the next score. He found Bush with a pair of 20-plus yard completions, before turning a quarterback sneak up the middle into an 11-yard touchdown.

UNH closed the gap to 17-14 at halftime by moving the length of the field in less than one minute. The Wildcats converted a third-and-10 when Toman hooked up with running back Chad Kackert on a 26-yard screen pass. Toman later moved from out of the pocket from pressure and rifled a 19-yard scoring pass to Kackert at the goal line with three seconds remaining.

In the third quarter, UAlbany miscues in the punting game put the Wildcats in the lead. Chris Lynch was tackled while trying to get off a punt and that led to Toman’s 24-yard TD pass to Sicko in the left corner of the end zone. New Hampshire increased its margin to 23-17 when a high snap from center forced Lynch to heave the football out of the end zone for a safety.

“The line protected well, our receivers did a good job, but we sputtered in the red zone,” Esposito explained. “We have a good idea about our team through these first three games. We had a chance to win all three, so we are disappointed with the results.”