UAlbany Football And Monmouth linked by long history

Monmouth football coach Kevin Callahan said the practice he runs on Fridays is almost identical in content to what he learned as a University at Albany assistant under Bob Ford in 1977.

Ford said the Monmouth football team "might be the best-coached in our conference.''

Rooted in familiarity and respect, the Great Danes and Hawks renew arguably the best rivalry in the Northeast Conference with a battle for sole possession of first place at 1 p.m. Saturday on University Field.

"We've just had some great football games with them,'' Ford said. "They're our biggest rivalry in the conference right now.''

They've combined to win or share five of the past six NEC titles, and Saturday's victor is in the driver's seat for another.

Either defending champion UAlbany (5-3 overall, 4-0 league) or Monmouth (5-3, 4-0) will have a one-game lead and the tiebreaker with two games to play.

"It's probably the biggest game of the season,'' UAlbany junior quarterback Vinny Esposito said. "I think that the last couple of weeks, everybody has this game penciled on our calendar. I got to know a couple of people (at Monmouth) and I know they consider us a rival, and I'd say since I've been here they've been our biggest rival.''

UAlbany is 6-4 against Monmouth since joining the NEC in 1999, the only league team with a winning record against the Hawks.

Today's teams both rely on a dominant tailback. Monmouth's David Sinisi is the top rusher in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision with 161.9 yards per game, followed by UAlbany's David McCarty in fifth with 142.5 yards per contest.

"I think (Sinisi) is a little shorter and maybe a little quicker than McCarty,'' UAlbany defensive tackle Tom Pandolf said. "McCarty's more big and powerful. But the thing they both have in common is they both have very good vision.''

Ford said that to win, the Great Danes must slow Sinisi down and have McCarty run for 100 yards.

UAlbany did that last season as Sinisi gained only 59 yards while McCarty rushed for 167 in a 21-3 victory in West Long Branch, N.J.

That triumph helped the Great Danes cleanse the bad taste from 2006, when Monmouth dominated them 19-0 at University Field in the regular-season finale with the championship at stake. That was the last league defeat for UAlbany, which has since won 10 straight NEC games.

Not that the veteran players have completely forgotten. They also remember Monmouth beat UAlbany by a combined four points in 2004 and 2005.

"It's big for everyone,'' UAlbany fifth-year senior linebacker Mark Peretore said. "They've taken it away from us before and we know they're a good team.''

He said UAlbany held its most intense practice of the season on Wednesday, when the workout was moved inside to Afrim's in Latham because of the rain.

While emotions should be running high Saturday, Ford said he doesn't expect the game to get out of control because of the tremendous respect he holds for Callahan.

"He is truly a professional,'' Ford said. "He's got a quality staff and their kids play hard. It's never anything where I'd say, 'Boy, they condone some dirty football.' "

By MARK SINGELAIS