University of Albany Football's Dan Di Lella Named NEC Offensive Player of the Week for Second Straight Time - UAlbany Sports 2011

Somerset, N.J. - University at Albany's Dan Di Lella has been chosen Northeast Conference Offensive Player of the Week in football, as announced on Monday, Oct. 24 by the conference office. Di Lella, a 6-foot-5 quarterback, was recognized with the league award for the second consecutive week.

Di Lella set a school record with five touchdown passes, including four in the first half, and scored on a 20-yard run in the third quarter in last Saturday's 63-35 NEC victory against Central Connecticut State. He jump-started a run of 21 unanswered in the second half that broke the game open. He found tight end Paul Booker with a 7-yard scoring pass, his fifth of the game, and then ran for touchdown that gave his team a 49-21 lead.

A native of Neshanic Station, N.J., Di Lella is the first UAlbany player to account for six touchdowns in a game at the Division I FCS level. He completed 14-of-22 through the air for a career-high 283 yards, tying the sixth-best figure in school annals. Di Lella added 75 yards on the ground and established the program's FCS single-game record with 358 total yards. In seven starting assignments, he has thrown for 1,557 yards and 16 touchdowns. He is 21st nationally in total offense at 258.6 yards per game.

Paw Prints: UAlbany (5-2, NEC 4-0) is receiving votes in both national Division I FCS polls ... the Great Danes own a five-game winning streak for the first time in two years ... UAlbany surpassed the 500-mark in total yards with 573 against Central Connecticut State, plus scored its most points in a conference game ... QB Dan Di Lella, who set the program's FCS standard with 358 total yards last week, helped the offense score on nine of 11 possessions ... the Great Danes are fourth nationally in scoring (37.6 ppg) and ninth in total offense (448.9 ypg) ... TB Andrew Smith has accounted for 100 or more all-purpose yards in five consecutive games ... WR Ryan Kirchner is the 12th UAlbany player to reach 1,000 career receiving yards (1,006) ... FS Justin Hassan became the sixth active UAlbany defender to register 100 career tackles (101) ... UAlbany travels to Wagner on Saturday, Oct. 29 for a 12:07 p.m. kickoff ... the contest is part of the NEC television package and can be seen on ESPN 3 and Fox College Sports.