reeder

The other challen

10 minutes ago, reeder said:

If we win out, we’ll be in second place in the conference.  Don’t think the committee would leave out a second place CAA team.  

That said, some of the usual one bid leagues might end up with multiple bids.  In the NEC, if CCSU loses to Robert Morris or Duquesne, they might get an at large.  Also, if Kennesaw wins the rest of their games, they’ll end up second in the Big South behind Monmouth and they’d get an auto bid.  

3 hours ago, UAalum72 said:

Absolutely a must win, and next week too.

1. Still no love in the polls. 34th in the AGS poll, 35th in the FCS Coaches' Poll and the FCS STATS Poll. Includes 5 non-playoff teams (Ivy, MEAC) but still there are only 24 slots.

2. There are already 18 teams with 7 or more wins, we only have 6.

3. Even if we win two, not sure who to root for in the Maine/UNH Musket game - some people are saying a 7-5 Maine who beat us should get in.

4. Only once has a 7-win team gotten an at-large bid in a 12-game season (Indiana State 201), and they had an FBS win over Ball State.

On the plus side, collegesportsmadness.com does project us in the bracket, travelling to Brookings, SD to play South Dakota State. Only a 3 1/2 hour drive from the Minneapolis Airport.

Massey and Sagarin have us one-point favorite in both games.

If we win out, we’ll be in second place in the conference.  Don’t think the committee would leave out a second place CAA team.  

1 minute ago, DanesRGood said:

ha! And now a wheel route right about the right side for 50 yards.  It's been a rough first half for the defense. 

It’s been a rough three games for the defense.

53 minutes ago, jimbo said:

I saw something that said that their front 7 was solid, but their weak spot was the edges....so were we hitting the edges? The reverse to Green was effective. 

56 minutes ago, jimbo said:

I don't understand why James was not in there more...and used more. He got 9+ a pop on three carries. Gattuso took the hit for the call on the safety. Overall the stats for the game didn't indicate the final score. It was a VERY bad day for JU....fumble, sack/fumble, pick 6, safety. That was basically the difference in the game. Like I said before, it worked in our favor against URI....not so much yesterday. No problems parking BTW.....wondered if we had the wrong day for the game when we pulled in at 3. Concessions were quick cuz no one was there. We were colder than expected with that breeze....stuck around until the pick 6 and then booked. Heated car seats never felt so good!! 

I agree about Alex James.  I think he started the second half, had a couple of good runs then took himself out - he was limping.  

I think this was eerily similar to the Richmond game, Maine had very good cornerbacks and played press coverage, they were also able to get pressure with just their defensive line.   Undercuffler had to throw a lot more long sideline passes - not sure how many he tried but it was a lot.  I also think we struggled in pass coverage - just a bad combination overall.  

I watched the Villanova / Stony Brook game this morning and Stony Brook was very lucky to get the win.  Villanova absolutely took defeat from the hands of victory.  Bad clock management and bad defense to give Stony Broook a chance in the end.  

2 hours ago, cwdickens said:

Eight teams playing for likely four maybe five spots.  Everyone would like to finish 4-0 or 3-,0 .... Finishing 5-3 in conference is likely having a team looking on the outside.  James Madison is a lock; their schedule consists of very winnable games.  UAlbany has games that largely depend on how we play and how much our opponents want to make the post season.

Too many scenarios for me to look at but I think 8 wins gets you to the playoffs (some teams might have a chance with 7 wins but I don’t think our schedule is strong enough to support that scenario). So we need to win 3 of the last 4.  We don’t have any games against the league powers so we should be competitive in the remaining games.

1 hour ago, jimbo said:

https://nypost.com/2019/10/22/under-armour-founder-ceo-kevin-plank-is-stepping-down/

 

tuesday mood?

Does anyone know what the Under Armour relationship means besides uniforms?  Benson mentioned financial contribution but I find it hard to believe that we’d get a financial contribution given our small stature.

54 minutes ago, UAalum72 said:

2021 Syracuse game has been moved to 9/18. On 9/4 we instead travel to a tougher team - North Dakota State.

North Dakota State will host UAlbany at the Fargodome in Fargo, N.D., on September 4, 2021. The Bison will pay the Great Danes a $250,000 guarantee for the contest, according to the copy of the contract.

I think the Rhode Island QB is from Atlanta and went to Georgia Prep.  Not sure how they’d get those mixed up.

Anyway, congratulations to Undercuffler.  He’s playing really well and will give us a chance to win some games.

I don’t know much about him except he coached at Northern Iowa and then at Fordham before coming to Albany.  That said, he’s done a great job with the offense - yes, he has a better quarterback to work with but you can see that there’s a plan and he’s doing it well.

They’re running the RPO really well and using a lot of check with me to change plays - keeps defenders from stacking the box so there are running lanes for Mofor and James.  Utilizing the entire field with the passing game - sideline routes, seam routes...  this is probably premature but I feel like our offense will keep us in some games and give us a chance to win one or two where we’re underdogs.

I’d like to see more info on him (we’ve seen all the info on coaches who played in the NFL, we know a lot about Coach Sweeney...) but Coach Davis has won FCS playoff games.

I didn’t see it touch him either.  I am wondering why our defenders weren’t more aggressive in going after the ball - William and Mary can’t touch the ball until it goes 10 yards, but our defenders can.  Maybe they thought it wouldn’t go 10 yards?  Coach Gattuso said they were playing smart but i don’t understand.  

17 minutes ago, Clickclack said:

"...we wish him the best of luck"

 

 

Kid is a distraction, a cray baby and weak millennial who was to small, couldn't contribute etc. Kid asks to leave and just disengage from program...I know what we'll do, let's really stick it to him. 

 

 

Note the paragraph that says the request usually comes from the school that the athlete is considering transferring to.  Just speculation but maybe he’s going to Villanova - he committed there previously.

15 hours ago, Clickclack said:

So much winning... 

 

 

I wish him the best - hope he lands on his feet.  The irony is that we finally have a legitimate passing game and next year he would have probably been the main target again as the other three top receivers graduate.  

That said, I hope this isn’t too much of a distraction.

On 9/23/2018 at 10:07 AM, reeder said:

Chris Johnson - started a few games a couple of years ago was an All American at UNA (D2 -now D1)last year. https://roarlions.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=1331

Julian Cox - California do PA.  https://calvulcans.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=4830&path=

Chris Johnson made the Houston Texans as a practice squad player.

I’m optimistic.  We have a very good offense - some mistakes but Undercuffler can make all the throws and that should keep us in games.      That said,  Bryant and Lafayette are both really bad so it’s hard to tell we really are.  Also, we’ll see if the defense can stop a few drives in the upcoming games

In my opinion, we also have the easiest schedule in the conference.  We don’t play JMU, Elon or Villanova- I’d argue that they’re three of the top 5 teams in the conference.

5 hours ago, dslyank said:

My point entirely. The big South is no where near a top FCS conference and Monmouth is no where near a top FCS team. UA dominated them when both were NEC. Bad loss to a Bad team Saturday. I'm close to giving up on this season. May? get a W against a bad Lafayette, but doubt if we win a caa game, even as you say a league that has gotten poorer over the last several years. And for what its worth, the win over Bryant did not come without a bit of luck; 3 long runs (2 for +80 and one for +60) and a deflected ball for a pick 6. I do not think plays like these are drawn up in the huddle.

I've said it several times, in spite of being almost universally harassed; should have STAYED in the NEC. would have made multiple ncaa appearance in the past six fruitless caa years.{and with a clueless gg and a benson ?extention, could be fruitless for years to come.}

I’m probably too optimistic but even with our deficiencies, we can still be competitive in some of the CAA games.  Not saying that we’ll win many but we should be competitive against William and Mary (although their freshman QB is really good), Richmond, Stony Brook and New Hampshire.  IMO, Rhode Island and Delaware are better than we are and Maine and Towson are much better than we are.  We can win some of those games.

He should use the tight end more but I’d argue that our issue isn’t offense - it should be better and Undercuffler has to hold onto the ball but I think the issue is that we’re unable to defend.  

This is a Coach Dudzinski issue.

IMO, we’re going to see a lot more games like this.  Hopefully with a different result but I think we’re going to need shootouts with Undercuffler throwing it a lot because we have significant defensive issues.   We’ll need to score on almost every positions especially against the best offensive teams like Towson and Maine.   Bryant just wasn’t good so that game was like the Columbia game a few years ago where we handled a bad team and the result hid our weaknesses.  Not sure how we fix the defense but the issues aren’t new - one of my memories from the last few years was how often Kareem Brown seemed to get beat deep and yesterday it seemed like it was Tyler Carswell getting beat deep.

Anything stand out on the depth chart?  From my perspective, interesting that Hunter Verdi isn’t on the 2 deep.  I thought he’d be a big contributor this year. Kobe Thomas listed as a probable starter - he was highly rated coming out of HS.  Also, Lang is showing as a backup - pretty sure he started some games last year.  Not a lot of surprises overall - still think we need changes on the offensive line.  

2 hours ago, Dane96 said:

Zenolovic had looks from Buffalo, Kentucky, and some others.  He had an offer from Cornell.  He also held one from Edinboro, a very good D 2 school. That’s what I know of at least.  He had hurt his ankle / foot his JR year which kept his offers down.  Then he broke it in Sept of his senior year.  

The kid, from twitter posts only (take that for what it’s worth) is a hard worker and resilient.  At the very least, that’s what you want from a back up if he isn’t good enough to start now.  He would be ready to go and prepared.  I heard through the grapevine last year that the kids really like him and were down when he got hurt again in the summer. 

 I might be reading too much into this but there was a three way QB competition in the spring - Undercuffler, Shane McLaughlin and Nyc Burns.  Now McLaughlin is gone and Burns is a WR.  Now the three way competition is Undercuffler, Zenelovic and Griffin Dahn.  

McLaughlin left the program (or never showed up) and Burns became a WR before camp even started.  Does this say something about the emergence of Zenelovic (maybe he’s pretty good) or maybe it says something about Undercuffler (coaches creating competition)?

8 hours ago, jimbo said:

Just out of curiosity, has Will Brunson graduated or left UA? I only ask because there’s a 2019 roster posted and he’s not on it. Maybe it’s a work in progress because I don’t see the transfer RBs either. 

He graduated and transferred to Frostburg State. 

That’s great news. - I didn’t see that.  Hope he’s doing well.

https://missing.dc.gov/biography/jerod-travon-diggs

The Metropolitan Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating 23-year-old Jerod Diggs, who was last seen in the 3900 block of 2nd Street, SW, on Tuesday, April 30, 2019.

The incident was reported on May 1, 2019.

Jerod Diggs is described as a black male with a dark complexion, 6’1” tall, 175 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue/black plaid shirt, dark pants, dark brown boots and black sunglasses. He may be in need of medication.

On 11/15/2018 at 3:05 PM, Eli said:

The exodus is beginning. Brunson won't be a much of a loss but it is indicative of a bigger issue. There has been rumors (offline) that Gattuso lost the locker room this year. I can't substantiate those rumors but if that is the case, Brunson won't be the first to pack his bags. This is why I said Benson needs to fire this guy ASAP because there is NO WAY Gattuso will dig us out of the whole he dug himself. Players don't want to play for him. Fans aren't showing up. Diehard fans aren't renewing tickets. Players don't want to play in an empty stadium for a guy that is going to lose them a lot of games.

If we thought we were at rock bottom, we ain't there yet. The iceberg is just rounding into view.

Hate to see anyone leave the program but Brunson’s been at Albany for a long time.  He graduated HS 6 months early and started at Albany that January and then he redshirted freshman year.  Assuming he stays thru Spring term, that would be 4 1/2 years so I can see him not coming back for his RS senior year especially if he knows he won’t start.  

That said, it’ll be interesting to see which other players leave the program after this season.