ualbany football-2024 UAlbany Football Game 1 Saturday, August 31, 2024 7:00 PM vs LIU Sharks Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium

[cwdickens]

New-look Danes ready

UAlbany has new QB, receivers, 10 defensive starters

BY MARK SINGELAIS ALBANY — Asked what he knows about Long Island University, Saturday’s UAlbany wide receiver MarQeese Dietz, who had 45 catches last season, said the Great Danes will still be explosive this year. opponent in the season opener at Casey Stadium, University at Albany junior wide receiver MarQeese Dietz answered bluntly “Nothing,” Dietz responded. “I just know that it’s time to ball.”

Dietz did elaborate on the importance of executing well against the defense the Sharks are supposed to run against the Great Danes. “First game’s always a game to adjust, so you’ve got to be ready to adjust on the fly,” Dietz added.

While LIU of the Northeast Conference is a first-time opponent for the Great Danes, UAlbany is also a team that’s something of a mystery, even coming off its first Coastal Athletic Association title and first appearance in the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals last season.

The Great Danes have a new starting quarterback, Wisconsin transfer Myles Burkett. He replaces Reese Poffenbarger, who transferred to the University of Miami. Burkett’s wide receivers include Oregon and Jackson State transfer Seven McGee and Dartmouth transfer Jamal Cooney. UAlbany, which lost 10 defensive starters, revamped on that side with six transfers listed as starters on Saturday’s depth chart.

Burkett acknowledged the Sharks could have trouble preparing for him. He attempted only five passes over two seasons at Wisconsin. “You’ve got maybe 70 snaps of me playing in college, maybe, ever,” Burkett said. “And it’s a lot of garbage-time stuff, so they don’t know what I’ve got. I’ve continued to improve over my college career. You’ve got guys like Seven McGee, they haven’t seen much of him. You don’t know what he’s going to do. You’ve got a lot of guys who, to me, are hidden gems, right, but to (LIU), they’ve got no idea. So it makes it a little more fun for us because we can go out there and showcase those guys’ talents.”

Dietz, who had 45 catches last season, and sophomore wide receiver Levi Wentz (16 catches) could see expanded roles after the departure of last season’s star receivers, Julian Hicks and Brevin Easton. Hicks is on the Packers’ practice squad and Easton was released by the Jaguars. Dietz said the big-play capability of this team should be “pretty much the same” as last year. “Regardless, we’re still going to make big plays,” he said. “Just be ready.”

If it takes Burkett and his receivers time to get on the same page, the Great Danes can turn to a running game led by Glens Falls’ Griffin Woodell, who ran for 892 yards and eight touchdowns last season, and an offensive line with five returning starters. “You’ve got maybe the best left tackle in FCS (Ozzie Hutchinson) out there with me,” Burkett said. “It makes my job a lot easier. To everyone else, you’d think it’s going to be the first start for a guy out there and be scared or a little bit frantic. When you have guys like that around me, I can just do my job.”

LIU head coach Ron Cooper wasn’t ready to divulge his starter at quarterback, which he said would be a gametime decision. The Sharks have four quarterbacks listed on their two-deep for Saturday. Cooper is in his third season guiding the Sharks, who went 4-7 last season, 4-3 in the NEC. They upgraded from Division II in 2019. “I know they’ve got a new quarterback, but he’s been in a big-time environment (at Wisconsin) also, at least practice-wise,” Cooper said. “I know they’ll be ready. It’s a great opportunity to see where our program is in our third year. We’re looking forward to getting up there and playing a team that was one game away from being in the national championship.”

The Great Danes, who averaged 5,074 fans per home game last year, are hoping for added support from last year’s historic run. Head coach Greg Gattuso said his team is ready for Saturday. “We put the work in,” Gattuso said. “We feel good. The challenge now is, how are they going to respond in game situations? With the amount of new guys, I can’t answer that question. There’s no way to simulate actual game situations, but I feel good about them. They’ve worked hard.” After Saturday, UAlbany plays back-to-back road games at West Virginia of the Big 12 and Idaho.

[GreatDanes06]

15 hours ago, cwdickens said:

Football Gameday Parking Moved to Dutch Lot
Saturday, August 31
University Parking Notice

The University has made the decision to implement the secondary parking setup for this Saturday’s football home opener. With the adjustment, Dutch Lot will now become the official gameday parking for all fans who do not have season parking passes for the Broadview Lot. All pre-purchased season and single game Grass Lot digital parking passes are valid for Dutch Lot for Saturday’s game against LIU.

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Game Information

Broadview and Dutch Lots open at 3 PM

Gates to Casey Stadium open at 6 PM

WEAR BLACK!

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Secondary Parking Map | Buy Tickets | Buy Parking | Tailgating Policies

 

For any questions, please contact the UAlbany Ticket Office by phone at (518) 442-DANE or by email at GreatDaneTicket@albany.edu

hahahaha...well so much for my rant and so much for this grand idea. 

[cwdickens]

7 hours ago, GreatDanes06 said:

hahahaha...well so much for my rant and so much for this grand idea. 

The area between the entrance (near the baseball field and the parking lot was comprised by intense rainstorm a couple weeks ago and with rain in the forecast for this afternoon and evening, the situation was not going to get better.

[cwdickens]

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Albany NY
402 AM EDT Sat Aug 31 2024

 

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northwestern Connecticut,
western Massachusetts, eastern New York and southern Vermont.

 

.DAY ONE...Today and tonight.

There is a chance for thunderstorms this afternoon into early tonight.
A few thunderstorms could be strong to severe with damaging wind
gusts. Locally heavy rain may cause ponding of water on roadways and
poor drainage flooding in a few locations.

[UAalum72]

The band is up over 60 members now. We’ll see if that means there are 26 flutes now 

East side full except the LIU section. Not many on berm yet

[GreatDanes06]

sooooooooooooooooooooooo...we gonna wake up?

[Dane96]

Not great on either side.  We should not be struggling like this at alll. 

[GreatDanes06]

well...that was a pretty awful half of football. This isn't exactly what you want to see game 1.

[GreatDanes06]

and in one play back in the lead...still...blah half.

[jimbo]

Help me out here…it’s 3:28 am in Spain…I’m watching live stats…are game conditions bad? Is Burkett incapable of throwing a pass downfield? I’m blind. 

[nysteve661]

Only highlight I see via stats is our punter is having an outstanding game 🤔.

[BestDaneSinceHamlet]

Looks like Ozempic for Gattuso.  Hes half the man he used to be.  Did he even yell at the refs tonight?

[jimbo]

Won a game where the stats show they were outplayed by an NEC team. I guess that’s a positive. Lots of work to do I’d imagine and lots of gelling needed for the new troops and lots of new game film for the coaches to chew on. A win is a win although less than impressive and inspiring. 

[ctdanes]

Can’t get outplayed by an NEC team at home like that. Hope a different team shows up in Idaho 

[nysteve661]

Well West Virginia is probably pissed on how bad they were vs PSU so next week looks rough.  Have a lot of work to do to beat Idaho after that.