fb 2024 Game #3: 9/14/24 - 4PM EST at Idaho

[Eli]

On 9/15/2024 at 1:04 AM, BestDaneSinceHamlet said:

Guys, last year we went to the FRIGGIN NATIONAL SEMIS.  3 games in and you're already about to jump off a bridge.  Idaho was the 6th ranked team this year? its not like Rhode Island did this. 

Calm down, be grateful for a great year.  Yes, the defense is awful, but there are a LOT of weapons on offense.  The line is crap, fine.  ...But you guys are about to jump off the boat and it hasn't even left the harbor. 

I hope I'm wrong and you are right but the issue isn't that we lost. It's that we didn't even show up. Completely outclassed at every facet/level. That's all about coaching. 

Edited September 17 by Eli

[Clickclack]

8 hours ago, BestDaneSinceHamlet said:

Guys, last year we went to the FRIGGIN NATIONAL SEMIS.  3 games in and you're already about to jump off a bridge.  Idaho was the 6th ranked team this year? its not like Rhode Island did this. 

Calm down, be grateful for a great year.  Yes, the defense is awful, but there are a LOT of weapons on offense.  The line is crap, fine.  ...But you guys are about to jump off the boat and it hasn't even left the harbor. 

Point taken, I think for many of us who've watched this program for decades and all of Gattuso's tenure, we know $iena when we see it. Yes there are weapons on offense, but the entire defense and o-line is a mess. We've seen some horrible football and those teams share a lot of similarities with this one. So people are girding their loins. 

Let's see how they do next 2 or 3 weeks. Not as concerned that they lost against WV and Idaho, more concerned how bad certain parts of the team look. That defense is an absolute joke right now. O-line also extremely poor granted we'll see how they do with competition more their speed. 

[ctdanes]

I still think there’s a good shot to go 8-4, desperately need to figure something out though. Enjoy the bye week and get right 

[Eli]

Still ranked #20 in the Stats pole. Only a 3 place drop after getting beaten like a red headed step child is...kind.

[ctdanes]

To be fair Idaho probably beats anyone ranked 15-30 by at least two scores

richmomd was rank 15 when we beat them by 40, it happens 

[HOF2013]

On 9/16/2024 at 12:55 PM, Eli said:

Still ranked #20 in the Stats pole. Only a 3 place drop after getting beaten like a red headed step child is...kind.

Once again........................Idaho is a great team....On both sides of the ball.  Our defense is still a work in progress...can't play top teams even up with a defense that now has 1 returning starter playing!  Just sayin'.  Offense was again inside the red zone 3 times without a score - and one was a TD was called back becasue of a dumb penalty.    Ozzie will be back on the leftside T for league play.  Myles MUST throw the ball better.  Basically 300 yds passing 2 games in a row against the teams we played is nothing to sneeze at!  If he starts throwing better the run game will be better..................just the way it typically works.

[HOF2013]

On 9/16/2024 at 12:55 PM, Eli said:

Still ranked #20 in the Stats pole. Only a 3 place drop after getting beaten like a red headed step child is...kind.

Also, if you recall, last year we lost two games to FBS schools that we SHOULD ave won. Not could have, should have.   But that was a different team, especially on defense.

Also Idaho is the only school to move from FBS to FCS - just some more food for thought.

[cwdickens]

From yesterday's Times-Union:

Coach sees team progress Entering bye week, Danes will try to improve from defeat UAlbany coach Greg Gattuso said his 1-2 team is in the same position as a season ago, when the Great Danes won a CAA title.

BY MARK SINGELAIS

University at Albany football coach Greg Gattuso said Monday he feels “very good” about his team, which enters its off week after losing 41-13 Saturday at fourthranked Idaho. The Great Danes are 1-2 after back-toback defeats to West Virginia and Idaho, the same record they had last season after losing on the road to Marshall and Hawaii of the Football Bowl Subdivision.

UAlbany went on to win its first Coastal Athletic Association title and reach the semifinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. “We’re exactly in the position we were last year right now at this moment,” Gattuso said on the weekly CAA media conference call. “We’re trying to sort it out, just like we were at this point last year, after the Hawaii trip, after a long, tough game.

I feel very good about where we stand and I feel very good about our team.” One difference is last year the Great Danes entered their bye week after a 31- 20 loss at Hawaii in a game the Great Danes had a chance to win in the fourth quarter. Saturday’s loss at Idaho wasn’t nearly as competitive. UAlbany trailed 27-3 at halftime as the Vandals dominated the rematch of last season’s FCS quarterfinal at Idaho.

“If you talk about a nightmare scenario is that you have to go right back and play the team you just knocked out of the playoffs the year before,” Gattuso said. “That’s pretty good motivation, when you add in they’re a really good football team, really talented. Then you add on top of it (Idaho coach) Jason Eck does a really good job coaching them and motivating them, and then you add in a big trip.”

UAlbany running back Griffin Woodell scores a touchdown in the season opener against LIU. The Danes are only averaging 72.7 yards rushing a game. On Monday, Gattuso watched film in the game room of his house. He met with the team on Sunday and gave his staff a day off. He said UAlbany will practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The Great Danes don’t play Saturday. Their next game is Sept. 28 in their CAA opener against Maine at Casey Stadium. One issue to address is a running game that still hadn’t gotten untracked with left tackle Ozzie Hutchinson and left guard Scott Houseman out with injuries. The Great Danes also lost tight end Dylan Walker, who limped off after the first play against Idaho.

UAlbany ranks 15th out of 16 CAA teams by averaging only 72.7 rushing yards per game. The Great Danes even failed to run effectively for most of their one victory, a 27-21 season-opening win over Long Island University. “We’ve got to run the ball more effectively,” Gattuso said. “We’ve got to get in there and start looking at what’s hurting us. We’re doing a lot of lateral running right now and sure would like to get focused on running downhill a little bit more.

Again, those two teams (West Virginia and Idaho) are pretty good up front. Idaho’s going to have one of the best defenses in the country.” Gattuso said sophomore quarterback Myles Burkett, the Wisconsin transfer, has “played really well.” Burkett threw for a combined 596 yards and two touchdowns against West Virginia and Idaho, though he did have an interception returned for a Vandals’ touchdown.

With 11 new defensive starters, UAlbany ranks last in the CAA in scoring defense at 37 points per game and 14th in total defense at 443.7 yards per contest. Idaho racked up 420 yards, including 247 rushing. “With the amount of loss we’ve had on defense, it’s hurt us,” Gattuso said. “I can see some really good progress even through the burning trees sometimes on defense because we haven’t played as well as I would like. But we’re making progress. That’s all you can ask."