GSU Recap

[danefan]

We gave GSU 9 points....gave it to them.

 

A pick 6 on 3rd and long from their own endzone - should have ran the ball and punted away.

 

A block PAT and Albany's entire team stood around and let the GSU guy pick up the ball and run for 2.

 

They gave away 9 points and lost by 3. Albany should have won the game.

Held GSU to 58 rushing yards and gave up 2 big passing plays that amounted to 70+ yards of the 259 total.

 

Time of possession favored Albany by 8 minutes.

 

A good game, but very disappointing loss for Albany. The game should have been 17-3 at halftime and they then could have run the clock down in the 2nd half and would not have to had to go to the passing game with an injured QB who never was a gamechanger.

 

The bright spot for Albany is that we've found our future - QB Andrew Smith. RFr.....8 carries for 101 rushing yards and a TD. 140 kick return yards as well. for a 240 all-purpose yards game in his first ever college game.

 

 

Looking forward - UMass fought Kansas St. tough last night, losing 21-17. The next two games are make or break games now for us. Umass and Maine won't be slouches and I'm not sure either of their first week scores will be indicative of their teams though. The CAA South is going to be very tough this year, but I'm not sure about the North. Richmond, William & Mary and Villanova all had FBS wins (Richmond over Duke, W&M over Virginia, and Nova over Temple).

[reeder]

I made the drive from Atlanta to Statesboro for the game. A few thoughts:

1. Albany made too many mistakes. I think there were 4 or 5 false starts - 2 or 3 on the first drive. The Gannon fumble hurt and the interception that was returned for a TD was painful.

2. Smith played a great game. He lined up at RB a few times in the first half but didn't touch the ball. The fake punt worked and the 4th and short for a TD was a great run. The only question that i would have is why he didn't attempt atleast 1 pass. In the second half, he was going in and out of the game, mostly taking a direct snap and running the ball. After a while, everyone in the stadium knew he was going to run. If he had attempted just one pass, I think it would have opened up the defense a bit. Late in the game, he went on it on another 4th and 1 and didn't get it, you could see the frustration as he walked off the field.

3. Esposito played well especially with the short passes. The pick 6 was just a bad pass. For some reason, he seemed to have a few passes that were almost into the ground a couple of yards in front of the intended receiver. There was an earlier pass that was thrown very low and I thought Georgia Southern intercepted it but it was ruled incomplete.

4. Georgia Southern figured out something in the second half - a lot of big plays, both passing and running.

5. McCarty played well but he didn't have a lot of room to run. What impressed me was that he always fell forward for an extra yard.

6. The blocked extra point hurt because it was a three point swing and it got the crowd and their team invigorated.

 

Lastly, it was a great environment for a college game.

[danefan]

Photos from the trip and the game

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=149444&id=125962027500

 

You don't have to be on Facebook to see them.

[Clickclack]

Great pictures...thank you! They look like they have a really nice place and the crowd looked great.

[DanesRGood]

Photos from the trip and the game

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=149444&id=125962027500

 

You don't have to be on Facebook to see them.

 

Amazing facility. Those pictures of what looks like a luxury suite are beautiful.

[Clickclack]

Just looked at the GSU box score...18K+ reported attendance? WOW, that is a great crowd, no? What team leads the FCS in attendance?

[danefan]

Just looked at the GSU box score...18K+ reported attendance? WOW, that is a great crowd, no? What team leads the FCS in attendance?

 

 

Tough to compare in week 1 because so many teams played at FBS schools. Montana probably led at home though, with 25,000+. Old Dominion had around 20,000 too for their first ever football game (in the modern era that is)

 

GSU is one of the top attendance schools year in and year out. GSU, App State, Delaware and Montana are generally the attendance leaders in FCS, along with some of the HBCU of the SWAC (Southern, Grambling, etc..) that have huge and intense alumni support.

 

Old Dominion will end up in the top 10 this year as they have something like 15,000 season ticket holders for their first year of play. Amazing really.

 

[Clickclack]

Just looked at the GSU box score...18K+ reported attendance? WOW, that is a great crowd, no? What team leads the FCS in attendance?

 

 

Tough to compare in week 1 because so many teams played at FBS schools. Montana probably led at home though, with 25,000+. Old Dominion had around 20,000 too for their first ever football game (in the modern era that is)

 

GSU is one of the top attendance schools year in and year out. GSU, App State, Delaware and Montana are generally the attendance leaders in FCS, along with some of the HBCU of the SWAC (Southern, Grambling, etc..) that have huge and intense alumni support.

 

Old Dominion will end up in the top 10 this year as they have something like 15,000 season ticket holders for their first year of play. Amazing really.

 

 

Amazing picture....where did they get the stadium? Is this new or something they've had on campus for some time?

[danefan]

Just looked at the GSU box score...18K+ reported attendance? WOW, that is a great crowd, no? What team leads the FCS in attendance?

 

 

Tough to compare in week 1 because so many teams played at FBS schools. Montana probably led at home though, with 25,000+. Old Dominion had around 20,000 too for their first ever football game (in the modern era that is)

 

GSU is one of the top attendance schools year in and year out. GSU, App State, Delaware and Montana are generally the attendance leaders in FCS, along with some of the HBCU of the SWAC (Southern, Grambling, etc..) that have huge and intense alumni support.

 

Old Dominion will end up in the top 10 this year as they have something like 15,000 season ticket holders for their first year of play. Amazing really.

 

 

Amazing picture....where did they get the stadium? Is this new or something they've had on campus for some time?

 

 

Its been there for a long long time. This is what it looked like before they dropped $20 million in it this year.

 

[Clickclack]

Beautiful!

[UA66]

Just looked at the GSU box score...18K+ reported attendance? WOW, that is a great crowd, no? What team leads the FCS in attendance?

 

 

Tough to compare in week 1 because so many teams played at FBS schools. Montana probably led at home though, with 25,000+. Old Dominion had around 20,000 too for their first ever football game (in the modern era that is)

 

GSU is one of the top attendance schools year in and year out. GSU, App State, Delaware and Montana are generally the attendance leaders in FCS, along with some of the HBCU of the SWAC (Southern, Grambling, etc..) that have huge and intense alumni support.

 

Old Dominion will end up in the top 10 this year as they have something like 15,000 season ticket holders for their first year of play. Amazing really.

 

 

Amazing picture....where did they get the stadium? Is this new or something they've had on campus for some time?

 

 

Its been there for a long long time. This is what it looked like before they dropped $20 million in it this year.

 

[UA66]

Just looked at the GSU box score...18K+ reported attendance? WOW, that is a great crowd, no? What team leads the FCS in attendance?

 

 

Tough to compare in week 1 because so many teams played at FBS schools. Montana probably led at home though, with 25,000+. Old Dominion had around 20,000 too for their first ever football game (in the modern era that is)

 

GSU is one of the top attendance schools year in and year out. GSU, App State, Delaware and Montana are generally the attendance leaders in FCS, along with some of the HBCU of the SWAC (Southern, Grambling, etc..) that have huge and intense alumni support.

 

Old Dominion will end up in the top 10 this year as they have something like 15,000 season ticket holders for their first year of play. Amazing really.

 

 

Amazing picture....where did they get the stadium? Is this new or something they've had on campus for some time?

 

 

Its been there for a long long time. This is what it looked like before they dropped $20 million in it this year.

 

 

My son lives a block away from the stadium and ODU campus. I was there two weeks ago and got a look at the stadium. It was an old stadium used for high school football, concerts, and I believe "minor" league football. The total improvements were about $35 million if you include the new parking garage seen in the upper part of danefan's pic. During the week the garage is used for faculty, staff, and student parking. Gamedays it is used only for game parking. The PA and scoreboard (with giant LCD screen) alone were $2.5 million. There are 26 luxury boxes; 12 are going for $25,000 per year and 14 for $20,000 per year. Add it up; that's a nice piece of change. Overall, their athletic facilities rival that of most upper echelon D1 schools. For example, their baseball and soccer stadiums are far superior to those at U of Maryland. In fact, their soccer stadium is better than any facility we have. As I walked around campus looking at their facilities I drooled with envy and tried to imagine what it would be like if we had those facilities. BTW, The last time ODU fielded a football team was 70 years ago.

[reeder]

Just looked at the GSU box score...18K+ reported attendance? WOW, that is a great crowd, no? What team leads the FCS in attendance?

 

I'm not sure who leads in attendance, but Georgia Southern averages around 18k which I believe is a sellout. Some of their fans complain that they aren't adding more seating capacity especially since some of the other state universities have built new facilities - West Georgia (Division 2) just built a 10k seat football stadium and Fort Valley State (Division 2) also built a new 10k seat football stadium.

[UAalum72]

Last year's top 20 from NCAA stats

 

Note: Yale jumps to 20K and replaces Harvard in years when The Game is in New Haven; not included are neutral-site HBCU classics which draw 50K+

 

Rank School G Attendance Average

1. Appalachian St. 8 201,291 25,161

2. Montana 9 215,308 23,923

3. Delaware 6 129,653 21,609

4. Jackson St. 4 85,051 21,263

5. Ga. Southern 6 109,010 18,168

6. North Dakota St. 6 108,193 18,032

7. Harvard 5 86,802 17,360

8. Southern U. 4 65,290 16,323

9. Tennessee St. 5 77,218 15,444

10. James Madison 9 138,259 15,362

11. Alabama St. 3 45,654 15,218

12. Youngstown St. 6 86,981 14,497

13. Florida A&M 5 71,914 14,383

14. McNeese St. 5 69,147 13,829

15. Montana St. 6 80,434 13,406

16. South Carolina St. 5 66,916 13,383

17. Liberty 7 92,026 13,147

18. Massachusetts 6 74,298 12,383

19. Citadel 6 73,568 12,261

20. UNI 9 109,604 12,178

 

103. Albany (N.Y.) 5 15,827 3,165

[MRSGDG]

UAlbany's Athetlic Facebook fan page has an album of 94 pictures from before, during and after the game http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/ualbanysports