Post GSU Pre UMASS

[Ruler 79]

Here is my 2 cents:

 

1)We gave away a signature win on Sat night. Either GSU isint that big of a deal or we are better then I thought, not sure yet. That game was ours and we gave it to them, they didn't take it from us. Take back those 9 pts and we are sitting here at 1-0.

 

2) Mistakes will kill any team. Fumbles, INTs, penalties, blocked XP's and we still had a chance to win against a very good program. I don't think GSU is as good as advertised but still have better athletes then we do for the time beiing. They were smaller then I thought. UMASS will be bigger.

 

3) Ford IMHO is the best coach in the business. Can you imagine the teams he would field if he had GSU's athletes??? GIVE HIM THE REST OF THE SCHOLARSHIPS AND STOP TYING ONE HAND BEHIND HIS BACK!!!!!!

 

PROS:

 

1) #10 is for real. Vinnie better be looking over his shoulder. Can you say QB tandem going forward. He is the best athlete I have ever seen put on a UA uniform end of story! #5 is no joke either. McCarty played well considering he is not 100%. he will get there. If he goes down insert #5 and #10!

 

2) I was surprised by the the Oline. They were better then I thought but still have work to do. They rotated several through the system. They need to get some of these huge frosh some playing time as well.

 

3) D played solid but let down during the second half. They will be fine going forward.

 

CONS:

 

1) Special Teams had a couple of snafu's. No need to rub salt in the wound.

 

2) Obviously we need to eliminate the mistakes and improve our consistency on both sides of the ball.

 

3) Lack of pass rush scares me. More blitzs if needed.

 

OVERALL:

 

We are a better team then I thought even with the loss. UMASS will be better IMHO but they are beatable for sure. In fact I really don't fear any FCS team this year with our players. Kudos to Fordie for putting together a hell of a team. I like our chances to three peat if we can correct the mistakes. It will take a hell of an effort to beat UMASS but it is possible. They will be bigger and hungry as they feel like they can hang with FBS teams so something has to give. maybe they look past us. BTW I think we will spank Maine...there I said it!

[danefan]

How Fordie got Andrew Smith to come to UA is beyond me.

 

The left side of the O-line looked great. The right side - not so great.

[DanesRGood]

Agree. It still pains me though that we gave this game away. It would've been a HUGE win for the program. The D got somewhat smoked for most of the second half but I think they is due to some good adjustments by the GSU staff at the half.

[danefan]

UMass Coach Kevin Morris (a former UA assistant) on his Monday conference call

 

http://www.umassathletics.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/090709aac.html

 

On what he sees from Albany:

Everybody that has played Albany knows you cannot take that team lightly. They are a very formidable opponent. Year in and year out, they are always giving our league fits, including us. We know it is going to be a battle. It is going to be a 60-minute fight. They just took Georgia Southern down to the wire last weekend. McCarty, the running back, is outstanding. He is a great play. Any team in our league would love to have a tailback like him. They are very consistent and efficient offensively. Their quarterback has been around a long time now. It seems like he was playing against us four or five years ago. They have a number of guys like that. They have a nice wideout, Tim Bush, who is coming back for his sixth year of eligibility.

 

Defensively, they are always very aggressive and physical up front. They have a whole bunch of returning guys in their secondary also. They are an opponent that is going to be ready to play every week. They finished up last season as their conference champion. They won their last seven in a row. We are ready to go. We know we need to strap it up against a good Albany team.

 

[danefan]

Game notes are up for us:

http://admin.xosn.com/attachments1/69883.pdf

 

and UMass....

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/umas/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/091209albany.pdf

 

 

UMass's Syracuse transfer LB (Mele) is on the depth chart but didn't play against KSU because of an injury. He's on the depth chart as a backup so I'm not sure if he'll play. That's their second good LB to go down this year.

http://www.gazettenet.com/2009/09/09/lessons-learned-loss

[danefan]

New Troy Record blog with Drew Smith

 

http://therecordsports.blogspot.com/

[danefan]

TSN Preview (I guess you could call it a preview - its more of a team overview and a prediction)

 

http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot2/news/news.aspx?id=4253052

 

 

 

Albany (0-1) at No. 17 Massachusetts (0-1)

 

Both Albany and Massachusetts nearly won in the opening week. Albany fell late at one of the toughest road venues in FCS, Georgia Southern's Paulson Stadium, while UMass almost upset Kansas State.

 

Albany features a dangerous rushing attack, with both Payton Award nominee David McCarty (24 carries, 63 yards, two TDs) and freshman Andrew Smith (8 carries, 101 yards, TD). The offense also features quarterback Vinny Esposito (14-of-28, 101 yards, one interception) and wideout Tim Bush (six catches, 8.3 average).

 

The Great Danes have been known for the defense the last four seasons, holding opponents to below 20 points-per-game. Linebacker Justin Brancaccio (nine tackles, two tackles for loss) is the team's defensive leader. Linebackers Emerson Kinsey (four tackles, two tackles for loss, interception) and Rich Duff (eight tackles) give Albany one of the best linebacking units in FCS.

 

All-NEC free safety Dave Casale (six tackles) tallied seven interceptions in 2008 to lead the team and is the secondary's best performer.

 

The Minutemen held tough against FBS Kansas State, falling 21-17. Payton Award nominated tailback Tony Nelson (19 carries, 107 yards) picked up where he left off in 2008, proving to be one of the best backs in the country. Junior college transfer quarterback Kyle Havens (10-for-34, 102 yards, TD, two interceptions) had a rough game in his first start, replacing four-year starter Liam Coen.

 

Defensive end Michael Hanson (seven tackles, fumble recovery, one sack) continues to improve. Linebacker Tyler Holmes (12 tackles, interception) has stepped in to his starting role nicely, along with Kurt Filler (nine tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss).

 

Buchanan Award nominated free safety Jeromy Miles (eight tackles, one pass breakup) continues to roam the dangerous UMass secondary. He is joined by Shane Viveiros (eight tackles, three pass breakups) and Kumar Davis (seven tackles). MASSSACHUSETTS 31, ALBANY 20

 

[UAalum72]

Ford on Wyland's show today.

 

Everyone who started at GSU will be on the field for UMass. The team played hard for four quarters but couldn't overcome our own mistakes.

 

UMass is better than GSU, both more physical and with a quarterback who can throw deep.

 

It's still a winnable game.

 

They're still working with Drew Smith at QB, TB, and kick returner.

 

Also gave props to Ryan Kirchner at WR.

[danefan]

Thanks for the Wyland show update 72.

 

Here's Chuck Burton's (CSN) Pick

 

http://www.championshipsubdivisionnews.com/index.php/2009/09/10/the-csn-way-what-s-in-a-name?blog=5

 

Albany at No. 17 UMass. It was a see-saw battle that could have gone either way. Albany came to play against Georgia Southern last Saturday - with a game effort by linebacker Justin Brancaccio and the defense - but ultimately fell, 29-26, on a last-minute field goal. UMass would struggle on offense, but found a 100 yard rusher in running back Tony Nelson in a 21-17 near-miss at FBS Kansas State. So what will give this Saturday?

 

It could very well end up being an upset. Minuteman quarterback Kyle Havens struggled in his debut at Kansas State, going 10-for-34 with 2 interceptions, while UMass was lit up for 225 yards rushing by the Wildcats. That makes this a bad matchup against Albany - who featured a running game with running back David McCarty and freshman quarterback Andrew Smith last week - whose forte is running the ball. Many may be surprised by this upset, but I sure won’t be.

 

McCarty, Smith and Brancaccio, Esq. 24, Not-So-Good Havens 17

 

[alum73]

I hope he's right. It'll make a real enjoyable ride home.

[UAalum72]

UAlbany seeking Smith's best role - Singelais writes a player profile for the UMass pregame.

[danefan]

UAlbany seeking Smith's best role - Singelais writes a player profile for the UMass pregame.

 

 

Are you surprised?

 

The person that really deserves to be pissed is Andrew Santillo. This article is almost word for word from Santillo's blog posting with Smith.

[UAalum72]

UAlbany seeking Smith's best role - Singelais writes a player profile for the UMass pregame.

 

 

Are you surprised?

 

The person that really deserves to be pissed is Andrew Santillo. This article is almost word for word from Santillo's blog posting with Smith.

Not true. We know it's Mark's work because he wrote "Smith was stopped on the initial sneak attempt, then bounced off the left side for the scoring run" when the play went to the right side. It was the fake punt that ran left. Andrew didn't write that misinformation.

 

Edit: I'm saying we know it's Mark's work because Andrew didn't write that part. I'm NOT saying we know it's Mark's work because it's wrong.

[danefan]

UAlbany seeking Smith's best role - Singelais writes a player profile for the UMass pregame.

 

 

Are you surprised?

 

The person that really deserves to be pissed is Andrew Santillo. This article is almost word for word from Santillo's blog posting with Smith.

Not true. We know it's Mark's work because he wrote "Smith was stopped on the initial sneak attempt, then bounced off the left side for the scoring run" when the play went to the right side. It was the fake punt that ran left. Andrew didn't write that misinformation.

 

My sincere apologies to Andrew.

[danefan]

What a pre-game article should look like:

 

http://www.gazettenet.com/2009/09/11/albany-opponent-home-opener

 

 

Morris said he expects Albany to be a challenge again for the Minutemen. He was not surprised about the Great Danes' near upset of Georgia Southern.

 

"That's typical of Albany. I knew it would be a good game," Morris said. "They can play with any team in our league and they can beat any team in our league."

 

Junior quarterback Kyle Havens said the Minutemen will not overlook the Great Danes.

 

"They definitely have our attention, We feel like as a team that this is a game we should win," Havens said. "We're not going to look past Albany at all, but we feel like this is a game we should win. We should come out and show what UMass is really about and get over that first loss and prove ourselves."

 

 

 

Do you think Singleas even knows that UMass barely lost to Kansas State last week?