fb 2023 Game #15: 12/15/23 - 7PM EST at #1 South Dakota St. (FCS Playoffs Semifinals)

[HOF2013]

On 12/12/2023 at 10:33 AM, ctdanes said:

I totally forgot but would’ve been nice to have the DB Winston. Kid looked like he was gonna ball out at this level 

He'll be back next year - Got an extra year and told me he was coming back

[HOF2013]

5 hours ago, UAalum72 said:

Danes face toughest test - Times-Union

Bob Ford, UAlbany football’s ‘godfather,’ enjoys ride to FCS semifinals

Really nice reads.  I see Fordy at every home game.  Still as sharp as always!

[cwdickens]

UALBANY FOOTBALL

 

Danes embrace underdog role

South Dakota State favored by 20 1/2 points over UAlbany in semi

 

By Mark Singelais

UAlbany athletic communications

UAlbany wide receiver Brevin Easton, whose team will be a big underdog Friday at No. 1 South Dakota State, said the Great Danes “definitely like to wake up people that are sleeping on us.”

Jim Franco/Times Union archive

UAlbany coach Greg Gattuso said it’s “disappointing” to be scheduled to play on a Friday night in South Dakota after winning last Saturday in Idaho, but ‘if anybody can handle it, it’s us.”

The University at Albany football team enters the biggest game in program history Friday night, a matchup outsiders give the Great Danes little chance of winning.

UAlbany is a 20 1 /2-point underdog in its Football Championship Subdivision playoff semifinal at defending national champion South Dakota State, which is on a 27-game winning streak. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

 

The doubters don’t bother UAlbany coach Greg Gattuso and his players, who have already overcome modest expectations to reach the FCS final four for the first time. The Great Danes were picked to finish 11th in their own league, the Coastal Athletic Association.

“I don’t think they need any convincing,” Gattuso said. “I think we believe in ourselves. Of course, we’re going to be underdogs in the game. People have asked me about the (Las Vegas) line and all that stuff. We’ve got to play our game. We’ve lived by ‘Always us, never them,’ so we’re not going to change this week. We stayed in routine. We’re doing what we normally do. We’re loose and we’re going to go play the best football team at our level.”

It’s the first all-time meeting between No. 5 seed UAlbany (11-3) and No. 1 South Dakota State (13-0), located in Brookings, S.D.

The Great Danes left by charter on Thursday afternoon for their fourth flight of the season and second in less than a week. They won at Idaho 30-22 last Saturday in a quarterfinal.

Now they’re playing for an appearance in the FCS championship game Jan. 7 in Frisco, Texas.

“It means everything,” UAlbany senior defensive end Anton Juncaj said. “Everybody used to talk about it in the (training) camp, ‘We’re going to win the conference,’ and all this and to see it really coming to light has been tremendous.”

They’ll enter South Dakota State’s Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, which seats a capacity of approximately 19,300. The Jackrabbits average 16,204 fans per home game and carry a 20-game home winning streak into Friday’s contest.

“It’s a lot of fun,” South Dakota State All-American quarterback Mark Gronowski said of the atmosphere. “You can really feel it, even in town. The day before the game, leading up to the game, all day. When the game starts, it’s always rocking in there. Everyone’s always juiced up. It may not always be 20,000 in there during the playoffs, just because of how cold it is, but the real fans really come out to show and they get really loud and it feels like there’s 20,000 in there.”

UAlbany picked up its first win outside the Eastern time zone at Idaho and will try to do it for a second straight week. They’ll do it with a shorter week of preparation. The Great Danes are playing their first Friday game that’s not a season-opener since 2010.

“I was really disappointed when we played across on the West Coast and to play the late game and then be forced into a Friday night game is tough,” Gattuso said. “It’s just one more piece of adversity that we have to rally around. If anybody can handle it, it’s us.”

The Great Danes turned around their program after going 5-17 the past two seasons. They’ve built a dynamic offense led by redshirt sophomore quarterback Reese Poffenbarger and a defense that leads the nation in sacks and rushing defense.

Now they have another obstacle to overcome as a decided underdog against a South Dakota State team that has Gronowski, rugged running back Isaiah Davis and the FCS’ top-ranked defense.

“We try to use it to our advantage,” UAlbany senior wide receiver Brevin Easton said. “If teams are overlooking us or underestimating us, we definitely like to wake up people that are sleeping on us. We’re not scared of anyone. We played Baylor last year, they were a Top 10 team. We’ve played Marshall this year, Hawaii. We’ve done a lot of different things, so it’s just another game, honestly.”

UALBANY AT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE

When: 7 p.m. Friday

Where: Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, Brookings, S.D.

TV/Radio: ESPN2, WTMM 104.5 FM

Edited December 15, 2023 by cwdickens

[cwdickens]

UALBANY FOOTBALL

 

QBs big part of the battle

Gronowski, Poffenbarger lead teams into FCS semifinal

 

By Mark Singelais

UAlbany athletic communications

UAlbany quarterback Reese Poffenbarger leads the Football Championship Subdivision with 36 touchdown passes entering Friday’s semifinal at South Dakota State.

University at Albany’s Reese Poffenbarger played great in a dome. South Dakota State’s Mark Gronowski did enough to win in a wind tunnel.

The standout quarterbacks encountered very different conditions in the Football Championship Subdivision quarterfinals. They’ll meet at 7 p.m. Friday in an FCS semifinal in Brookings, S.D.

 

Poffenbarger, a redshirt sophomore who leads FCS with 36 touchdown passes, tries to lead the No. 5 seed Great Danes (11-3) to their first national championship game.

“Being able to put it together and finding a group like this is rare,” Poffenbarger said. “Only four teams every year can say they made it this far and it’s definitely special.”

Gronowski, a junior who’s an Associated Press first-team All-American, is trying to direct the top-seeded Jackrabbits (13-0) to their second consecutive FCS title. They beat North Dakota State last year for their first national championship.

“I think it’s exactly where you want to be,” Gronowski said. “You’re at the top of the mountain and you’ve just got to keep fighting people off, fighting people off, fighting people off. Everyone’s going to try to give you their best shot every single time, but as long as you come out and give your ‘A’ game, there really should be nobody else who can beat you.”

Last Saturday, South Dakota State held off Villa-nova 23-12 in Brookings in a game played in 30 mph winds that gusted up to 45. Gronowski completed 11 of 19 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown. He has 25 touchdown passes this season.

“It was very difficult last week and the 40 mile-an-hour winds made it difficult for both teams to throw,” Gronowski said. “We kind of had to change the offense up a little bit last week. But in the second half, we started letting things click a little bit and throwing the ball a little bit more and we were good to go after that.”

Friday’s forecast calls for much better conditions with a kickoff temperature of 39 with 3 mph winds.

Poffenbarger was superb inside the Kibbie Dome in a 30-22 victory over Idaho. He threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns, all to Brevin Easton. UAlbany coach Greg Gattuso said it’s “the best game he’s ever played.”

Gattuso expects more of the same from Poffenbarger on Friday.

“I think he’s as good as anybody in the country,” Gattuso said. “We’ve got to protect him and we’ve got to help him, but he’s dynamic and some of the plays he made in the (Idaho) game were ridiculous. We had two really good quarterbacks (including Idaho’s Gevani McCoy) going back and forth and I think you’re going to get a pretty similar thing this week. Their guy (Gronowski) is pretty good, too. But I love (Poffenbarger). I’m glad he’s on our team.”

Gronowski is one of three finalists for the Walter Payton Award, which goes to the top offensive player in FCS. He was also named first-team All-American, while Poffenbarger didn’t make any of the three teams.

“I don’t really know what goes into any of that stuff at this point, to be honest,” Poffenbarger said. “I don’t take it as a challenge. They (South Dakota State) are already good enough and their resume is good enough. That’s all the motivation that we need to know we have to be prepared.”

Gronowski and Poffenbarger do not know each other personally, though they were aware of each other’s accomplishments.

Poffenbarger has said he plays “with a chip on my shoulder every day” after being overlooked in high school in Maryland. Gronowski takes the same approach after South Dakota State was his only FCS scholarship offer out of Naperville, Ill. He tore his ACL in the spring 2021 FCS title game, a loss to Sam Houston State, and missed a season before returning to win a championship last year.

“It’s just kind of cool to see how my hard work has come to fruition,” Gronowski said. “I can’t do it without the guys in front of me.”

[jimbo]

However this turns out, thanks to the team, coaches and support staff for putting a quality product on the field. This is the type of game where UA has to play smart, play hard, play near perfect football for 60 minutes AND probably get a couple of breaks to have a chance at the upset. But it can be done and has been done before. I have confidence that this crew will give it their best effort. This season has been a rousing success by any measure, so it’s time to put the whipped cream on top and get a shot at the 🍒 to go with it. Go Danes!!

[cwdickens]

RODGER’S QUICK TAKE

UAlbany will have a chance to win at South Dakota State on Friday if its defense can slow down the running attack of the Jackrabbits. Senior running back Isaiah Davis averages 106 yards per game and the offensive line for South Dakota is very good, led by 320-pound left tackle Garet Greenfield. If UAlbany end Anton Juncaj, who has 15 sacks on the season, can win the battle against Greenfield it will go a long way toward the Great Danes pulling off the upset in the FCS semifinals. South Dakota averages 36 points per game but UAlbany needs to hold it well under that point total if it has any chance of advancing to the national championship game in Frisco, Texas, on Jan. 7.

 

Rodger Wyland is the sports director for News Channel 13. Listen to him weekdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on WTMM (104.5 FM, “The Team”).

[cwdickens]

The weather today and tonight from the NWS for Brookings, SD:

Today: A 30 percent chance of rain, mainly after 11am. Cloudy, with a high near 44. South southwest wind 5 to 15 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph.

Tonight: A chance of rain before 11pm, then a chance of rain and snow. Cloudy, with a low around 30. East southeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north northwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

[Eli]

It's game night!

Edited December 15, 2023 by Eli

[dslyank]

UA beat Vilinova by 21. Sdakota beat them by 11. UA 10 point favorites😚

[classof95]

2 hours ago, dslyank said:

UA beat Vilinova by 21. Sdakota beat them by 11. UA 10 point favorites😚

But really, is 20.5 points totally off the mark? Feels high, home field advantage or not.

[reeder]

I think we have to do a much better job on special teams and avoid giving up big plays.  We’re just not good at kickoff and punt coverage so I’m hoping we don’t try to kick / punt deep - don’t want to give them good field position.  Also, Wentz had a fumbled punt against Richmond, almost had another fumble last week (punt almost hit him) against Idaho and unnecessary returned a kick from his end zone and only got back to the 18 yard line against Idaho.  We just can’t have those mistakes tonight.

Villanova actually played well last week but they had a blocked punt, another punt that hit one of their players behind the line os scrimmage and then they gave up a long run to Davis late in the game.  They might have lost anyway but you can’t beat a great team with those mistakes.

jus hoping that Joe Bernard has the special teams ready tonight.

[haggyland]

20 minutes ago, reeder said:

I think we have to do a much better job on special teams and avoid giving up big plays.  We’re just not good at kickoff and punt coverage so I’m hoping we don’t try to kick / punt deep - don’t want to give them good field position.  Also, Wentz had a fumbled punt against Richmond, almost had another fumble last week (punt almost hit him) against Idaho and unnecessary returned a kick from his end zone and only got back to the 18 yard line against Idaho.  We just can’t have those mistakes tonight.

Villanova actually played well last week but they had a blocked punt, another punt that hit one of their players behind the line os scrimmage and then they gave up a long run to Davis late in the game.  They might have lost anyway but you can’t beat a great team with those mistakes.

jus hoping that Joe Bernard has the special teams ready tonight.

There were three play calls that really had me scratching my head in the Idaho game, not including the decision to kick to their quality returner.  Two of those plays were on special teams:

1) In the 1st quarter asking your kicker to attempt a FG well out of his range because you were in "no-man's land."

2) 2nd and goal...3rd quarter? Pulling Reese and lining WR Roy Alexander up as the QB.

3) The formation for the 2 point conversion.  That kind of formation gets you featured in a YouTube video...of the "non-highlight" variety.

Edited December 15, 2023 by haggyland

[Clickclack]

1 hour ago, reeder said:

I think we have to do a much better job on special teams and avoid giving up big plays.  We’re just not good at kickoff and punt coverage so I’m hoping we don’t try to kick / punt deep - don’t want to give them good field position.  Also, Wentz had a fumbled punt against Richmond, almost had another fumble last week (punt almost hit him) against Idaho and unnecessary returned a kick from his end zone and only got back to the 18 yard line against Idaho.  We just can’t have those mistakes tonight.

Villanova actually played well last week but they had a blocked punt, another punt that hit one of their players behind the line os scrimmage and then they gave up a long run to Davis late in the game.  They might have lost anyway but you can’t beat a great team with those mistakes.

jus hoping that Joe Bernard has the special teams ready tonight.

That last line...

 

[HOF2013]

2 hours ago, haggyland said:

There were three play calls that really had me scratching my head in the Idaho game, not including the decision to kick to their quality returner.  Two of those plays were on special teams:

1) In the 1st quarter asking your kicker to attempt a FG well out of his range because you were in "no-man's land."

2) 2nd and goal...3rd quarter? Pulling Reese and lining WR Roy Alexander up as the QB.

3) The formation for the 2 point conversion.  That kind of formation gets you featured in a YouTube video...of the "non-highlight" variety.

Actually he had three 50+ kicks in HS when he was almost 20 lbs lighter, 55 yds, 54 yds and 52 yds - saw them all on tape.  Hasn't been asked to kick anythng beyond 46 yds this year though.

Roy dropped the ball or it was a go

BUT there is no question whatever about doing a better job against kickoff returns and punt returns.  Just downright poor all year!!!!!  The best bet is the short kick OR a 30 yrd low bouncer; stop them near the 25.

Edited December 15, 2023 by HOF2013

[Eli]

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