Albany vs. Holy Cross -- GAME WEEK!

[crusader11]

At long last, the season is here!

I am not too familiar with the Albany program, but do know they have been strong in recent years in the NEC with longtime coach Bob Ford. Last season was certainly a struggle with the transition to the CAA, but I fully expect Holy Cross to have their hands full this weekend.

Holy Cross, for those not too familiar with the program, has struggled the last two seasons, following a seven year stretch where they finished above .500 every season (48-30). Last year's freshmen class (the first scholarship class) was very good, led by PL Rookie of the Year QB Peter Pujals. Pujals is a dual-threat QB who does a little bit of every (he actually played WR as a junior in high school before moving to QB as a senior). The offense figures to be very good, but the defense is what concerns HC fans the most. Andy Rondeau, the DC last season, was fired after HC had one of their worst defensive seasons in recent history. It remains to be seen if this unit can slow the opposition.

There has always been a nice contingent of Albany posters on AGS, so hopefully we can drum up some good banter throughout the week leading up to Saturday at 6:00 PM!

[CFBfan]

a night game at the their new stadium to open the season.....nice venue. last year in week 2 the danes beat gate 37 -34 in a game where gate qb was very banged up and rb was out and gate had numerous turnovers. don't know what that means for this year

[danefan]

It will be interesting to see. We have a good crop returning. An all-conference RB and an experienced QB. We will also get to see the first CAA class really hit the field as R-Fr. New Coach, New offensive scheme. Should be fun.

We haven't had a home game this early in a long time (if ever) so I'm not sure what attendance wil be like. I know my beer will be cold and my burgers grilled to perfection.

[Gater]

Amazing the expectations everyone has coming out of camp. And then you get caught throwing one too many passes with your old college friend. Before you know it, you're apologizing for the burgers being overdone and you're hoping 2015 will be your year.

[M Ruler]

From what I read and the previews I have seen about Albany is they have a very good RB Osbourne. He is a CAA first teamer, a very good TE and a transfer from the University of Maryland playing on the OL. The OL is bigger than last season but its a new system. On D they have an outstanding set of LB's but the secondary as usual is suspect.

The 1-11 season was a shock to the fan base as we are not used to losing at Albany. 6 or 7 NEC tiles in the last 12 years. I know the NEC is not the CAA but last years Albany team was a bad team, they were small and slow. They would have been a 6-5 NEC team last year. Ford knew this and stayed on an extra year after an NEC Title. Then he promptly fell on the sword for the new coach. But a 1-11 team should be enough for Albany to be motivated. If they get past Holy Cross I look for them to be 4-0 OOC.

[2ram]

I think the PL is going to bang heads rather comfortably with the CAA in the years to come. For this game, I expect HC to beat a reformed Albany team, even though HC's scholarship class is only 2nd year. Pujal's is a good QB, and no one knows how good he'll wind up being. HC could be the sleeper of the PL this year.

[Sader87]

Defense, defense, defense......something we really haven't seen in Worcester since the Reagan and George H.W. Bush days. I suspect a lot of Frosh and Soph to start dotting the depth-chart on the defensive side of the ball as the season progresses.

[crusader11]

I think the PL is going to bang heads rather comfortably with the CAA in the years to come. For this game, I expect HC to beat a reformed Albany team, even though HC's scholarship class is only 2nd year. Pujal's is a good QB, and no one knows how good he'll wind up being. HC could be the sleeper of the PL this year.

I think you're right re: the PL vs. CAA in the years to come.

And, I hope you're right with HC this season. The last two seasons have been incredibly tough to watch as an HC alum, with many of the losses coming in the latter half of the 4th quarter.

[crusader11]

Defense, defense, defense......something we really haven't seen in Worcester since the Reagan and George H.W. Bush days. I suspect a lot of Frosh and Soph to start dotting the depth-chart on the defensive side of the ball as the season progresses.

Indeed.

14 of the 16 sophomores on the roster are currently listed on the HC two-deep.

[Fordham]

I'm biased towards how I saw things develop with us in our implementation of scholarships and I remember year 2 being a very disappointing year for us. I think the frosh don't really contribute and there are a few sophs ready to step in but this is the time there is the biggest us v. them issues in the locker room between the have scholarship kids and the have nots. Maybe that was unique to us but I'm thinking it will take at least another year for things to click in a way where the PL squads can so easily hang with the CAA ones.

Again, hope I'm wrong but I see Albany taking this one.

[Sader87]

I don't disagree Fordham....no inside knowledge of this but I suspect we saw a bit of this on last year's HC team.....squad seemed to fall apart as the season went along. Here's hoping we don't see a repeat of that this season.

This should be a very interesting team....probably very inconsistent, looking very good one week and a young/inexperienced one the next.

[uofalbany]

Looks like there are few delusional PL fanatics on the board

[CFBfan]

I'm biased towards how I saw things develop with us in our implementation of scholarships and I remember year 2 being a very disappointing year for us. I think the frosh don't really contribute and there are a few sophs ready to step in but this is the time there is the biggest us v. them issues in the locker room between the have scholarship kids and the have nots. Maybe that was unique to us but I'm thinking it will take at least another year for things to click in a way where the PL squads can so easily hang with the CAA ones.

Again, hope I'm wrong but I see Albany taking this one.

imo, you had good players out there just no direction or discipline.....would've been much different if moorehead was there back then

[Sader87]

Looks like there are few delusional PL fanatics on the board

A few??? We have more than our share lol. I kid the PL but I like it as a football league now that it has scholarships.

[Lehigh'98]

Looks like there are few delusional PL fanatics on the board

Only delusion on this board is some kicker from The Citadel who thinks it's still 1862.

Cross finds a way to blow this game that they should win.

[crusader11]

Cross finds a way to blow this game that they should win.

Kind of like last season's opener at Bryant.

[uofalbany]

All kidding aside, the cross/albany game should be interesting

[Bogus Megapardus]

There still is no sportsbook line for this game. Massey thinks it will be close - Holy Cross 28 Albany 26. That seems about right to me (as it would if the score were flipped). I'm heading to the Adirondacks this weekend with a stop to pick up some folks at Albany Airport. If all the scheduling works out I plan to be at this game. Being a native of the area, it's nice to know my way around.

If anyone knows about any confounding Thruway, Northway, I-787 or I-90 construction delays, please post.

[Gordon Shumway]

A few??? We have more than our share lol. I kid the PL but I like it as a football league now that it has scholarships.

I think it's great you guys have athletic scholarships now, and I expect some great rivalries w/CAA teams to develop (especially the 4 year HC/UNH contract just signed). It just makes good sense for a lot of these schools to be playing each other.

However, the talk of some of these freshman growing pains could still be the achilles heel for some of the PL. I firmly believe that no redshirting is going to be a much bigger problem than some would like to believe.

[Sader87]

I don't disagree in general vis a vis redshirts....nice to have that 1 more year to develop etc but HC (and other PL schools) allow for a 5th year if one is injured and some other contingencies I believe. I dont think it will hurt the PL that badly in toto....how many teams have 16-18 starting red-shirt Srs?

[Gordon Shumway]

I don't disagree in general vis a vis redshirts....nice to have that 1 more year to develop etc but HC (and other PL schools) allow for a 5th year if one is injured and some other contingencies I believe. I dont think it will hurt the PL that badly in toto....how many teams have 16-18 starting red-shirt Srs?

I don't know about starting red shirt seniors at UNH, as they seem to lose the RS designation after their freshman season in the UNH roster lists. However this years's team has 18 red shirt freshmen, and given UNH has a near 100% GSR, I'm guessing most of those 18 will be around as seniors. How many will be starting, I don't know.

Freshmen rarely play at UNH. It is one of the reasons they have the success they do despite all the disadvantages. The bigger the the recruiting disadvantage, the more important redshirting will become. A lot of the PL schools don't have the resources disadvantage that UNH does, so you may be right, and it won't be that big a factor.

[UAalum72]

If anyone knows about any confounding Thruway, Northway, I-787 or I-90 construction delays, please post.
Some bridge construction on I-90 east of Albany has the road down to one lane in two spots, so if coming from New England you might want to take the Berkshire Spur for the NY Thruway I-87 from exit 21A to exit 24 rather than exit B-1 to I-90. There's also been weekend bridge work where I-90 crosses I-787. We'll see if they shut down that work for the Labor Day weekend - when, of course the Thruway/Northway intersection at exit 24 will also be congested for Saratoga's last weekend. Good luck.

[danefan]

Albany is basically in it's second year of scholarship football as well. We had limited rides in the NEC but we learned last year that an NEC scholarship is not equal to a CAA scholarship when you need that player week-in and week-out.

I expect us to have some stupid plays and some times of greatness. New coaches and new systems on offense, defense and special teams.

All in though I expect a win, like i expect in every out of conference game this year. Coach Gattuso's goal is to get to a level where we compete for National Championships. That means we should beat Patriot League, NEC and Ivy teams consistently.

I'm interested to see whether our QB can shake off his performance last year. Those memories can haunt a QB.

[DFW HOYA]

The bigger the the recruiting disadvantage, the more important redshirting will become. A lot of the PL schools don't have the resources disadvantage that UNH does, so you may be right, and it won't be that big a factor.

And some do. When you have 12 different linebackers over the course of a season, that speaks to two things: 1) injuries and 2) recruiting.

[danefan]

Albany game notes are up

http://www.ualbanysports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=209620129&DB_OEM_ID=15800

[superman7515]

Where the h--- were you guys when I was trying to find someone from Albany & someone from Holy Cross to come talk about the game of the week on the CAA radio show?

No one from Holy Cross would volunteer and three years later, the guys at Big Purple still won't let me on, haha.

[danefan]

I didn't see the request....I might have considered it....

[superman7515]

I didn't see the request....I might have considered it....

7 pm tonight if you're interested. I sent a PM to you and Dane96 and a bit ago.

[2ram]

i don't see a 1-11 team with a new coach beating HC. sad the gattuso era will kickoff with a loss. ceste la vi.

[BestDaneSinceHamlet]

Wow. Anyone else see the end? Miracle at the BOFO. I just hope that kid is ok



i don't see a 1-11 team with a new coach beating HC. sad the gattuso era will kickoff with a loss. ceste la vi.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

Crazy ending! Hopefully Guild is ok! HC really had their chances but comes up short once again....

[Bogus Megapardus]

I'm pleased to be here in the far North Woods drinking a few hundred Uncle Charlies (or is it Uncles Charlie? Whatever). We were able to attend the first half of this game before we had to leave to pick up our guests at Albany Airport (who arrived 45 minutes early).

First off, what a nice new facility. Of course it rings of "newness" all over but what a difference from the old field. Hats off to Albany and their fans for the tremendous effort in bringing it to fruition.

Albany defense looked solid but not spectacular in the first half. Offense . . . not so much. Holy Cross D was very stout, much better than I would have expected. The long drive at the end of the first quarter by Holy Cross was measured and determined. It ended in a FG but I like what I saw offensively from the Crusaders. Cross then went to pretty much to dominate the second quarter, IMHO. Pujlas looked good but #31 did most of the work running the ball.

I left the game with HC up 13-0. Just now I was able to see the final score. What happened???

[danefan]

Albany played solid in the 2nd half. One TD connection with the TE who is definitely a threat even in the CAA.

It looked like HC had it locked up....but a run up the middle with under a minute left resulted in a huge hit, helmet and ball popped up, Albany scooped and scored.

The ball carrier take off by stretcher but I understand he is OK. It didn't look good though. Very hard hit and very little movement for a while.

[Bogus Megapardus]

Albany played solid in the 2nd half. One TD connection with the TE who is definitely a threat even in the CAA.

It looked like HC had it locked up....but a run up the middle with under a minute left resulted in a huge hit, helmet and ball popped up, Albany scooped and scored.

The ball carrier take off by stretcher but I understand he is OK. It didn't look good though. Very hard hit and very little movement for a while.

Was the injured ball carrier #31? I sure hope he's OK. :(

[RichH2]

To say that Cross board manic right now is a vast understatent. Guild got hit fumbled,run back by UA for last minute win. Board had been pretty positive. Thereafter, game became the nadir of HC football and Gilmore the worst coach in history. A tough loss but certainly does not doom them to damnation. The Guild kid's loss to injury much more impotant both to him and the program.

[danefan]

Yes. Word in the parking lot post game was that he was ok but they did take him out on stretcher and to the hospital.

[Pard4Life]

To say that Cross board manic right now is a vast understatent. Guild got hit fumbled,run back by UA for last minute win. Board had been pretty positive. Thereafter, game became the nadir of HC football and Gilmore the worst coach in history. A tough loss but certainly does not doom them to damnation. The Guild kid's loss to injury much more impotant both to him and the program.

If the sun goes behind a cloud, it's all gloom and doom if you are a Holy Cross fan... or so it seems usually.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

To say that Cross board manic right now is a vast understatent. Guild got hit fumbled,run back by UA for last minute win. Board had been pretty positive. Thereafter, game became the nadir of HC football and Gilmore the worst coach in history. A tough loss but certainly does not doom them to damnation. The Guild kid's loss to injury much more impotant both to him and the program.

I had to take a peek, Sader is about 2 handles of wild turkey deep...

You can tell why HC was 3-9 and Albany was 1-11 last year. Both of those teams have a couple of quality individual talents. but overall lacked that extra gear....

[RichH2]

Agree P4L. What surprised me was the change from one post to the next from positive to bitter despair and vilification of program and coach.

[Pard4Life]

Agree P4L. What surprised me was the change from one post to the next from positive to bitter despair and vilification of program and coach.

You sure you weren't on the Lafayette board?

[Bogus Megapardus]

Both of those teams have a couple of quality individual talents. but overall lacked that extra gear....

Hmm . . . have to disagree on the extra gear part. Both teams were playing aggressive, determined football from what I saw - especially the interior lines on both sides. HC did look like it was getting the better of the push along both the D line and the O line on the runs. But both sides were playing very hard. HC pass protection maybe was not really up to the level that they'll need for the season, though . . . hard to tell from just one game.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

Hmm . . . have to disagree on the extra gear part. Both teams were playing aggressive, determined football from what I saw - especially the interior lines on both sides. HC did look like it was getting the better of the push along both the D line and the O line on the runs. But both sides were playing very hard. HC pass protection maybe was not really up to the level that they'll need for the season, though . . . hard to tell from just one game.

I thought it looked like two very evenly matched teams that were coming off of bad seasons. HC looked bigger along the DLine than in the past but still lacked that extra oomph on offense. Guild, Pujals and #10 are nice players. Albany really struggled on offense last year and given the coaching changes that trend might continue until the Danes can be rebuilt a bit.

I as at the 'Cuse-'Nova game last night and have spent the last 14 hours today watching games. I could be going a little loonie from all the pigskin....

HC plays Morgan State next week. MSU nearly knocked off FBS dreg Eastern Michigan today...

[danefan]

Here's the scoring highlights including the fumble return.

http://youtu.be/XllF8vLoI8c

[Bogus Megapardus]

Here's the scoring highlights including the fumble return.






http://youtu.be/XllF8vLoI8c



Good highlight, but most of it consists of the fumble recovery at the end of the game. HC player's helmet comes flying off but there's no replay to show if he was speared head-to-head. Obviously no flag was thrown. Was that a clean hit? I really hope #31 is OK. Pretty nasty.

[danefan]

http://youtu.be/XllF8vLoI8c




Good highlight, but most of it consists of the fumble recovery at the end of the game. HC player's helmet comes flying off but there's no replay to show if he was speared head-to-head. Obviously no flag was thrown. Was that a clean hit? I really hope #31 is OK. Pretty nasty.


It it looked clean from that angle. They never showed the replay or different angles on the jumbotron because of the injury I'm sure.

[danefan]

I just watched the replay and multi angle slow motion on ESPN. Definitely a clean hit. Just a good football play that resulted in an injury. Hopefully the kid is ok.

[Fordham]

Tough to tell much from that other than it was a helluva stick at a critical point in the game. It looks like someone might have wrapped his legs which basically made him unable to avoid the direct hit. Then, 'pow'! Just made him a sitting duck.

Hope he's ok but it did look clean to me. Question obviously is why didn't Gilmore take a knee? He may answer that question with his job.

[DanesRGood]

Go to the 2:52 mark of this video to hear the announcer, who played for the eagles, make a comment about Joe Pisarcik and Herm Edwards would have to come out of retirement for Albany to win this one. Amazing foreshadowing. It was said while HC was lining up for that play. Also can see several angles of the play.

http://espn.go.com/watchespn/player/_/id/1965062/

[Pard4Life]

Did you see former Lafayette malcontent Kyle Sakowski get any action for Albany?

[DanesRGood]

Also, this was posted on UA board.


Pretty cool audio of the WCDB call of the winning play...

https://archive.org/...HolyCrossEnding (https://archive.org/details/UAlbanyHolyCrossEnding)

[BestDaneSinceHamlet]

Did you see former Lafayette malcontent Kyle Sakowski get any action for Albany?

I believe he started.

[crusader11]

This was one of the biggest collapses I've witnessed in some time.

It's almost become commonplace for HC football; they have invented new ways to lose games in the final minutes over the last three seasons.

[Fordham]

Can Gilmore recover from this? Pretty damning set of circumstances when his time management and play selection provide one of the worst cases of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory ever recorded. Not to mention he got one of his star players hurt in the process.

Can the team recover from this as well? Going to be an interesting game v. Morgan St this weekend.

[Go Green]

Can Gilmore recover from this? Pretty damning set of circumstances when his time management and play selection provide one of the worst cases of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory ever recorded..

In Gilmore's defense, Dartmouth faced a virtually identical situation last year against Princeton.

Up by less than a touchdown? Check.

Ball on opponent's 20? Check.

Third down? Check.

About a minute to go in the fourth and other team has timeouts? Check.

Both Gilmore and Dartmouth's Coach Teevens called runs up the middle. In Dartmouth's case, the runner held onto the ball but didn't get the first down. Princeton took over on downs with maybe 20 seconds left, and threw a desperation bomb that was intercepted.

Teevens is a genius. Gilmore is a moron. Exact same decision in exact same situation.

Such is the life of a college football coach...

[bison137]

In Gilmore's defense, Dartmouth faced a virtually identical situation last year against Princeton.

Up by less than a touchdown? Check.

Ball on opponent's 20? Check.

Third down? Check.

About a minute to go in the fourth and other team has timeouts? Check.

Both Gilmore and Dartmouth's Coach Teevens called runs up the middle. In Dartmouth's case, the runner held onto the ball but didn't get the first down. Princeton took over on downs with maybe 20 seconds left, and threw a desperation bomb that was intercepted.

Teevens is a genius. Gilmore is a moron. Exact same decision in exact same situation.

Such is the life of a college football coach...



Not close to the same situation. In HC's case, Albany was going to get the ball back with maybe 8 seconds left - deep in their own territory with no timeouts. In the Dartmouth-Princeton game, if Dartmouth failed to make a 1st down (as actually happened), Princeton got the ball back with 45 seconds left. There's a big difference having 45 seconds left as opposed to 8 seconds left.

[DFW HOYA]

Does Gilmore call the plays or his OC?

[M Ruler]

Besides the bad clock management by Gilmore at the end of the game, HC only scored 13 points.

[Dane96]

This is the post I've been waiting for all week. Look, we all know Albany's offense is a work in progress...but our young D held Holy Cross's offense to 13 points, hell, we will give you the 2 missed FG's. It's not like HC's offense lit the world on fire. Don't give me yardage, either. I know the yardage.