Albany at Massachusetts Game Thread

[UNHWildCats]

Albany 9 UMass 0 after 1 xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx xbowx

[Go...gate]

Nice work by the Danes so far...

[dgreco]

NEC teams looking good

[Tribe4SF]

NEC teams looking good

If you're referring to Stony Brook, they're now in the Big South.

[dgreco]

If you're referring to Stony Brook, they're now in the Big South.

Albany playing well

Monmouth played a good game also.

[UNHWildCats]

14-9 now for UMass

[UMass922]

Albany TD, now trails just 21-16 late in the third.

[UMass922]

Attendance is 15,112.

[Pards Rule]

update???

[Col Hogan]

UMass 28 Albany 16

Final

[minuteman65]

Man, the D played like crap for a while today. Good to get out of it with a win, hopefully we look better against HC next week!

[danefan]

Good showing I think for Albany.

The goal line stand by UMass before the half was huge. I didn't go and wasn't able to listen, but anyone have insight on why Albany didn't kick the FG at that point?

Also, should this help Albany in the rankings? I always wonder what a decent loss to a good team does for a team like Albany. Especially when Albany appears to have had some control over the game and didn't just score on the 3rd team D.

[Dane96]

Here is what I saw:

BTW, if they read this site...there is a young red-shirt freshman who was sitting with us: good luck with the Danes...and the UMass drunkards also wish you the best. You know who you are if you read this. Bob Ford is lucky to have your family involved with the program.

THE GOOD:

Our defense held up pretty well against a pretty good attack. Nelson is going to be phenomenal for UMASS. I think the game could have been a bit worse score-wise but Liam Cohen was flat. Part of it was timing...part of it was our D. We still need more pressure from the edge...and a few times we should have had Cohen dropped (or a receiver dropped) but we were so aggressive that they slipped us for big gains. I am fine with that because we needed to be aggressive.

Our O-line was ok...but not great. The left-side kinda fell apart a bit in the 2nd on pass protection...but they recovered. The run-blocking was pretty fricken amazing. Was kind of funny to hear Nguti scream "FINISH YOUR F'IN BLOCK OFF" on the sideline.

The running game was fantastic- Colin Simmons is an unreal change of pace back. He awed me a few times with his quickness and burst. Dave McCarty...unbelievable. At the end of the game he was near the sidelines and you can see how much bigger and stronger he looks. He absolutely throttled the UMASS tacklers. What looked like a short gain turned into Dave churning his legs and moving the pile. He is going to have a great year if he stays healthy. He is truly something special.

Punting- Chris Lynch had some beauties out there.

THE BAD:

Special Teams- other than Lynch's punt and some decent coverage on kickoffs and punts, I thought our special teams was terrible offensively. First, was a bad snap that the holder got down but it threw Glass off. It looked like he shorted the kick...but honestly...I dont blame him for it. However, it did turn the tide a bit. Second, it seemed like our walls took forever to set up. At one point Simmons actually had to jog slowly because the wall wasnt set up. Either he is that quick...or the formations took too long to set.

Penalties- absolutely killed us. Some may be unhappy that I am calling out one guy, but Nick Schultz really f'd up a bit today. Two off-sides, one of which cost us a 1st and Goal...and turned into us going for it on 4 and 2 and getting stopped. We were cruising and that error really cost us. Prior to that (I think it was prior), he gets another offside when were in the redzone. Then...he goes on down and cheap shots a UMASS player after a HUGE gain by our TE...our best downfield play of the game. Honestly...on the road in a tight match-up against the NO. 5 team in the land, I dont give a crap what the excuse was (guy bit you, called your momma a name, stomped your nuts...whatever); simply put...you are a Senior leader and you need to keep your composure. I know it is harsh...but it really did take us out of some big plays.

QB/WR play- Again, this may not rub some the right way...but I am calling it like I saw it...and like others who have played the game around me saw it: VINNY's numbers looked good...but the play wasnt really great today. He looked like a completely different QB that played Montana with poise. He missed a ton of open receivers...some seemed to be either his 2nd or 3rd check down...that were WIDE OPEN. One in particular was Jason Smith open in the middle of the field without a defender near 15 yards in any direction. A few times he should have dumped the ball out...and instead held it for huge losses. I will say this though: he had some unreal pressure on him from the blind-side in the 2nd half...but it really didnt matter at that point. He threw a really bad INT...and had the ball tipped one too many times at the line.

Now...that being said, Vinny also made some great throws that simply SHOULD HAVE BEEN CAUGHT. We are talking wide-open receivers that either turned before catching...or didnt go down to get to a good low pass that was thrown where it needed to be on defense. That simply cannot happen at this level.

Coaching-- we were bewildered later in the game when down by 12 we went from a team with urgency (no huddle or quick huddle) to a team taking there sweet arse time running...running...running. Thankfully, the pulled a nice screen at one pt. Also, on the last drive that sealed the deal at about 4min to go...we called 3 of the same exact slant patterns. UMass just sat on the formation....and it was three in a row.

Now I love Coach Ford...and his crazyiness has one us big games...but I am not so sure about his 4th and 1 call on the goaline I tried to convince myself it was the right call until I saw one of UA's biggest supporters at half-time. His views were the same I had tried to suppress: We get TD and it is huge momentum...up 2. You kick the FG...and the kicker gets confidence and you are down 2. I dont agree with the call...but I wont second guess a man who has gotten us to this position. I also am not so sure about the onside kick to after scoring in the 2nd half to cut the lead to 5 with 8 to go in the 3rd. Now he has won big games making calls like this...and kept us in big games doing the same, but at that point UA wasnt allowing UMASS much offensively...and their special teams wasnt so special. I would have kicked that sucker down field and played D.

We almost got it though...but making that call is why I sit in the stands and he gets paid!

OVERALL I AM EXTREMELY PROUD OF THE TEAM...THE COACHING STAFF...and THE FANS. Huge UA contingent today...in a near sold-out McGuirk (second-largest home opening crowd ever). Great atmosphere...was hard-hitting good football. It felt like good DI football. UMass was a bit flat however, we played our tails off and quite frankly...I dont think the players are happy with "moral victories"; we could have won that football game and I really believe if UA plays this well, while improving on some deficiencies, over the next three-games...they can beat 1 (if not 2) of the OOC teams from the CAA. I saw a tough, VERY YOUNG, and very QUICK UA football team today.

We are close to being there.

And bigtime KUDOS to UMASS fans who, as my UMASS alumni buddies said, were better than they ever saw today!

On to the next-game!

[Dane96]

And I wish UMASS the best of luck the rest of the way out!

[Mountaineer]

Enjoyed the writeup Dane96. xthumbsupx

[FCS Go!]

Enjoyed the writeup Dane96. xthumbsupx

Yeah, nice breakdown. Thanks.

[Dane96]

Wow...sometimes you think you see things the coaches did not. Suprise, suprise: Brown loved McCarty, thought our WR play was terrible, Ford wished he didnt call the 4th/Goal and the on-side kick, and that penalites cost us dearly. Ford's comments on being up 9-0 are pure Fordie!

Courtesy of UMASS athletics:


Don Brown on Dave McCarty
He's a little faster than I though, he's smart and he reads the holes really well. He's one of those guys that s just a very good football player. If you look at what they accomplished, the screen is him, so anything they did, the swing was him. Anything they did during the game was not contemporary to the wideouts, their throw game was him. He carried a big load that gave them a chance. Once we settled him down we really stepped up on offense in the second quarter and took care of each other as a team. The bottom line is we played the game to win, and we're 1-0.

Albany Quotes: Coach Ford on the UMass Offensive line
"I thought they cloned them. You had so many 6'5 300 pound guys. They were all great looking guys. At the same time, in all honesty, I thought we hung in there pretty well. In the long run, we would have liked to have taken it away from them, but it was difficult.

Coach Ford on when they went up 9-0
"I was hoping the game would end."

Coach Ford on when they went for it on fourth down at the end of the first half
"It was a series of decisions that I made. I look back now and maybe we shouldn't have done the onside kick. We should have kicked it deep. All these decisions that don't turn out right you second-guess them in the end."

Vinnie Esposito on being down 21-16
I felt that we were due and everyone on the sidelines did too. It is a great feeling that shifted the momentum in our favor.

Vinnie Esposito on the touchdown pass where he took a big hitI was happy that the pass went great. They are a aggressive defense and they are physical and hit well and run well. On the screen we took advantage on a blitz and took care of it. It was a combination of a good call and the run after the catch and catching them in the blitz.

Coach Ford on having five road games to open the season
"I think I was extremely proud of our effort. We have a lot of positive things to work on but there are enough negative things that we will have an interesting film session on Sunday. What we hurt ourselves on was penalties. Guys were tired, on both sides of the football field."

[KAUMASS]

Nice Job Albany!! I knew the first half was going to be close and I thought we would pull away a bit in the second half. We did to an extent, but Albany played well and we saw why Albany beat Delaware 2 years ago.

Beware Hofstra...

Good luck the rest of the year.

[Uncle Buck]

Great recap. HU better get their act together because they looked like ***** on Thursday night. No news on Savage's MRI, so hopefully no news is good news and we will have our QB back.

[EmeryZach]

I was at the game last night, and first off I want to say I was very impressed with the fan turnout. Over 15,000 for opening day was great (I'm sure the fireworks show after the game helped). Now to what I saw on the UMass side of things.

The defensive line and linebackers needs major improvement or UMass is in serious trouble this year. They were being over aggressive and it was hurting them, especially with the screen passes. Near the end of the game they were starting to read it a little better, but most of the night Albany was getting atleast 15 yards every screen. Albany was also getting about 5 yards every time they ran the ball.

The defensive backfield looked pretty good all night. They only let up one big pass. The only thing that they need to get better at is their angles, they missed way too many tackles (that also goes for the linebackers).

The offensive line looked really good with their run blocking, but their pass blocking could use some work. It was not horrible at all, but Liam was a little rushed a few times. One huge plus was the lack of penalties by the O-Line (which was a problem last year). I think they only had one false start and one holding. All in all this O-Line looks really good.

Tony Nelson looked awesome. He was running all over the place and looked very very fast. He is going to do some special things this year. He needs to stay healthy though, there isn't much after him.

Liam looked a little rusty. He was over throwing a lot of passes and seemed a little rushed. He will be fine though, this was only the first game.

The receivers looked small. They had a few dropped passes which worries me, but really UMass didn't throw the ball all that much. There really isn't the big tall receiver out there this year who can go up and grab everything Liam throws. We'll see what happens (Victor Cruz, you need to get open more).

Like I said earlier one of this biggest improvements over last year was the number of penalties UMass got. They seemed to be more disciplined, which is great.

The special teams looked pretty good, besides the fumbled punt. Arnold punted well and Cuko was drilling the extra points and kickoffs.

One thing they need to get better at is hydration. They were cramping up all over the place. They need to get more water in these guys. I saw atleast 6 guys come out of the game with cramps.

They just need to get better in general if they really want to compete for the championship this year. They should have pulled away in the second half and failed to do so. This game made me a little nervous, especially having to play JMU, Del, and Richmond this year, but we will see what happens.

Good luck to Albany this year, you guys put up one hell of a fight. McCarty is a monster, I wish we had him on our team.

[DetroitFlyer]

Too early to say if this is a "good" loss, assuming that there is such a thing.... Let's wait a few weeks to see how both teams fare going forward. Hopefully, Albany can break through in at least one of the remaining OOC games to garner a W or two. Concerning the "good loss" concept, I have the same feeling about Delaware. Wait a few weeks to know for certain.

[Seawolf97]

Here is what I saw:

BTW, if they read this site...there is a young red-shirt freshman who was sitting with us: good luck with the Danes...and the UMass drunkards also wish you the best. You know who you are if you read this. Bob Ford is lucky to have your family involved with the program.

THE GOOD:

Our defense held up pretty well against a pretty good attack. Nelson is going to be phenomenal for UMASS. I think the game could have been a bit worse score-wise but Liam Cohen was flat. Part of it was timing...part of it was our D. We still need more pressure from the edge...and a few times we should have had Cohen dropped (or a receiver dropped) but we were so aggressive that they slipped us for big gains. I am fine with that because we needed to be aggressive.

Our O-line was ok...but not great. The left-side kinda fell apart a bit in the 2nd on pass protection...but they recovered. The run-blocking was pretty fricken amazing. Was kind of funny to hear Nguti scream "FINISH YOUR F'IN BLOCK OFF" on the sideline.

The running game was fantastic- Colin Simmons is an unreal change of pace back. He awed me a few times with his quickness and burst. Dave McCarty...unbelievable. At the end of the game he was near the sidelines and you can see how much bigger and stronger he looks. He absolutely throttled the UMASS tacklers. What looked like a short gain turned into Dave churning his legs and moving the pile. He is going to have a great year if he stays healthy. He is truly something special.

Punting- Chris Lynch had some beauties out there.

THE BAD:

Special Teams- other than Lynch's punt and some decent coverage on kickoffs and punts, I thought our special teams was terrible offensively. First, was a bad snap that the holder got down but it threw Glass off. It looked like he shorted the kick...but honestly...I dont blame him for it. However, it did turn the tide a bit. Second, it seemed like our walls took forever to set up. At one point Simmons actually had to jog slowly because the wall wasnt set up. Either he is that quick...or the formations took too long to set.

Penalties- absolutely killed us. Some may be unhappy that I am calling out one guy, but Nick Schultz really f'd up a bit today. Two off-sides, one of which cost us a 1st and Goal...and turned into us going for it on 4 and 2 and getting stopped. We were cruising and that error really cost us. Prior to that (I think it was prior), he gets another offside when were in the redzone. Then...he goes on down and cheap shots a UMASS player after a HUGE gain by our TE...our best downfield play of the game. Honestly...on the road in a tight match-up against the NO. 5 team in the land, I dont give a crap what the excuse was (guy bit you, called your momma a name, stomped your nuts...whatever); simply put...you are a Senior leader and you need to keep your composure. I know it is harsh...but it really did take us out of some big plays.

QB/WR play- Again, this may not rub some the right way...but I am calling it like I saw it...and like others who have played the game around me saw it: VINNY's numbers looked good...but the play wasnt really great today. He looked like a completely different QB that played Montana with poise. He missed a ton of open receivers...some seemed to be either his 2nd or 3rd check down...that were WIDE OPEN. One in particular was Jason Smith open in the middle of the field without a defender near 15 yards in any direction. A few times he should have dumped the ball out...and instead held it for huge losses. I will say this though: he had some unreal pressure on him from the blind-side in the 2nd half...but it really didnt matter at that point. He threw a really bad INT...and had the ball tipped one too many times at the line.

Now...that being said, Vinny also made some great throws that simply SHOULD HAVE BEEN CAUGHT. We are talking wide-open receivers that either turned before catching...or didnt go down to get to a good low pass that was thrown where it needed to be on defense. That simply cannot happen at this level.

Coaching-- we were bewildered later in the game when down by 12 we went from a team with urgency (no huddle or quick huddle) to a team taking there sweet arse time running...running...running. Thankfully, the pulled a nice screen at one pt. Also, on the last drive that sealed the deal at about 4min to go...we called 3 of the same exact slant patterns. UMass just sat on the formation....and it was three in a row.

Now I love Coach Ford...and his crazyiness has one us big games...but I am not so sure about his 4th and 1 call on the goaline I tried to convince myself it was the right call until I saw one of UA's biggest supporters at half-time. His views were the same I had tried to suppress: We get TD and it is huge momentum...up 2. You kick the FG...and the kicker gets confidence and you are down 2. I dont agree with the call...but I wont second guess a man who has gotten us to this position. I also am not so sure about the onside kick to after scoring in the 2nd half to cut the lead to 5 with 8 to go in the 3rd. Now he has won big games making calls like this...and kept us in big games doing the same, but at that point UA wasnt allowing UMASS much offensively...and their special teams wasnt so special. I would have kicked that sucker down field and played D.

We almost got it though...but making that call is why I sit in the stands and he gets paid!

OVERALL I AM EXTREMELY PROUD OF THE TEAM...THE COACHING STAFF...and THE FANS. Huge UA contingent today...in a near sold-out McGuirk (second-largest home opening crowd ever). Great atmosphere...was hard-hitting good football. It felt like good DI football. UMass was a bit flat however, we played our tails off and quite frankly...I dont think the players are happy with "moral victories"; we could have won that football game and I really believe if UA plays this well, while improving on some deficiencies, over the next three-games...they can beat 1 (if not 2) of the OOC teams from the CAA. I saw a tough, VERY YOUNG, and very QUICK UA football team today.

We are close to being there.

And bigtime KUDOS to UMASS fans who, as my UMASS alumni buddies said, were better than they ever saw today!

On to the next-game!

Great commentary and nice game against one of the best in FCSxthumbsupx

[umassfan]

I was at the game last night, and first off I want to say I was very impressed with the fan turnout. Over 15,000 for opening day was great (I'm sure the fireworks show after the game helped). Now to what I saw on the UMass side of things.

The defensive line and linebackers needs major improvement or UMass is in serious trouble this year. They were being over aggressive and it was hurting them, especially with the screen passes. Near the end of the game they were starting to read it a little better, but most of the night Albany was getting atleast 15 yards every screen. Albany was also getting about 5 yards every time they ran the ball.

The defensive backfield looked pretty good all night. They only let up one big pass. The only thing that they need to get better at is their angles, they missed way too many tackles (that also goes for the linebackers).

The offensive line looked really good with their run blocking, but their pass blocking could use some work. It was not horrible at all, but Liam was a little rushed a few times. One huge plus was the lack of penalties by the O-Line (which was a problem last year). I think they only had one false start and one holding. All in all this O-Line looks really good.

Tony Nelson looked awesome. He was running all over the place and looked very very fast. He is going to do some special things this year. He needs to stay healthy though, there isn't much after him.

Liam looked a little rusty. He was over throwing a lot of passes and seemed a little rushed. He will be fine though, this was only the first game.

The receivers looked small. They had a few dropped passes which worries me, but really UMass didn't throw the ball all that much. There really isn't the big tall receiver out there this year who can go up and grab everything Liam throws. We'll see what happens (Victor Cruz, you need to get open more).

Like I said earlier one of this biggest improvements over last year was the number of penalties UMass got. They seemed to be more disciplined, which is great.

The special teams looked pretty good, besides the fumbled punt. Arnold punted well and Cuko was drilling the extra points and kickoffs.

One thing they need to get better at is hydration. They were cramping up all over the place. They need to get more water in these guys. I saw atleast 6 guys come out of the game with cramps.

They just need to get better in general if they really want to compete for the championship this year. They should have pulled away in the second half and failed to do so. This game made me a little nervous, especially having to play JMU, Del, and Richmond this year, but we will see what happens.

Good luck to Albany this year, you guys put up one hell of a fight. McCarty is a monster, I wish we had him on our team.


Joe Sanford didnt play today and he is our big size target for the year. He should be out there vs Holy Cross. Dont forget that Albany beat Delaware last season and Delaware made it to the NC game. They returned all 4 starters for their DBs so our gameplan was to get the run going so it seemed.

[EmeryZach]

Good to know, that makes me feel a little better.

[Dane96]

Joe Sanford didnt play today and he is our big size target for the year. He should be out there vs Holy Cross. Dont forget that Albany beat Delaware last season and Delaware made it to the NC game. They returned all 4 starters for their DBs so our gameplan was to get the run going so it seemed.

We beat Delaware two years ago-- they were 5-6.

[UMassive]

We beat Delaware two years ago-- they were 5-6.

Did you miss his disclaimer?

DISCLAIMER: My posts are from the hip, unreferenced and largely unresearched. If someone finds fault with them, too bad, I'm too busy to put real effort in.

[Dane96]

No I didnt Mr. 24 posts-- I was just giving the accurate facts so we would all be on the same page. I know UMASSFAN very well from this board, thank you.

[umassfan]

No I didnt Mr. 24 posts-- I was just giving the accurate facts so we would all be on the same page. I know UMASSFAN very well from this board, thank you.

My bad I was wrong. I thought it was last year. Anyways Albany is on the right track to making a strong program. Your running game will win quite a few games for you this season. Ill be pulling for you. Good luck.

[Dane96]

Right back at you! Honestly, if Liam had connected on 1 or 2 passes (just like if we didnt have some drops and penalties) the score would have been much different.

GOOD LUCK!

[ChickenMan]

Dont forget that Albany beat Delaware last season and Delaware made it to the NC game.

Albany upset UD in '06.. they didn't play the Hens last year.. but Albany will be @ UD on 9/27 of this year.

[bkrownd]

Have the concessions improved at McGuirk? They were always quite lame when I lived there, but them were the lean years. The only way we got 15000 back then was double-counting the security staff and 1000 high school band kids that showed up on Band Day. The East (visitor) stands were usually 80% empty.

[WWII]

Although I didn't partake, I thought they were pretty good. 100 times better than Albany's.

[bkrownd]

I think there should be a law making REAL bratwurst w/ saurkraut mandatory at any football stadium. ;)

[danefan]

100 times better than Albany's.

That's not hard.

[footballman65]

Anyone have any photos from the game?

[Old Cage]

Is 49 photos enough?

http://picasaweb.google.com/UMass74/UMassAlbanyGame083008#

The photos are not mine. They come from our outstanding UMass Football Blog:

http://umass74.blogspot.com/

As to the concessions - having none would be fine with most of us. Thousands of folks now tailgate before and after the game. We are still light years away from what I have seen from our southern bretheren, but the tents and grilles and "stuff" are getting better each year.

Didn't have to double count anyone to get to 15,000+

[Old Cage]

Is 49 photos enough?

http://picasaweb.google.com/UMass74/UMassAlbanyGame083008#

The photos are not mine. They come from our outstanding Umass Football Blog:

http://umass74.blogspot.com/

[dennisdent]

Anyone have any photos from the game?

http://umassathletics.cstv.com/view.gal?id=33586


Here's some more photos from the game. I love the ones with the new UMass Chancellor and the Dance team. He was interviewed at halftime and sounds like a real football fan. Coming from Tennessee and Cal might have rubbed off on him--hopefully the "happy valley" won't change him...

[bkrownd]

As to the concessions - having none would be fine with most of us. Thousands of folks now tailgate before and after the game. We are still light years away from what I have seen from our southern bretheren, but the tents and grilles and "stuff" are getting better each year.

The tailgating thing is not for me. My pre-game meal is bagel w/ hummus and a latte at Rao's. xthumbsupx Well, OK that's always my morning meal in Amherst. :D Perhaps grab a slice or two of Antonio's before I stroll down to McGuirk. I usually hit the stadium sometime after kickoff. I like to wander around Amherst and soak up the wonderful scenery as much as possible.

I'd like to grab a snack during my halftime passeggiata, but the concession stands were always so bleak there...

[EmeryZach]

The concessions are still not as good as they could be. Could I also mention the hassle of getting to and from the bathrooms? They really need to add some under the stands. If you are on the North side of the stadium it takes about 15-20 mins to get to the bathroom and back. Plus, now that they check the tickets as you go into the stands instead of at the perimeter fence it takes even longer. Especially for the students, because they force them to only enter at the one north gate which is on the complete opposite side of the bathrooms, they will not let you in with a student ID at any other gate, so you have to walk around the entire stadium before you can get back in. I know this because I still use my old ID to get into the games for free (I know, I'm a horrible person) but I now sit on the south side with the regular fans. They need to fix the bathroom situation.