By Brandon Vanenburg | October 18, 2021
On Saturday, the home crowd and the defense were not enough to overcome the sloppy mistakes on special teams and another lackluster performance on offense as they lost a nail-biter 17-10 to No. 5 Villanova.
On the first possession for UAlbany, it looked like the Great Danes finally found their groove playing in front of their home fans as they scored on their first possession of the game on a touchdown by Karl Mofor.
That would be the only touchdown for the entire game, as the offensive struggles continued for the Great Danes. Quarterback Jeff Undercuffler, back as the starter after missing last week’s game had 181 yards and only completed 47% of his passes, and had two interceptions.
Undercuffler spoke on being back under center after a tough performance. "As the starting quarterback, I did a great job of being prepared as much as I can, and he put the ball in the best spot.”
Great Danes Head Coach Greg Gattuso didn’t place the team’s struggle solely on the offense. "We are not putting the ball in the endzone, but we are playing teams that are really darn good,” said Gattuso. There were points in the game where we needed to be smart on the coaching side, but we will always be an aggressive team.”
The Great Danes defense was outstanding, even with starting defensive tackle Mason Walker out for the whole game and star defensive-end Jared versus after an injury in the first half, they kept UAlbany alive through the game. Despite playing the majority of the game without star linemen Mazon Walker and Jared Verse, the unit only allowed 10 points, with the other touchdown coming on special teams.
Danny Damico, who finished the game with ten tackles and an interception, spoke on staying together through the tough season. "It's a big team sport. You can't be pointing fingers once everything falls apart. We just have to go back and sharpen up the little things."
UAlbany will look to get their first win of the season as they face Maine next Saturday at home.
Comentarios