I had a chance to stop by UAlbany football practice today and the team is certainly happy that they are 1-1 and not 0-2 after their dramatic overtime victory over Hofstra.

Of course they have changing big Raphael Nguti (he's 6-foot-7 and 330-pounds) to the special teams unit to thank for that.

Nguti (who is as big as advertised, believe me I talked to him Wednesday) blocked two kicks - including one in overtime as the Danes defeated Hofstra 22-16.

Nguti was named Northeast Conference Special Teams Player of the Week (duh).

David McCarty broke the program record by rushing for 178 yards and eclipsing 100 yards for the eighth consecutive game passing Gary Jones' (2002) total of seven.

McCarty, who scored the game-winning touchdown, didn't know about this until I told him today and he also didn't know that he has eclipsed 2,000 all-purpose yards for his career.

The accolades piled up for McCarty this week as he received a College Sporting News All-Star selection and Northeast Conference Offensive Player of the Week.

Here's what McCarty had to say about that...

“I’m just out there to win,” McCarty said. “I hadn’t done anything all game. I was just happy to be involved in the winning play.”

Here's a picture of the winning touchdown....

(Brian DePasquale - UAlbany Athletics)

Another key player and someone I had a chance to catch up with was junior safety Dave Casale, who blocked the third kick of the night for UAlbany when he deflected the Pride's possible game-winning kick with under 10 seconds to go, which forced overtime.

Casale said the team is much more positive heading into the big matchup against 10th-ranked New Hampshire (2-0), the first time these teams have ever met, on Saturday with last week's thrilling win under their belt.

Coach Bob Ford said that the win was one of his best (and remember he's got 226 of them), but he also said that the big win provides a large challenge as his squad gets ready for a tougher task come Saturday.

“The two toughest challenges in coaching are picking a team up after a devastating loss and after a great win, bringing them back down to earth,” Ford said.

I'll have something in the print edition on UAlbany's matchup and last week's big win, probably on Saturday or possibly on Friday.

New Hampshire Results
Sept. 6 @ Army W 28-10
Sept. 13 @ Rhode Island W 51-43