First off, here is a link to the game story - Heartbreaking loss for Danes in FCS playoffs

Here is the final play of the game, as Dan Di Lella's pass is intercepted in the end zone by Dominick Reyes.

UAlbany senior defensive end Eddie Delaney talks about the game.


UAlbany coach Bob Ford talks about the game.

Senior DE Eddie Delaney talks about being in the FCS NCAA tournament.

University at Albany senior defensive end Eddie Delaney talks about getting ready for the final game of the regular season.

The Great Danes will win the Northeast Conference and a spot in the Division I FCS football playoffs, with a victory over Sacred Heart.

Senior defensive lineman Eddie Delaney talks about the season opening game at Colgate.

Eddie Delaney leads a group of eight UAlbany Great Danes selected to the All-NEC football preseason team by Phil Steele's publication.

A 6-foot-6, senior defensive end, Delaney (right) earned second-team all-conference honors for the second time last season. Delaney totaled 41 tackles and helped the Great Danes rank second in the conference against the run.

Also honored on the preseason first team were wide receiver Ryan Kirchner, safety Jake Ciccarello and punter Paul Layton, a graduate of Burnt Hills.

Kicker Herb Glass, running back Dillon Romain and insider linebackers Dave Plungas and Jon Morgan were picked to the second team.

The Great Danes were chosen to win the 2011 Northeast Conference by Athlon Sports and selected to finish third in The Sporting News and Lindy's Sport Annuals.

UAlbany. which has posted a school record five consecutive winning seasons, begins preseason camp on Monday, Aug. 8 and the Great Danes open the season Saturday, Sept. 3, at Colgate.

Redshirt freshman Buddy Leathley will start at quarterback for UAlbany in Friday's game against Central Connecticut.

Eddie Delaney, Marc Wargo, Kyle O'Keefe and Zach Gallo will not play in the first half according to coach Bob Ford for breaking a team rule.

The game is on MSG Plus in the Capital District and starts at 7 p.m.

The Great Danes left for Pittsburgh Friday morning at 9 a.m. and will stop in Rochester to have a walk through at St. John Fisher College.

Fisher Offensive Coordinator Dave Parks is a 2003 graduate of UAlbany and another assistant coach, Colin Disch, is a 2007 graduate of UAlbany.

The team will arrive around dinner time and kickoff is 12 p.m. on Saturday against Duquesne (2-1).

I talked to defensive lineman Eddie Delaney, quarterback Dan Di Lella and coach Bob Ford for a story about beginning the Northeast Conference season that will appear in Saturday's paper.

Below sophomore running back Andrew Smith talks about how he'll be back on the field on Saturday.



Below is the video preview compiled by the UAlbany sports department

ALBANY - I'll admit that was a pretty bad use of the first opponents name in the headline.

The University at Albany football team is getting ready to kick off the 2010 season against Maine on Thursday evening.

I caught the tail end of practice on Tuesday and heard a couple of rave reviews about redshirt freshman running back Tramaine Wilson.

Wilson supposedly has had a great preseason camp and will help carry the load at the running back position.

UAlbany coach Bob Ford said that he thinks Wilson will play quite a bit.

The Great Danes lost a lot of players from last season, but Ford thinks they can plug the gaps.

“What you hope is that you replace him, or those specific kids, with an adequate replacement and then some of the other positions step it up a little more,” he said.

Ford was asked who he thought had most some big steps during the preseason camp, leading up to the season and he added in no particular order.

Wilson
Junior safety Jake Ciccarello
Senior captain offensive lineman Andy Sparano
Sophomore wide receiver Nick Hutcherson
Sophomore linebacker Jon Morgan
Redshirt freshman punter Paul Layton

Ford also said they are getting good play from senior defensive linemen Trevor Anderson and Eddie Delaney and they expect that from those two.

"We have the talent," Ford said. "I think the major question is how are we going to gel."

Another note from UAlbany camp. Former player Chris Simpson, who played last season at linebacker, is going after a Rhodes scholarship.

Simpson has one year left at RPI, after setting out for a 3 & 2 program with UAlbany and RPI, to get his undergraduate degree and his master's.

The team leaves for Maine at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

Look for our preview pages in The Record and a feature on the versatile Andrew Smith on Thursday.

ALBANY - University at Albany fifth-year defensive lineman Trevor Anderson knows that the accolades are coming his way and he doesn't mind.

Anderson was named preseason All-Northeast Conference last week and was a first team All-NEC selection after the 2009 season.

After working hard over the summer, the Warnersville native believes he can have his best season yet.

"I’ve taken a lot from what I’ve learned over the years and I’m ready to put it all together and see what happens,” he said Tuesday before the Great Danes' walk-thru on University Field.

While he came into preseason camp a little heavy, according to coach Bob Ford, Anderson knows that while people are expecting big things from him, he is harder on himself to be great.

“I expect that out of myself,” Anderson said. “I’m not trying to sound too cocky, but I know what I can do.”

Anderson is expected to lead a defensive unit that should be strong up front with him and Eddie Delaney.

“We’ve been a very good run stopping defense in the past and this defensive line had a lot to with that,” Delaney said. “As a d-lineman, I’m really excited to see what we’re going to do on the field this year.”

Ford said if Anderson and Delaney both play to their potential they will make things awfully tough for opponents.

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One big question for the Great Danes is how to replace quarterback Vinnie Esposito.

The two options seem to be junior Dan Di Lella and ultra-athletic redshirt-sophomore Andrew Smith from Guilderland.

While Ford said the position is a work in progress, he added “We are going to line Drew Smith up in a multitude of positions, quarterback being one of them."

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If you've missed any of our preseason stories here are links

8/11 - Delaney, Danes set the bar high in '10

8/10 - Blais returns to spark Danes' D

Below junior defensive lineman Eddie Delaney talks about the excitement of the start of the 2010 season and the hopes for the defensive unit.

I caught up with senior center Kevin Richards on Thursday.

Richards, a Clifton Park native, was chosen as a second team All-Northeast Conference selection for the past two seasons and is the only starter from last season on the offensive line back in 2009.

First I want to say, hopefully, this blog entry doesn't cost Richards.

As Sports Information Director Brian DePasquale told me, the offensive line has this policy: if you get interviewed, you have to buy bagels for the rest of the lineman.

With that aside, here's what Kevin, who got married this past July, and I discussed on the upcoming game at Saint Francis on Saturday.


Talk about getting ready for another conference game.

KR: It might seem more meaningful, but we have to approach it just like it was a non-conference game because when we play our non-conference games, they say we're playing up. With the conference this year, there's a lot more parity. Saint Francis, on film, has looked so much better than they have in years past, so we really have to attack it the same way and I think we have so far.

This is your first 1 p.m. game of the year. How does that make preparation different?

KR: I think a lot of time with the night games and the 4 o'clock kickoffs, there's a lot of sitting around, just waiting to get to the field. Hopefully, we'll wake up at the same time and we'll just do everything a lot quicker. If anything, maybe that will get us going a little quicker, we've had some late starts the last couple games, so hopefully in the first half we'll get something going.

Does being on the road change anything?

KR: I think at this level it's really the team that matters. The home field advantage isn't necessarily anything. When people come out to our games, it's great. At the Maine game, we had 5,000 people there and that was a great day and something that I think contributed to the win. Coach Ford says all the time, we'll play anyone, anywhere, it doesn't really matter.

You're the elder statesman on this offensive line.

KR: Yeah (laughing). I'm pretty old. (Richards turns 23 on Oct. 29)

The offensive line lost a few guys from last year. How do you feel like the unit is coming along?

KR: I think it's come along well. We have a lot of young guys and a lot of first-year starters and only a couple guys last year had some playing time, but we all work together, it's one unit and we have to try to pick it up. We have some tight end help, Chris Kenneally is the senior on that side, so he helps those guys a lot and then we have (David) McCarty running behind us. That makes us look a lot better. The young guys realize that if they just play as hard as they possibly can, then he'll make them look good.

It's starting to get cold. Is there anything weather-wise that you'll do to prepare?

KR: Watching the film of us against Saint Francis from last year, it was a torrential downpour. It was like a monsoon out there. We'll play anywhere, any weather, it doesn't matter. Two years ago, we had an epic against Stony Brook, where there was lighting and it was a five-hour game, so that stuff doesn't really faze us.

Are you waiting for that big breakout running game?

KR: With these young guys, we're knocking on the door. It's going to come, it's just a matter of getting it. Now that we're in conference, it has to come sooner than later.

(UAlbany Athletics)

Here is another note from practice.

• Coach Bob Ford said that sophomore guard Kyle O'Keefe is dealing with some shoulder issues and that they'd have a better idea of where he was at practice today

If you think the players are taking Saint Francis lightly (UAlbany has never lost in 10 meetings), they certainly aren't acting like it.

• “They’re definitely a better team than they were last year,” said sophomore Eddie Delaney. “I think they’re average o-lineman has put on 15 pounds since last year.”
• “They don’t look lost out there, they look in good shape, they look physical, they look like no Saint Francis team I’ve ever seen," senior Justin Brancaccio said. "They look like they’re up there with the top teams in our conference.”