AP

ALBANY — Drew Smith wants to make the most of every opportunity he gets to carry the football.
 
The senior running back is averaging nearly 100 yards per game so far this season for the University at Albany.
 
Smith will be one of the keys, as UAlbany (1-0, 3-1) gets set to host league rival Monmouth (2-0, 3-1), at home, on Saturday afternoon.
 
“It’ll be a tough ballgame,” said Great Danes coach Bob Ford. “We’ll have to play well.”
 
Smith, who has 392 yards and five touchdowns already this season, has been the Great Danes leading back for the past two years. He credits maturity with helping him turn things up even another level, as a senior.
 
“I think it’s me being more mature and knowing what to do, when to go and not being reckless,” said the Guilderland High grad. “I know my sophomore year, I was running high and got dinged up.”
 
Smith and his fellow seniors haven’t lost to Monmouth in their careers. The last time the Hawks won in this Northeast Conference matchup was back in 2006.
 
Smith says he spends more time in the tub and talking to trainer Jay Geiger, if even the slightest things flares up.
 
“I know my body now,” Smith said. “I know what to expect of it. I have Omar too, to help me out.”
 
Sophomore Omar Osbourne and Smith have helped UAlbany excel in the running game this season. The Great Danes are averaging more than 200 yards rushing per game and haven’t been held to fewer than 110.
 
Smith will likely become just the third running back in school history to surpass the 3,000-yard mark for his career, joining David McCarty (2006-09) and Gary Jones (2002-03), both also Section II high school products.
 
Smith has dealt with injuries in past seasons, but he says he’s running lower now, which helps him avoid some of the more violent contact.
 
For his career, Smith has averaged 5.3 yards per carry (484 total rushes) and scored 27 rushing touchdowns.
 
All this for a guy who played quarterback in high school and initially was slotted behind Vinny Esposito in the QB depth chart for the Great Danes.
 
The goal for the UAlbany running backs is to pick up four yards per carry. Smith just wants to do as much as he can to help the team to victory.
 
“I want to make the most of every carry,” he said.

ALBANY - "Don't let this fall apart."

Those were the words from graduating seniors David McCarty, the all-time leader in rushing yards, and Vinny Esposito, the starting quarterback, to red-shirt sophomore Andrew Smith (who will be further mentioned as Drew for various reasons, most notably there's
another Andrew Smith - a freshman from Wading River, NY - on the roster).

Smith said he was really close with both players, especially Esposito and that those guys want to see the team continue to succeed.

"I'm playing for them and for the University," Smith said.

The 2010 season UAlbany football season unofficially began on Tuesday with Media Day.

Smith said he is really ready for the season, especially since he basically has been waiting two years for Esposito to graduate so he can try to play more quarterback.

While he will compete with Dan Di Lella and Buddy Leathley, Smith will also be playing at running back (the position he will be listed at on the roster) and wide receiver.

"It's pretty much my time right now," said Smith.

*****

Look for a story on the season being close to start and a story about transfer Said Gaida, who will play his final season at UAlbany after Hofstra eliminated their football team in Wednesday's edition of The Record.

Here is Gaida talking about what Great Danes fans can expect from him.



I talked with Andy Sparano, son of Miami Dolphins coach Tony Sparano and he gave me some great quotes for Wednesday's paper.

Sparano was named a captain of the 2010 team, along with Mike Kelly, Troy native Chris Blais and Kyle O'Keefe.

Here's one.

"This team lost a lot of very important players. You can never downplay what those guys have done here. They started a dynasty. Guys like myself and the other three captains and guys like Drew Smith, we look to build on that. We don't look to step backward, we look to go forwards."

*****

Burnt Hills native Zach Morton received the Capital District Student Scholarship, sponsored by the New York Giants.

I had a chance to talk to Zach, who was selected an all-NYS Class A second team after his senior year with the Spartans.

The 6-foot-5 Morton, who could stand to put on some bulk (I'm sure he's working on that), said that the main reason to come to UAlbany was the tradition and sense of "Purple Family."

Morton also looked at Sacred Heart and some schools in the Ivy and Patriot Leagues.

I decided to check in with senior running back David McCarty because he's listed as questionable for Saturday's big road game against Central Connecticut State.

McCarty, the school's all-time leading rusher, has suffered a laundry list of injuries this season, but is considering himself a go for the game.

DM: "We just have to win the game and if that means me staying out or playing, either or, for the benefit of the team I just want to win another (championship) and be on my merry way."

Do you have to be out there in this important game?

DM: "I'm more than confident they can do it by themselves. We have a lot of threats down field with receivers, Vinny (Esposito) can throw the ball wherever he wants to and I'm very glad that I have a running back like (Justin) Gannon behind me, so they're more than capable to do it."

What happened on the play you hurt yourself on against Monmouth?

DM: "My toe got stuck in the turf and two guys came down on top of it. It's just one of those things that happens a lot in football. Then, when I came down, I just came down awkwardly on my wrist. That's unfortunate, but something that you have to overcome with football, it's a physical sport."

McCarty gave a lot of credit to assistant athletic trainer Joe Tegnander.

DM: "I give him all the credit in the world. He's a great guy who knows his stuff. He's been with me for my wrist, my ankle, my hamstring, my hip. He's been there for anything, so I have to give all the credit to him.

What is the worst of the injuries that you've suffered this year?

DM: "Everything is just a nagging injury, which makes it so I can't play. It's not so excruciating that I need surgery or something else, it's just an injury that doesn't hurt, but when you need to run on it or you need to make a cut on it, it hurts. Like a hip pointer, if I just sat in bed, it wouldn't hurt me, but if I had to make a cut or had to make a run, it would kill."

McCarty was then asked about his alma mater, La Salle Institute losing in the first round of the Section II Class AA sectionals to Guilderland.

"When I read that on the way back from Monmouth, I couldn't believe it. I was very surprised, but Coach (Al) Rapp is one of those people who knows that any team can be beaten on any given day. It's not always the best team that wins."

How frustrating has it been to have your senior season be slowed by these injuries?

DM: "It's been injury after injury. I can never seem to keep a good rhythm. It takes a lot out of your moral because you can't practice and one thing that I believe in is you practice the way you play and if you're not practicing, you're not going to be able to play that well on Saturday. It's really demoralizing because you're always having to worry about something when you should be worrying about the next opponent."

The Great Danes held on against a very game Bryant squad 20-17 today at University Field.

Big games for quarterback Vinny Esposito, Tim Bush and Hoosick Falls native Jason Poore.

The win gives UAlbany their 17th consecutive Northeast Conference victory, a conference record.

I caught up with red-shirt tight end Paul Booker on Thursday and judging from practice, the team was still high on their victory from last weekend over #20 Maine.

Booker caught the second pass of his career against the Black Bears and caught the first touchdown of his career and the first passing touchdown of the season for the Great Danes, a 22-yard rollout pass from senior Vinny Esposito.

I'm sure everybody was going crazy after that win on Saturday.

PB: Definitely. It was a huge win, great win for the program.

What was Saturday night like for you guys?

PB: After we won, it was pandemonium. We went out and had fun. It was great in the locker room, turned the techno (music) on and start dancing. It was a great night.

How big was it to get the team's first win?

PB: It was definitely a big confidence booster going into conference and getting a win over a CAA team.

Your first catch came against UMass, the second catch (a touchdown against Maine) must have been a lot sweeter?

PB: It felt a lot better after we won. Then, I got to brag about it.

Did you think a touchdown would come this quickly for you?

PB: I thought I had to wait a little bit, get a few more catches and then finally get one, but it came so I'm happy.

How is the league schedule different from non-conference games?

PB: We're expected to win and we have to go out there and stay focused. We can't get a big head because we beat a CAA team, we just have to go out there stay focused and dominate the rest of the conference.

What's this week been like after the big win?

PB: We've been having great practices, but we can't get big heads. We have to come down a little bit and focus.

Is there a big difference between a league game and a non-league game?

PB: The speed against the CAA teams is different and we have to practice so hard and gameplan. This week, has been the same pretty much, but just less emphasis on it. We've been playing these teams for years, so we have a good idea of what they're going to bring.

Have the guys been talking about the 13-game league unbeaten streak?

PB: There hasn't been too much locker room talk, but at the same time it's in the back of our heads and we want to keep that going definitely.

What was the atmosphere like on Saturday, especially playing in front of the home crowd for the first time?

PB: It was a huge crowd and I had about 30 friends and family there and the whole Guilderland "Red Sea" there, all the players. It was just a great atmosphere to play in.

What has been like for you Guilderland guys (quarterback Andrew Smith) who are contributing this season?

PB: You get a lot of people out here, a lot of local people, a lot of friends and family coming out to see us, even if we really didn't know them, people are coming out here to see us play.

What was the best reaction you got after scoring the touchdown?

PB: I went back into the locker room and came back out and it had to be my mom (Sandra), sitting there screaming with her nice little purple glasses on. She was sitting there waiting for a hug, that had to be the best part.

(UAlbany Athletics)

Stopped by UAlbany football practice today and the Great Danes seem ready for their home opener (yes, finally they will play a home game).

Again the game is a 1 p.m., not 4 p.m. like originally listed and will also air on Time Warner 3.

Like many of the players, junior quarterback Vinny Esposito is ready for a home game and he's calling on more fans to get to University Field for the game.

“Going down to Delaware and playing in front of 23,000 people, that was a great experience,” Esposito said. “I don’t think any time soon we’re going to get 25,000 people here, but it would be nice to have a real college football atmosphere, which we’ve had in the past and we’d like to continue with.”

Esposito added that it's nice to finally be able to have friends and family catch a home game.

“The most exciting part about it is to be able to get our friends and family up there to watch the game," Esposito said.

While Esposito says the losses, even to more talented teams, have kept this team hungry, he's confident in this bunch.

“I think that we can beat any team if we play the way we can,” Esposito said. “Delaware’s the only team that really kicked out butts. We could be 4-1 heading into this week.”

I asked Vinny about his maturation as the quarterback, this being his second season at the helm of the offense.

“Last year, things were moving real fast,” Esposito said. “We opened up with Colgate, Montana and Hofstra and I was thinking this is quick, but this year, things have slowed down. Not that my stats are eye-popping, but I think that I’m doing a good job of managing the game and I feel comfortable.”

Esposito added that he knows his role, which is to make throws when necessary and the goal is to try and balance out the offense a little more with the running game.

Speaking of the run, talented junior running back David McCarty seems ready to get after Central Connecticut State as well, especially after what he called a subpar performance by their standards last week at Duquesne and a "sloppy" one, according to Coach Bob Ford.

“It almost seems as if we play up to the big games,” McCarty said. “At Duquesne, we didn’t play up to what we're capable of, like we did at UMass and UNH. We had 14 penalties, but I think playing at UNH, UMass, Delaware, Hofstra and Montana really does help in the end.”

McCarty had 230 yards last week, has 710 on the season and last season and rushed for 247 last season against the Blue Devils.

McCarty told me he thinks the key to Saturday's game will be dependant on each team's defense and which one comes to play.

With that being said, it should be a good game. CCSU is 4-1 and their only loss came at the hands of then No. 1 ranked North Dakota State.

Look for more on the game in Saturday's paper and I'll be at University Field Saturday afternoon.