Dave Nicomini Makes Most of Opportunity in UAlbany Football's Final Preseason Scrimmage

Football UAlbany Sports Information

UAlbany Holds Off Sacred Heart, 22-9, in Northeast Conference Football Opener at University Field

Albany, N.Y. - David McCarty rushed for 105 yards and one touchdown in leading UAlbany to a 22-9 victory over Sacred Heart in the Northeast Conference opener for both teams on Saturday, Sept. 26 at University Field. The Great Danes, who went unbeaten in league play the last two seasons, extended their conference win streak to 14 in a row.
     Sacred Heart (0-3, NEC 0-1) closed within 16-9 on Matt Fisher's 23-yard field goal with 9:00 remaining. The Pioneers appeared to stop UAlbany (2-2, NEC 1-0) on the next offensive series. But on fourth-and-three at their own 43-yard line, the Great Danes' Andrew Smith ran for the first down off the faked punt.
     Quarterback Vinny Esposito later threw a third-down, 31-yard completion to wide receiver Tim Bush to keep the sequence on schedule. McCarty then lugged the ball five consecutive times to the end zone with 3:58 to play. The senior tailback, who has run for 100 or more yards 21 times as a collegian, scored on a 4-yard blast, as he bounced off a defender and across the goal line.
     "We were fortunate to win, but we had no turnovers and played fairly well on defense and in the kicking game," said UAlbany coach Bob Ford, whose program has the longest Division I FCS conference win skein. "We are struggling to sustain a drive on offense. On the other hand, the defense controlled things."
     UAlbany's defense set up a pair of field goals in the first quarter for a 6-0 lead. Cornerback Jean Juste forced a fumble following a completed pass and defensive end Tony Sparano recovered, leading to Herb Glass' 24-yard kick. Linebacker Chris Wilk's first career interception and 30-yard return led to another field goal.
     After Sacred Heart's Fisher kicked a 28-yard field goal in the second quarter, Emerson Kinsey broke clean on a 50-yard kickoff return. The Great Danes put together a nine-play scoring drive to build a 13-3 advantage. Esposito, who connected on 11 of 22 attempts for 144 yards, hit on three third-down passes to keep the series alive. He moved to his right and found Justin Gannon with a short pass in the flat and the senior tailback used his blocking en route to a 24-yard score.
     Outside linebacker Rich Duff picked off starting quarterback Dale Fink late in the first half and rumbled 34 yards deep into SHU territory. Glass added his school-record third field goal, a 24-yard kick. The Pioneers sliced the deficit to 16-6 in the third quarter behind reserve signal-caller Tyler McKeon, who passed for 118 yards. The 12-play, 76-yard drive ended in Fisher's 21-yard field goal.
     The Pioneers, who were coming off a bye week, looked to record their first win in this series since 2001 with a serious threat in the final period. McKeon, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, fired a 27-yard completion to Rich Rossi inside the Albany 1-yard line. However, the Great Danes stopped two rushing plays and sacked McKeon on third down to force Fisher to make his third field goal.
     "We can't bend or break in that situation," explained UAlbany outside linebacker Dave Nicomini, who totaled five tackles, one sack and three pass break-ups. "It's an attitude that you are not going to let them in (the end zone). We made the plays."
     The Great Danes, who broke a school mark that had stood since 1974 with their 10th consecutive home win, held the visitors to 267 total yards, including 71 on the ground. Gannon added 55 rushing yards to his touchdown reception.
     "Their defense moved around with twists and stunts and that may have bothered us and messed with us up front," offered Esposito, whose club has won nine of 11 NEC openers since joining the league in 1999. "We moved the ball, but didn't finish drives. We are always trying to establish the run, but I need to get our receivers the football. I am confident we can do that."

UAlbany 22, Sacred Heart 9 (Sep 26, 2009)


 

Scoring Summary

 
Scoring Summary (Final)
2009 UAlbany Football
Sacred Heart vs Albany (Sep 26, 2009 at Albany, N.Y.)

 Team Totals  SHU  ALBANY 
FIRST DOWNS  16  17 
   Rushing  10 
   Passing  10 
   Penalty 
NET YARDS RUSHING  71  185 
   Rushing Attempts  31  49 
   Average Per Rush  2.3  3.8 
   Rushing Touchdowns 
   Yards Gained Rushing  92  195 
   Yards Lost Rushing  21  10 
NET YARDS PASSING  196  144 
   Completions-Attempts-Int  20-32-2  11-22-0 
   Average Per Attempt  6.1  6.5 
   Average Per Completion  9.8  13.1 
   Passing Touchdowns 
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS  267  329 
   Total offense plays  63  71 
   Average Gain Per Play  4.2  4.6 
Fumbles: Number-Lost  1-1  0-0 
Penalties: Number-Yards  5-25  7-61 
PUNTS-YARDS  4-125  3-87 
   Average Yards Per Punt  31.2  29.0 
   Net Yards Per Punt  27.5  29.0 
   Inside 20 
   50+ Yards 
   Touchbacks 
   Fair catch 
KICKOFFS-YARDS  4-203  6-384 
   Average Yards Per Kickoff  50.8  64.0 
   Net Yards Per Kickoff  30.2  42.3 
   Touchbacks 
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD  0-0-0  1-15-0 
   Average Per Return  0.0  15.0 
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD  6-130-0  4-82-0 
   Average Per Return  21.7  20.5 
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD  0-0-0  2-64-0 
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD  0-0-0  0-0-0 
Miscellaneous Yards 
Possession Time  30:12  29:48 
   1st Quarter  8:09  6:51 
   2nd Quarter  9:03  5:57 
   3rd Quarter  7:44  7:16 
   4th Quarter  5:16  9:44 
Third-Down Conversions  4 of 13  8 of 18 
Fourth-Down Conversions  1 of 1  2 of 2 
Red-Zone Scores-Chances  3-3  4-5 
Sacks By: Number-Yards  1-5  3-14 
PAT Kicks  0-0  1-1 
Field Goals  3-3  3-5 

 

Individual Statistics

 
Individual Statistics (Final)
2009 UAlbany Football
Sacred Heart vs Albany (Sep 26, 2009 at Albany, N.Y.)

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Sacred Heart........  0  3  3  3  -  9       Record: (0-3,0-1)
Albany..............  6 10  0  6  - 22       Record: (2-2,1-0)



Scoring Summary:
1st 05:45 ALBANY - Herb Glass 24 yd field goal, 10-24 4:03, SHU 0 - ALBANY 3
    01:46 ALBANY - Herb Glass 29 yd field goal, 5--6 1:27, SHU 0 - ALBANY 6
2nd 09:00 SHU - FISHER, Matt 28 yd field goal, 16-68 7:46, SHU 3 - ALBANY 6
    05:23 ALBANY - Justin Gannon 24 yd pass from Vinny Esposito (Herb Glass kick), 9-47 3:37, SHU 3 - ALBANY 13
    02:33 ALBANY - Herb Glass 24 yd field goal, 4-7 1:43, SHU 3 - ALBANY 16
3rd 06:47 SHU - FISHER, Matt 21 yd field goal, 12-76 5:46, SHU 6 - ALBANY 16
4th 09:00 SHU - FISHER, Matt 23 yd field goal, 9-57 4:31, SHU 9 - ALBANY 16
    03:58 ALBANY - David McCarty 4 yd run (Frank Blasinsky rush failed), 12-64 5:02, SHU 9 - ALBANY 22



                                    SHU   ALBANY
FIRST DOWNS...................       16       17
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............    31-71   49-185
PASSING YDS (NET).............      196      144
Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  32-20-2  22-11-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   63-267   71-329
Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............      0-0     1-15
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........    6-130     4-82
Interception Returns-Yards....      0-0     2-64
Punts (Number-Avg)............   4-31.2   3-29.0
Fumbles-Lost..................      1-1      0-0
Penalties-Yards...............     5-25     7-61
Possession Time...............    30:12    29:48
Third-Down Conversions........  4 of 13  8 of 18
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   1 of 1   2 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      3-3      4-5
Sacks By: Number-Yards........      1-5     3-14


RUSHING: Sacred Heart-COLES, Garry 15-47; ARCHER, Marcel 9-26; MANDAS,
Chris 1-7; FRIEDMAN, Brian 1-3; TEAM 1-minus 1; FINK, Dale 1-minus 3; MCKEON,
Tyler 3-minus 8. Albany-David McCarty 31-105; Justin Gannon 8-55; Vinny Esposito
5-16; Andrew Smith 4-11; TEAM 1-minus 2.

PASSING: Sacred Heart-MCKEON, Tyler 8-16-0-118; FINK, Dale 12-16-2-78.
Albany-Vinny Esposito 11-22-0-144.

RECEIVING: Sacred Heart-COLES, Garry 7-48; ROSSI, Rich 5-46; TEDESCO,
Steve 4-54; PATTERSON, Tony 3-41; UYENO, Mark 1-7. Albany-Ryan Kirchner 3-29;
Tim Bush 2-38; Jason Poore 2-15; John Lullen 2-14; Justin Gannon 1-24; Paul
Booker 1-24.

INTERCEPTIONS: Sacred Heart-None. Albany-Rich Duff 1-34; Chris Wilk 1-30.

FUMBLES: Sacred Heart-COLES, Garry 1-1. Albany-None.

Stadium: University Field      Attendance: 3188
Kickoff time: 4:00 pm   End of Game: 6:35 pm   Total elapsed time: 2:35
Officials: Referee: John Gerbino; Umpire: Tony Donato; Linesman: A. Ciccaglione;
Line judge: Dan Bush; Back judge: Melvin Riddick; Field judge: Matt Brewer;
Side judge: Eric Cantell; Scorer: Matt Chmura;
Temperature: 62        Wind: 13 SSE    Weather: Party Sunny



Sacred Heart vs Albany (Sep 26, 2009 at Albany, N.Y.) SACKS (UA-A): Sacred Heart-UNDERWOOD, R. 0-1; COSTANTINO, A. 0-1. Albany-Dave Nicomini 1-0; Trevor Anderson 1-0; Tony Sparano 0-1; Rich Duff 0-1. TACKLES (UA-A): Sacred Heart-MANDAS, Chris 5-6; EMBLER, Justin 0-10; DAVIS, Chansler 3-6; FLUMERE, Brian 1-8; DOROSH, Matt 3-5; UNDERWOOD, R. 2-6; VEIX, Will 2-5; MCINTOSH, Titus 1-6; SIERRA, Niko 2-2; ZAMBARANO, Mike 0-4; DIXON, Elijah 1-2; ISLA, Andre 1-2; COSTANTINO, A. 0-3; FOEHR, Tyler 1-1; SWIDER, Brett 1-1; BRANCHINI, V. 0-2; COVINGTON, A. 1-0; RAPP, Chris 1-0; ROSSI, Rich 1-0; COLES, Garry 1-0; PULASKI, Peter 0-1. Albany-Chris Simpson 2-6; Justin Brancaccio 2-5; Emerson Kinsey 3-3; Eddie Delaney 3-3; Dave Casale 3-2; Dave Nicomini 1-4; Jean Juste 3-1; Zach Gallo 2-2; Tony Sparano 1-3; Rich Duff 1-3; Ross Bertrand 3-0; Trevor Anderson 1-2; Marc Wargo 0-3; Chris Van Zelfden 2-0; Jon Morgan 2-0; Chris Wilk 1-1; Raymond Dorcely 1-0; Marc Holloway 1-0; Herb Glass 0-1; Dave Plungas 0-1. Game Starters: Sacred Heart POS ## OFFENSE WR 4 PATTERSON, Tony LT 76 MALAE, Abel LG 73 LARSON, Dylan C 70 SMITH, Justin RG 67 ROMANIELLO, B. RT 77 MARTEL, Justin TE 81 RAPP, Chris WR 5 TEDESCO, Steve QB 14 FINK, Dale FB 22 FRIEDMAN, Brian TB 21 COLES, Garry POS ## DEFENSE NG 93 COSTANTINO, A. DT 98 DIXON, Elijah DE 50 EMBLER, Justin OLB 31 FLUMERE, Brian ILB 34 MANDAS, Chris ILB 47 DOROSH, Matt OLB 58 DAVIS, Chansler CB 19 COVINGTON, A. SS 28 ISLA, Andre FS 24 UNDERWOOD, R. CB 12 MCINTOSH, Titus Albany POS ## OFFENSE TE 32 Paul Booker LT 64 Vince Gonzales LG 55 Kyle O'Keefe C 75 Kevin Richards RG 62 Andy Sparano RT 71 Keith Peifer WR 1 Tim Bush WR 85 Jason Poore QB 7 Vinny Esposito FB 25 Chris Kenneally TB 3 David McCarty POS ## DEFENSE DE 56 Marc Wargo DT 95 Zach Gallo DE 97 Tony Sparano OLB 50 Rich Duff ILB 54 J. Brancaccio ILB 51 Chris Simpson OLB 21 Dave Nicomini CB 18 Ross Bertrand S 28 Emerson Kinsey FS 31 Dave Casale CB 2 Jean Juste Player participation: Sacred Heart: 3-ARCHER, Marcel, 8-TATE, Rock, 9-JAMIEL, Jo Jo, 10-FISHER, Matt, 11-ROSSI, Rich, 16-MCKEON, Tyler, 17-KISTLER, Joe, 20-SWIDER, Brett, 23-TURNER, Zak, 33-ZAMBARANO, Mike, 37-SWISHER, Justin, 38-TAYLOR, Alex, 40-MOORE, James, 41-PULASKI, Peter, 43-VEIX, Will, 44-SIERRA, Niko, 48-NUESSLE, Bredan, 56-FOEHR, Tyler, 69-RUSSELL, Robert, 72-PLUNKETT, Dan, 75-VARNADO, R., 82-STRIPE, Tom, 85-UYENO, Mark, 88-MAGUIRE, Matt, 90-BRANCHINI, V., 92-CONGER, Adam, 95-LINNEHAN, Matt. Albany: 4-Jake Ciccarello, 5-Justin Gannon, 6-C. Van Zelfden, 8-Devin Wooten, 9-Frank Blasinsky, 10-Andrew Smith, 11-Jon Morgan, 13-Herb Glass, 17-Ryan Kirchner, 19-Rashad Head, 22-Justin Hassan, 26-Nick Crockett, 30-Marc Holloway, 34-Duane Harper, 37-Kareem Cooper, 38-Garrett Askew, 41-Alfred Pryor, 42-Chris Bouchard, 43-Raymond Dorcely, 45-Dave Plungas, 47-Ben Carl, 57-Chris Wilk, 61-Chaz Mitchell, 66-Matt Faughnan, 68-Bobby Woods, 70-Justin Anderson, 78-Andrew Stevens, 80-Luke Weaver, 86-Bryon King, 87-John Lullen, 91-Trevor Anderson, 96-Eddie Delaney, 99-Wil Moushey.

Sacred Heart (0-3,0-1) vs. Albany (2-2,1-0)

Date: Sep 26, 2009 • Site: Albany, N.Y.  • Stadium: University Field  •  Attendance: 3188

Score by Quarters  Score 
Sacred Heart   0  3  3  3  9 
Albany   6  10  0  6  22 

SCORING SUMMARY   SHU -ALBANY  
1st  05:45  ALBANY   Herb Glass 24 yd field goal 
         10 plays, 24 yards, TOP 4:03  0 - 3 
  01:46  ALBANY   Herb Glass 29 yd field goal 
         5 plays, -6 yards, TOP 1:27  0 - 6 
2nd  09:00  SHU   FISHER, Matt 28 yd field goal 
         16 plays, 68 yards, TOP 7:46  3 - 6 
  05:23  ALBANY   Justin Gannon 24 yd pass from Vinny Esposito (Herb Glass kick) 
         9 plays, 47 yards, TOP 3:37  3 - 13 
  02:33  ALBANY   Herb Glass 24 yd field goal 
         4 plays, 7 yards, TOP 1:43  3 - 16 
3rd  06:47  SHU   FISHER, Matt 21 yd field goal 
         12 plays, 76 yards, TOP 5:46  6 - 16 
4th  09:00  SHU   FISHER, Matt 23 yd field goal 
         9 plays, 57 yards, TOP 4:31  9 - 16 
  03:58  ALBANY   David McCarty 4 yd run (Frank Blasinsky rush failed) 
         12 plays, 64 yards, TOP 5:02  9 - 22 

Kickoff time: 4:00 pm  
  • End of Game: 6:35 pm Total elapsed time: 2:35
Referee: John Gerbino  
  • Umpire: Tony Donato Linesman: A. Ciccaglione Line judge: Dan Bush Back judge: Melvin Riddick Field judge: Matt Brewer Side judge: Eric Cantell Scorer: Matt Chmura
Temperature: 62  • Wind: 13 SSE  • Weather: Party Sunny

 

Team Statistics

 
Team Statistics (Final)
2009 UAlbany Football
Sacred Heart vs Albany (Sep 26, 2009 at Albany, N.Y.)

Sacred Heart    Albany
RUSHING  No.  Gain  Loss  Net  TD  Lg  Avg. 
COLES, Garry   15  52  47  16  3.1 
ARCHER, Marcel   27  26  10  2.9 
MANDAS, Chris   7.0 
FRIEDMAN, Brian  3.0 
TEAM   -1  -1.0 
FINK, Dale   -3  -3.0 
MCKEON, Tyler   11  -8  -2.7 
Totals...  31  92  21  71  16  2.3 
  
RUSHING  No.  Gain  Loss  Net  TD  Lg  Avg. 
David McCarty   31  107  105  15  3.4 
Justin Gannon   55  55  29  6.9 
Vinny Esposito   21  16  3.2 
Andrew Smith   12  11  2.8 
TEAM   -2  -2.0 
Totals...  49  195  10  185  29  3.8 
  
  
 
PASSING  Cmp-Att-Int  Yds  TD  Long  Sack 
MCKEON, Tyler   8-16-0  118  27 
FINK, Dale   12-16-2  78  18 
Totals...  20-32-2  196  27 
  
PASSING  Cmp-Att-Int  Yds  TD  Long  Sack 
Vinny Esposito   11-22-0  144  31 
Totals...  11-22-0  144  31 
  
 
RECEIVING  No.  Yds  TD  Lg 
COLES, Garry   48  23 
ROSSI, Rich   46  27 
TEDESCO, Steve   54  18 
PATTERSON, Tony  41  18 
UYENO, Mark  
Totals...  20  196  27 
  
  
RECEIVING  No.  Yds  TD  Lg 
Ryan Kirchner   29  15 
Tim Bush   38  31 
Jason Poore   15 
John Lullen   14  11 
Justin Gannon   24  24 
Paul Booker   24  24 
Totals...  11  144  31 
 
PUNTING  No.  Yds  Avg  Long  In20  TB 
FRIEDMAN, Brian  125  31.2  35 
Totals...  125  31.2  35 
  
PUNTING  No.  Yds  Avg  Long  In20  TB 
Bobby Woods   87  29.0  40 
Totals...  87  29.0  40 
 
   Punts  Kickoffs  Intercept 
ALL RETURNS  No  Yds  Lg  No  Yds  Lg  No  Yds  Lg 
COLES, Garry   67  33 
SWIDER, Brett   63  22 
Totals...  130  33 
  
  
  
  
  
   Punts  Kickoffs  Intercept 
ALL RETURNS  No  Yds  Lg  No  Yds  Lg  No  Yds  Lg 
Justin Gannon   15  15 
Paul Booker  
Emerson Kinsey   73  50 
Dave Plungas  
Rich Duff   34  34 
Chris Wilk   30  30 
Totals...  15  15  82  50  64  34 
 
ALL PURPOSE  Rush  Rcv  KR  PR  IR  Total 
COLES, Garry   47  48  67  162 
SWIDER, Brett   63  63 
TEDESCO, Steve   54  54 
ROSSI, Rich   46  46 
PATTERSON, Tony  41  41 
ARCHER, Marcel   26  26 
MANDAS, Chris  
UYENO, Mark  
FRIEDMAN, Brian 
TEAM   -1  -1 
FINK, Dale   -3  -3 
MCKEON, Tyler   -8  -8 
Totals...  71  196  130  397 
  
  
  
ALL PURPOSE  Rush  Rcv  KR  PR  IR  Total 
David McCarty   105  105 
Justin Gannon   55  24  15  94 
Emerson Kinsey   73  73 
Tim Bush   38  38 
Rich Duff   34  34 
Chris Wilk   30  30 
Paul Booker   24  30 
Ryan Kirchner   29  29 
Vinny Esposito   16  16 
Jason Poore   15  15 
John Lullen   14  14 
Andrew Smith   11  11 
Dave Plungas  
TEAM   -2  -2 
Totals...  185  144  82  15  64  490 
 
FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS 
FISHER, Matt  2nd  09:00  28 yards  Good 
FISHER, Matt  3rd  06:47  21 yards  Good 
FISHER, Matt  4th  09:00  23 yards  Good 
  
  
  
FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS 
Herb Glass  1st  05:45  24 yards  Good 
Herb Glass  1st  01:46  29 yards  Good 
Herb Glass  2nd  02:33  24 yards  Good 
Herb Glass  3rd  12:33  36 yards  Missed 
Herb Glass  4th  13:31  54 yards  Missed 
 
KICKOFFS  No.  Yds  TB  OB  Avg. 
KISTLER, Joe   203  50.8 
  
KICKOFFS  No.  Yds  TB  OB  Avg. 
Herb Glass   384  64.0 
 
FUMBLES: Sacred Heart-COLES, Garry 1-1. Albany-None.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Trevor Anderson

#91 Trevor Anderson

DT
6' 2"
Junior
Garrett Askew

#38 Garrett Askew

WR
6' 2"
Junior
Ross Bertrand

#18 Ross Bertrand

CB
5' 11"
Junior
Frank Blasinsky

#9 Frank Blasinsky

QB
6' 0"
Senior
Paul Booker

#32 Paul Booker

TE
6' 4"
Redshirt Freshman
Chris Bouchard

#42 Chris Bouchard

OLB
6' 2"
Redshirt Freshman
Tim Bush

#1 Tim Bush

WR
5' 9"
Senior
Ben Carl

#47 Ben Carl

FB
6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
Dave Casale

#31 Dave Casale

FS
6' 2"
Senior
Jake Ciccarello

#4 Jake Ciccarello

S
5' 11"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Trevor Anderson

#91 Trevor Anderson

6' 2"
Junior
DT
Garrett Askew

#38 Garrett Askew

6' 2"
Junior
WR
Ross Bertrand

#18 Ross Bertrand

5' 11"
Junior
CB
Frank Blasinsky

#9 Frank Blasinsky

6' 0"
Senior
QB
Paul Booker

#32 Paul Booker

6' 4"
Redshirt Freshman
TE
Chris Bouchard

#42 Chris Bouchard

6' 2"
Redshirt Freshman
OLB
Tim Bush

#1 Tim Bush

5' 9"
Senior
WR
Ben Carl

#47 Ben Carl

6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
FB
Dave Casale

#31 Dave Casale

6' 2"
Senior
FS
Jake Ciccarello

#4 Jake Ciccarello

5' 11"
Sophomore
S