Football Downed 39-7 By Maine In Sold-Out Homecoming Clash
GAME STATS
ALBANY, N.Y. – For the sixth straight meeting, the visiting team came out victorious as Maine spoiled the University at Albany football team's sold-out homecoming game with a 39-7 defeat. With the loss, the Great Danes fell to 2-4 on the season and 1-2 in conference play, while the Black Bears improved to 2-3 overall and 2-1 in the CAA.
“First off, I'd like to thank our fans,” said Head Coach Greg Gattuso. “I thought it was really great to see them out. I hope they stick with us and give us a chance. We're not a very good football team right now in a lot of ways, but I assure everyone we are working very hard trying to fix the problems that we have.”
The Great Danes were held to just 172 yards of offense, netting five rushing yards and 167 passing yards. Redshirt sophomore quarterback D.J. Crook completed 17-of-30 passes for 167 yards and a touchdown, but the Black Bears' pressure forced two interceptions and five sacks in the game for a loss of 31 yards.
Freshman Zee Roberson served as Crook's top target, hauling in a career-high nine receptions, 102 receiving yards, and a touchdown. Running back Elliot Croskey caught three passes for 25 yards, while rushing a team-high nine times for 14 yards.
Defensively, redshirt junior cornerback Rayshan Clark tied UAlbany's Division I record with 18 tackles in the game, including 17 solo. He also had a 28-yard interception and a pass breakup.
“He is the role model for our players on working hard and what a work ethic can do for you,” said Gattuso of Clark. “He has become a really good football player. The difference in him between last year and this year is extraordinary.”
Despite the long bus ride from Maine and UAlbany's 8,500 fans cheering in favor of the Danes, the Black Bears quickly established momentum, scoring in each of their first three drives for a 20-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Maine used six plays to cover 43 yards and capped their opening possession with quarterback Dan Collins' 13-yard pass to Jordan Dunn.
Forcing UAlbany to punt, Collins connected a 51-yard pass to Micah Wright, setting up Collins' one-yard rush into the end zone. While the extra-point was blocked, the Black Bears held a 13-0 advantage with 7:10 left in the opening stanza.
Just one play later, Maine took control of the ball again, as Sterling Sheffi intercepted Crook's pass at the UAlbany-36 yard line.
Wright broke free for 24 yards, putting the Black Bears in the red zone, and Nigel Beckford capped the five-play possession with a one-yard rush, giving Maine a 20-lead at the 4:43 mark in the first quarter.
The Great Danes finally got their offense rolling in the second quarter, stringing together a 10-play, 80-yard drive. Facing 3rd-and-6 on the Maine-20, Crook kept the drive alive with a 10-yard pass to Croskey. Again facing third down, Roberson dove for Crook's six-yard pass in the end zone and came up with it, putting the Great Danes on the board with 2:21 left in the half.
However, that would be UAlbany's final score of the game. Just before the break, Maine's Randy Samuels logged a 27-yard interception, giving the Black Bears the ball on the UAlbany-25 with nine second left. With Sean Decloux's 18-yard field goal, Maine held a 23-7 lead at the half.
In the third, Decloux tacked on a 29-yard field goal at the 6:21 mark, and Wright caught a 33-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Drew Belcher with 1:28 remaining, stretching the margin to 25-points, 32-7.
To start the fourth, a botched punt attempt gave Maine the ball on the UAlbany-22 yard line and Maine took full advantage, scoring on Belcher's 11-yard pass to Jaleel Reed for a 39-7 final score.
Collins led the squad with 208 passing yards and a touchdown, completing 21-of-28 attempts. Dunn and Wright led the receiving corps with 11 receptions for 97 yards, and five catches for 105 yards, respectively.
Losing a number of veteran players to injuries, the Great Danes have been forced to rely on its inexperienced athletes in the last two weeks. “It's kind of a catch 22 in the sense of we have limited packaging because we are so young and we're playing against teams that are pretty good,” said Gattuso We've just got to keep working on what we're doing and hopefully we can start expanding our packaging.”
Up next, the Great Danes host Villanova next Saturday for another key CAA clash. Kickoff at Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium is slated for 3:30 p.m.
