Football Suffers 37-0 Defeat To No. 25 Villanova
GAME STATS
ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany football team dropped its third straight game, falling to No. 25 Villanova 37-0, Saturday afternoon at Casey Stadium. With the loss, the Great Danes fell to 2-5 on the season and 1-3 in the CAA, while the Wildcats improved to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
“It's frustrating. We had some opportunities,” said Head Coach Greg Gattuso. “We're just not efficient right now.”
Villanova quarterback Zach Bednarczyk completed all 12 of his passes, totaling 152 passing yards and two touchdowns. With 421 yards of offense, including 269 rushing yards, Javon White led the ground game with 124 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.
Meanwhile, UAlbany accrued 232 yards of total offense led by redshirt sophomore quarterback D.J. Crook's 157 passing yards. Crook completed 13-of-24 passes with three interceptions. Redshirt sophomore Brad Harris led the receivers with four receptions for 44 yards, followed by freshman Zee Roberson's three catches for 43 yards. In the running attack, redshirt freshman Elliot Croskey netted 35 yards on 12 carries.
Defensively, redshirt senior Samuel Gray recorded a team-high 11 tackles, including five solo and a sack. Redshirt freshman Julian Cox also hit double-digits with 10 tackles (four solo) and a solo sack.
In the first quarter, Villanova jumped out to a 10-0 lead, scoring on the team's opening drive. The Wildcats used nine plays to cover 77 yards, capping the drive with Matt Gudzak's 10-yard touchdown run.
Forcing UAlbany to punt, Villanova took a 10-point lead on Gerard Smith's 39-yard field goal with 22 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
In the second stanza, the Great Danes had two solid chances to get on the board. On their first possession of the quarter, UAlbany marched down to the five-yard line on Crook's 12-yard pass to Roberson, but Villanova's Cameron McCurry stripped the ball from Roberson's grasp and the Wildcats took over on their own four-yard line.
Making a stop on defense, UAlbany commanded the last 5:25 minutes of the half. The Danes worked their way down to the one-yard line on 10 plays and had a 1st-and-goal opportunity. However, the hosts were unable to convert after a fumbled snap set UAlbany back to the eight-yard line. With time ticking away, Crook scrambled to the two before getting stopped, and with no timeouts remaining UAlbany quickly kicked a frantic field goal. Patrick Toole's kick sailed through the uprights with no time remaining, but it was waved off due to a false start penalty, ending the half.
Villanova steadily stretched its lead in the second half, logging four interceptions, including three in the third quarter alone, and scored two touchdowns starting with White's eight-yard run at the 10:46 mark. Kevin Gulyas' 51-yard touchdown catch from Bednarczyk made the score 24-0 with 5:03 remaining in the third.
“They have a quarterback out and an offensive tackle out and they're still the number 25 team in the country,” said Gattuso. “We gave them five turnovers. It's just not good enough.”
In the fourth, Bednarczyk connected a 16-yard touchdown pass to Gary Underwood, and freshman running back Aaron Forbes capped the game's scoring with a three-yard touchdown run. UAlbany blocked the extra-point attempt, leaving the score at 37-0.
Entering bye week, the Great Danes get a much-needed break before traveling to take on Richmond on Oct. 31.
