Football Kicks Off Season Against No. 10 Baylor

WACO, TEXAS – The University at Albany football team is set to kick off its 2022 season with a trip to No. 10 ranked Baylor. The Bears, one of the best teams in the NCAA, will be the highest ranked opponent the Great Danes have ever played at the FBS level. 

Game Info

Saturday, September 3 at No. 10 Baylor

7:00 p.m. EST / 6:00 p.m. CST

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Leading the Pack

• The Great Danes entered training camp with a four-way competition at quarterback. Sophomore transfer Reese Poffenbarger was named QB1 for the season opener, but Coach Gattuso has publicly stated that the competition could last well into the season. Expect to also see quarterbacks Joey Carino and Tyler Szalkowski enter the game. 
• Jared Ambrose enters his first year at UAlbany as the team’s Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks Coach. Ambrose has a long history of offensive success with other CAA teams such as Towson and Delaware. 
• Tyler Pastula has a booming kick – something the Great Danes need. The transfer from Delaware was named Preseason All-CAA on Special Teams, an area UAlbany struggled in mightily last season. Last season, he led the CAA with a 42.5-yard punting average. 
• Linebacker Jackson Ambush recorded a team-high 97 tackles last season. He was named to the All-CAA Third Team and was chosen as a Freshman All-American by HERO Sports.
• Roy Alexander was the team’s top receiver a year ago as a freshman, bringing in 37 receptions for 560 yards and three TD’s. 
• Four-year starter AJ Mistler enters 2022 with 249 career tackles and 18.5 TFL’s. He recorded 61 stops in 2021.

Scouting Baylor

Baylor finished as the No. 5 team in the entire country last season at the FBS level, narrowly missing the College Football Playoff. The Bears boasted a record of 12-2, going a perfect 7-0 at home in McLane Stadium. The team’s lone two losses came on the road against Oklahoma State (14-24) and TCU (28-30). Baylor capped the season on a high note, winning the final five games of the season. The final two games of the season were wins against No. 7 Oklahoma (21-16) and No. 8 Ole Miss (21-7) in the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship and the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

• BU is under the direction of third-year head coach Dave Aranda, the 2021 George Munger and Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year. Aranda took over prior to the 2020 season after a historic run for four years as the associate head coach and defensive coordinator at LSU, helping the Tigers to the 2019 National Championship and 2019 Southeastern Conference Championship.
• The Bears were led by a stingy defensive attack in 2021 that held every opponent to 30-points or fewer, one of only three teams in the nation to accomplish the feat.
• BU’s offensive attack in 2021 was led by a rushing game that ranked 10th nationally in yards per game (219.3) and yards per rush (5.37), while Abram Smith set school records for single-season rushing yards (1,621) and nine 100+ yard rushing outings.
• Baylor returns the second-most games played among its four returning starting offensive linemen in the nation. The Bears are led on the front five by preseason All-America selections in Connor Galvin and Jacob Gall.

New Look Offense

The UAlbany offense looks much different heading into the 2022 season. Jared Ambrose joins as the team’s new Offensive Coordinator after most recently serving as the OC for CAA rival Delaware. 

While with the Blue Hens, Ambrose’s offensive unit produced record-setting numbers on its way to a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship and FCS Semifinal appearance in 2020-21. Running back Dejoun Lee was selected as the CAA Offensive Player of the Year, the third that Ambrose has coached, and quarterback Nolan Henderson was one of the nation's most-efficient passers. Ambrose’s offense that year ranked fifth in the nation and first in the CAA in time of possession.

Another new face joining Ambrose on the coaching staff is Wide Receivers Coach Kashif Moore. Moore was a four-year letter winner at the University of Connecticut where he was elected team captain as a senior and graduated while ranking in the top 10 in program history in receptions. He competed in three postseason games, including catching four passes for 62 yards against Oklahoma in the 2011 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - the program's first-ever BCS Bowl game. He was invited to the 2011 NFL Combine and later signed contracts with Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Kansas City.

Moore and Ambrose will have plenty of new offensive weapons heading into the new year, including four potential starting quarterbacks, a new RB1 in Pitt transfer Todd Sibley, and a slew of new wide receivers to throw the ball to. 

Meet the Leadership Council

Every year, the UAlbany players and coaching staff elect a “Leadership Council” comprised of guys who show an extortionary level of leadership both on and off the field. This year’s council is comprised of eight total student-athletes, five coming from the offensive side of the ball and three coming from the defensive side. Players on this year’s council include offensive lineman Scott Houseman, quarterback Joey Carino, tight end Thomas Greaney, center Kobe Thomas, linebacker Jackson Ambush, linebacker AJ Mistler, running back Todd Sibley, and defensive back Larry Walker Jr.

Preseason Honors

UAlbany was picked to finish in 12th place in this year’s CAA Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The low mark comes as no surprise as the team comes off a year in which they went 2-9. The last time the Great Danes finished with a similar record was in 2018, when the team finished with a 3-8 mark. The next year though? The Great Danes went 9-5 overall and won their first ever postseason game, a 42-14 clobbering against CCSU. 

Linebacker Jackson Ambush (Defense) and punter Tyler Pastula (Special Teams) both received preseason conference honors. In addition, defensive lineman Anthony Lang was named Honorable Mention. Ambush led the team in total tackles last season as a freshman. Pastula transferred from CAA foe Delaware, but not before being named All-CAA First Team and collecting two Special Teams Player of the Week awards in 2021. 

Putt Putt Quarterback Challenge 

The Great Danes entered this year’s training camp with a four-way battle for the starting quarterback job. Returning to the roster this year is sophomore signal caller Joey Carino and freshman Tyler Szalkowski. They are joined by transfers Reese Poffenbarger (Sophomore, Old Dominion) and Matt Valecce (Graduate, Boston College/Colorado State). All four took reps with the first team offense during camp. 

To decide the order in which they would get first team reps before the start of training camp, Head Coach Greg Gattuso took an unusual, but fair, approach – which included a golf putter. All four quarterbacks got a chance in the football coaches’ office to sink a putt, with the two closest to the “pin” getting the first reps with the starting offense. The winners? Poffenbarger and Szalkowski.

Heading into the start of the season, Poffenbarger officially earned the title “QB1” after a strong showing at camp. Both Carino and Szalkowshi are listed in the number two spot on the depth chart. However, Coach Gattuso clarified to the media that the starting quarterback position would be an open battle that could last a few weeks into the season. 

Welcome to the CAA

This summer, the CAA announced the addition of two new conference members for football – Hampton University and Monmouth University. The Great Danes are one of the first teams that get to “welcome” the two new challengers to the conference. UAlbany’s second CAA game of the year is schedule for Oct. 8 on the road against the Hawks, followed by a home contest the following week against the Pirates at Casey Stadium. 

Around the CAA

Ten games highlight the opening week of CAA action. The week starts off with two conference matchups on Thursday night as Stony Brook hosts Rhode ISalnd and New Hampshire hosts new CAA member Monmouth. Action rolls into the weekend with two Friday night games before the remining seven teams take the field on Saturday. See below for this week’s matchups:

• UAlbany at Baylor
• URI at Stony Brook
• Monmouth at UNH
• Villanova vs. Lehigh
• William & Mary at Charlotte
• Delaware at Navy
• Richmond at Virginia
• Hampton vs. Howard
• Towson at Bucknell
• Elon at Vanderbilt
• Maine at New Mexico

Season Schedule

Click here for UAlbany’s full 2022 online season schedule. 

Sept. 3             at No. 10 Baylor

Sept. 10           NEW HAMPSHIRE*

Sept. 17           at Fordham

Sept. 24           CCSU

Oct. 1              BYE

Oct. 8              at Monmouth*

Oct. 15            HAMPTON*

Oct. 22            at Villanova*

Oct. 29            STONY BROOK*

Nov. 5              at Elon*

Nov. 12            MAINE*

Nov. 19            at Rhode Island* 

* Denotes CAA Matchup

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