Hometown Heroes Football Game – Need to Know

ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany football team returns to Casey Stadium this Saturday for the team’s rivalry game against Stony Brook in the battle for the “Golden Apple” trophy. IN addition, it’s Family Weekend and the team’s annual Hometown Heroes game. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. with coverage on FloCollege. 

Game Info

vs. Stony Brook (2-3, 0-1 CAA)

Casey Stadium in Albany, N.Y.

3:30 p.m. EST

FloCollege | 104.5 The Team | Live Stats | Tickets

Hometown Heroes

The Great Danes are set to celebrate the Capital Region’s Hometown Heroes – the brave police officers, firefighters, military members, doctors, nurses, and first responders who dedicate their lives to making our community safe. The team will sport a special logo on their helmets for the game, in addition to name plates on each player’s helmet that feature the name of a local Hometown Hero. 

Quick Notes: Scouting the Great Danes

• The Great Danes come into game six with an 1-4 record. The team is 0-1 in CAA play after falling to New Hampshire last weekend. 
• The team is averaging 15.0 points per game with opponents averaging 25.8 points per game. UAlbany is averaging 86.2 rushing yards and 231.2 passing yards per contest. 
• Quarterback Jack Fields started the first five games for UAlbany, passing for 930 yards. He left the game against Cornell at halftime due to injury. He was replaced by quarterback Colin Parachek, who has thrown for 226 yards in six quarters of action. 
• Jojo Uga has emerged as the team’s top running option, collecting 40 carries for 203 yards so far this season.
• Caden Burti (19 receptions) and Carter Moses (18 receptions) continue to be the top receiving options for UAlbany. Burti has gathered 300 yards through the air, Moses has collected 237. 
• The UAlbany defense has been plagued by injury. Ron Holmes leads the team with 47 tackles, but exited last weekend’s game against New Hampshire early with a lower body injury. Cam Stodghill ranks second on the team with 41 tackles. Thomas Joe-Kamara ranks third with 30 tackles, but did not dress last week due to injury. 
• Balansama Kamara ranks fourth on the team with 28 tackles and leads the program with 4.5 tackles for loss, including 2.5 sacks. 

Quick Notes: Scouting the Seawolves

• The Seawolves visit Casey Stadium for the first time in three years (2022) and currently sport a 2-3 record, going 0-1 in CAA play after falling to Rhode Island in the second game of the season. 
• Head Coach Billy Cosh enters his second year at the helm of the program. The Seawolves went defeated,  0-10, in 2023 before Cosh took over last season. In his first year, he led Stony Brook to an impressive 8-4 record.
• The team is averaging 24.0 points per game with opponents averaging 26.2 points per game. 
• The offense has averaged 169.2 yards on the ground and 189.4 yards through the air per game so far this season. 
• Quarterback Chris Zellous has passed for 902 yards, six TDs, and three picks so far this year. 
• Running back Roland Dempster has carried the bulk of the load in the backfield, rushing for 512 yards and five TDs. 
• Wideout Jayce Freeman has hauled in a team-best 308 yards and four TDs. 
• Defensively, Anthony Ferrelli leads the team with 45 tackles. Dyshier Clary leads the team with 2.5 TFLs. 

The Golden Apple

The matchup with Stony Brook is the biggest rivalry game of the year for UAlbany. The teams compete for the Golden Apple trophy, which was introduced in 2015, as well as bragging rights as the top state school in New York. The rivalry has been ultra competitive in recent years – with Stony Brook claiming the trophy last season and the Great Danes claiming it in 2022 and 2023. 

As the previous winners, the trophy will sit on the sidelines of Stony Brook for the entity of the game on Saturday. As is tradition, the winning team this weekend will run to the sidelines as time expires in the game to host the trophy as Golden Apple Champions. 

Tickets, Tickets, Tickets

Do you have your tickets yet? What are you waiting for?! 2025 football single game tickets are officially on sale. 
 
Single game tickets can be purchased for the 2025 season via UAlbany's online ticketing system, Ticket Return. Single game parking passes are also available and can be added to your ticket order.
 
Reminder for fans, UAlbany Athletics is fully cashless and utilizes digital ticketing. Fans are encouraged to save game tickets and parking passes to mobile wallets in advance of games. For questions on all UAlbany Football ticketing, contact the Ticket Office at (518) 442-DANE or email GreatDaneTickets@albany.edu.

Did you say students are FREE?

UAlbany students are able to attend ALL UAlbany home events for free. To secure a ticket for any football home game, students are directed to download the official UAlbany Sports App from the Apple Store or from Google Play. Students will be asked to provide their UAlbany credentials when logging in to claim their free ticket. It’s highly encouraged that students do this ahead of time to ensure a smooth check in at the gates. 

Students can also purchase student guest tickets through the app to ensure that they sit with any friends who decide to join them at UAlbany football games throughout the season. 

Parking

The grass fields located adjacent to Tom & Mary Casey Stadium will once again serve as gameday parking for the 2025 season. Parking costs $15 if purchased in advance and will cost $20 on gameday. To purchase your parking pass in advance, click here. 

To view the primary football game day parking map, click here.
 
Parking Must Knows

• Entry: The entrance to the Grass Lot is located near the right field line of Varsity Field (Baseball Complex) off of University Drive East.
• "Festival Style" Parking: Parking spots will be available on a first-come, first-served basis in the Grass Lot. Fans will be flagged into the next available parking spot.  If fans plan to tailgate in groups, they are encouraged to arrive at the stadium together.
• Tailgating: There will be ten foot "islands" between parking rows in the Grass Lot where fans will be able to tailgate. All University Tailgating Policies still apply, to view these policies click here.
• Broadview Lot (Located next to Casey Stadium): The Broadview Lot will continue to utilize hang tag passes and is not available for single game day purchases.

UAlbany Football Weekly

UAlbany Football Weekly is the only show that covers ALL THINGS UAlbany football. See Coach Ambrose and players in studio, hear special mic'd up segments, and learn about the team with weekly feature stories. It's all UAlbany football, every Saturday, all season long. Show recordings will be posted to UAlbanySports.com and football social media channels every Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. Click here for a full lineup of this year's shows. 

Keep up with all of the latest news, highlights, and insights on UAlbany football by following the team on X and Instagram and by following UAlbany Athletics on Facebook.