Previewing UAlbany’s Spring Opener

I watched the UAlbany football team practice on Wednesday, and couldn’t help but notice how much bigger and faster the team looked to me. Head Coach Greg Gattuso has done a great recruiting CAA caliber players, and we will find out how good they are on Friday when they open the season at New Hampshire. One big plus is Redshirt Sophomore quarterback Jeff Undercuffler already has plenty of experience under his belt, and the defense returns a number of starters from the 2019 season when they went 6-2 and won their first-ever FCS Playoff game.

In the above segment from Big Board Sports, Eric Hannmann and I discuss the spring opener for the Great Danes and the storylines going into the game. Here are some of the points that we touched upon:

• Right out of the gate, this is a matchup of two ranked teams. UAlbany is ranked number 13, New Hampshire is ranked number 14. While UNH is favored by 2.5 points, the projected score on ESPN is all notted up at 22 a piece suggesting this is quite the even matchup!
• UNH had one of the best defenses in 2019 allowing just 20 points per game. They are lead by an impressive safety, Evan Horn, and a defensive coordinator in John Lyons who likes to attack with different schemes. Should be a tough test for Jeff Undercuffler.
• Speaking of Undercuffler, the other storyline to follow would be how he follows an impressive campaign where he set program records. Two of his top targets in 2019, Juwan Green and Jerah Reeves, are gone so who will step up to replace that production? We will find out tonight!