Danes’ defense faces big test
Unit will try to stop former Big Ten QB Hill during its home opener
The University at Albany football defensive unit, coming off a poor performance against Maine last week, will face a quarterback who used to be a starter in the Big Ten Conference.
The Great Danes will try to clean up their act in time to stop Kasim Hill and Rhode Island in the home opener at 1 p.m. Saturday at Casey Stadium. There are no fans allowed because of COVID -19 protocols.
“It’s just playing basic football, which we pride ourselves on at Albany, and we kind of got out of our comfort zone with that (against Maine),” Ualbany football coach Greg Gattuso said.
The Great Danes (1-1 overall, 1-1 Colonial Athletic Association) lost 38-34 in Orono with Maine quarterback Joe Fagnano throwing for 249 yards and four touchdowns and running for 51 yards and another score.
Ualbany will be tested again by Hill, who started 10 games for Maryland in 2018 before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament. From there, he transferred to Tennessee, where he sat out the 2019 season but ran the Volunteers’ scout team in practice.
In his debut for Rhode Island, Hill completed 18-of-28 passes for 246 yards and rushed for the winning score in a 40-37 overtime victory over sixth-ranked Villanova last week.
Gattuso, a former Maryland assistant coach before Hill’s time there, saw him play with the Terrapins and was familiar with Hill’s high school career in Washington, D.C.
“He’s a great athlete,” Gattuso said. “He’s a smart young man who knows where to go with the football … He’s a physical guy.
When you have a good quarterback, every game is within your reach. He definitely is in the top tier of quarterbacks in our league and he’s very good. He’s going to do great for Rhode Island and presents a lot of problems.”
The Rams have another dangerous transfer in running back Kevin Brown Jr., who came from Umass. He had 20 carries for 141 yards and four touchdowns in his Rams debut against Villanova.
Ualbany defensive tackle Mazon Walker said the Great Danes have to be more disciplined than they were a week ago.
“I feel as though we beat ourselves,” Walker said. “A lot of unnecessary penalties, not being as disciplined as we should. … It’s definitely something we’re not OK with, so we just have to come back better.”
Gattuso said not all the problems rested with the defense. The Great Danes had 12 penalties for 111 yards and had their latest punting mishap
that gave Maine the ball on the Ualbany 17 and led to a field goal.
He attributed some of the difficulties to last fall, when the Great Danes didn’t have any padded practices before all Ualbany athletic team activities were shut down by COVID -19.
“I think we’re just trying to catch up on some of that,” Gattuso said. “All you can do is go back and work on the fundamentals, and we have been. Most of that stuff is just repetition, and game experience is going to help it, too. The film of what happened in the (Maine) game, guys will see there’s a way to fix some of that, and it’s not a difficult fix.”
The Ualbany offense is coming off a strong performance with Karl Mofor rushing for 155 yards and two touchdowns behind the retooled offensive line.
The passing game was more of a struggle as Jeff Undercuffler was 14-for-36 for 147 yards, though he did throw two touchdown passes on a cold, windy night in Orono. The forecast calls for 47 degrees and lighter winds at kickoff on Saturday.
Undercuffler is also getting comfortable with his receiving corps because of graduation losses (starters Juwan Green and Jerah Reeves) and injuries, according to Gattuso.
“He was throwing to guys on Saturday that he really doesn’t throw to much in practice,” Gattuso said. “It’s not an excuse. He’s a competitor. He’d be the first one to tell you he wasn’t as sharp as he should have been.”