Second-half deluge by Albany ends Blue Devils’ season

The Central Connecticut football team suffered its first loss to an FCS team this season Saturday in a game that would also end to the Blue Devils season.

CCSU, entering the game with only a loss to Eastern Michigan, fell 42-14 to Albany in the first round of the FCS Playoffs. The loss closes coach Ryan McCarthy’s first season at 11-2.

The Blue Devils held the lead nearly into halftime, with senior quarterback Aaron Winchester completing a 31-yard pass to sophomore tight end Theo Zidor for a touchdown with 3:49 left in the first quarter.

But Albany would finally respond with 17 seconds left in the half with a 12-yard touchdown pass.

The floodgates would then open, with Albany scoring on a 40-yard touchdown pass just 24 seconds into the second half and then again about three minutes later with a 33-yard touchdown pass, bringing the score to 21-7. Albany scored two more touchdowns in the third quarter, putting the game out of reach.

Winchester scored on a fouryard run at the 11-minute mark in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late. Winchester finished the game 15-26 for 148 yards, also rushing for 61 yards on 12 carries. Albany’s freshman QB Jeff Undercuffler threw a school-record six touchdown passes, finishing 19 for 30 for 304 yards.

“The season ends badly for all but one team. When the dust settles, this will be rightfully remembered as the greatest [CCSU football]season to date. Thank you to these young men and their coaches for giving the whole [CCSU] community an autumn of great memories. #GoBlueDevils,” CCSU athletic director Brian Barrio wrote on Twitter after the game.

For their efforts this season, McCarthy was named the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston Division I Coach of the Year this week, while Winchester was named a finalist for the 2019 STATS FCS Walter Payton Award, which honors the offensive player of the year FCS teams.