Great Danes host Lafayette for seventh annual ‘Hometown Heroes’ night
ALBANY, NY » Another Saturday, another weekend of college football for UAlbany and this time, they come home to host Lafayette at Tom and Mary Casey Stadium set for 3:30 p.m. kickoff.
UAlbany, now 1-2, comes off a prolific offensive performance against Monmouth in which it compiled 511 yards of total offense. Juwan Green (15 catches, 245 yards, three TDs) and Jeff Undercuffler (398 yards passing, four TDs) set or tied several program records in the 38-35 overtime loss to Monmouth.
Green’s 15 catches established a new program record. The previous record was 13, set by Andy Shein against Brockport in 1994. Green’s 245 yards is also the second most in a single game behind Chris Phillis’ 251 against Robert Morris in 2000. Green is one of five Great Danes to have three TD catches in a game.
Green has five touchdown catches this season, tying the Colonial Athletic Association lead and tying him for second in all of FCS.
Undercuffler’s 398 passing yards tie Joe Savino for the program record. Savino had set the mark in 1997 against Southern
Connecticut State. Undercuffler also set the record for both attempts (53) and completions (31). The previous records (49, 28) were set by Will Fiacchi against Richmond in 2014.
Along with the success of the passing game for the Great Danes, Karl Mofor (89.3 yards per game) and Alex James (79.3) have been a formidable backfield tandem for the Great Danes this season.
On defense, Levi Metheny leads the UAlbany defense with 32 tackles. Eli Mencer has added 3.0 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, three forced fumbles and two recovered fumbles — one of which went for a touchdown — through the first three games of the 2019 season.
UAlbany’s defense already has forced eight turnovers (five fumble recoveries, three interceptions) and scored twice over the first three games. In the opener at Central Michigan, Eli Mencer had a strip sack, fumble return for touchdown, and against Bryant, Jarren Williams hauled in a deflected pass and ran 63 yards for a Pick 6.
UAlbany already has forced seven fumbles.
The Patriot League Lafayette Leopards are 0-3 with last week’s loss to Sacred Heart, 56-40. Lafayette lost their week two matchup with Monmouth, 24-21, after falling to William and Mary in the opening week of the season, 30-17.
Lafayette, led by freshman QB Keegan Shoemaker, averages 307 yards per game passing. Shoemaker also is the Leopards’ leading rusher with 109 yards. The Leopards were picked to finish sixth in the seven-team Patriot League’s preseason poll.
Lafayette is one of two teams on the 2019 schedule that UAlbany never has faced. The other was Central Michigan.
UAlbany is set to host “Hometown Heroes” night at Casey Stadium when Lafayette comes to town.
This marks the seventh consecutive year the Great Danes have honored military members and recognized the family of Army Lt. Col. Todd J. Clark, a graduate of Christian Brothers Academy in Albany who was killed in action in Afghanistan. This season, the program also will show its appreciation for our community’s police, firefighters and paramedics.