Albany, N.Y. –David McCarty rushed for a career-high 271 yards and four touchdowns in leading UAlbany to a 28-0 victory over Jacksonville in the third annual Gridiron Classic on Saturday, Dec. 6 at University Field.The exempted postseason game features the champions of the Northeast Conference and Pioneer Football League.
UAlbany (9-3) scored on its first possession after returned the opening kickoff 44 yards past midfield.Quarterback Vinny Esposito, who connected on 15 of 25 attempts for 141 yards, hooked up with wide receiver Tim Bush on a 17-yard completion into the red zone.McCarty, a junior tailback, then broke a couple of tackles en route to a 16-yard touchdown run.
Both offenses fizzled for the remainder of the first half as the teams combined for five turnovers.UAlbany defensive end Mike Kelly sacked quarterback Josh McGregor from behind and forced a fumble that was recovered by safety Dave West.The Great Danes returned the favor when McCarty was stripped by cornerback Oscar Johnson inside the Dolphins’ five-yard line.Jacksonville (9-4) had an opportunity to draw even with less than two minutes left in the period, but halfback J.J. Laster fumbled at the UAlbany 19 and outside linebacker Emerson Kinsey pounced on the loose ball.
The Great Danes, who lost in this same game last year, finally uncorked their attack midway through the third quarter.Esposito fired a 30-yard completion to Bush, who made a diving catch at the Dolphins’ 12.McCarty then carried three straight times, including a one-yard blast over left guard into the end zone for a 14-0 advantage.
The NEC champions scored twice in the final stanza to put the game away.UAlbany held on to the ball for six-plus minutes in a 12-play march.McCarty and Gannon did most of the work as their team pounded out 312 of its 456 yards on the ground.After Esposito kept the drive alive with a third-down pass to wideout Daniel Bocanegra, McCarty pushed his way over right guard on a 3-yard TD run.McCarty, who had 33 carries, then capped the program’s second-highest single-game rushing total on a dazzling 77-yard scamper with 7:25 remaining.
“In the second half we came to play,” said UAlbany coach Bob Ford, whose squad went unbeaten for the second consecutive year against conference opponents.“I had no clue that we could shut them down.They have too much speed on the perimeter and have put up pinball numbers.Our defense stepped to the plate.They have been consistent and great at shutting down the run.”
UAlbany’s defense forced four turnovers and held its sixth consecutive opponent under 300 total yards as Jacksonville managed just 228, including 84 rushing.The Great Danes, who posted their eighth consecutive win, became the first NEC team to win the Gridiron Classic, as PFL champions San Diego and Dayton has won the previous two contests, respectively.
“As a whole unit, I think these three weeks (since our last game) we practiced harder than we ever practiced before,” explained McCarty, who was voted the Gridiron Classic MVP.“We were really afraid of their speed, but I think the cold took away their quickness.The offensive line deserved the MVP trophy. They are the ones that gave me all of the offensive numbers.”
Jacksonville’s McGregor, the PFL’s top offensive freshman, completed just 10 of 25 pass attempts for 113 yards and was sacked three times.Rudell Small rushed for 46 yards on 16 carries on a grass field that froze overnight and stayed hard with temperatures hovering around 34 degrees during the game.The Dolphins reached the postseason by rallying to beat Dayton in winning their first-ever league championship two weeks ago.
GRIDIRON CLASSIC NOTES
... UAlbany (9-3) became the first Northeast Conference champion to win the Gridiron Classic with a 28-0 victory over Jacksonville ...
... Pioneer Football League champions San Diego (2006) and Dayton (2007) won the previous two postseason games ...
... UAlbany picked up its first postseason win since 2002, when the Great Danes upset No. 21 Duquesne in the ECAC Classic ...
... the Great Danes established the program’s Division I FCS single-season record with their ninth victory ...
... UAlbany posted nine or more victories in a season for the sixth time since the program became a varsity sport in 1973 ...
... the Great Danes set the program’s FCS mark with their eighth consecutive win, tying the fifth longest active national FCS streak ...
... Bob Ford recorded his 225th career win as UAlbany’s head coach ...
... Gridiron Classic MVP David McCarty (LaSalle Institute) ran for 271 yards, the second-highest rushing total in school history ...
... McCarty set the program’s Division I FCS record for rushing yards (271) and all-purpose yards (286), plus tied records for rushing TDs (4) and touchdowns scored (4) ...
... McCarty eclipsed Gary Jones’ single-season standard for all-purpose yards (2,208) ... he added to his school-record rushing total (1,852) ...
... McCarty currently ranks No. 2 in rushing (154.3 yards/game) and is tied for fourth in all-purpose yards (184.0 ypg) among the NCAA leaders ...
... QB Vinny Esposito became the second player in school annals to topple the 2,000-mark in total offense (2,082) in a season ...
... FS Dave Casale (Troy) picked off his seventh pass of the year against Jacksonville, the most by a UAlbany defender since 1990 ...
... UAlbany’s defense held its sixth consecutive opponent under 300 total yards (Jacksonville – 228) ...
... Jacksonville was held scoreless for the first time since Sept. 6, 2003, a streak of 63 consecutive games ...
Third Annual Gridiron Classic
UAlbany 28, Jacksonville 0 (Dec 06, 2008)
Scoring Summary
Scoring Summary (Final) 2008 UAlbany Football Jacksonville vs Albany (Dec 06, 2008 at Albany, N.Y.)
Jacksonville (9-4) vs. Albany (9-3)
Date: Dec 06, 2008 • Site: Albany, N.Y. • Stadium: University Field • Attendance: 2264
Score by Quarters
1
2
3
4
Score
Jacksonville
0
0
0
0
0
Albany
7
0
7
14
28
SCORING SUMMARY
JU -ALBANY
1st
12:24
ALBANY
David McCarty 16 yd run (Herb Glass kick)
6 plays, 47 yards, TOP 2:36
0 - 7
3rd
04:19
ALBANY
David McCarty 1 yd run (Herb Glass kick)
5 plays, 49 yards, TOP 1:39
0 - 14
4th
08:07
ALBANY
David McCarty 3 yd run (Herb Glass kick)
12 plays, 58 yards, TOP 6:31
0 - 21
07:25
ALBANY
David McCarty 77 yd run (Herb Glass kick)
1 play, 77 yards, TOP 0:15
0 - 28
Kickoff time: 1:35 pm • End of Game: 4:36 pm • Total elapsed time: 3:01 Referee: Michael Davis • Umpire: Jim Kauffman • Linesman: Joseph Mate • Line judge: Thomas Meehan • Back judge: Jack Zilles • Field judge: Dan Carr • Side judge: John O'Brien • Scorer: Matthew Chmura • Temperature: 34 • Wind: S 12mph • Weather: Cloudy
Team Statistics
Team Statistics (Final) 2008 UAlbany Football Jacksonville vs Albany (Dec 06, 2008 at Albany, N.Y.)
Team Totals
JU
ALBANY
FIRST DOWNS
14
22
Rushing
6
15
Passing
7
7
Penalty
1
0
NET YARDS RUSHING
84
312
Rushing Attempts
33
46
Average Per Rush
2.5
6.8
Rushing Touchdowns
0
4
Yards Gained Rushing
112
322
Yards Lost Rushing
28
10
NET YARDS PASSING
144
144
Completions-Attempts-Int
14-37-2
16-28-2
Average Per Attempt
3.9
5.1
Average Per Completion
10.3
9.0
Passing Touchdowns
0
0
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS
228
456
Total offense plays
70
74
Average Gain Per Play
3.3
6.2
Fumbles: Number-Lost
2-2
1-1
Penalties: Number-Yards
4-23
6-55
PUNTS-YARDS
9-328
4-180
Average Yards Per Punt
36.4
45.0
Net Yards Per Punt
35.9
42.2
Inside 20
0
2
50+ Yards
0
1
Touchbacks
0
0
Fair catch
4
0
KICKOFFS-YARDS
1-61
5-256
Average Yards Per Kickoff
61.0
51.2
Net Yards Per Kickoff
17.0
40.0
Touchbacks
0
0
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD
1-11-0
3-5-0
Average Per Return
11.0
1.7
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD
5-56-0
1-44-0
Average Per Return
11.2
44.0
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD
2-0-0
2-1-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD
0-0-0
0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards
0
0
Possession Time
27:29
32:31
1st Quarter
8:05
6:55
2nd Quarter
9:00
6:00
3rd Quarter
6:00
9:00
4th Quarter
4:24
10:36
Third-Down Conversions
7 of 19
5 of 12
Fourth-Down Conversions
1 of 1
2 of 3
Red-Zone Scores-Chances
0-1
3-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards
1-10
3-17
PAT Kicks
0-0
4-4
Field Goals
0-0
0-0
Individual Statistics
Individual Statistics (Final) 2008 UAlbany Football Jacksonville vs Albany (Dec 06, 2008 at Albany, N.Y.)
Courtesy: UAlbany Athletics
