University at Albany Vice President and Director of Athletics Lee McElroy announced on Wednesday, March 24 the school’s football schedule for the 2010 season. The Great Danes, who compete at the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision level and finished second in the Northeast Conference standings last year, will play an 11-game slate. The non-league schedule features Stephen F. Austin, a program that reached the 2009 FCS quarterfinals, Maine and Yale.

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The Great Danes are on the road to begin the season for the tenth time in their 12 years at the FCS Division I level when they travel to Maine on Thursday, Sept. 2. The Black Bears have made five NCAA playoff appearances and most recently qualified in 2008. Head coach Jack Cosgrove is in his 18th season. In 2009, he led the program to a 5-6 record and a second-place finish in the Colonial Athletic Association’s North Division. The Black Bears have 16 starters returning, including linebacker Donte Dennis and defensive back Steven Barker, a pair of all-conference players. UAlbany is meeting a CAA opponent for the eighth consecutive season.

Stephen F. Austin, who shared the 2009 Southland Conference championship, will host the Great Danes on Sept. 11 in Nacogdoches, Texas. The Lumberjacks, who made their fifth NCAA FCS appearance and first since 1995, upended Eastern Washington in the first round before losing to Montana in the quarterfinals. J.C. Harper, the Southland Coach of the Year, guided his squad to the second-best improvement among FCS programs with a 10-3 record. Quarterback Jeremy Moses, the conference co-player of the year, passed for 4,124 yards and 40 touchdowns. Jabara Williams is a second-team Sports Network All-America linebacker.

UAlbany will tangle with an Ivy League program for the first time since 2006 in the matchup with Yale on Oct. 2. The Bulldogs are coming off a 4-6 campaign under first-year head coach Tom Williams, who previously was an NFL assistant with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Defensive back Adam Money earned first-team All-Ivy honors after accounting for three interceptions, two fumble recoveries and three forced fumbles. Quarterback Patrick Witt, a 6-foot-4 junior, threw for 1,449 yards and eight touchdowns.

Saint Francis, Pa. will be the opponent for Homecoming and Family Weekend on Oct. 9. Kickoff is 1:00 p.m. Defending Northeast Conference champion Central Connecticut State comes to the Capital Region on Oct. 23 for a 4:00 p.m. start. UAlbany will play its final two games at University Field against NEC-rivals Wagner (Nov. 13) and Monmouth (Nov. 20). Both games are scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

Bob Ford, who is first among active FCS coaches with 241 career victories and has led UAlbany to four NEC championships, begins his 38th varsity season. He has 45 letterwinners, including nine starters, returning from last year’s 7-4 squad. The NEC champion will have an automatic berth in the NCAA FCS playoffs for the first time in 2010.

Paw Prints: The NCAA has expanded the Division I FCS championship bracket to 20 teams … the NCAA FCS championship game will be played in Frisco, Texas on Jan. 7, 2011 … the Northeast Conference has one of 10 automatic berths in the NCAA field … UAlbany and Maine will tangle for the third time on the gridiron … the Great Danes have previously played Cornell and Brown from the Ivy League … UAlbany’s spring football practice begins on Monday, April 5 and is tentatively scheduled through Wednesday, April 28.

2010 University at Albany Football Schedule

September
2 (Thu.), at Maine, TBA; 11 (Sat.), at Stephen F. Austin, 7:00; 25 (Sat.), at Duquesne*, 1:00.

October
2 (Sat.), at Yale, TBA; 9 (Sat.), Saint Francis, Pa.* (HC), 1:00; 16 (Sat.), at Robert Morris*, TBA; 23 (Sat.), Central Connecticut State*, 4:00; 30 (Sat.), at Bryant*, 1:00.

November
6 (Sat.), at Sacred Heart*, 1:00; 13 (Sat.), Wagner*, 1:00, 20 (Sat.), Monmouth*, 1:00.

*Northeast Conference Opponent
(HC) - Homecoming & Family Weekend
All Times Eastern

By University at Albany Sports Information