Football Falls, 37-20, To No. 23 UNH As Ford Says Farewell To Fans

GAME STATS BOOK

ALBANY, N.Y. – While it wasn’t the storybook ending the University at Albany football community was hoping for, there were many silver linings to Saturday evening’s 37-20 loss to No. 23 New Hampshire.

Emotions filled Bob Ford Field from the moment the gates opened to the time fireworks capped the night, as UAlbany honored veterans with a moving Military Appreciation Day ceremony, as well as a recognition of the squad’s 16 seniors prior to kickoff.

A dogfight on the gridiron, the Great Danes trailed by just three points, 20-17, at the start of the fourth quarter, but the visiting Wildcats pulled away in the end.

The night concluded with a ceremony honoring Head Coach Bob Ford’s legendary 44-season career at UAlbany, including a presentation of the game ball from the squad’s captains, a video tribute, and the retiring of the number 40 in his honor.

Addressing the crowd, Ford said, “I have one of those great lives. I get up in the morning, I can’t wait to go to work. I get done with work and I can’t wait to go home. And that is just a great, great life.

“I want to thank everybody involved in this great game,” he added. “And I want to say to this football squad tonight, how proud I am of you. That was a great battle. Great, great job. Thank you.”

With 265 career wins, Ford ranks first among active NCAA Division I coaches and is the longest active tenured coach in all of college football.

Leading the Great Danes’ offense, junior quarterback Will Fiacchi completed 21-of-34 passes and with 251 yards on the night, he became the only quarterback in UAlbany history to eclipse the 2,000-yard milestone in multiple seasons. Through 11 games, Fiacchi has totaled 2,222 passing yards and is just six completions away from breaking the all-time single season record (196).

Junior running back Omar Osbourne led the team with 109 rushing yards, carrying the ball 28 times, including a one-yard touchdown push.

Senior wide receiver Kevin Chillis totaled nine receptions, accumulating 86 yards, while junior tight end Brian Parker accrued 71-receiving yards with four catches.

Defensively, junior safety TJ Idowu led the team with a career-high 13 tackles, as well as forced a fumble.

New Hampshire jumped out to a 17-0 lead after Mike MacArthur started the scoring off with a 31-yard field goal, capping the Wildcats’ opening drive with 7:19 remaining in the first quarter.

Forcing UAlbany to punt, UNH then used seven plays to move 54-yards down the field and into the end zone, as Andy Vailas connected a three-yard touchdown pass to Justin Mello. After the extra point, the Wildcats led 10-0 with 3:45 left in the opening stanza.

New Hampshire’s defense prevented the Great Danes from gaining any momentum with back-to-back sacks, leading to another punt at the start of the second quarter. Taking over on their own 35, UNH’s Dalton Crossan broke free and scampered 51-yards into the end zone, giving the visitors a 17-point head start with 13:10 remaining in the second quarter.

However, the Great Danes battled back, looking to capture the program’s first win on Bob Ford Field. UAlbany used nine plays to travel 79 yards down the gridiron. With a first down on the UNH-40, Fiacchi completed a 32-yard pass to Parker, setting up Jake Meek’s 8-yard touchdown rush. Tom O’Riordan’s successful point-after kick, made the score 17-7 with 4:46 remaining in the half.

UNH worked the clock down in the dwindling minutes of the half, prior to making a 33-yard field goal with six seconds left before the break.

Despite trailing 20-7 at halftime, UAlbany cut the deficit to three with 10 straight points. Starting their drive with 8:53 on the clock in the third quarter, Meek scurried 19 yards to the 1-yard line after facing 3^rd-and-1. Osbourne capped the 10-play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard rush across the goal line.

On the kickoff, Idowu ripped the ball from Nico Steriti’s grasps, but after a scrum, the Wildcats were ruled to have recovered the fumble.

Never the less, the Great Dane defense quickly gave UAlbany another shot, forcing a three-and-out. UAlbany used nine plays to work its way 57-yards down the field to the 12, setting up O’Riordan’s 29-yard field goal. Sailing through the uprights with 14:51 remaining in the contest, the Great Danes trailed, 20-17.

However, that would be as close as UAlbany would get the rest of the night. On UNH’s next drive, they were forced to punt, but the ball bounced off special teams player Neil Morrison, and the Wildcats recovered, giving the visitors new life. In the fresh drive, Vailas connected another three-yard touchdown pass to Mello with 11:45 remaining to give the Wildcats a 27-17 advantage.

Still continuing to scrap, the Great Danes worked their way into the red zone after Fiacchi completed an 18-yard pass to Parker on 4^th-and-5, and Meek ran three yards to the UNH-15. O’Riordan’s successful 32-yard field goal made it a one-possession game, 27-20, with 8:17 remaining.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats quickly changed that just 13 seconds later, as Crossan returned the kickoff 93-yards for a touchdown, making the score 34-20.

MacArthur capped the night’s scoring with a 34-yard field goal with 2:55 left on the clock, giving the Wildcats a 37-20 lead.

Refusing to quit, UAlbany marched down the field in the waning minutes, looking to get back on the board. However, Meek’s pass from the UNH-4 was picked off with 1:24 left, and the Wildcats took a knee, running out the clock.

With the loss, the Great Danes fell to 1-10 on the season and 0-7 in the CAA, while New Hampshire improved to 6-4 overall and 5-2 in conference play.

UAlbany closes the 2013 season as well as the Bob Ford coaching era at Stony Brook next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.

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#23 UNH vs Albany (Nov 16, 2013 at Albany, N.Y.)

UNH (6-4,5-2) vs. Albany (1-10,0-7)

Date: Nov 16, 2013 • Site: Albany, N.Y.  • Stadium: Bob Ford Field  •  Attendance: 6044

Score by Quarters	1	2	3	4	Score
UNH	10	10	0	17	37
Albany	0	7	7	6	20

SCORING SUMMARY				UNH -ALBANY
1st	07:19	UNH	Mike MacArthur 31 yd field goal
			12 plays, 66 yards, TOP 3:32	3 – 0
	03:45	UNH	Justin Mello 3 yd pass from Andy Vailas (Mike MacArthur kick)
			7 plays, 54 yards, TOP 2:31	10 – 0
2nd	13:10	UNH	Dalton Crossan 51 yd run (Mike MacArthur kick)
			4 plays, 65 yards, TOP 1:05	17 – 0
	04:46	ALBANY	Meek, Jake 8 yd run (O’Riordan, Tom kick)
			9 plays, 79 yards, TOP 4:02	17 – 7
	00:06	UNH	Mike MacArthur 33 yd field goal
			11 plays, 55 yards, TOP 4:35	20 – 7
3rd	04:23	ALBANY	Osbourne, Omar 1 yd run (O’Riordan, Tom kick)
			10 plays, 80 yards, TOP 4:30	20 – 14
4th	14:51	ALBANY	O’Riordan, Tom 29 yd field goal
			9 plays, 57 yards, TOP 3:14	20 – 17
	11:45	UNH	Justin Mello 3 yd pass from Andy Vailas (Mike MacArthur kick)
			8 plays, 35 yards, TOP 2:34	27 – 17
	08:17	ALBANY	O’Riordan, Tom 32 yd field goal
			12 plays, 67 yards, TOP 3:23	27 – 20
	08:04	UNH	Dalton Crossan 93 yd kickoff return (Mike MacArthur kick)
				34 – 20
	02:55	UNH	Mike MacArthur 34 yd field goal
			9 plays, 44 yards, TOP 3:42	37 – 20

Kickoff time: 3:30pm  • End of Game: 6:22pm  • Total elapsed time: 2:52 Referee: C. Lamertina  •  Umpire: Mark Wilson  •  Linesman: John Wilson  •  Line judge: Bob Snober  •  Back judge: Jerry Evans  •  Field judge: Russell Wyatt  •  Side judge: Tom O’Mara  •  Temperature: 55  • Wind: 10mph SW • Weather: Sunny, Clear

Team Statistics (Final)
The Automated ScoreBook
#23 UNH vs Albany (Nov 16, 2013 at Albany, N.Y.)

Team Totals	UNH	ALBANY
FIRST DOWNS	20	28
Rushing	9	9
Passing	10	14
Penalty	1	5
NET YARDS RUSHING	178	152
Rushing Attempts	38	45
Average Per Rush	4.7	3.4
Rushing Touchdowns	1	2
Yards Gained Rushing	202	184
Yards Lost Rushing	24	32
NET YARDS PASSING	201	251
Completions-Attempts-Int	13-32-0	21-35-1
Average Per Attempt	6.3	7.2
Average Per Completion	15.5	12.0
Passing Touchdowns	2	0
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS	379	403
Total offense plays	70	80
Average Gain Per Play	5.4	5.0
Fumbles: Number-Lost	1-0	2-1
Penalties: Number-Yards	11-137	2-24
PUNTS-YARDS	5-192	4-154
Average Yards Per Punt	38.4	38.5
Net Yards Per Punt	35.2	33.5
Inside 20	0	0
50+ Yards	0	0
Touchbacks	1	1
Fair catch	1	2
KICKOFFS-YARDS	8-446	5-292
Average Yards Per Kickoff	55.8	58.4
Net Yards Per Kickoff	43.4	19.8
Touchbacks	1	0
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD	0-0-0	2–4-0
Average Per Return	0.0	-2.0
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD	5-193-1	6-74-0
Average Per Return	38.6	12.3
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD	1-0-0	0-0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD	0-0-0	0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards	0	0
Possession Time	25:51	34:09
1st Quarter	6:03	8:57
2nd Quarter	6:45	8:15
3rd Quarter	4:38	10:22
4th Quarter	8:25	6:35
Third-Down Conversions	7 of 16	4 of 15
Fourth-Down Conversions	1 of 1	2 of 4
Red-Zone Scores-Chances	5-5	4-5
Touchdowns	2-5	2-5
Field goals	3-5	2-5
Sacks By: Number-Yards	3-24	2-17
PAT Kicks	4-4	2-2
Field Goals	3-3	2-2

Individual Statistics

Individual Statistics (Final)
The Automated ScoreBook
#23 UNH vs Albany (Nov 16, 2013 at Albany, N.Y.)

UNH		Albany
RUSHING  No.  Gain  Loss  Net  TD  Lg  Avg.  Chris Setian   10  69  0  69  0  15  6.9  Dalton Crossan   1  51  0  51  1  51  51.0  Jimmy Owens   5  21  0  21  0  9  4.2  Nico Steriti   8  25  6  19  0  7  2.4  Andy Vailas   5  17  0  17  0  8  3.4  Sean Goldrich   5  19  17  2  0  14  0.4  TEAM   2  0  0  0  0  0  0.0  Jared Allison   2  0  1  -1  0  0  -0.5  Totals…  38  202  24  178  1  51  4.7		RUSHING  No.  Gain  Loss  Net  TD  Lg  Avg.  Osbourne, Omar   28  114  5  109  1  19  3.9  Meek, Jake   7  34  3  31  1  19  4.4  Fiacchi, Will   7  31  24  7  0  21  1.0  Chillis, Kevin   3  5  0  5  0  12  1.7  Totals…  45  184  32  152  2  21  3.4
PASSING  Cmp-Att-Int  Yds  TD  Long  Sack  Sean Goldrich   6-18-0  114  0  36  2  Andy Vailas   7-14-0  87  2  25  0  Totals…  13-32-0  201  2  36  2		PASSING  Cmp-Att-Int  Yds  TD  Long  Sack  Fiacchi, Will   21-34-0  251  0  32  3  Meek, Jake   0-1-1  0  0  0  0  Totals…  21-35-1  251  0  32  3
RECEIVING  No.  Yds  TD  Lg  Justin Mello   6  71  2  25  R.J. Harris   4  85  0  36  Harold Spears   2  30  0  16  Mike DeTroia   1  15  0  15  Totals…  13  201  2  36		RECEIVING  No.  Yds  TD  Lg  Chillis, Kevin   9  86  0  18  Parker, Brian   4  71  0  32  Meek, Jake   4  47  0  20  King, Cole   3  28  0  15  Osbourne, Omar   1  19  0  19  Totals…  21  251  0  32
PUNTING  No.  Yds  Avg  Long  In20  TB  Brad Prasky   5  192  38.4  48  0  1  Totals…  5  192  38.4  48  0  1		PUNTING  No.  Yds  Avg  Long  In20  TB  Martin, Jonathan  4  154  38.5  47  0  1  Totals…  4  154  38.5  47  0  1
Punts  Kickoffs  Intercept  ALL RETURNS  No  Yds  Lg  No  Yds  Lg  No  Yds  Lg  Shane McNeely   0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  Dalton Crossan   0  0  0  2  134  93  0  0  0  Nico Steriti   0  0  0  3  59  22  0  0  0  Totals…  0  0  0  5  193  93  1  0  0		Punts  Kickoffs  Intercept  ALL RETURNS  No  Yds  Lg  No  Yds  Lg  No  Yds  Lg  Chillis, Kevin   0  0  0  5  74  22  0  0  0  Meek, Jake   1  -4  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  Morrison, Neil   1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  O’Connor, Pat   0  0  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  Totals…  2  -4  0  6  74  22  0  0  0
ALL PURPOSE  Rush  Rcv  KR  PR  IR  Total  Dalton Crossan   51  0  134  0  0  185  R.J. Harris   0  85  0  0  0  85  Nico Steriti   19  0  59  0  0  78  Justin Mello   0  71  0  0  0  71  Chris Setian   69  0  0  0  0  69  Harold Spears   0  30  0  0  0  30  Jimmy Owens   21  0  0  0  0  21  Andy Vailas   17  0  0  0  0  17  Mike DeTroia   0  15  0  0  0  15  Sean Goldrich   2  0  0  0  0  2  Jared Allison   -1  0  0  0  0  -1  Totals…  178  201  193  0  0  572		ALL PURPOSE  Rush  Rcv  KR  PR  IR  Total  Chillis, Kevin   5  86  74  0  0  165  Osbourne, Omar   109  19  0  0  0  128  Meek, Jake   31  47  0  -4  0  74  Parker, Brian   0  71  0  0  0  71  King, Cole   0  28  0  0  0  28  Fiacchi, Will   7  0  0  0  0  7  Totals…  152  251  74  -4  0  473
FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS  Mike MacArthur  1st  07:19  31 yards  Good  Mike MacArthur  2nd  00:06  33 yards  Good  Mike MacArthur  4th  02:55  34 yards  Good		FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS  O’Riordan, Tom  4th  14:51  29 yards  Good  O’Riordan, Tom  4th  08:17  32 yards  Good
KICKOFFS  No.  Yds  TB  OB  Avg.  Mike MacArthur   8  446  1  1  55.8		KICKOFFS  No.  Yds  TB  OB  Avg.  Martin, Jonathan  5  292  0  0  58.4

FUMBLES: UNH-Nico Steriti 1-0. Albany-Morrison, Neil 1-1; Chillis, Kevin 1-0.

Defensive Statistics

Defensive Statistics (Final)
The Automated ScoreBook
#23 UNH vs Albany (Nov 16, 2013 at Albany, N.Y.)

##	UNH	Solo	Ast	Total	TFL/Yds	FF	FR-Yds	Int-Yds	BrUp	Blkd	Sack/Yds	QBH
42	Akil Anderson	3	9	12	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
51	Shane McNeely	2	10	12	0.5/2	.	.	1-0	.	.	.	.
4	Manny Asam	5	6	11	2.5/10	.	.	.	1	.	.	.
16	Nick Cefalo	4	4	8	1.0/3	.	.	.	1	.	.	.
11	Tre Williams	5	2	7	1.0/6	.	.	.	.	.	1.0/6	.
55	Jay Colbert	2	5	7	0.5/4	.	.	.	.	.	0.5/4	.
58	Sean McCann	1	6	7	0.5/1	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
46	Hayden Knudson	2	4	6	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
28	Casey DeAndrade	1	5	6	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	.
60	Matt Kaplan	2	3	5	1.0/10	.	.	.	.	.	1.0/10	.
33	Keith Parkinson	1	2	3	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
90	Rashid Armand	1	2	3	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
96	Cody Muller	.	3	3	1.0/10	.	.	.	.	.	0.5/4	.
23	Dougie Moss	2	.	2	.	.	1-0	.	.	.	.	.
92	Jullian Turner	1	1	2	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
80	Cam Shorey	.	2	2	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
85	Brian Ciccone	1	.	1	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
56	DeVaughn Chollette	1	.	1	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
9	Lamar Edmonds	1	.	1	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	.
30	Chris Setian	1	.	1	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.

##	Albany	Solo	Ast	Total	TFL/Yds	FF	FR-Yds	Int-Yds	BrUp	Blkd	Sack/Yds	QBH
1	Idowu, Olatunji	6	7	13	.	1	.	.	2	.	.	.
32	Ngachie, Marcel	4	3	7	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
6	Exantus, Randall	3	4	7	1.0/1	.	.	.	1	.	.	.
33	Dorsey, Christian	3	3	6	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
5	Wilson, Tramaine	3	3	6	0.5/1	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
59	Smith, Andrew	4	.	4	2.0/17	.	.	.	.	.	2.0/17	.
98	Morton, Zach	1	3	4	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	.
11	Nicastro, Michael	1	2	3	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
17	Mbongue-Muna,Prosper	1	2	3	1.0/5	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
31	Jordan, Kyle	1	1	2	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
58	Greenhagen, Cody	.	2	2	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
94	Kologrivov, Tim	.	2	2	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
91	Troutman, Zach	.	2	2	0.5/0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
8	McClary, Jojo	1	.	1	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	.
42	O’Connor, Pat	.	1	1	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
48	Clark, Rayshan	.	1	1	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
52	Fasano, Joe	.	1	1	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
36	Morrison, Neil	.	1	1	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.