Know Your Foe: Albany Great Danes
Game One: Pitt (0-0) vs. Albany (0-0)
Last Week (Year): Albany went 4-7 finishing 10th in the Colonial Athletic Conference (CAA)
Albany Offense
The Great Danes Offense will be led by what may be a familiar name in Vincent Testaverde. He is of course the son of the former NFL Quarterback, and will be making his first start as Albany’s Quarterback. The Texas Tech transfer, by way of his dad’s alma mater Miami, beat out last year’s starter Will Brunson in training camp. Because of the transfers, Testaverde hasn’t played since 2014 when he played in one game for Texas Tech as a true freshman, going 15 for 26 for 116 yards and an interception.
The Great Danes boast a couple of intriguing skill position players in Running Back Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks and Wide Receiver Donovan McDonald. In 2016, Ibitokun-Hanks had a prolific season, rushing for 1,401 yards and 16 touchdowns and earning FCS All-America honors. However, he missed most of 2017 due to injury and looks to have a bounce-back season in 2018. He will share the backfield with fellow Running Back Karl Mofor. McDonald began his career in the Big Ten with Nebraska before transferring into Albany for 2017. He led the Great Danes in All-purpose Yards (1,015) and this year earned Preseason CAA Honors.
The Offensive Line, led by former Pitt and NFL Lineman Jim Sweeney, almost seems to represent an FCS version of Pitt’s progression at the position group. Last year they had an inexperienced line that struggled, but after losing only one starter, they return a much more experienced group. How that experience translates into performance remains to be seen for both teams though. While the Offensive Line may be greatly improved with the experience, they haven’t faced an ACC-caliber defense before and will likely struggle against the Panthers.
Albany Defense
Last year, Albany’s defense was a strength as they only gave up 17.3 points per game, however they will be replacing their Defensive Coordinator. The Defensive Line will be a strength for the Great Danes, despite the fact that last year’s team sack leader, Defensive End Malachi Hoskins, has departed. Replacing Hoskins will be Senior Nick Griffin who stands at 6’6” and weighs in at 280 pounds. The leader of the unit looks to be Redshirt Senior Brian Dolce, who had the 2nd most sacks for the Great Danes last year.
The Linebacking corps will be an inexperienced unit as they have lost last year’s team leader in tackles, Nate Hatalsky. The elder statesman of the unit will be Eli Mencer, though he is only a Redshirt Junior. Mencer was the 5th leading tackler on the team last year and the unit as a whole will need to lean on him. Joining him as starters will be Redshirt Sophomore Levi Matheny and Senior Neven Sussman. Though Sussman is a Senior, he was a Quarterback until this season for the Great Danes and will be playing on the defensive side of the ball for the first time since High School.
The Secondary could also be a strong group for Albany. Returning at Safety is Josh Wynn who had the 2nd most tackles last year. However, this is also a unit that only had 3 interceptions last year, though they return 2 of the 3 players who recorded these picks, Wynn and Cornerback Kareem Brown. The third player, Jamal Robinson, is the most significant player they lose to graduation from the position group. The group was dealt a blow when Strong Safety Mason Gray, last year’s 3rd leading tackler, was lost for the season to injury. This puts more pressure on Wynn and Brown to anchor the back end of the defense.
Albany Special Teams
Albany has experience at Kicker, with Redshirt Senior Ethan Stark handling those duties. Despite the experience, last year he only went 11 for 17 on Field Goals and 18 for 21 on PAT’s with his long Field Goal only 41 yards. His career long is slightly further at 42 yards. Stark will also be handling punting duties according to Albany’s Week 1 depth chart. Handling return duties on punts and kickoffs will be Donovan McDonald.
Key Matchup – Donovan McDonald vs. Pitt Secondary
This could easily have been the battle in the trenches when the Panthers are on offense, as the Albany Defensive Line should be a strength and there are questions at Offensive Line for Pitt. However, Pitt should have a distinctive size and talent advantage in that matchup despite the relative strengths and weaknesses. Rather, Donovan McDonald could be a dangerous threat on the outside when the Great Danes have the ball. Albany Head Coach Greg Gattuso has called McDonald “the most dynamic guy in the conference” and he could seriously test Pitt’s young Secondary. Despite the talent present in the unit, there is still inexperience and they will face their first test against the Nebraska transfer.
Prediction: Pitt 38-10
Despite Pitt’s fraught history against FCS competition, I expect the Panthers to easily win this game. Albany is step down in difficulty from Youngstown State and Pitt should be a much improved team overall from last year. Though Albany has some dangerous playmakers at the skill positions and potential at Quarterback, they have significant questions along the Offensive Line and at defense behind the Line. I expect Pitt to move the ball well, even if Narduzzi does go with a vanilla gameplan in that aspect. The talent on defense should win out easily, but with all the playmakers Albany has and the inexperience in the Secondary, it wouldn’t surprise me if Albany has at least one big play. I expect the game to be somewhat close at Halftime, but Pitt will pull away in the 2nd Half.
* Stats courtesy of College Football Reference and Albany Athletics Website
Give us your thoughts on Pitt’s season opener in the comments, message board, or tweet at us @IntoPitt or @TheJeemTeam
