ALBANY – The University at Albany football senior class has helped head coach Tom Perkovich turn the program around in his first season.
The Great Danes (6-4 overall, 4-2 Coastal Athletic Association) have improved greatly from 2-10 a year ago and are in contention for a berth in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
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“I mean, special group, for sure,” Perkovich said. “For me, that first group of seniors, I think that’s a special piece.”
They’ll be honored on Senior Day before Saturday’s game against the University of Maine (1-8, 1-5) at noon. Perkovich would like to continue his nearly spotless record of sending his senior class off with a victory in the home finale.
In his last job at Division III Susquehanna, Perkovich was 9-1 on Senior Day.
“Always been a big day for me,” Perkovich said. “I don’t ever take for granted, obviously, the opportunity our guys get to play football. You can’t play pickup (after college), so for some of the guys, it’s going to be the end of it for them. And the last chance to play in front of this crowd and at home and all of those things.”
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The senior class includes players with remaining eligibility who could return to UAlbany next season, but the school is honoring them Saturday in case they go elsewhere.
The class includes a mix of seniors who began their careers at UAlbany and transfers Perkovich brought in to transform the team.
Among the latter is starting quarterback Kai Colon, who spent four seasons at Princeton before joining the Great Danes. He has started every game, completing 56.9% of his passes for 1,557 yards and 13 touchdowns with seven interceptions.
“Yeah, (Senior Day) means a lot,” Colon said. “It’s been a long journey, for sure. Obviously, I was at Princeton for four years, so coming here for one year, it’s been a great year so far. I feel like everyone brought me in as family, and it just means so much to play here one more time with all the other guys that came in and took a chance, just like me.”
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Linebacker Jamari Young and defensive back Dana Johnson Jr. are also listed among 21 Senior Day honorees. Young transferred from Gardner-Webb and Johnson came from Monmouth to play for Perkovich. They’re important pieces on a UAlbany defense that ranks second in the CAA in points allowed (21.9 per game) and second in yardage (329.4 per contest).
On the other end of the spectrum are UAlbany offensive linemen Emmitt Harris of Shaker High and Jackson Nixon. Both were on the roster of UAlbany’s 2023 team that reached the FCS semifinals for the first time in program history.
The offensive line struggled last Saturday, and so did most of the Great Danes in a 31-7 loss at Bryant that eliminated UAlbany from CAA title contention.
“We didn’t come out the way we wanted to and they jumped on us early,” junior linebacker Dillon Dunathan said. “But this week, it’s all for the seniors. It’s Senior Day. We’re doing everything for them we can during practice to get ready for this game and dominate our opponent.”
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Though Maine is struggling, the Black Bears have close losses to Bryant (17-14), Rhode Island (14-13) and Boston College (22-16). While the defense has played well, Maine is scoring just 13.3 points per game, third-worst of 124 FCS teams.
A win on Saturday keeps UAlbany in the conversation for an NCAA playoff at-large berth heading into next week’s finale at North Carolina A&T. It will also send the seniors off the Casey Stadium field as winners.
“Just sincerely love this group of guys and glad we get to honor them the way we do,” Perkovich said. “I think this is a big day for our program and what we do on a yearly basis. Excited to be a part of it for the first time, mostly because of the guys we’re going to honor.”
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This article originally published at UAlbany football playing for ‘special’ group of seniors against Maine.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
