Hawaii Football: First Look At The UAlbany Great Danes

The Warriors will host a UAlbany team looking for a big rebound in 2023. Here’s a first look at the Great Danes.

Hawaii Football: First Look at the UAlbany Great Danes

The Warriors will host a UAlbany team looking for a big rebound in 2023. Here’s a first look at the Great Danes.

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An FCS foe that’s tougher than they appear.

Hawaii Football: First Look at 2023 Non-conference Opponents

Vanderbilt | Stanford | UAlbany | Oregon | New Mexico State

After opening 2023 with a pair of Power 5 opponents, the Hawaii Warriors will host the UAlbany Great Danes

Location: Albany, New York

Conference: Coastal Athletic Association (formerly Colonial)

Series History: This will be the first meeting between Hawaii and UAlbany.

2022 Record: 3-8 (2-6 CAA)

Head Coach: Greg Gattuso (tenth year at UAlbany, 22nd year overall; 39-57 at UAlbany, 136-89 overall). Since earning a spot in the 2019 FCS playoffs, the Great Danes have had three straight losing seasons. Last year, however, UAlbany’s starting lineup skewed young at some key spots and they may have actually been a little better than the overall record indicated: They lost five different games by a combined 18 points while winning just one contest by eight or fewer points.

Key Players

Reese Poffenbarger, QB

One of the best young quarterbacks anywhere on the FCS level, Poffenbarger started every game for the Great Danes in 2022 after redshirting the previous season and made an instant impact. Not only was he named the CAA Rookie of the Year, he also finished as the runner-up for the Jerry Rice Award, given annually to the FCS’s top freshman, after completing 61.5% of his 369 pass attempts for 2,999 yards and 24 touchdowns against a 1% interception rate.

Anton Juncaj, DE

Juncaj’s first full year with the Great Danes proved to be a very productive one as he established himself as one of the top disruptors anywhere in the CAA. He earned a third-team all-conference spot on the strength of 38 total tackles, a team-high 12 tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks, meaning he could cause problems if Hawaii’s run-and-shoot offense isn’t prepared to hit the ground running.

Dylan Kelly, LB

UAlbany’s other all-conference defender made his name simply by being a tackling machine in 2022. Like Juncaj, Kelly landed on the third-team all-CAA team after posting a team-high 97 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, one sack, and one interception. Pro Football Focus also credits him with 41 stops, which tied for fifth among all conference defenders, so don’t be surprised if you hear his name often during the broadcast.

AJ Simon, DL

Simon may not have been an all-CAA selection like his peers above in 2022, but he was productive in his own right. Case in point: PFF tabbed him with an overall grade of 81.8, the best of any Great Danes defender last year, and he led the team with five sacks while notching 10.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble.

Roy Alexander, WR

Poffenbarger should have a few solid pass catchers at his disposal this fall but, operating primarily from the slot, Alexander might be the team’s top overall wide receiver heading into 2023. He led UAlbany in receptions two seasons ago and followed that up by catching 47 balls for 610 yards and two touchdowns last fall.

Overview:

Offense

The Great Danes were pretty potent on this side of the ball in 2022, averaging a respectable 6.04 yards per play while finishing among the top 30 nationally in third-down conversion rate (43.9%, 26th) and red zone conversion rate (86%, 28th). The challenge for second-year offensive coordinator Jared Ambrose this fall is that UAlbany must replace its top pass catcher and top running back.

Having Poffenbarger under center could paper over a lot of that concern, and the good news is that a quartet of wide receivers who caught at least 20 passes in 2022 — Alexander, Brevin Easton (28 catches, 423 yards, two touchdowns), Julian Hicks (24-345-6), and Jackson Parker (27-331-2) — all return.

Four starters also return from last year’s offensive line, as well, led by sophomore tackles Ozzie Hutchinson and Will Marrotta. That group’s biggest task will be to keep Poffenbarger on his feet with greater consistency since they gave up 38 sacks last season, the most in the CAA. At running back, Jose Lopez-Quinones and Kavon Chambers both played sparingly behind starter Todd Sibney, but that duo will have big shoes to fill since Sibney accounted for just over 1,000 all-purpose yards and 11 total touchdowns.

Defense

UAlbany’s defense often gave up too much ground in 2022, allowing 6.36 yards per play and 33.5 points per game. A lot of that had to do with giving up a 47.4% third-down conversion rate while managing just 15 sacks, both of which were the second-worst figures in the CAA.

The front seven has some talent, though, beyond the trio of Kelly, Simon, and Juncaj. Sophomores Elijah Hills (35 total tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, four sacks) and Joseph Greaney (22 tackles, 4.5 TFLs)also made strong impressions in their first full years as starters while Jahlil Johnson could be in line for a bigger role after appearing in every game as a true freshman.

In the secondary, Isaac Duffy (29 tackles, eight pass breakups, two interceptions) leads a unit that allowed opponents to complete 63% of their throws for 7.8 yards per attempt and might have two or three new starters around him. Holdovers like Larry Walker Jr. and Brad Igwieke will compete with incoming transfers like Aamir Hall (Richmond) and DaeSean Winston (Temple) and could give the Great Danes reliable depth if everyone plays to their potential.

Early Prediction

If UAlbany resolves its offensive line concerns, the Great Danes could score points against a Hawaii defense that improved throughout 2022 but still has plenty of its own questions to address in fall camp. The Warriors should be well-positioned to win a track meet if it comes to that, however, though they should survive this test more handily.

Hawaii 38, Albany 20

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