2018 Albany Great Danes football team

The 2018 Albany Great Danes football team represented the University at Albany, SUNY in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by Greg Gattuso, who was in his fifth season as head coach, and played their home games at Bob Ford Field. The Great Danes played as members of the Colonial Athletic Association for the fifth season. They finished the season 3–8, 1–7 in CAA play to finish in last place.

2018 Albany Great Danes football
Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
2018 record	3–8 (1–7 CAA)
Head coach	Greg Gattuso (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Joe Davis (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Keith Dudzinski (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Joe Bernard (5th season)
Home stadium	Bob Ford Field (Capacity: 8,500)

2018 CAA football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Maine $^		7	–	1					10	–	4
No. 9 James Madison ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 16 Stony Brook ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
No. 20 Towson ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
No. 24 Delaware ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
No. 19 Elon ^		4	–	3					6	–	5
Rhode Island		4	–	4					6	–	5
William & Mary		3	–	4					4	–	6
New Hampshire		3	–	5					4	–	7
Villanova		2	–	6					5	–	6
Richmond		2	–	6					4	–	7
Albany		1	–	7					3	–	8
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Great Danes finished the 2017 season 4–7, 2–6 in CAA play to finish in a tie for tenth place.

Preseason

CAA Poll

In the CAA preseason poll released on July 24, 2018, the Great Danes were predicted to finish in ninth place.[1]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	James Madison	241 (21)
2	New Hampshire	206 (2)
3	Delaware	182
4	Stony Brook	169
5	Elon	168 (1)
6	Villanova	164
7	Richmond	127
8	Maine	81
9	Albany	78
10	Towson	74
11	William & Mary	55
12	Rhode Island	39

Preseason All-CAA Team

The Great Danes had one player selected to the preseason all-CAA team.

Special teams Donovan McDonald – PR

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	3:30 p.m.	at Pittsburgh*	Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA	ACCN Extra	L 7–33	34,486
September 8	1:00 p.m.	at Rhode Island	Meade Stadium Kingston, RI	FCS/FSGO	L 26–45	6,520
September 15	7:00 p.m.	Morgan State*	Bob Ford Field Albany, NY	UAlbany Live Events[2]	W 30–27	6,503
September 22	7:00 p.m.	Saint Francis (PA)*	Bob Ford Field Albany, NY	UAlbany Live Events[2]	W 35–28	3,840
October 6	3:30 p.m.	at William & Mary	Zable Stadium Williamsburg, VA	Cox Yurview	L 22–25	7,530
October 13	7:00 p.m.	Richmond	Bob Ford Field Albany, NY	UAlbany Live Events[2]	L 24–27	4,059
October 20	3:30 p.m.	No. 13 Towson	Bob Ford Field Albany, NY	UAlbany Live Events[2]	L 28–56	7,029
October 27	1:00 p.m.	at No. 24 Maine	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME	FCS	L 9–28	9,248
November 3	3:30 p.m.	No. 13 Delaware	Bob Ford Field Albany, NY	UAlbany Live Events[2]	L 16–21	3,182
November 10	1:00 p.m.	at New Hampshire	Wildcat Stadium Durham, NH	NBCS BOS	L 10–24	5,571
November 17	3:30 p.m.	No. 10 Stony Brook	Bob Ford Field Albany, NY (rivalry)	FCS/FSGO	W 25–23	2,483
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Source:[3]

Game summaries

at Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
Great Danes	7	0	0	0	7
Panthers	19	14	0	0	33

See also: 2018 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at Rhode Island

	1	2	3	4	Total
Great Danes	7	0	0	19	26
Rams	14	17	14	0	45

See also: 2018 Rhode Island Rams football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–2	2017	L, 14–31

Morgan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	13	7	7	27
Great Danes	3	14	3	10	30

See also: 2018 Morgan State Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–0	2016	W, 26–0

Saint Francis (PA)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Red Flash	7	7	14	0	28
Great Danes	7	13	8	7	35

See also: 2018 Saint Francis Red Flash football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
15–0	2016	W, 20–9

at William & Mary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Great Danes	0	13	0	9	22
Tribe	7	3	0	15	25

See also: 2018 William & Mary Tribe football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Richmond

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spiders	7	10	7	3	27
Great Danes	7	7	7	3	24

See also: 2018 Richmond Spiders football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–5	2017	L, 38–41^OT

Towson

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Tigers	10	28	11	7	56
Great Danes	7	14	0	7	28

See also: 2018 Towson Tigers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–3	2013	L, 17–44

at Maine

	1	2	3	4	Total
Great Danes	0	0	3	6	9
No. 24 Black Bears	14	7	0	7	28

See also: 2018 Maine Black Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–6	2017	L, 10–12

Delaware

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Fightin' Blue Hens	0	12	3	6	21
Great Danes	0	3	7	6	16

See also: 2018 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–5	2017	L, 3–22

at New Hampshire

	1	2	3	4	Total
Great Danes	3	0	0	7	10
Wildcats	7	3	7	7	24

See also: 2018 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–4	2017	W, 15–0

Stony Brook

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Seawolves	3	7	7	6	23
Great Danes	10	0	0	15	25

See also: 2018 Stony Brook Seawolves football team and Albany–Stony Brook football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
11–8	2017	L, 21–28

References

1. Washburn, Rob (July 24, 2018). "James Madison Favored To Win Fourth Straight CAA Football Title in 2018". Colonial Athletic Association. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
2. "Upcoming Live Events". The Official Athletics Site of the University of Albany. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
3. "Football - Schedule - The Official Athletics Site of the University at Albany". www.ualbanysports.com.