# 2019 Albany Great Danes football team

The 2019 Albany Great Danes football team represented the University at Albany, SUNY as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by sixth-year head coach Greg Gattuso, the Great Danes compiled an overall record of 9–5 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, placing second in the CAA. Albany received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I FCS Football Championship, where the Great Danes defeated Central Connecticut in the first round before losing to Montana State in the second round. The team played home games at Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium in Albany, New York.

## Preseason
### CAA poll

In the CAA preseason poll released on July 23, 2019, the Great Danes were predicted to finish in twelfth place.
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | James Madison | 238 (20) |
| 2 | Towson | 217 (3) |
| 3 | Maine | 201 (1) |
| 4 | Elon | 164 |
| 5 | Delaware | 162 |
| 6 | Stony Brook | 151 |
| 7 | New Hampshire | 109 |
| 8 | Rhode Island | 104 |
| 9 | Villanova | 84 |
| 10 | Richmond | 62 |
| 11 | William & Mary | 58 |
| 12 | Albany | 34 |

### Preseason All–CAA team

The Great Danes did not have any players selected to the preseason all-CAA team.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 29 | 7:00 p.m. | at Central Michigan* | | Kelly/Shorts StadiumMount Pleasant, MI | ESPN3 | L 21–38 | 12,207 |
| September 7 | 7:00 p.m. | Bryant* | | Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey StadiumAlbany, NY | FloSports | W 45–3 | 5,014 |
| September 14 | 1:00 p.m. | at Monmouth* | | Kessler FieldWest Long Branch, NJ | ESPN+ | L 35–38 | 2,329 |
| September 21 | 3:30 p.m. | Lafayette* | | Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey StadiumAlbany, NY | FloSports | W 36–7 | 3,241 |
| September 28 | 3:30 p.m. | at William & Mary | | Zable StadiumWilliamsburg, VA | FloSports | W 39–31 | 3,329 |
| October 5 | 2:00 p.m. | at Richmond | | E. Claiborne Robins StadiumRichmond, VA | FloSports | L 20–23 | 8,061 |
| October 12 | 4:00 p.m. | at No. 9 Towson | | Johnny Unitas StadiumTowson, MD | FloSports | W 38–21 | 4,809 |
| October 19 | 3:30 p.m. | Rhode Island | | Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey StadiumAlbany, NY | FloSports | W 35–28 | 7,763 |
| November 2 | 3:30 p.m. | Maine | | Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey StadiumAlbany, NY | FloSports | L 31–47 | 3,315 |
| November 9 | 1:00 p.m. | at Delaware | | Delaware StadiumNewark, DE | FloSports | W 21–17 | 13,472 |
| November 16 | 1:00 p.m. | New Hampshire | | Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey StadiumAlbany, NY | FloSports | W 24–17 | 2,486 |
| November 23 | 2:00 p.m. | at Stony Brook | | Kenneth P. Lavalle StadiumStony Brook, NY (rivalry) | FloSports | W 31–26 | 6,171 |
| November 30 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 17 Central Connecticut* | No. 25 | Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey StadiumAlbany, NY (NCAA Division I First Round) | ESPN3 | W 42–14 | 1,660 |
| December 7 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 5 Montana State* | No. 25 | Bobcat StadiumBozeman, MT (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN3 | L 21–47 | 12,947 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At Central Michigan

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Great Danes | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| Chippewas | 7 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 38 |

### Bryant

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Great Danes | 7 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 45 |

### At Monmouth

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Great Danes | 0 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 35 |
| Hawks | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 38 |

### Lafayette

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Leopards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Great Danes | 12 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 36 |

### William & Mary

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tribe | 14 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
| Great Danes | 3 | 9 | 10 | 17 | 39 |

### At Richmond

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Great Danes | 7 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 20 |
| Spiders | 10 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 23 |

### At Towson

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Great Danes | 7 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 38 |
| No. 9 Tigers | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |

### Rhode Island

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rams | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Great Danes | 0 | 6 | 22 | 7 | 35 |

### Maine

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Black Bears | 10 | 14 | 23 | 0 | 47 |
| Great Danes | 7 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 31 |

### At Delaware

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Great Danes | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Fightin' Blue Hens | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 17 |

### New Hampshire

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
| Great Danes | 7 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 24 |

### At Stony Brook

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Great Danes | 21 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 31 |
| Seawolves | 0 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 26 |

## FCS Playoffs

The Great Danes were selected for the postseason tournament, with a first-round pairing against Central Connecticut.

### Central Connecticut–First Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 17 Blue Devils | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| No. 25 Great Danes | 0 | 7 | 28 | 7 | 42 |

### At Montana State–Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 25 Great Danes | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| No. 5 Bobcats | 16 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 47 |