The 2023 Football season is set to kick off with The Fordham University Rams taking on the Albany Great Danes on Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium in only hours.
Both teams last met on September 17, 2022, at the Bronx, a contest in which a combined 93 points made the fixture one of the highest-scoring ones in college football.
How to watch Fordham vs. Albany College football game online
- Venue: Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium, UAlbany, New York
- Date: Saturday, August 26
- Start Time: 7:00 pm ET
- TV: FLOF
- Online Streaming: FloFootball / PremiumTV
Fordham won the fixture by 48-45, featuring over 1000 yards of offense and a UAlbany single-game record of 412 passing yards from quarterback Reese Poffenbarger. Running back Todd Sibley scored four times, ran for 123 yards, and added another 46 yards through the air in that game.
UAlbany Great Danes Teams update
Albany starts the 2023 season with a ‘Week 0’ contest against a formidable opponent in Fordham. Unlike its opponent, Albany enters the game with a poor overall record (3-8) in 2022, 2-6 in the CAA.
The fixture against Fordham tonight marks the first time since 2014 that UAlbany hosts the season-opener at home, beating Holy Cross by 14-13 in that encounter.
After hosting Fordham tonight in the season-opener, the Great Danes will play their next game at Casy Stadium on September 30 after over a month since tonight. In that period, the UAlbany team is scheduled to travel to Hawaii, Marshall, and Morgan State.
Last year, Dylan Kelly led the side with 97 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss, and was named CAA Preseason Honourable Mention. Meanwhile, AJ Simon, defensive lineman, led the team with 5.0 sacks. Another CAA Preseason Honourable Mention selection, Anton Juncaj, followed closely with 4.5.
Another prominent roster member is quarterback Reese Poffenbarger, who joined in Spring 2022 from Old Dominion. In no time, the rookie QB earned his starting role and hasn’t looked back since then.
It only took the rookie player three games to beat the UAlbany single-game passing record as he threw for 412 yards and three touchdowns. Overall, Poffenbarger tossed 2,999 yards with a 62% completion rate, collected 24 touchdowns, and threw just four interceptions.
With these numbers, he was named the CAA Rookie of the Week six times before claiming the conference’s Rookie of the Year title. He was named to the CAA Third Team All-Conference, the ECAC Division I FCS Rookie of the Year, the 2022 Jerry Rice Award Runner-Up, and a HERO Sports Freshman All-American.
Fordham (University of NYC) Team Update
Fordham starts the season after going 9-3 overall in 2022, 5-1 in the Patriot League. This game vs. Albany will mark the tenth time both sides will take on each other, with Fordham taking the all-time series by 5-4.
With 9-3 overall, the 2022 season was a successful campaign for the side as they made it to the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2015. Although they lost to New Hampshire in the first round by 52-42, that gave many hope for a bright future.
Tim DeMorat was the night’s hero when both teams met last time, leading the offense by completing 33 of 53 passes for 464 yards and five touchdowns. Moreover, completed passes to nine different receivers as well.
Overall, in 2022, DeMorat threw for nearly 5,000 yards, tossing 56 TS’s. He threw just ten interceptions on 499 attempts. However, after starting the previous 35 games, he won’t be able to offer his services at quarterback tonight, making it the first time since September 15, 2018.
DeMorat’s absence is not the only loss the Rams will be going through, but the running back Trey Sneed won’t be available either. Sneed rushed for 1141 yards in 2022 and scored five TD’s over 12 games and 197 attempts (team-high).
Talking about tonight’s encounter, this fixture on August 26 marks the earliest season-opener in Fordham’s history (the previous earliest was on August 29, 2013).
Going to this game, the Fordham football team will enter the game with more wins (73) since 2012 than any other New York area college football side, with closest competitors Sacred Heart (64), Stony Brook (60), and Rutgers (46).
In the 2023 season, graduate student offensive lineman Ryan Joyce and Lucas Portes, grad student back Trey Sneed, wide receiver MJ Wright, defensive back Stephen Williams II, and graduate student defensive lineman Alfonzo Dixon will be the Fordham captains.
Fordham’s junior linebacker James Conway and wide receiver MJ Wright were named 2023 NCAA FCS Preseason All-Americans. Both were named in Third Team Preseason All-America by Stats Perform and to the Phil Steele FCS Preseason All-America Team.
Moreover, graduate student MJ Wright was also named Preseason All-American by The Bluebloods, while junior linebacker Conway was placed on the HERO Sports Top 25 Returning Linebackers list.
Overall, seven Rams were selected to the Preseason All-League team, including linebacker James Conway, defensive lineman Matt Jaworski, wide receiver Mekai Felton, running back Julius Loughridge, wide receiver MJ Wright, defensive back Stephen Williams II, and offensive lineman Lucas Portes.
