Albany Great Danes down Idaho Vandals in the FCS quarterfinals
Albany ends Idaho’s playoff run in quarterfinals
The fourth-seeded Idaho football team’s storybook season came to an end with a 30-22 loss to Albany in the quarterfinals of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs on Saturday at the P1FCU Kibbie Dome.
Great Danes sophomore quarterback, Reese Poffenbarger, threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Brevin Easton with 4:38 remaining in regulation for their first lead of the game.
On the Vandals’ ensuing drive, Albany’s sack leader, Anton Juncaj, notched his 14th QB takedown of the year and knocked the ball loose.
From there, freshman running back Griffin Woddell added salt to the wound with a 29-yard rushing TD to put Albany in front 30-19 with 46 seconds remaining in regulation.
“That was a tough game, and Idaho is a really good team,” Albany coach Greg Gattuso said. “I give props to the Idaho fans; they were loud, and we struggled on both sides early. We settled in and played well before the half. They played their tails off, and we kept banging away, got the lead, and held on to it. This was a magical win for the program.”
Here’s what we learned following the Vandals’ quarterfinal loss to the Great Danes:
A couple of gunslingers
Saturday’s game was a battle between last year’s top-two vote-getters for the Jerry Rice Award: Idaho sophomore quarterback Gevani McCoy and Albany’s Poffenberger.
The pair of elite FCS passers were on fire during the first half.
McCoy was 15-of-23 passing (63%) for 203 yards and one touchdown, and Poffenbarger was 14-of-20 for 201 yards and two touchdowns.
The Vandals scored first courtesy of a 36-yard pitch and catch between McCoy and freshman receiver Jordan Dwyer with 9:02 remaining in the first quarter.
McCoy was able to find Dwyer despite having pressure barreling down on him.
Throughout the game, the Baldwin Hills, Calif., native demonstrated how well his timing has developed with senior receiver Hayden Hatten, consistently finding him for short gains.
He finished with 12 receptions on 20 targets for 135 yards.
“I really liked how we played in the first half,” Eck said. “We averaged 6.4 yards per play during the first half. We have to find a way to continue that throughout the game.”
As for Albany, it couldn’t have asked for a better night out of its signal caller.
The Great Danes responded to UI’s opening score with a 64-yard TD pass from Poffenbarger to Easton, his first of three receiving TDs.
Easton, who is to Poffenbarger what Hatten is to McCoy, was an absolute game changer. He finished with nine receptions for 228 yards.
The duo connected for their second TD with 6:55 remaining in the second quarter from 39 yards to cut their deficit to 16-14.
On that play, Poffenbarger escaped the grasp of two UI defenders before finding Easton, who was all alone in the back of the end zone.
Poffenbarger finished 24-of-41 passing for 341 yards and three touchdowns.
“I was impressed by Easton,” Eck said. “He was tremendous. I thought they did a great job, and if we would’ve played him again, we probably would lock (Marcus) Harris wherever he goes.”
Special teams are a weird deal
Idaho senior receiver Jermaine Jackson is a dangerous man.
He had two returns that went for more than 50 yards, which ultimately led to scores. The Oakland native finished with 136 return yards.
“That’s been a trend throughout the playoffs,” Eck said. “His punt return gave us a lot of juice. He almost pulled the turkey, getting three returns in a row. He was a difference-maker.”
Although Jackson gave UI a spark, one of its most consistent pieces, senior kicker Ricardo Chavez, had a rare off night in his final game in uniform.
Chavez missed three field goals (45 yards, 52, 52) and had an extra point blocked in the first quarter following a 5-yard Anthony Woods rushing touchdown, his 16th of the year.
His second miss came on the Vandals’ first drive of the second half.
Idaho’s first play from scrimmage was a 36-yard connection between Jackson and McCoy, and from there, the drive fizzled out, forcing it to settle for the 3. The kick bounced off the crossbar; no good.
“I thought we settled for too many long field goals,” Eck said. “They were long. 46 and two 52-yarders — you can’t count those as points in your back pocket, and they weren’t quite red zone opportunities. They were in the fringe area.”
Defense,not what we thought
Both Albany and Idaho’s defense struggled in areas that were considered strong suits coming into Saturday’s contest.
The Great Danes could not keep sophomore running back Woods at bay, allowing him to total 104 rushing yards on 16 carries (6.5 per carry).
Idaho’s offensive line gave up just one sack against Albany’s defense, which had totaled a Division I-high 49 QB takedowns coming in.
“The O-line competed,” Eck said. “To hold that team to one sack is impressive, and for Anthony to go over 100 yards is also impressive. We just didn’t move the ball as well in the second half.”
As for Idaho, its passing defense had been a top-10 unit all year, and against the Great Danes, they just couldn’t find an answer for Easton.
The Vandals allowed 341 yards through the air; a season high.
“When you see good players going after each other, that’s what’s going to happen,” Gattuso said. “We had one sack, and they did a good job on their end. We feel like we have a great passing attack, and we don’t try to lead the country in passing. Tonight, we needed him (Poffenbarger) to step up, and he did. It was special.”
Players of the game
Albany quarterback Poffenbarger finished 24-of-41 passing for 341 yards and three touchdowns.
Albany receiver Easton had nine receptions for 228 yards.
Idaho receiver Jackson had 202 all-purpose yards between returning and catching the football.
Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks
