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      • • Albany 27-38 Stony Brook

When Stony Brook football coach Chuck Priore sits down in his office every morning, he starts with an organizational technique he learned from University at Albany coach Bob Ford three decades ago.

Priore, a 1982 UAlbany graduate, writes a list of several tasks he wants to accomplish before he leaves work that night.
"You make sure at the end of the day you get those four or five things done," Priore said. "If you don't, you didn't have a successful day."

Priore said he learned to appreciate that kind of efficiency while playing fullback for Ford, and then serving as his running backs and strength coach from 1983 to 1986.

"I've got a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Ford," Priore said. "I certainly wouldn't be doing what I'm doing today if it wasn't for his leadership and guidance in my younger years."

Ford was selected as the Northeast Conference's Coach of the Year on Wednesday.

Priore will try to beat his mentor on Saturday, when Stony Brook (8-3) plays host to UAlbany (8-3) in the first round of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs at LaValle Stadium.

Ford, in his 39th season at UAlbany, has coached against his former assistants before because he has more than 100 of them in the professional, college and high school ranks. But none of these encounters have had so much at stake.

"If you grew up with brothers, who do you want to beat?" Ford said. "Well, you want to beat your brother. You want to beat the people you respect and admire. But unfortunately, I'm not playing Chuck and he's not playing me. Our teams are playing. But it takes on a little more importance because you're playing someone who knows you."

ALBANY — University at Albany football coach Bob Ford is more than happy to portray Saturday's UAlbany-Stony Brook FCS playoff game as a battle between New York's favored sons and the kids from the wrong side of the Long Island Rail Road tracks.

One school has all the chips — in resources, facilities, and scholarships (63 for Stony Brook, 36 for UA).

What does UAlbany have in its favor?

A single chip, one it doesn't have to fabricate. Oh, and it's a big one, resting large on its collective shoulder.
"Those guys are good, but, I mean, you look at their stadium and their jerseys; they look like they got all the state money," UAlbany running back Drew Smith said. "Their stadium is unreal. They have black Nike jerseys. Kind of wish that was us. I wish we got all that stuff. We've been dying for it, struggling, kicking and scratching for every last penny."
For its first-ever Division I NCAA playoff game the Great Danes are playing another state school that has a gleaming state-of-the-art football stadium, just *cough, cough* like its own.

You know, one that's named after a state senator who secured New York funding to make it happen, just like the dollars that flowed effortlessly *bogus, bogus* to the campus between Western and Washington avenues.

You can hardly tell the difference between Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on the campus of Stony Brook and the cutting-edge University Field at UAlbany *running out of ways to signal sarcasm/mask profanities muttered under breath in print,* right?

Well, except for the field surface. And the stands. And three-tier press box. And the luxury suites. And the fact Stony Brook's stadium is not crumbling. And pretty much everything else.

"It's kind of sad when you look at it," Ford said after practice earlier this week, sweeping his hand in the direction of the UA bleachers. "But it's what we got."

So he uses what he has, trying to create a David vs. Goliath, have-nots vs. haves underdog mind-set in his team.

ALBANY -- The NCAA playoffs have become a SUNY showdown.
The University at Albany football team on Sunday drew Stony Brook as its first-round opponent in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision tournament.

The Great Danes (8-3) and Seawolves (8-3) will play at 2 p.m. Saturday in Stony Brook's LaValle Stadium.

It will be the first meeting between the State University of New York rivals since Oct. 6, 2007, when UAlbany prevailed 24-23 in a nonleague game at University Field.

"We have a lot of kids on our squad and a lot of kids here at the university from Long Island, so there will be a lot of interest in the game," UAlbany coach Bob Ford said.

UAlbany leads the series 10-4.

The Great Danes clinched their first FCS bid Saturday by beating Sacred Heart to win the Northeast Conference title. Stony Brook, ranked No. 22 nationally, downed Liberty to capture its first Big South championship.

They played together in the NEC until after the 2006 season, when Stony Brook left to join the Big South and give out the maximum 63 scholarships allowed in FCS.

UAlbany remains at the NEC's 36-scholarship limit.

UAlbany quarterback Dan Di Lella, a fifth-year senior, was a true freshman the last time the Great Danes and Seawolves met in what he called "our biggest rivalry." He said that on Saturday night, UAlbany players talked about meeting Stony Brook in the NCAAs.

That scenario became reality on Sunday, when much of the team gathered in front of a giant screen in SEFCU Arena's Hall of Fame Room to watch the 20-team field announced on ESPNU.

"These are the guys we wanted, and I'm excited that we got them," Di Lella said.

The game takes on added meaning for UAlbany's 11 players from Long Island, including senior defensive tackle Zach Gallo of Sayville, who grew up 10 minutes from Stony Brook.

"I couldn't be happier,'' Gallo said. "I'm going home ... So I feel like I'm going to have a great crowd. It'll be nice."
Another storyline will feature Ford, in his 39th season at UAlbany, coaching against one of his former pupils. Stony Brook head coach Chuck Priore is a 1982 UAlbany graduate who started three seasons at fullback.

Then Priore served for three years as UAlbany's running backs and strength coach.

"I've got a lot of respect for Chuck and the job he does,'' Ford said.

"I'm not sure I'd be where I am today without Coach (Bob) Ford,'' Priore said.

The winner of Saturday's game will meet top-ranked Sam Houston State (11-0) in Huntsville, Texas in a second-round game Dec. 3.

UAlbany junior tailback Drew Smith said he thought the Great Danes would draw "a big-time'' team Saturday, rather than Stony Brook, also making its first FCS playoff appearance.

"It's perfect, someone we've beaten in the past,'' Smith said. "If we beat them, it wouldn't be a surprise to any of us."

SumItUp wrote:Stony Brook by 15

LastMinuteman wrote:Wow, Albany intercepted on 2nd & goal from the 3 down by 3 with less than a minute on the clock. Anybody see the video of what happened? Bad throw? Tipped ball?

clenz wrote:Albany is cruising right now 28-10

danefan wrote: Haves vs Have Nots

ALBANY — University at Albany football coach Bob Ford is more than happy to portray Saturday's UAlbany-Stony Brook FCS playoff game as a battle between New York's favored sons and the kids from the wrong side of the Long Island Rail Road tracks.

One school has all the chips — in resources, facilities, and scholarships (63 for Stony Brook, 36 for UA).

What does UAlbany have in its favor?

A single chip, one it doesn't have to fabricate. Oh, and it's a big one, resting large on its collective shoulder.
"Those guys are good, but, I mean, you look at their stadium and their jerseys; they look like they got all the state money," UAlbany running back Drew Smith said. "Their stadium is unreal. They have black Nike jerseys. Kind of wish that was us. I wish we got all that stuff. We've been dying for it, struggling, kicking and scratching for every last penny."
For its first-ever Division I NCAA playoff game the Great Danes are playing another state school that has a gleaming state-of-the-art football stadium, just *cough, cough* like its own.

You know, one that's named after a state senator who secured New York funding to make it happen, just like the dollars that flowed effortlessly *bogus, bogus* to the campus between Western and Washington avenues.

You can hardly tell the difference between Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on the campus of Stony Brook and the cutting-edge University Field at UAlbany *running out of ways to signal sarcasm/mask profanities muttered under breath in print,* right?

Well, except for the field surface. And the stands. And three-tier press box. And the luxury suites. And the fact Stony Brook's stadium is not crumbling. And pretty much everything else.

"It's kind of sad when you look at it," Ford said after practice earlier this week, sweeping his hand in the direction of the UA bleachers. "But it's what we got."

So he uses what he has, trying to create a David vs. Goliath, have-nots vs. haves underdog mind-set in his team.

LastofthePatriots90 wrote:

danefan wrote: Haves vs Have Nots

First, hats off to Albany for a great game. I have to laugh at this article because up until a few years ago, Stony Brook was never known as a 'have'. I played there in the mid-90's and underfunded wouldn't begin to describe us. The old stadium was worse than most high school stadiums...The home bleachers were made of wood and the field was famous for having mystery potholes. At halftime the teams didn't go into locker rooms (because there weren't any near the stadium), we gathered outside of field. My freshman year, for away games, we had one coach bus (for the starters & key backups) & the assistant coaches drove Stony Brook vans w/ the rest of team. Our weight room was about as good as a bad high school. Special black jerseys now? My senior year the NCAA was really enforcing the rule of jerseys having to be at least to your belt...Neither my home or away jersey were long enough and they couldn't afford to order new ones, so I had to cut the bottom quarter of some old jerseys and sew them to the bottom of mine to lengthenthem. I could go on. I would credit two people with getting Stony Brook to this level - First the former President Dr. Shirley Kenney. If it wasn't for her vision and drive for what Stony Brook could be (Both academically and athletically) we wouldn't be in the position we are today. Secondly is AD Jim Fiore. It wouldn't surprise me if he had to sell his soul to get Stony Brook Athletics to this level. Unless you work for SUNY, you have no idea what a bureaucratic nightmare it is and what these two have done is nothing short of remarkable.

danefan wrote:

LastofthePatriots90 wrote:

LastofthePatriots90 wrote:

danefan wrote:

I don't doubt it. The way SUNY is setup, it's very difficult to get rid of those who are apathetic and/or terrible at their job. We were fortunate enough to have a president who not only had the vision, but also the biggest set of balls that a female could have...From a football perspective it helped she was a cheerleader at the University of Texas. How long have the new stadium talks been going on for you guys? I thought I read something a year or two ago about the possibility. LaValle Stadium took about 8 years from the time the talk started to the groundbreaking.

Seawolf97 wrote:I always thought the State would pour money into Albany to showcase it as the center of the SUNY Universe in the State Capital. Seriously StonyBrook is 50 miles or so East of NYC, Buffalo is well Buffalo and Binghamton is out in no mans land. Believe me Im grateful for what Stonybrook has developed into and Buffalo is getting quite a bit of funding for UB2020. Albany seems to languish in the shadow of the Capital Building. With all the visiting big wigs in Albany and the entire state government they dont show case the local State University? I had several friends go to Albany and it seems it was always last in line for funds. Just strange how the state looks the other way.