UAlbany with a chance for another résumé-building win Saturday against No. 24 William & Mary
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Dane Train continues to roll on. After the University at Albany football team claimed its latest victim last Saturday, trouncing Maine on the road, it's time to start thinking playoff scenarios for this team.
At 6-3 overall and 4-1 in league play, UAlbany currently sits in a tie for third in the Coastal Athletic Association standings.
An automatic bid is still certainly in reach; Delaware leads the conference with an undefeated, 5-0 league mark. So, the Blue Hens would have to drop one of their final three regular season tilts for the Danes to have a shot at winning the conference.
The more likely scenario is an at-large bid for UAlbany. With only one FCS loss and a top-25 win, its resume looks really good right now. But with 24th ranked William & Mary coming to town Saturday, taking care of the Tribe is the only thing on the team's mind.
"This week is our seventh win if we can beat William & Mary, and that's really where we're focused at," said head coach Greg Gattuso. "That's certainly a critical number: seven. Eight is the one that probably gets you in. But we've gotta win seven before you can get to eight. And this is a big football game."
"We tell ourselves every single day that it's just us versus ourselves," added graduate student running back Faysel Aden, who's coming off back-to-back 100-yard rushing efforts. "At the end of the day, it's just Albany versus Albany; even on gamedays. We're not even worried about the playoff race, in terms of what we've gotta do to get there. We're just worried about going 1-0 every week."
It's a 1:00 p.m. kickoff Saturday from Bob Ford Field in what is now a top-25 matchup. UAlbany climbed to the 23rd ranking in this week's Stats Perform FCS Top-25 poll.