Football starts Perkovich era with statement win

By Carter Schum | August 31, 2026

Joey Koch (#22) ran for over 100 yards and scored a touchdown at Friday’s game. Photo Credit: Liam Martin / The ASP

On Friday August 28, the University at Albany men’s football team bested the University of New Hampshire Wildcats by a score of 28-14.

“It might not be as sexy as some people want it, but the job is to win games and tonight we did that,” said new Great Dane Head Coach Tom Perkovich on the win, his first at UAlbany. 

On the game's opening drive, the Great Danes gained one first down, before quarterback Kai Colon was intercepted at his own 45-yard line by the Wildcat defense. 

New Hampshire cashed in on the interception with a touchdown at the 8:13 mark of the first quarter, after the Great Danes took a costly personal foul penalty on a Wildcat field goal attempt. 

These missteps deterred UAlbany, as aided by a massive end-around play by BJ Norman. Rahshan La Mons ran the ball in from the 1-yard line for his first Division I touchdown, making the score 7-7 with just over four minutes left in the first quarter. 

The remainder of the first quarter saw the Wildcats punt the ball back to the Great Danes after stalling out near midfield. UAlbany's defense succeeded in obtaining pressure from the outside and forcing New Hampshire quarterback Brooks Bentley to rush through his progressions.

Colon demonstrated his dual-threat ability as he ran on his own several times, including a rush for more than 10 yards.

Following penalties from both teams, Aiden Semo ran the ball in from inside the 1-yard line to give the Great Danes a 14-7 lead in the second quarter. 

UAlbany forced their first three-and-out of the game on the next drive.

On the first play from scrimmage on the next drive, Joey Koch found a hole on the left side and took it 79 yards down the field on a run, getting tripped up just inside the 15-yard line. Three plays later, he finished what he started, punching it in from inside the 10-yard line to put UAlbany up 21-7. 

In the final minutes of the second half, New Hampshire was forced to punt once again, but a strong punt from Matt Guidebeck forced UAlbany to start their next possession on their own 3-yard line. Despite this, a personal foul penalty on UNH gave the Great Danes some breathing room. 

The Great Danes attempted to score before the end of the half, but time expired before the offense could get past midfield, leaving UAlbany up 21-7 at the end of the first half. 

The Wildcats started the third quarter with the ball and it took only two plays for them to find the endzone, as Bentley connected with Ja’Carree Kelly for a touchdown to bring the score to 21-14. 

Joey Koch broke three Wildcat tackles on a 35-yard run that gave UAlbany prime field position on the following drive. Two plays later, Semo ran the ball into the endzone once again to put the Great Danes up 28-14 with around eight minutes left in the third. 

After the UAlbany defense forced UNH to punt once again, Koch found space to break off a 21-yard rush. BJ Norman drew a pass interference penalty in the endzone on a deep ball from Colon to set up yet another Great Dane scoring opportunity. However, UAlbany turned the ball over on downs from inside the 30-yard line after head coach Perkovich unsuccessfully rolled the dice. 

Bentley found Ty Carlson for a 36-yard pass on UNH’s next drive that saw them inside the UAlbany 10-yard line at the end of the third quarter. However, Dillon Dunathan intercepted UNH Quarterback Tommy McLeish as the Casey Stadium crowd of 6601 rose to their feet. 

Despite the large amount of energy caused by the turnover, the offensive possession for UAlbany stalled out and the Great Danes punted with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game. 

After getting the ball back, the Great Dane offense once again put themselves in good scoring position as they crossed midfield with less than six minutes remaining. This possession stalled out, however, Colon performed a punt to pin the Wildcats inside their own 5-yard line with just a few minutes remaining in the game. 

The Wildcats attempted a last ditch comeback attempt with their final drive, however a pair of UAlbany sacks sealed the game, as the Great Danes opened their season with a statement 28-14 win. 

With the win on Friday, UAlbany starts their season as 1-0 overall and in CAA play. The Great Danes’ next game is on Thursday, Sept. 3 when they take on their SUNY brethren, the University at Buffalo Bulls. Their next home game is Sept. 19, when they take on the Monmouth Hawks.