MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia has won each of its previous 21 matchups against FCS level opponents.
To continue the unbeaten mark, the Mountaineers are tasked with getting past Albany when the two battle at 6 p.m. Saturday inside Milan Puskar Stadium.
Much of the Great Danes’ personnel has changed from last season when they finished 11-4 and advanced to a national semifinal, but WVU head coach Neal Brown believes his team’s lone non-Power 4 Conference opponent this season remains capable of presenting challenges.
“They’re a good football team. This is the best FCS program we’ve had come here since 2019 in the first game when we played James Madison,” Brown said. “They have our attention.”
In his 11th season as head coach at Albany, Greg Gattuso is working through an abundance of turnover within the Great Danes’ roster after advancing further than they had in program history a year ago.
Last year’s quarterback, Reese Poffenbarger, is now at Miami (Fla.), while four of Albany’s five Colonial Athletic Association first-team defense honorees were seniors in 2023, including the league’s top defender in linebacker Dylan Kelly. The fifth, cornerback Aamir Hall, now plays at Michigan.
Poffenbarger was one of four Great Danes to earn CAA second-team offense honors last year. The other three were seniors.
Among Albany’s more notable returning players is tailback Griffin Woodell, the league’s Offensive Rookie of the Year last season after rushing for 892 yards and eight touchdowns with an average of 4.9 yards per carry.
Waddell picked up where he left off to start his sophomore season by rushing for 85 yards and a touchdown on 20 attempts in last week’s season-opening 27-21 victory against Long Island (a WVU opponent in 2021).
“A good player and he has good vision,” WVU defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said. “He’s patient in their scheme and you can tell he understands their scheme.”
Myles Burkett, also a sophomore, has taken over at quarterback and was 12-for-26 with 165 yards and one touchdown in the opener.
Much of Burkett’s production came on a 75-yard touchdown pass to Seven McGee, who previously played at both Jackson State and Oregon.
Yet Albany had difficulty moving the ball against LIU, with the Sharks holding a 358-255 advantage in total yards. A major difference in the outcome was Albany’s second-quarter defensive touchdown on Jack Iuliano’s 20-yard fumble recovery.
“Last year, they were really good at throwing the football, but it started with the run,” Brown said. “They’re going to give us a bunch of different formation looks. They want to establish the run. They have really good size and three guys up front that are good enough to play in our league. A receiver [McGee] that had a big game Saturday and started his career at Oregon. They have 20 Division I transfers and six guys from Power 4 rosters a year ago. They have guys that can play at this level. They’re not going to be intimidated.”
To further illustrate what Albany is capable of, Brown referenced a 21-17 loss last season at Marshall, a game the Great Danes led 10-0 in the third quarter. The following week, Albany was competitive in a 31-20 loss at Hawaii.
In its FCS quarterfinal, the Great Danes won 30-22 at Idaho. Brown referenced the Vandals hanging with then-No. 3 Oregon last week in what amounted to a 24-14 Ducks’ win.
“That gives you some perspective on what kind of team is coming in here,” Brown said. “It’s a team that’s used to winning and plays in a really good conference and one of the top FCS leagues in the country. These guys do a really good job schematically in all three phases.“
Save for Brown’s first game as WVU head coach — a 20-13 win over JMU — the Mountaineers have gone unchallenged in their other four matchups against FCS opponents under his watch.
Starting with a 56-10 win over Eastern Kentucky in 2020, the Mountaineers have won each of their last four matchups with FCS opponents, while combining to outscore them, 243-34.
After last week’s subpar showing in a 34-12 season-opening loss to Penn State, the Mountaineers are looking to move forward and feel good about themselves.
“We’re an 0-1 football team until we do something about it. We have a great opportunity Saturday night when we get under the lights,” Brown said. “My message to fans is I wouldn’t lose faith on one game. We didn’t perform well. Penn State has a good team, but we’ll bounce back. We have a good football team and we have to go out and show it. It starts this week with our next opportunity.”