UAlbany choked. Seriously, they had it. The Great Danes were staring down an 18.5-point underdog upset win right on Buffalo’s 1-yard line with less than two minutes to go on Thursday night. Instead, they completely unraveled, suffering a gut-wrenching 21-17 defeat that just stings, especially when you think about what’s coming down the pipe for this program.
The Heartbreak on the 1-Yard Line
This was supposed to be *the* moment for first-year coach Tom Perkovich and his squad. An FBS win, a real statement, against a Mid-American Conference team that, while not a Power Four giant, still represented a huge opportunity. They were 18.5-point underdogs, for crying out loud, but they played their guts out. They clawed their way to Buffalo’s 1-yard line, trailing by four points with the clock ticking down. And then, poof, gone. Mistakes piled up, and they left Buffalo with nothing but a brutal loss.
Coach Perkovich summed it up perfectly: “We should have won that game. We’re on the 1-yard line, right?” He was bent over in the tunnel after the game, hands on his knees, like someone had just punched him square in the gut. These opportunities don’t just grow on trees, especially for a team that went 1-11 against FBS opponents, with their only win way back in 2016. What a crushing way to lose, made even crazier by a lightning and heavy rain delay that pushed kickoff back over 2 1/2 hours, ending the game at 1:22 a.m. Talk about facing adversity, then dropping the ball at the absolute worst time.
Kai Colon’s Promise and the Brutal Future
It wasn’t all doom and gloom, though. Senior quarterback Kai Colon showed some serious arm talent, throwing for 191 yards and a pair of 14-yard touchdowns. He found Tavahri Groves for the first score and then Justus Murray Jr. to grab a 17-14 lead in the third quarter. His most impressive throw was a 24-yard out to Jordan Rae on fourth-and-2 during the final drive, getting them into scoring range before Rahshan La Mons was stopped just shy of the goal line. Colon, who previously did most of his damage with his legs, really proved he can air it out.
But man, the future schedule just looms, an absolute monster. UAlbany’s athletic department officially confirmed they’re set to play Purdue next season, Michigan State in 2028, and Cincinnati in 2029. These are Power Four matchups, big paydays for the program, sure, but the chances of victory are slim to none. This Buffalo game was their shot, their *realistic* chance, and they let it slip away.
You can’t let a loss like that destroy you. Perkovich told his disappointed team just that, telling them, “What we’re doing is working. We’ve got the right people. We can’t let it destroy us, losing a game at the end like that. But we need to come together closer and continue to work toward getting some things fixed and get this thing in a better position where we’re not down to the last seconds.” They’ve gotta regroup, learn from this gut-punch, and somehow find a way to get it done, because those Power Four games aren’t going to get any easier.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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