UAlbany Great Danes 2026 Season Preview

Perkovich's Rebuild Bottoms Out

UAlbany went 2-10 and 1-7 in the CAA in 2025, the kind of season where the on-field results and the No. 96 power rating tell the same story from two different angles. Tom Perkovich's roster could not win league games with any consistency, and that single conference win is the number that defines where this program actually stands heading into 2026. There is no hidden overachievement to point to here, just a rebuild that has yet to produce competitive weekends against CAA opponents.

Parachek Inherits a Broken Machine

Colin Parachek is projected to start after throwing for just 308 yards with only 1 touchdown against 2 interceptions, and he's stepping into an offense that ranked 120th nationally in yards per play and 117th in success rate. The explosiveness number, 1.34 on successful plays, ranked a respectable 29th, so UAlbany's issue in 2026 isn't the occasional big gain but simply staying on schedule, evidenced by a 28.8% third-down rate that ranked 118th. A -9 turnover margin compounded every stalled drive last season, and until Parachek and this line cut down on giveaways, points will stay hard to find.

Colin Parachek takes the first-team reps into 2026 after a 308-yard, 1-TD, 2-INT stretch a season ago, and he is the front-runner in a camp battle that is not yet decided. Aidan Semo, who threw for 78 yards and a score in limited work, and Frankie Williams give Tom Perkovich other arms to lean on if Parachek stumbles, with Kyle Keckler, Levi Kulik and Van Weber also in the mix without stats on file. Whoever wins the job inherits an offense that managed just 187 passing yards per game and a 28.8% third-down rate, 118th nationally, so the bar for improvement at the position is not high, it is basic efficiency.

Griffin Woodell topped the room with 389 yards and Jojo Uga chipped in 297 and a pair of scores, but a rushing attack that managed just 88 yards a game (120th nationally) and 4.38 yards a play needs more than a repeat from its returning duo. Alex Jreige adds a body with 124 yards logged, and the offense's floor problem was never really about backs, it was the 33.1% success rate and 28.8% third-down conversion in front of them. UAlbany also lands Sy'eer Coleman, a three-star signee out of Imhotep Institute, giving Tom Perkovich a high-school addition to develop alongside Woodell and Uga rather than an instant fix for 2026.

Jordan Rae's 20 catches for 250 yards were the top production in this room last season, with Tavahri Groves adding 17 grabs for 242 yards and 2 touchdowns, and both are back to anchor an offense that managed just 4.38 yards per play, 120th nationally. Gone are Jasiah Barron and Kylen Austin, who combined for the kind of steady possession work this passing game leaned on, but Rae and Groves alone outproduced either departed target individually, so the ceiling here is less about replacing bodies than getting more from BJ Norman and seeing what Taden Chester adds. UAlbany finished 87th in passing yards per game despite an offense that ranked 118th in third-down conversion, so the real swing factor for 2026 is whether this receiving corps can turn Rae's and Groves's targets into the explosive plays the line's protection, 10th nationally in sacks allowed, is built to support.

Carter Moses is gone after a 26-catch, 321-yard season that made him the clear target in that room, and UAlbany replaces that production with unproven bodies rather than a like-for-like swap. Jeremy Alexandre, Matt Leaver, Nick Petrillo and Tyler Wilms are all back but arrive with no catches on record, and Diego Rodriguez joins as a high school signee out of Quince Orchard, also without a college stat line. That leaves Tom Perkovich needing tight end production to simply emerge on a passing game that managed just 187 yards per game through the air, since none of the returners have shown they can be the answer yet.

Tom Perkovich's line produced 4.38 yards per play and 88 rushing yards a game last fall, numbers that explain a 33.1% success rate and a 28.8% third-down conversion mark better than the scoreboard does. None of the four incoming linemen, Sean Kentish, Myles Coons, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Carter Giberson, has played a college snap, so the rebuild up front is starting from scratch rather than patching holes. That inexperience arrives as the group tries to fix a run game that ranked 120th nationally, and the passing lane it has to protect is the lone bright spot worth preserving, with UAlbany's 187 yards per game through the air sitting a respectable 87th.

UAlbany's front actually held up on a per-play basis last season, checking in 30th nationally in yards per play allowed even as the overall points and schedule-staying numbers lagged. That production is now scattered across eight departures, including Ibrahim Sanogo and Balansama Kamara, the two most active linemen on the two-deep. Jemel Williams arrives from La Salle to help replace those bodies up front, and Tom Perkovich's group needs him to answer quickly for a defense that had trouble keeping opponents behind schedule (107th) in 2025.

Yards per play allowed ranked a respectable 30th nationally, but too many opponent snaps still stayed on schedule (107th), and the points allowed per game (32.3, 96th) show a front seven that couldn't finish stops. Ron Holmes, Timon Akins and Chris Gales are all gone from that linebacker group, taking with them the little tackle production the room had on record. Tom Perkovich needs whoever settles in at the second level to turn those clean rushing and passing yardage numbers allowed into fewer explosive plays and more series ending on Albany's terms.

The secondary that surrendered 211 yards per game through the air and let opponents stay on schedule at a rate that ranked 107th nationally loses all nine of its tackling contributors, led by Thomas Joe-Kamara and Cam Stodghill. That is not a room getting tweaked, it is one Tom Perkovich has to rebuild almost from scratch, with an experienced secondary presence still around but no returning name carrying real proven volume. The bigger issue than raw yardage allowed is the collapse in situational discipline, a 5.35 yards-per-play mark that ranked 30th masked how often UAlbany let plays get away from it on schedule, and until someone new steps in to tighten those downs the pass defense numbers will not move much.

James Bozek made 8 of 10 field goal attempts with a long of 45 last season, and he is back to handle placekicking duties again, giving UAlbany a proven leg after a 2-10 finish. The bigger void is at punter, where Owen Lawson's 55 punts and 40.3-yard average are gone with no returning punting statistics on file to replace them. Long snapper is also unsettled with Russell Dietz departed and both Aron Reinhart and Clayton Ritter back but unproven, leaving Bozek as the lone established piece in an otherwise reshuffled kicking operation.

Colin Parachek's growth

A 2-10 team with zero portal additions and a 167th-ranked class has no shortcut this fall, so everything routes through Colin Parachek, who threw for 308 yards with just 1 touchdown against 2 interceptions last season. Griffin Woodell and Jojo Uga give him a workable ground game behind him, but if Parachek cannot cut down the turnovers and connect more consistently with Jordan Rae, UAlbany's offense stalls the same way it did in 2025.

Tom Perkovich's Home Cover Problem

UAlbany bettors have found the only shelter in the away locker room. On the road, this team covers at 50% overall and hits 60% as a road underdog, a live number given Tom Perkovich's roster rarely wins those games outright (1-5 straight up away from home). Back home the story flips, a 2-4 ATS mark with an 0-1 cover as a favorite, so the smarter play in 2026 is fading Albany at home and grabbing the number whenever it travels.