ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Greg Gattuso’s bunch certainly turned some heads in their Coastal Athletic Association opener Saturday against Villanova University – a team that, at the time, was ranked 16th in the FCS, according to the Stats Perform FCS Top-25 poll.

The Danes clearly weren’t phased by that number; they didn’t just beat the Wildcats, they dominated them 31-10, garnering some well-deserved national attention. UAlbany had the third-most receiving votes (117) of any team outside this week’s Stats Perform poll.

UAlbany sits at a modest 3-2 with its’ only two losses coming against FBS programs. The start to the season and conference slate may be a surprise to many. Back in late July, the Danes were picked to finish 11th out of 15 teams in the CAA preseason poll.

But to Gattuso, Saturday’s performance didn’t serve as any sort of statement to the league, or country, for that matter. It was just business as usual.

“I’m not in to statements; we just played a really good football game against a good team,” said Gattuso. “We’ve had five quality games. We wish we were cleaner in Morgan St., but I think there were some extenuating circumstances. At the end of the day, if we keep playing good, solid football, we’re a pretty good team. That’s what I want us to be, and I think that’s what we’re becoming. You know, it doesn’t do us any good to go down and not play well this week; Towson at New Hampshire, so we gotta go down there and just play the way we’ve been playing.”

Two weeks after a road tilt in Baltimore with Morgan St., UAlbany returns to Maryland Saturday when it meets up with Towson. The Danes will follow that up with another road trip in Week 7 to New Hampshire. The team is seeking its’ first road conference win since Nov. 23, 2019, when it took down Stony Brook University.