Byline: MARK SINGELAIS Staff writer
ALBANY -- Quarterback Tim Levcik and the Robert Morris College football team have tormented the University at Albany for three years in a row.
This time, Levcik and his teammates got some help from a surprising source: UAlbany's own special teams, which played terribly Saturday at University Field in a 42-31 loss that eliminated the Great Danes from the Northeast Conference title race.
``It was maybe our most flawed special teams performance during my tenure here,'' said UAlbany head coach Bob Ford, in his 29th season. ``I take great pride in coaching special teams, and overall, I think we play fairly well. At the same time, we probably did a poor job of coaching them.''
Levcik, a 6-6 senior, completed 19 of 32 passes for 207 yards and three touchdowns as the Colonials (6-3, 6-1) beat the Great Danes (7-2, 5-2) for the third straight year.
In the three games against UAlbany, Levcik was 55-of-96 (57 percent) for 725 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions.
``I think they're an excellent football team,'' Ford said. ``That quarterback, I'm not sure he's the best we've faced, but he sure should be looked at by some pro teams.''
Levick's job was made easier by special teams gaffes that led to three Robert Morris touchdowns.
First, UAlbany's Dustin (Tex) Wilson was called for roughing Colonials' punter Jeff Carlo in the first quarter with the Great Danes holding a 7-0 lead on Charles Gill's 1-yard touchdown run.
The penalty kept alive a Colonials drive that culminated in Levcik's 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brent Hockenberry (7 catches, 106 yards) to tie the game 7-7 with 9 seconds left in the quarter.
Robert Morris held a 14-7 lead at halftime, and the most damaging error came on the second-half kickoff, a play again involving UAlbany's Wilson.
Wilson, the kick returner, fielded the ball and knelt in the end zone for what was initially called a touchback. However, the officials then ruled he caught the ball at the 1 before his momentum carried him into the end zone.
Therefore, the referees spotted the ball on the UAlbany 1, much to the chagrin of Wilson, who thought it should have been marked on the 20.
``It wasn't a very good call, but you've got to roll with the punches,'' Wilson said. ``They (Robert Morris) came back with an aggressive defense after that. They had a whole new attitude.''
Backed up against its goal line, UAlbany's offense went three-and-out, and Robert Morris' ensuing great field position led to a 9-yard TD run by Sam Dorsett (25 carries, 138 yards) for a 21-7 lead with 11:31 left in the third.
Just 1:04 later, Great Danes quarterback Ryan Roeder threw a poor pass that Ed Herriott returned 31 yards for a touchdown and a 28-7 lead.
UAlbany made a big rally with 17 unanswered points, including a 51-yard touchdown catch by senior Jay McFarlane (7 catches, 129 yards). But then came the third mistake, allowing a back-breaking 74-yard kickoff return by Stephen McNair that led to a Dorsett 7-yard TD run to give Robert Morris breathing room at 35-24.
UAlbany quarterback Marcus Rotondi of Shenendehowa was one of 14 UAlbany seniors who played their final home game.
``We didn't come out on top, so we have to live with it,'' he said. ``It definitely would have been a lot nicer to walk off the Albany field winning my last game.''
UAlbany has one game remaining, a non-conference affair at Florida Atlantic next Saturday. The Nov. 23 game at Central Connecticut, now a meaningless NEC game, will be called off.
