UAlbany looks to make a 'statement' against soaring Campbell in CAA showdown

UAlbany celebrates a touchdown by running back Rahshan LaMons, center, during a game against Delaware State University on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, at Casey Stadium in Albany, NY. (Jim Franco/Times Union) (Jim Franco/Times Union) ALBANY - The two biggest turnaround stories in the Coastal Athletic Association this season will clash at Casey Stadium on Saturday.The University at Albany football team will take on Campbell University at noon in a game that few could have foreseen as an important CAA contest when the season began."Very big game," Great Danes junior running back Rahshan La Mons said. "It's a statement game. This is going to let us know where we (are), what we've been doing these past few weeks, how we've been progressing these past few weeks. It's just going to show everything, and I'm glad it's a home game, too."UAlbany (5-3 overall, 3-1 league) and Campbell (7-1, 4-0) were both 2-10 a year ago. The Great Danes were voted 11th, the Fighting Camels eighth in the CAA preseason coaches' poll.Now they're in CAA title contention and ranked nationally in the Football Championship Subdivision. UAlbany broke into the coaches' Top 25 poll at No. 25 this week, while Campbell is ranked No. 15 in the coaches' poll and No. 12 in the media poll.First-year UAlbany coach Tom Perkovich, hired from Division III Susquehanna, has blended the returning players and talented transfers into a team on a three-game winning streak. The Great Danes are coming off a 38-21 win over two-time defending champion Rhode Island that snapped the Rams' 17-game home winning streak, the longest in the Football Championship Subdivision."This transfer portal can help you get better quickly, if you find the right guys and put the pieces together," said Perkovich, who discounted the preseason polls. La Mons, who played for Perkovich at Susquehanna the past two years, rushed for 134 yards at Stony Brook and a career-high 196 yards at URI the past two weeks. Princeton transfer quarterback Kai Colon is 29-for-41 passing for 411 yards and five touchdowns over the past two games.Perkovich also brought in linebacker Jamari Young, who chose UAlbany over Campbell out of the transfer portal."This is definitely a special game, for sure, but as Coach says, we take it game by game," Young saidPerkovich pointed out Campbell wasn't that far away from success last season. The Fighting Camels suffered six losses by seven points or fewer last year."Coach (Braxton Harris) has done a great job of changing that place and changing the program," Perkovich said.Campbell's only loss is a 52-3 defeat to Florida of the Football Championship Subdivision on Sept. 12.In his third season, Harris said about two-thirds of his roster remains from last season, including star quarterback Kamden Sixkiller, who has thrown for 2,349 yards and 18 touchdowns."I think that's why some of the wins have flipped for us (from last season) and I think that goes to a confidence of doing hard things together," Harris said.Campbell, located in Buies Creek, N.C., joined the CAA in 2023. The Fighting Camels are playing UAlbany for the first time.They're making their second flight to the Northeast in a week. Campbell won 35-16 at the University of Maine in Orono last Saturday."We were hoping to find a really cool resort and stay there for the week, right?" Harris joked. "No, travel's definitely a part of it and that's one of the hard parts going for us as the furthest-south (football) school in the CAA going up to the North."Harris added he doesn't think travel will be a big issue in Saturday's game. The forecast calls for a 49-degree temperature at kickoff.After beating URI last week, Perkovich said the victory sent "a loud message that we're here and we're real."Beating Campbell would thrust the Great Danes deeper into the conversation for a league title or a possible at-large bid to the NCAA playoffs. Monmouth, which beat UAlbany Sept. 19, sits atop the CAA at 5-0."There's still a ton of football to be played throughout the league," Perkovich said. "This is a huge game, obviously, in our league with both teams being towards the top and (Campbell) being an undefeated league opponent, undefeated against FCS. It would be a big one for us."SubscribeThere’s more to Albany with the Times Union. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at UAlbany looks to make a 'statement' against soaring Campbell in CAA showdown.