After more than two years away from the football field, at least under game conditions, Mike Gray sure made a good first impression for the University at Albany.
Gray, a redshirt freshman wide receiver from West Chester, Pa., caught four passes for 43 yards and a touchdown — just on the opening drive — in UAlbany's season opener Friday night. He finished with seven catches for 73 yards in the Great Danes' 24-20 victory at New Hampshire and earned Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week honors.
"We knew early in camp that Mike was going be very difficult to keep out of the lineup," coach Greg Gattuso said. "He was the only receiver we had through camp that stayed healthy, that took every snap that was given to him. He understands the toughness of the game, and he made tough catches.
"His first third-down conversion catch was a very difficult catch. It was high, he had a guy draped on him. He fought through the physicality of the corner and made a great play that moved the sticks. He had a great opening drive for us."
Gattuso has h0ped some new targets would emerge for his sophomore quarterback, Jeff Undercuffler, and a few did. Tyler Oedekoven (10 catches, 81 yards) and Mohamed Jabbie (two catches 16 yards) helped Undercuffler to a 23-for-36, 192-yard, three-touchdown performance against UNH.
"Those three guys definitely stepped up during this spring camp," Undercuffler said. "We knew that we lost a lot of guys last year on the offensive side of the ball, but they did a great job just learning all the little intricacies that we have here in this offense."
"There’s a lot of competition at the wide receiver position," Gray said. "I know that if I'm not working, someone else is. Playing under three or four great receivers last year — like Juwan Green who's in the NFL now (Falcons' practice squad) — that's just another piece of motivation to never give up, that the hard work's going to pay off."
Gray, who is 6 feet, 195 pounds, was the epitome of a multi-sport athlete at West Chester East. In his senior year, he competed in football (46 catches, 573 yards, 6 TDs), ice hockey (two goals, one assist), basketball (10 points, 12 rebounds per game), lacrosse (two goals) and track (100 in :11.88, 200 in :23.73). "If I'm not in school or with my family," he said. "I'm out doing something, playing some sort of sport.”
"“When we recruited Mike out of high school," Gattuso said, "he was a highly sought-after kid as a walk-on for us. We thought he could turn into a good player. We weren't sure if he was going to be a safety or a receiver at the time, but we liked him in high school. We thought he was underrecruited. Coach Davis (Joe, associate head coach) did a great job recruiting him. Coach Davis understands the type of player we went on our football team, and we felt that Mike fit that bill."
The Danes redshirted Gray in 2019-20, then had their fall 2020 schedule canceled because of COVID-19. So it was a long time between appearances for Gray.
"It's tough to keep working hard when there's a lot of uncertainty in the world," Gray said, "but knowing that feeling of going out there and winning a football game, knowing how good that feels is what you've got to keep in your head during that time. It felt so good to get it back out there and get a W."
"You have to take your hat off to him," Gattuso said. "He saw an opportunity to come in and win a job, and he came in and won the job. We want kids that want to fight for jobs, that are going to produce every day and understand the importance of being a great player every day, not just on occasion.”
UAlbany redshirt freshman wide receiver Mike Gray looks to elude New Hampshire cornerback Derek Thompson in a Colonial Athletic Association football game Friday, March 5, 2021, in Durham, N.H. (China Wong/UNH athletics)
China Wong/UNH athletics
UAlbany redshirt freshman wide receiver Mike Gray races down the field against New Hampshire in a Colonial Athletic Association football game Friday, March 5, 2021, in Durham, N.H. (China Wong/UNH athletics)
CHINA WONG
UAlbany redshirt freshman wide receiver Mike Gray dives for the pylon to score the Great Danes' first touchdown on a 23-yard reception from Jeff Undercuffler against New Hampshire in a Colonial Athletic Association football game Friday, March 6, 2021, in Durham, N.H. The UNH defender is sophomore cornerback Randall Harris. Gray caught four passes for 43 yards on the drive. (China Wong/UNH athletics)
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