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Bye offers no relief for UAlbany football, blown out again by URI

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Bye offers no relief for UAlbany football, blown out again by URI


UAlbany running back Griffin Woodell looks for running room against Rhode Island on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, at Casey Stadium in Albany, NY. (Jim Franco/Times Union)

Jim Franco/Times Union

ALBANY — The University at Albany football team is no match for first-place Rhode Island, and having a bye last week couldn’t solve that problem.

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With extra rest and preparation following their worst loss in the Stony Brook rivalry on Oct. 4, the Great Danes stumbled to a 58-17 loss to URI on Saturday, their most lopsided defeat in a Coastal Athletic Association game.

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UAlbany committed four turnovers on two interceptions and two fumbles while falling to 1-6 overall, 0-3 in the CAA.

“I figured we would (play a cleaner game),” UAlbany interim coach Jared Ambrose said. “We made too many mental errors in the game for a team that’s this good. And when you’re playing teams that have this amount of talent, you don’t have that luxury. You have to be ice cold, locked in and no errors. They (URI) saw the benefits of that.”

The margin of defeat surpassed UAlbany’s 37-0 home defeat against CAA rival Villanova in 2015. The Great Danes entered the league in 2013.

UAlbany has lost its three CAA games this season by a combined score of 129-35, including the 47-12 setback to SUNY rival Stony Brook two weeks ago.

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“We’ve got five football games left,” UAlbany redshirt junior running back Griffin Woodell said. “That’s five games we’re trying to win.”

Woodell, a Glens Falls native, rushed for a team-high 62 yards and took a short pass from Jack Shields for a 46-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

UAlbany trailed URI 38-3 before Woodell scored and backup quarterback Aidan Semo added a 2-yard touchdown run to get within 38-17 with 2:42 left in the third.

“They showed fight and they will continue to fight,” Ambrose said. “No doubt it. I don’t question my team’s effort at all and I do not think that 41-point differential is an accurate depiction of who this football team is.”

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After stopping UAlbany on downs to start the fourth quarter, URI (6-2, 4-0) poured on three straight touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The final indignity came when freshman running back Keon Kenner fumbled on his fourth career carry and URI’s Leisaan Hibbert ran it back 47 yards for a score with 51 seconds left.

Even though UAlbany struggled last season, the Great Danes nearly upset URI on the road. They jumped out to a 17-0 lead before the Rams pulled out a 20-17 lead.

Saturday’s rematch was never really in doubt.

“I think it’s a lapse in focus,” Woodell said. “I think we’re struggling focusing on what our assignments are and what we need to do.”

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UAlbany senior safety Denzel Patrick, who had a team-high 11 tackles, blamed the blowout on a lack of discipline.

“No matter how many points are on the board, I feel a loss is a loss,” Patrick said. “We’ve just got to be able to look at film tomorrow and keep pushing.”

URI receivers broke wide open against UAlbany’s coverage. Greg Gaines, who had no receiving touchdowns entering the game, grabbed scoring passes of 32 and 42 yards in the second quarter.

Rams quarterback Devin Farrell finished 19-of-20 passing for 333 yards and four touchdowns.

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“When you battle a quarterback like him, as veteran as he is, you’ve got to throw stuff at him that’s going to give him a hard time,” Ambrose said. “We busted a couple of coverages. I think (defensive coordinator) Bill (Nesselt’s) plan was a solid one. We’ve just got to execute it.”

Shields, in his first game back from a knee injury, was 12-of-26 for 192 yards with a touchdown. His two interceptions both came on deflected passes.

“Not going to excuse our performance because I have to own everything this program does,” Ambrose said. “But those guys (URI) are as as you’re going to find in this conference.”

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UAlbany returns to action at Villanova next Saturday.



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Rhode Island

2 dead, 1 seriously hurt after crash on I-95 South in Warwick

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2 dead, 1 seriously hurt after crash on I-95 South in Warwick


WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.

Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.

According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.

The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.

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The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.

A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.

State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.

The investigation remains ongoing.

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Judge rejects DOJ push for Rhode Island voter information

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Judge rejects DOJ push for Rhode Island voter information


A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.

Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.

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McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.

“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.

Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”

“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”

The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.

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The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.

The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.

At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.

The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.

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Single Dad Says Grandparents’ Rights Trial Has Cost Him More Than $500K, but He'll Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ to Keep Daughter Safe

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Single Dad Says Grandparents’ Rights Trial Has Cost Him More Than 0K, but He'll Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ to Keep Daughter Safe


As the two-year anniversary of his wife’s death approaches, widowed single father Scott Naso is sounding an alarm to fellow parents across the country — and especially in Rhode Island, where he lives with his now 4-year-old daughter, Laila.



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