University at Albany football team hopes for win at Hawaii along with payday

The University at Albany football team is making its longest road trip in history today — and receiving $150,000 plus travel expenses for doing so.

The Great Danes are scheduled to play at Hawaii at 6 p.m. local time (midnight on the East Coast).

WAMC obtained the contract for the game signed by both schools using a Freedom of Information Act request.

For the game against the University of Hawai’i, the contract first signed by both colleges in Feb. 2018 stipulates that Hawai’i will pay UAlbany $150,000 within 60 days of the contest. Hawai’i also agreed to arrange and cover travel for a UAlbany traveling party of 120, procure 60 hotel rooms for three nights, travel to and from the airport, hotel and athletic facilities, and provide 400 tickets to the game.

The Rainbow Warriors are the latest in a string of Football Bowl Subdivision opponents UAlbany has scheduled early in the season, including a 22-16 upset of Buffalo in 2016. The Great Danes lost to Pitt in 2018, Syracuse in 2021, and Baylor in 2022.

Hawai’i finished 3-10 last season, including a 2-6 mark in the Mountain West Conference. Head coach Timmy Chang says UAlbany will pose a challenge.

“Albany’s a good team,” he said. “They’re getting transfers, they’re getting guys who can play the part, they’re gonna come in here early and fly in, and that sends a message to me that they want to win the game, and we gotta be ready.”

The Great Danes play in the Coastal Athletic Association at the Football Championship Subdivision level. Coming off a 3-8 season in 2022, including 2-6 in conference play, UAlbany was picked 11^th of 15 in the preseason coaches’ poll.

The nearly 5,000-mile trip to Honolulu comes four decades after UAlbany head coach Greg Gattuso’s first. He played for Penn State in the 1983 Aloha Bowl against Washington. But the school announced this week he wouldn’t be making the journey this time, due to illness. An assistant coach will be calling the plays.

It’s not just football for UAlbany, though, according to a video it shared to social media.

Week two included another challenge for UAlbany — a visit to a second FBS-level opponent, Marshall. The Great Danes lost that game 21-17. According to the contract for that matchup, also obtained by WAMC using a Freedom of Information request, UAlbany was paid $350,000 for traveling to West Virginia for the matchup.

UAlbany kicked off its season at home with a win against Fordham Aug. 26, its last home game until hosting Villanova Sept. 30.