Alfred featured on D3football.com Around the Region Column
If you are looking for a team flying a bit under the radar, check out Alfred so far this season. Returning 17 starters from an 8-3 team that won an ECAC bowl game last season, the Saxons were ranked No. 29 by Kickoff this preseason.
But it took a 5-0 start in the tough Empire 8, for Alfred to crack the poll last week (for the first time since Week 6 of 2011). After sitting idle last week, the Saxons have climbed to No. 23.
Leading Alfred to their best start since 2010, a year they advanced to the D-III quarterfinals, has been senior quarterback Tyler Johnson.
“We feel pretty good,” Johnson said. “We came into the year experienced, healthy and ready to get after it.”
Johnson, from Syracuse, is in his fourth year as the starter after transferring from D-II American International where he redshirted.
It didn’t take long for the Saxon coaching staff to figure out what they had in the East Syracuse-Minoa alum during the 2013 season. With the team sitting at 1-1 and trailing 28-0 at halftime to Brockport, Johnson led Alfred to a 34-28 victory in overtime by putting up nearly 300 yards of total offense.
“We never looked back after that,” said third-year coach Bob Rankl.
To continue reading the full column CLICK HERE