Albany

Quarterback Vince Testaverde transferred to the University at Albany football program last year to have a chance to start, something that hadn't happened in his two previous stints at Texas Tech and Miami.

"I was obviously going to have to work for it,'' Testaverde said. "Nothing was going to be given to me. But I think I had a good idea that if I came here, I would have a good, solid shot of running with the (first team) and becoming the starter."

It took some time, but that day finally came on Thursday, when head coach Greg Gattuso named him the starter for the season opener at Pittsburgh on Sept. 1. Gattuso said he plans to stick with Testaverde for the first four games and then re-evaluate.

"We have to give him time to go,'' Gattuso said.

Testaverde is the son of retired NFL quarterback Vinny Testaverde, who played 21 professional seasons after winning the Heisman Trophy at the University of Miami in 1986.

Testaverde, a fifth-year senior, beat out incumbent Will Brunson, a junior, and sophomore Nyc Burns for the job in training camp.

"It was very competitive,'' Gattuso said. "He's not being anointed the King of England, and it's not a lifetime appointment. But he's done a good job. I thought since he got here last year until now, there's been a massive improvement in everything he's learned and everything he's doing. He's managed the game well. He's made big throws. He's come a long way."

Vince Testaverde will appear in his first game since Nov. 1, 2014, when he was a non-scholarship freshman at Texas Tech and came off the bench in his only college appearance. He was 15-for-26 for 116 yards and an interception against Texas after entering due to an injury to the starter.

"Even though I don't get hit in practice, I still treat it like it's live,'' Testaverde said. "Honestly, I think the first couple hits that happen, it's going to knock some urgency into me."

Vince Testaverde will don No. 14 as a tribute to his father, who wore that number at Miami. Vince spent two seasons as a walk-on at Miami and didn't play before transferring to UAlbany last year. He sat out last year under NCAA transfer rules.

"It's going to be awesome,'' Testaverde said. "We just have this bond with this number. It means something special to us. Even that I had it at Miami, but I didn't really play there, it's special. But now that I get to wear it in a game, I think it's even cooler."

The announcement doesn't come as a surprise because Testaverde worked with the first team for the last several days of training camp. Burns got a chance on Monday and Tuesday in practice, but the coaching staff decided the Oklahoma junior college transfer wasn't quite ready.

Brunson started all 11 games last year, but UAlbany went 4-7 last season with an offense that ranked ninth in the Colonial Athletic Association in passing at 186.5 yards per game with nine touchdown passes and 11 interceptions.

"As a player, as a quarterback, you just always have to be ready when your name is called,'' Brunson said. "Vince has earned it. He's had a really good camp. But I've still got to be ready to play no matter what. That's how I'm looking at it."

Gattuso said he sensed at first that Testaverde didn't believe he'd be given a legitimate opportunity to win the job. He told Testaverde last spring that he looked like someone waiting for bad things to happen.

"We stick to a whoever's playing the best policy here, and it's no different at any position,'' Gattuso said. "From the end of spring until now, he's been the best quarterback, so he's been rewarded."

Testaverde said it wasn't easy running the scout team in practice to prepare the first-team defense while he sat out last fall.

"I just took it like a learning experience,'' Testaverde said. "You treat it like a game because it's 11-on-11. I kind of knew my time would come. It was just really a waiting game."

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