Bucknell University
Lafayette
Bucknell Football Falls Inches Short Again as Lafayette Prevails, 14-13
10/16/2004 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 16, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - One week after falling in double overtime to Penn, the Bucknell football team experienced heartbreak again when placekicker Ryan Korn was tackled at the 1-yard line after recovering his own blocked field goal attempt on the last play of a 14-13 loss to Lafayette Saturday at soggy Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
Joe McCourt ran for 167 yards and a touchdown to lead Lafayette (5-2, 2-0), which took over sole possession of first place in the Patriot League. The Bison, led by 106 rushing yards from Frank Lazio, fell to 3-3, 1-1.
After Rick Ziska missed a 41-yard field goal attempt with 2:42 remaining, Bucknell backup quarterback John Henry Jackson marched the Bison 54 yards in 12 plays, none bigger than a 12-yard pass to Ian Nutt on fourth-and-3 that kept the drive alive. That set up a potential winning field goal attempt by Korn with 0:03 showing on the clock.
After both teams used timeouts, Lafayette's Joe Ort, a 6-4 wide receiver, blocked Korn's 39-yard attempt. But the richochet bounced right back to Korn, who broke into the clear momentarily before being dragged down by Torian Johnson at the 1-yard line just shy of the right pylon.
The unusual, frenetic finish triggered a wild celebration on the visitors' sideline, while the Bucknell side was left in stunned disbelief.
A 61-yard touchdown gallop by Peter Kaufman and a 25-yard field goal by Korn sandwiched around a 10-yard scoring run from Lafayette quarterback Joe Maurer gave Bucknell a 10-7 lead at the half. Turnovers cost both teams in the first 30 minutes, however.
With a steady, blowing rain starting just after kickoff, the Bison fumbled on four of their first five possessions, one coming at the Lafayette 8 and another at the 39. Trailing 7-0, the Leopards appeared to be ready to turn the fourth fumble into its first points of the day midway through the second quarter, but McCourt fumbled it back at the Bison 1-yard line.
After a three-and-out and a short punt, McCourt ran 23 yards to the 13 and two plays later Maurer scored on a quarterback draw to tie the game at 7 with 3:44 left in the half.
Jackson, who entered the game after Bucknell's fourth miscue of the half, led the drive to a short field goal with 0:05 left before halftime.
After passing for just 33 yards in the first 42 minutes of the game, Maurer completed consecutive passes of 22 yards to Ort and 28 yards to Justin Lauver to set up Lafayette's go-ahead touchdown. McCourt's 6-yard run with 1:20 left in the third period gave the Leopards a 14-10 lead.
Bucknell pulled within one point on Korn's 37-yard field goal with 13:04 to play. Despite a handful of long runs from McCourt, the Bison defense stopped Lafayette on downs and survived Ziska's missed field goal later in the quarter, setting up the wild finish.
The Bison outgained the Leopards 402-287, including 274-197 on the ground.
Maurer completed 7 of 10 passes for 90 yards, while Jackson finished 9 of 20 for 105 yards. Bucknell starting quarterback Daris Wilson was 3 of 5 for 23 yards before giving way to Jackson in the second quarter. Nisan Trotter had a game-high six catches for 62 yards for the Bison.
Bucknell's three losses this season have come by a combined 14 points, including a six-point loss to Villanova in which the Bison were stopped on fourth down inside the 1-yard line late in the game and the 32-25 double-overtime setback to Penn last week.
After drawing a record crowd of 10,602 to Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium for the Penn game last week, the rainstorm limited Saturday's attendance to 3,026. The stadium celebrates its 80th birthday on Monday.
Next week the Bison travel to Lehigh, while Lafayette visits Fordham.
