Bucknell University Athletics
Pair of Streaks on the Line as Bucknell Football Hosts Penn this Saturday
10/6/2004 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 6, 2004
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Bucknell hopes to keep two winning streaks alive this week as defending Ivy League champion Pennsylvania visits Lewisburg for a Parents' Weekend showdown. The Bison have won three straight games overall and 17 in a row against non-conference foes at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Bucknell is off to a 3-1 start for the first time since 2001 following consecutive wins over Cornell, Columbia and Georgetown, the latter a 35-19 decision in its Patriot League opener last week. Penn is 2-1 thus far, which is newsworthy because the Quakers had not lost a game since the 2002 season. They were 10-0 last season and had the nation's longest winning streak snapped at 17 games by Villanova two weeks ago.
TOURING THE HERD
• ON THE SIDELINE: Head coach Tim Landis posted a 6-6 record in his first year at Bucknell in 2003 and led the Bison to a third-place finish in the Patriot League. Landis is now 62-59-1 (.512) in his career, which also includes head coaching stints at Davidson (1993-99) and St. Mary's (2000-02). He is 0-1 lifetime against Penn.
• THE OFFENSE: It was a case of the good, the bad and the ugly in last week's 35-19 victory over Georgetown. The Bison fumbled eight times, lost four, including one at their own 2-yard line, and had two interceptions returned for touchdowns. Despite the turnover struggles the Bison came up with a huge 14-play fourth-quarter drive chewing 6:40 off the clock that upped a 21-19 lead to a two-possession game.
• UNDER CENTER: QB Daris Wilson has two 100-yard rushing games and currently leads the nation in rushing yards among quarterbacks at 90.5 yards per game. Despite the two costly interceptions last week, Wilson has also had a terrific season throwing the ball. He has completed 26 of 35 passes for 386 yards and five touchdowns. His 191.21 QB rating would lead the nation if he had enough attempts.
• BACKS & RECEIVERS: Injuries to fullbacks Blamah Sarnor and Frank Lazio have forced some shuffling in the backfield. This week Anthony Lovelace is expected to start at FB. A solid blocker, Lovelace had zero varsity carries entering the Georgetown game but carried 17 times for 95 yards after Lazio left with a hand injury in the second quarter. Mike Cangelosi moves to slotback this week, where he will start opposite Kenny Davis. Bucknell rushed for 233 yards last week and ranks fifth nationally in rushing at 253.0. The receiving corps has been very solid, with WR Nisan Trotter and TE Ian Nutt combining for six of the team's seven touchdown receptions.
• THE O-LINE: Sophomore Joel Hoffer started in place of injured Stephen Watts at center, but he left last week's game early with a sprained knee. Eric Becker, who is coming back from an elbow injury, finished up at center last week and could start there this week if needed. The rest of the line -- tackles Jon Scharf and Justin Gibson and guards Aaron DeGraffenreidt and Stefan Niemczyk -- is very experienced and performing well.
• THE DEFENSE: After performing very well for three games, Bucknell's defense reached new heights last week, completely stifling Georgetown's offense. The Hoyas, who scored 19 points on two interceptions for TDs and a 2-yard drive after a fumble, were held to a paltry 94 total yards heading into their final possession, when they hit a tipped Hail Mary pass and finished with 162 yards, 74 rushing and 88 passing. Bucknell ranks leads the league and ranks 12th nationally in total defense, allowing 275.5 yards per game.
• DEFENSIVE FRONT: Bucknell picked up four sacks last week, including a career-high three from DE Brandon Bailey, and held Georgetown to a meager 1.8 yards per rush. ILB Dorian Petersen led the defense with nine tackles, including two for loss, while DE Sean Conover also picked up a sack.
• DEFENSIVE SECONDARY: The Bison defensive backs did not record an interception last week, but cornerbacks Dante Ross and Jerome Acy along with FS Virgil Rush, threw a blanket over the Georgetown receivers. Two Hoya QBs completed only 6 of 19 passes for 88 yards.
• SPECIAL TEAMS: With the offense struggling for much of the day, Dante Ross and the kickoff return unit not only helped pull out a victory, but the unit practically rewrote the school record book. Ross exploded for two touchdowns, covering 97 and 85 yards, that turned a 13-7 deficit into a 21-13 lead. Ryan Berry had another solid day punting, pinning the Hoyas inside the 10-yard line twice and booting a season-long 47-yarder.
BISON FOOTBALL NOTES & NOTABLES
• REVENGE, PART III: A season ago the Bison dropped three agonizing road games against Ivy League foes Cornell, Columbia and Penn, all by a combined six points. Bucknell has avenged two of those with home victories over Cornell and Columbia in recent weeks, and this Saturday the Bison will look to make it 3-for-3 against the Ancient Eight when Penn visits Lewisburg.
• DANTE'S INFERNO: Bucknell junior Dante Ross entered last week's game at Georgetown with a punt return TD to his credit, coming last season against Cornell, but despite numerous close calls he had never taken a kickoff return to the end zone. The odds finally caught up to the Hoyas, however, as Ross shredded their coverage unit for TDs covering 97 and 85 yards. Ross, who was The Sports Network National I-AA Special Teams Player of the Week, set numerous records with his performance ...
• He became first player in Bucknell and Patriot League history to return two kickoffs for TDs in the same game. In fact, no other player even had two in the same season, and he joined Bucknell's Terrence Parham, Fordham's Javarus Dudley and Lehigh's Ron Jean as the only PL players to have two in a career.
• Ross accumulated 198 kickoff return yards on three attempts against Georgetown, smashing the Bucknell single-game record of 172, previously set by Earl Beecham against New Hampshire in 1985.
• His 97-yard bolt was the third-longest return in school history, surpassed only by 99-yard returns by Justin Brumbaugh against Dickinson in 1929 and Parham against Towson in 1996.
• Thanks to Saturday's record-setting performance Bucknell took over the national lead in kickoff return average at 29.7 yards per attempt. Amazingly, entering the game the Bison ranked last in the Patriot League and 97th nationally in that category. Individually, Ross ranks fourth nationally at 35.9 yards per return.
• Ross also returned six punts for 69 yards, including a near-breakaway that resulted in a 39-yard return that set up a short field goal attempt.
• AGAINST THE IVIES: Bucknell owns a 34-86-3 all-time record against Ivy League opponents, but the Bison are 11-6 against the Ancient Eight since 1997.
• A RARE DOUBLE: Bucknell enters this week's contest leading the Patriot League in both total offense (359.0) and total defense (275.5). Statistically, the Bison also lead the conference in rushing offense (253.0), net punting (34.9), punt returns (11.2), kickoff returns (29.7), passing defense (151.8) and passing efficiency (207.16).
• SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE: While the Bison lead the conference and rank fifth nationally in rushing at 253.0 yards per game, they will go up against a terrific Penn defense this week. The Quakers rank third in the nation in rushing defense, yielding a mere 63.7 yards per game. After pitching a shutout against Dartmouth last week, Penn also leads all of I-AA in scoring defense at 11.3 points per game.
• FILLING IN NICELY: With Bucknell's top two fullbacks sidelined with injuries by the second quarter of last week's game at Georgetown, Tim Landis turned to senior Anthony Lovelace in a pinch. Lovelace, who began his collegiate career as a linebacker, had never carried the football in a varsity game until last week, when he ran 17 times for 95 yards, including a 38-yard gallop that was the longest run from scrimmage by any Bison player all season. Lovelace had seen some time as a blocking back this season, but he will likely carry the every-down load this week against Penn.
• SOMETIMES YOU FEEL LIKE A NUTT: Senior TE Ian Nutt has six receptions this season, with four going for touchdowns and the other two for first downs. He snagged one TD each against Villanova and Cornell, then had two TD grabsagainst Columbia. Nutt, who had only one career scoring catch entering the season, was the first Bison to have four TD receptions in the first three weeks of a season since Lester Erb notched six through three weeks of the 1990 season. He also caught a 2-point conversion pass against Cornell and ranks fourth in the Patriot League in scoring with 26 points in four contests.
• DEFENSIVE RESURGENCE: After ranking among the top defenses in Division I-AA during most of the Tom Gadd era, the Bucknell defense struggled at times over the last two seasons. But based on four games, the Bison may be back to that level. Bucknell has allowed just 61 points through four games, its fewest since 2000. Bucknell currently ranks 11th nationally in scoring defense allowing 15.3 points per game.
• HOME COOKING: The Bison are now 36-14 (.720) in games played at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium since 1995. Overall, Bucknell has a stellar 306-144-13 (.675) record at home, including a 6-1 record under Tim Landis. Bucknell has not lost a non-conference home game since 1996, a 30-21 overtime loss to Penn. The Bison have won 17 straight against non-Patriot League foes at home.
• IN THE CLASSROOM: Bucknell senior OL Justin Gibson is a nominee for the AFCA Scholar-Athlete Award. Gibson is a Dean's List student in Bucknell's accounting program. The Bison boasted a league-high 24 members of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll last season, and the team fashioned a solid 3.11 combined grade-point average last spring.
• UP NEXT: The Bison are home for the fourth time in five weeks next Saturday against Patriot League rival Lafayette. The Leopards are 3-2 this season, including an impressive road win at Richmond. Lafayette defeated Bucknell 35-17 in Easton, Pa., last season.
• BISON BRIEFS: Freshman DL Ryan Walsh saw his most extensive action of the season last week, finishing with three tackles and a pass deflection ... DL Brandon Bailey's three sacks were one shy of the school record, set by Ed Burman (twice in 1995), Cecil Boone (1993) and Shawn Redd (1998) ... Bucknell opponents are just 4-for-8 on extra-point tries and 0-for-1 on two-point conversion attempts this season ... stunningly, Bucknell has a -8 turnover ratio in its three wins this season and a +2 ratio in its lone loss ... the Bison converted 10 of 15 third downs last week, while holding Georgetown to 3 of 15.
