Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell and Fordham Set to Clash on Homecoming Day at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium
11/3/2004 7:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 3, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Two teams fighting to stay afloat in the middle of the congested Patriot League standings square off as Bucknell hosts Fordham in its annual Homecoming Day contest. At 2-2 in conference play, the Bison are just a half-game behind Fordham and Colgate, who occupy a share of third place in the PL. Bucknell used a big second half to slam the door on a three-game losing streak last week at Holy Cross. The Bison scored the game's final 21 points and outscored the Crusaders 28-7 in the second half en route to a 42-27 victory. Fordham also won big last week, cruising past Georgetown 36-6 in the Bronx.
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 63-62-1 (.504) in his career, which also includes head coaching stints at Davidson (1993-99) and St. Mary's (2000-02). He is 1-0 lifetime against Fordham.
• THE OFFENSE: Bucknell topped the 400-yard plateau in total offense for the fourth time this season in last week's win at Holy Cross. Of their 64 offensive plays, 61 came via the rush. But the way the Bison dominated Holy Cross up front, they did not require much of a passing attack. Led by Daris Wilson's record-setting day, the Bison piled up a season-high 413 ground yards. Also of note, Bucknell converted 9 of 11 third downs and was not penalized offensively.
• UNDER CENTER: After being held to just 50 rushing yards on 59 carries over the previous three weeks, QB Daris Wilson broke out in a big way last week with 252 rushing yards and five TDs against Holy Cross. This week's Sports Network Co-Offensive Player of the Week, Wilson achieved the highest rushing total in the nation by a QB. He upped his average to 83.0 rushing yards per game, which is second in I-AA among quarterbacks. Wilson has also demonstrated a very accurate throwing arm this season. He is completing 67.6% of his passes (46-68) and if he had enough attempts, his 153.67 pass efficiency rating would rank eighth nationally.
• BACKS & RECEIVERS: Bucknell has missed the services of hard-running FB Blamah Sarnor, who has played in only three games this season and remains out with a fractured kneecap. The backfield received a bit of a shakeup last week, with freshman FB Josh DeStefano making his first career start. Frank Lazio, who had been filling in at fullback, moved back to slotback opposite Kenny Davis, with Mike Cangelosi sliding back to wide receiver. SB Peter Kaufman is also in the backfield mix, and he ran for this third TD in as many weeks at Holy Cross. The receiving corps has been very solid all year, with WR Nisan Trotter and WR/TE Ian Nutt combining for seven of the team's nine touchdown receptions and numerous key receptions on third and fourth down.
• THE O-LINE: The offensive line saw some shifting last week as well, with Stephen Watts moving from center out to right tackle and Joel Hoffer earning the starting nod at center. Hoffer performed well there earlier this season when Watts was sidelined with a knee injury, and in an effort to get the best five lineman on the field, both Watts and Hoffer were in the lineup against Holy Cross. Tackle Jon Scharf and guard Aaron DeGraffenreidt have started every game thus far, while sophomore Stefan Niemczyk has grasped a starting role at left guard in recent weeks. The line was terrific last week, giving up no sacks or penalties while helping the offense roll up 445 total yards.
• THE DEFENSE: After struggling against Holy Cross' short passing attack in the first half, the Bison defense stiffened in the second half, allowing only 103 total yards and just seven points. On the season the Bison are allowing 336.9 yards and 21.8 points per game.
• DEFENSIVE FRONT: DE Sean Conover and DT Corey Mayo were at their best last week against Holy Cross. Conover registered his second straight three-sack performance and led BU with 11 tackles, while Mayo had a sack and a key blocked field goal just before halftime. Freshman DT Ryan Walsh has made his first three career starts in each of the last three weeks.
• DEFENSIVE SECONDARY: FS Virgil Rush and CBs Jerome Acy and Dante Ross are all veterans having outstanding seasons. Rush leads the team and ranks fourth in the PL in tackles with 69, while Acy is just behind with 64. Acy's nine pass breakups rank T-4th in the league.
• SPECIAL TEAMS: K Ryan Korn is now 23-for-23 on extra points this season (4-8 FG). P Ryan Berry is averaging 37.3 yards per boot this season (34.0 net). Led by electric CB Dante Ross, who has two touchdowns this season, Bucknell ranks 11th nationally in kickoff returns.
BISON FOOTBALL NOTES & NOTABLES:
• HONORS: Senior QB Daris Wilson was named The Sports Network Division I-AA Co-Offensive Player of the Week as well as the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after his record-setting afternoon in Worcester, Mass., on Saturday. Wilson rushed for 252 yards and five touchdowns on 31 carries, and he also completed 2 of 3 passes for 32 yards. Among some of the milestones set by Wilson in the game:
• He broke the Bucknell and Patriot League records for rushing yards in a game by a quarterback, eclipsing his own record of 199 yards, set at Fordham last season.
• The 252 rushing yards are the most in Division I-AA by a QB this season and eighth-most overall. It is also the second-highest single-game rushing performance in school history, behind only Jabu Powell's 282-yard showing against Cornell in 2000. It was the seventh-highest total in PL annals.
• The five touchdowns were the most by a Bucknell player since Mitch Farbstein had five against Lafayette in 1971. The only BU player with more was Hall of Famer Clarke Hinkle, who had eight against Dickinson in 1929.
• The 30 points scored are tied for second-most in the nation this season.
• Wilson scored on runs of 1, 3, 10, 15 and 8 yards. He had all four of Bucknell's second-half touchdowns as the Bison outscored the Crusaders 28-7 over the final 30 minutes. Bucknell trailed 27-21 late in the third quarter before Wilson rattled off the final three scores of the game over the final 21 minutes.
• WELCOME HOME: It is fitting that this week's game against Fordham falls on Homecoming, as first-year Rams head coach Ed Foley is a 1989 graduate of Bucknell. A three-year starter and a team captain as a senior, Foley earned the 1987 John Campana Award as Bucknell's top offensive lineman. Foley is only the second Bucknell grad ever to face his alma mater as a head coach. In 1960, Lefty James '30 led Cornell to a 15-7 win over the Bison in Ithaca, N.Y.
• TWO FOOTBALL ALUMS JOIN HALL OF FAME: On Saturday morning two former Bison football players will be inducted into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame. Clifford "Mickey" Melberger '61 was an outstanding halfback and team captain of Bucknell's 1960 football team that finished 7-2, outscored its opponents 188-59 and won the Lambert Cup as the top team in the East. Melberger was Bucknell's leading rusher and led the Middle Atlantic Conference in scoring that year. He received honorable mention All-MAC and Associate Press Little All-America recognition. Hassen Abdellah '80 graduated as the school record holder with 3,484 all-purpose yards (he now ranks fourth). He compiled 1,543 career rushing yards, graduating in the top 10 all-time. Abdellah led the team in scoring with nine touchdowns in 1978 and led the squad in receiving yards (129) in 1979. He averaged 121 all-purpose yards per game in 1978 and averaged nearly 10 yards per punt return during his career. In one memorable game against Lehigh during his senior year, Abdellah had a 91-yard touchdown run and an 83-yard punt return for a touchdown. Joining Melberger and Abdellah in the Hall of Fame are swimming star Margaret (Grunow) Conze '93, All-America wrestler Bobby Ferraro '94 and standout soccer defender Gary Toubman '76.
• GADD MEMORIAL TO BE UNVEILED: Just prior to this week's kickoff against Fordam, there will be a special pregame ceremony to unveil a memorial in honor of former head coach Tom Gadd. The memorial will be located in the closed end of Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Tom's wife, Carol, and sons, Dan and Jeff, will be returning for the ceremony.
• RUSHING RECORD WITHIN REACH: Last season Bucknell fell one yard short of breaking the team record for rushing yards in a season (2909 in 1951). The Bison have 1,969 yards through eight games thus far, and would need to average 313.3 yards over their final three contests to break the record.
• SACK ATTACK: Junior DE Sean Conover, a native of Whitman, Mass., returned to his home state last week and recorded three QB sacks for the second straight game. The three sacks are one shy of the school single-game record, and he now has seven sacks in the last three games and nine on the season. He ranks third in the Patriot League in sacks and tied for second with teammate DT Corey Mayo in tackles for loss with 12. The Bison single-season sacks record is 14.5 by Ed Burman in 1995. As a team, the Bison have 19 sacks this season. They had 14 all of last season.
• RUSH HOUR: Senior FS Virgil Rush continues to lead the Bison in tackles with 69 through eight games. Rush is already just three hits shy of his career high, set last season. Rush also leads the team with three interceptions, and he ranks T-6th on Bucknell's career list with 10 pickoffs.
• HOME COOKING: Despite rare home losses in each of the last two home outings, the Bison are 36-16 (.692) in games played at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium since 1995. Overall, Bucknell has a stellar 306-146-13 (.672) record at home, including a 6-3 record under Tim Landis. The Bison had won 17 straight against non-Patriot League foes at home until the 32-25 double-overtime loss to Penn three weeks ago. The Bison have lost home games in consecutive weeks for the first time since 1996, when William & Mary, Harvard and Penn won in Lewisburg on consecutive weeks.
• UP NEXT: The Bison host defending Patriot League champion and NCAA finalist Colgate in their home finale next Saturday at 1 p.m. Bucknell will look to avenge a 50-6 drubbing at the hands of the Raiders last season in Hamilton, N.Y.
• BISON BRIEFS: Freshman FB Josh DeStefano made his first career start last week ... the Bison punted only once against Holy Cross, that a 44-yarder by P Ryan Berry ... the win was the first by a road team in the series since 1998, when the Bison won 30-14 in Worcester ... DE Andrew Decker came up with one of the biggest plays of the day on special teams ... just after the Bison fell behind 27-21 late in the third quarter, Decker fielded a bouncing kickoff and returned it 65 yards to the Holy Cross 13, setting up the go-ahead TD just two plays later ... Bucknell continues to be troubled by turnovers, losing four fumbles last week ... stunningly, the Bison are just 1-3 this season when winning the turnover battle, and 3-1 when committing more turnovers.
• HEARTBREAKERS: In its record-setting 10-1 campaign in 1997, Bucknell won close game after close game, including five straight wins and six overall decided by a touchdown or less. Since then, however, Bucknell's fortunes in close games have mysteriously changed. Over the last six-plus seasons the Bison are 11-23 in games decided by seven points or less and just 3-16 in games separated by three points or less (or overtime). Bucknell has lost nine straight games decided by a field goal or less dating back to a 17-16 win at Lafayette in 2001.
