Bucknell University Athletics
One 2003 Loss Avenged, Bison Football Looks for Another This Week against Columbia
9/20/2004 8:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 20, 2004
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One of Bucknell's missions for 2004 is to avenge three narrow defeats at the hands of Ivy League foes a year ago. Now that the Bison have one of the three out of the way following a 15-9 win over Cornell last week, they head into another "revenge game" this Saturday when Columbia visits Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff. A year ago in New York the Lions scored with 22 seconds left to turn back Bucknell 19-16. Columbia opened its 2004 campaign with a 17-14 loss at home to Fordham last week. The Lions held the Rams to only 170 total yards, including only 33 on the ground. Bucknell's defense was also solid last week, limiting Cornell to 279 total yards, 86 on the ground, and only nine points.
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 60-59-1 (.504) 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 Columbia.
• THE OFFENSE: Bucknell racked up 408 total yards, including 292 on the ground, last week against Cornell, but the Bison were hampered by three turnovers and two blocked field-goal attempts. Tim Landis was very pleased, however, with his offense's response to a dire situation after the team fell behind 9-7 with just 4:51 remaining in the contest. The Bison marched 76 yards in only four plays to rally for the win.
• UNDER CENTER: This week's Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week, QB Daris Wilson lived up to his reputation as one of the nation's top running quarterbacks by rushing for 139 yards last week against Cornell. He scored the winning TD on a 1-yard run with 3:40 to play, just one play after his 20-yard run moved the ball within the shadow of the goal line. Wilson also competed 7 of 9 passes (1 TD, 1 INT) for 116 yards, and is now 17-for-22 (.773) on the season. His 171.18 QB rating is the best in the league.
• BACKS & RECEIVERS: While FB Blamah Sarnor had another solid game with 84 yards on 17 carries, Bucknell got increased production from its slotbacks against Cornell, as Frank Lazio (43) and Peter Kaufman (28) combined for 71 yards on 11 carries. Receivers Ian Nutt and Nisan Trotter also had big games. Nutt caught a first-quarter TD pass, his second in as many games, caught a 2-point conversion pass in the fourth quarter and also graded well over 90 percent on his blocking assignments. Trotter caught four balls for a career-high 84 yards, and his 49-yard grab set up Bucknell's winning score.
• THE O-LINE: One of the most experienced position groups on the squad is the offensive line, where tackles Jon Scharf and Justin Gibson, center Stephen Watts and guard Aaron DeGraffenreidt all have plenty of starting experience. One lineup change last week came at right guard, where sophomore Stefan Niemczyk made his first collegiate start. Sophomore Joel Hoffer saw his first extensive playing time last week after Watts left with a knee injury. Eric Becker is expected to return this week from an elbow injury and will battle Hoffer for the starting berth at center.
• THE DEFENSE: Bucknell's defensive corps turned in its second straight terrific effort last week in the win over Cornell. The Bison held a team under 10 points for the first time since a 14-3 win over Cornell in 2002, and they limited the Big Red to a meager 86 rushing yards.
• DEFENSIVE FRONT: While not officially credited with large number of tackles, Bucknell's defensive line was solid against Cornell last week, in particular DT Corey Mayo and DE Andrew Decker. OLB Jeffrey Montagna finished with seven tackles and nearly had an interception.
• DEFENSIVE SECONDARY: CB Jerome Acy (13 tackles) and FS Virgil Rush (6) were again all over the field for the Bison, who have not allowed a pass play longer than 23 yards in two games thus far. CB Joe Glenn made a big tackle for a 7-yard loss, forcing the Big Red to settle for a fourth-quarter field goal after they had a first-and-goal at the Bison 8. Acy also broke up three passes.
• SPECIAL TEAMS: P Ryan Berry had another solid game, averaging 37.7 yards on three punts, and he now leads the league with a 38.7 average. K Ryan Korn had his first two FG attempts of the season blocked by Cornell's Joel Sussman, one from 42 yards and the second from 41. Bucknell's kickoff coverage was again strong, as Cornell averaged just 19.7 yards on three returns. After taking the lead inside four minutes to play, the Bison pinned the Big Red on their own 13 after a strong kickoff from K Ryan Bower.
BISON FOOTBALL NOTES & NOTABLES
• 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 two games, the Bison may be on the verge of returning to that defensive dominance. Bucknell has allowed just 29 points through two games, its fewest since 2000. Last week Cornell managed only two scoring drives and made only three trips into the red zone. Early in the game the Bison defense kept the Big Red off the scoreboard after they took over at the BU 24 on a fumble recovery. Bucknell currently ranks 18th nationally in scoring defense allowing 14.5 points per game.
• NOWHERE TO RUN: If one game is any indication, Bucknell will have its hands full with a tough defensive front from Columbia. The Lions held Fordham to 33 rushing yards and made 20 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. A whopping eight of those tackles, tying an NCAA record, came from DE Mike Quarshie, who single-handedly knocked the Rams backward a total of 41 yards. Columbia has yet to score an offensive TD, as its 14 points last week came on a blocked punt return and a fumble return.
• UNDER THE LIGHTS: Since an upgrade in the Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium lighting system in 2002 allowed for the playing of night games, Bucknell is now 3-0 under the stars at home. Bucknell defeated Cornell 14-3 in 2002; Duquesne 28-21 in 2003 and Cornell again 15-9 last week.
• HOME COOKING: The Bison are now 35-14 (.714) in games played at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium since 1995. Overall, Bucknell has a stellar 305-144-13 (.674) record at home, including a 4-1 record last year. Bucknell has not lost a non-conference home game since 1996, a 30-21 overtime loss to Pennsylvania. The Bison have won 16 straight against non-Patriot League foes at Mathewson Stadium, with Cornell, Columbia and Penn paying visits in 2004.
• DON'T LEAVE EARLY: Bucknell and Columbia have played some terrifically exciting football games in recent years, with each of the last six contests decided by seven points or less. In the last four meetings, the winning points were scored in the waning minutes ... • 2003 -- Columbia 19, Bucknell 16: Bucknell rallies from 12-0 deficit, only to see Columbia score the winning TD on a Jeff Otis-to-Travis Chmelka 5-yard pass with 0:22 remaining.
• 2001 -- Bucknell 23, Columbia 20 (OT): Chris Lundberg's 32-yard field goal in overtime completed Bucknell's rally from a 20-10 second-half deficit. The Bison tied the game with just 3:32 left in regulation when Jabu Powell's 1-yard TD run capped an epic, 19-play, 90-yard, 9-minute drive.
• 2000 -- Bucknell 12, Columbia 10: Lucas Phillips tossed an 8-yard TD pass to Jim Horan with 0:20 remaining to lift the Bison to victory.
• 1999 -- Columbia 10, Bucknell 7: A career-long 46-yard field goal by Neal Kravitz with 4:10 left won it for the Lions. Bucknell then drove to the Columbia 16 but had a pass intercepted at the goal line.
• WINNING LATE: Last week's victory over Cornell marked the first time the Bison trailed with under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter before rallying to win since the 23-20 overtime win against Columbia on Sept. 22, 2001.
• DEBUTS: Sophomore OL Stefan Niemczyk made his first career start last week at right guard. With veteran OL Stephen Watts likely out this week, sophomore OL Joel Hoffer could start for the first time at the center position. One Bison freshman, a local product, made his collegiate debut in the Cornell game. LB Ryan Slater, an alum of nearby Southern Columbia High School, landed a spot on Bucknell's kickoff coverage team.
• BUCKING THE TREND: Bucknell last season went 5-1 when winning the turnover battle, but only 1-5 when commiting more miscues. So far this season the trend has been reversed. The Bison were +2 in the turnover battle against Villanova but lost 20-14, despite converting two takeaways (and nearly a third) into fourth-quarter touchdowns. Against Cornell, Bucknell had a -3 ratio but rallied for a 15-9 victory.
• SOMETIMES YOU FEEL LIKE A NUTT: Senior WR/TE Ian Nutt is off to a terrific start, with touchdown catches in each of his first two games (he had only one career TD catch entering 2004). Nutt, who also caught a 2-point conversion pass against Cornell, is the first Bison to record scoring catches in the first two games of the season since FB Mark Wyland against Morgan State and Colgate in 1999.
• AGAINST THE IVIES: Bucknell owns a 33-86-3 all-time record against Ivy League opponents, but the Bison are 10-6 against the Ancient Eight since 1997. Last season, Bucknell went 0-3 against the Ivies with all three losses coming on the road by a combined six points.
• 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 open Patriot League play on the road next week against Georgetown. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. Bucknell's last trip to Harbin Field in 2002 produced a nightmarish 32-31 defeat.
• BISON BRIEFS: QB Daris Wilson passed for a career-high 208 yards against Columbia last season ... the Patriot League went 3-2 against the Ivy League last week ... senior LB Jeffrey Montagna entered the season with 37 career tackles but already has 17 in two games this year ... senior QB John Henry Jackson made his season debut last week, spelling Wilson for one series in the first quarter ... the famed Penn State Blue Band is scheduled to perform at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
