Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lehigh
Bucknell Football Falls to Lehigh, 42-10
10/22/2005 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 22, 2005
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Sedale Threatt passed for 226 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 60 yards and one more touchdown to lead Lehigh to a 42-10 football victory over Bucknell Saturday afternoon in a steady rain at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Bison fell to 1-6 overall and 0-2 in Patriot League play, while the Mountain Hawks improved to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the Patriot League.
The Mountain Hawks jumped out to a 21-3 first quarter lead and Threatt, who started in place of the injured Mark Borda and completed 14 of 27 passes, had a hand in all three touchdowns as he registered 11- and 13-yard touchdown passes and a five-yard touchdown run. Bucknell's lone score in the first quarter was a 43-yard field goal by Will Carney. Carney is 2-for-2 on field goals this season with both being longer than 40 yards.
The Bison slowed down the Lehigh offense that totaled 510 yards, including 278 in the first half, over the final three quarters as the Mountain Hawks scored 21 points over the final 45 minutes of play with all three touchdowns coming on the ground.
Bucknell's lone touchdown of the game came with 4:10 left in the second quarter when Dante Ross capped a six-play, 68-yard drive with a 10-yard run that cut the Lehigh lead to 28-10. The biggest play of the drive was a 35-yard completion by Ross to Daniel Zvara that moved the ball to the Lehigh 30-yard line.
After forcing Lehigh to punt after a three-and-out series, the Bison had a chance to cut into the 28-10 deficit late in the first half. Back-to-back plays of over 20 yards moved the Bucknell offense to the Lehigh 32-yard line, but Ross was stopped on a fourth-down rush. Highlighting the drive were two of the biggest plays of the game for the Bison. On the first play, Kenny Davis rushed for 25 yards, and Ross followed that with a 23-yard completion to Zach Allen that got the ball into Lehigh territory.
Ross, who threw for a career-high 151 yards, was 7 of 13 passing. He also rushed 20 times for 52 yards to tie Josh DeStefano for team-high honors. Ryan Ahern relieved Ross at quarterback on Bucknell's final two series and completed his only pass attempt to Peter Kaufman for 10 yards as the Bison had a balanced offensive attack with 161 yards passing and 163 rushing. Zvara was Ross' favorite target as he caught four passes for a career-high 107 yards.
The Bison defense was led by Ryan Slater's eight tackles, while the trio of Devon Lutz, Stephen Collage and David Frisbey recorded six tackles. Lutz also had his first career interception and broke up a pass, both on the same series. However, the defense did allow Lehigh, which was 5-for-5 on third down conversions at one point, to convert on third down 10 of 15 times overall.
Lehigh, which totaled 277 yards on the ground, was led in rushing by Eric Rath with 109 yards and one touchdown. The Mountain Hawks also had a balanced offense as they passed for 233 yards. Matt Purdy led Lehigh's defense with nine tackles.
After playing three of its last four games at home, Bucknell returns to the road next week to take on Lafayette. Kickoff for that game in Easton, Pa., is slated for 1 p.m.
