Bucknell University Athletics
Weekly Honors Pour in for Bucknell's Ross after Record-Setting Day
10/3/2005 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 3, 2005
LEWISBURG, Pa. - In the wake of one of the most memorable gridiron performances in Bucknell football history, senior Dante Ross (Groton, Conn./Robert E. Fitch) has earned several weekly honors. Ross, who played offense, defense and special teams in Bucknell's 27-7 Homecoming victory over Marist, was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week, the Lewisburg Touchdown Club Offensive Player of the Week and the Lewisburg Hotel Bison Athlete of the Week. He was also named to the I-AA.org weekly all-star team.
In a throwback performance that had many folks in the pressbox reminiscing about former Heisman Trophy candidate and two-way player Gordie Lockbaum, Ross tore apart the record books in leading the Bison to victory.
He started the game at cornerback, contributed five tackles (four solo) and made an important leaping interception in the end zone to stop a Marist drive. On offense, he entered the game at quarterback on the second series of the day, and two plays later he put the Bison ahead with a 39-yard TD run. And he never stopped running. He finished with 268 rushing yards and three touchdowns, and he also tossed a 37-yard TD pass to Daniel Zvara, a huge play at the time with Bucknell still clinging to that 7-0 lead in the third quarter. On special teams, Ross totaled 36 yards on three punt returns and had a 21-yard kickoff return.
More on Ross' career day:
• The 268 rushing yards broke the Bucknell and Patriot League records for a quarterback, surpassing the 252 yards by Bucknell's Daris Wilson last season at Holy Cross. It was the second-highest rushing total in Bucknell history and tied for the third-highest in PL history. It was the 13th 200-yard rushing game in Bucknell annals.
• Ross' 325 all-purpose yards were the second-most in Bucknell history, behind only the 341 posted by Ken Jenkins against West Chester in 1980. It was the fourth time in school history a player topped the 300-yard mark, and it was tied for the fifth-highest total in Patriot League history.
• Ross accounted for 305 of Bucknell's 346 total yards (88.2%) and had a hand in all four touchdowns.
• In one memorable sequence in the game, he outleaped 6'4" receiver Prince Prempeh for the interception in the end zone, then stayed on the field and had runs of 18, 26, 8, 3, and 23 yards, the last a TD, accounting for 78 of the 80 yards on the scoring drive.
• Ross had never before played quarterback until the previous game against Cornell, when he rushed for 59 yards on 15 carries. He was recruited to Bucknell as a wide receiver and was moved to defensive back during his freshman season. He is playing some on offense this season due to injuries to the team's top two quarterbacks, Terrance Wilson and Mahdi Woodard.
Lost in all of Ross' heroics last week was the fact that he became Bucknell's career leader in punt return yardage with 656. That is better than the 626 posted by current Toronto Argonauts star Kevin Eiben from 1997-2000. Ross also moved into second place on the Patriot League career chart.
Ross became the first player in Patriot League history to win the offensive, defensive and special teams player of the week awards. Next week he leads the Bison (1-3) into Franklin Field to take on Penn (3-1) at 3:30 p.m.
