Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Football Visits Fordham Saturday
11/2/2005 7:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 2, 2005
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The Bison this week hope to rebound from last week's heartbreaking 33-20 loss at first-place Lafayette, a game in which Bucknell trailed 20-3, rallied late to tie it at 20, only to see the Leopards score the winning TD with just 1:47 remaining. This week the Bison visit Fordham in a matchup of 1-7 teams. The Rams, coached by former Bucknell offensive lineman Ed Foley, snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 24-20 win over Holy Cross last Saturday. The Orange & Blue hope to defeat Fordham for the third straight season.
TOURING THE HERD
• ON THE SIDELINE: Taking over the Bison after a 2-9 season, head coach Tim Landis has posted 6-6 and 7-4 records in his first two years at Bucknell, leading them to a pair of third-place finishes in the Patriot League. Landis is now 67-69-1 (.493) in his career, which also includes head coaching stints at Davidson (1993-99) and St. Mary's (2000-02). Landis is 2-0 in his career against Fordham.
• THE OFFENSE: Injuries in the backfield have severely hindered Bucknell's spread option attack. The Bison have started four different quarterbacks and have used five players at the position already this season, while standout FB Blamah Sarnor was injured late in the second quarter of the season opener against Georgetown and will likely be sidelined for the season. As Dante Ross has adjusted to the QB position, Bucknell's offense has improved steadily in recent weeks. In Ross' four starts at QB, all against tough competition, the Bison have gone from 103 to 256 to 324 to 424 total yards.
• UNDER CENTER: The Bison have been jarred by injuries to two of their promising young quarterbacks this season. Sophomore Terrance Wilson started the opener against Georgetown and played well, but he suffered a broken jaw in that game and is likely out for the rest of the season. In week two at Stony Brook, Mahdi Woodard became the first freshman to start at QB for Bucknell since 1992, but he too was sidelined after taking a blow to the head late in the first half. Sophomore Ryan Ahern played the second half at Stony Brook, then became the third Bison starting QB in as many weeks at Cornell. Ahern also started against Marist, but he alternated with senior Dante Ross, who turned in a storybook performance in the win over the Red Foxes. Ross, normally a cornerback and kick returner, ran for 268 yards and three TDs, setting Bucknell and PL records for ground yards by a QB. Ross has started the last four weeks and is expected to remain at the position for the rest of the season.
• BACKS & RECEIVERS: Bucknell also had a significant injury in the backfield on opening night, as senior FB Blamah Sarnor missed the second half with a foot injury and remains out. Sophomore Josh DeStefano moved from slotback to fullback, with juniors Kenny Davis and Peter Kaufman starting at the slots. Davis was limited to only a few series last week due to an injury, and Kadero Watson filled in nicely with 56 rushing yards and 81 receiving yards. He also caught a TD pass. Freshman WR Daniel Zvara had his best game as a Bison against Lehigh, with four receptions for 107 yards, and he had five more catches last week at Lafayette.
• THE O-LINE: Bucknell's offensive line underwent a slight shift two weeks ago. Sophomore Jonathan Grainger, just a week after moving from defensive line to offensive line, made his first start at right guard. Junior Michael Boccella moved from that position to right tackle. Boccella, senior center Stephen Watts and junior left guard Stefan Niemczyk have started every game this season.
• THE DEFENSE: Bucknell is sixth in the Patriot League in total defense at 380.5 yards per game. After allowing only 17.8 points per game in their first four games, the Bison have allowed 41.5 ppg in their last four. The Bison have 20 takeaways in eight games, including 14 interceptions by 10 different players.
• DEFENSIVE FRONT: Bucknell has a deep, veteran defensive line, led by All-America DE Sean Conover. Conover had his best game of the season three weeks ago against Villanova, recording four tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Fellow senior DE Brandon Bailey replaced injured classmate Andrew Decker in the starting lineup and has 3.5 sacks to lead the team. ILBs Ryan Slater and Dorian Petersen have been all over the field in the first seven games. The duo ranks 1-2 on the team in tackles with 65 and 64, respectively.
• DEFENSIVE SECONDARY: Ross had been the cornerstone of the secondary, but he has not played at all on defense in the last three games after making the permanent switch to quarterback. Instead, freshman CB Devon Lutz has taken over the starting role. Sophomore FS Stephen Collage had a career-high 15 tackles at Cornell and ranks third on the squad with 52 on the year. Junior CB David Frisbey had a solid game last week with a big interception and four tackles.
• SPECIAL TEAMS: Ross has become one of the Patriot League's premier return men and is the reigning PL Special Teams Player of the Year. He is averaging 11.1 yards per punt return and 24.1 yards per kickoff return this season, despite the fact that opponents have been reluctant to kick to him. Junior walk-on Matt DeMartino and Ross have handled the punting duties in place of freshman starter Phil Azarik, who remains out with mono. Freshman K Will Carney has taken over the kicking duties and is 4-for-5 on field goals, including a 42-yarder against Villanova and a 43-yarder against Lehigh.
BISON FOOTBALL NOTES & NOTABLES:
• PATRIOT GAMES: The Bison have nothing but Patriot League games for the rest of the 2005 season. Bucknell is 49-57-1 (.463) all-time in the PL, including 4-2 last season.
• A TOUGH FOUR WEEKS: Bucknell just wrapped up grueling four-game stretch against four teams that have all been ranked in the top 25 at some point in the last two seasons-- Penn, Villanova, Lehigh and Lafayette. That quartet is a combined 21-10 this season. In fact, Bucknell's first eight opponents have a combined 37-25 (.597) record.
• EVEN STEVEN: If statistics are any indication, this week's Bucknell-Fordham game may be too close to call. The two teams are nearly identical in several statistical categories:
Bucknell Fordham Total Offense 272.6 252.1 Scoring Offense 14.4 14.9 Rushing Defense 171.6 172.8 Total Defense 380.5 372.4 Scoring Defense 29.6 27.3 Turnover Margin -2 -2
• WATSON HONORED: Bucknell freshman RB Kadero Watson was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Monday, after combining for 137 rushing/receiving yards and scoring his first collegiate touchdown at Lafayette. With the Bison trailing 20-3 in the third quarter, Watson's first career catch went for a 38-yard touchdown. The score ignited a furious comeback that saw them tie the score at 20 late in the contest, only to have Lafayette score the winning touchdown with 1:47 left. Watson finished with two catches for 81 yards, and he also rushed 11 times for 56 yards, an average of 5.1 yards per carry. Watson is the second Bucknell player to earn rookie of the week honors this season. Freshman linebacker Julius Hopson claimed the award on Sept. 19.
• AIR RAID: With only four starts at quarterback under his belt, Dante Ross has gotten increasingly comfortable running the offense each week, particularly in the passing game. After throwing for just 5 and 69 yards in his first two starts against Penn and Villanova, he has passed for 151 and 275 yards in each of the last two weeks against Lehigh and Lafayette. Ross entered last week's game against the Leopards with 15 completions for 262 yards, but he more than doubled those totals with 18 completions for 275 yards and two TDs.
• PICKS GALORE: Bucknell has 14 interceptions in eight games this season, including four against Marist and three more last week against Lafayette. The Bison rank T-6th in Division I-AA in that category, and they are tied for first nationally with 10 different players recording interceptions. Youngstown State, Lehigh, Samford and Western Kentucky also have 10 different defenders with pickoffs. Bucknell this season has more interceptions than passing touchdowns allowed (13). The national leader in interceptions with 18 is Davidson, which is coached by former Bucknell defensive coordinator Tripp Merritt.
• TWO-WAY THREAT: Dante Ross has turned many heads for his mid-season switch from cornerback to quarterback, and now fellow senior Sean Conover has followed in his footsteps. Conover, an All-America defensive end, played both ways last week against Lafayette. On defense he made four tackles and forced a fumble, and as a tight end on offense caught four passes for 62 yards and his first career touchdown. The TD came with 4:14 left in the game and tied the contest at 20-20. That play also represented an almost certain first -- the reigning Patriot League Special Teams Player of the Year completing a TD pass to the reigning PL Defensive Player of the Year.
• NOTES FROM LAFAYETTE: The 275 passing yards were the most by a Bucknell team under Tim Landis ... freshman WR Daniel Zvara caught five passes for 63 yards and now has nine catches for 170 yards in the last two weeks ... sophomore DB Stephen Collage collected his first career interception ... sophomore FB Josh DeStefano rushed for a season-high 59 yards, a team high ... LB Matt Palermo, back from a foot injury, made his first start since opening night, made a team-high eight tackles and intercepted a pass ... junior P Matt DeMartino averaged 42.3 yards on four attempts ... the Bison recorded season highs for total yards (424), passing yards (275), first downs (21), total plays (79) and time of possession (35:06), all against a Lafayette defense that entered the game ranked fourth nationally in points allowed and sixth in yards allowed.
• AMONG THE LEADERS: Dante Ross ranks sixth among all active Division I-AA players in career kickoff return average (26.8). He also ranks sixth in punt return yards (724) and ninth in punt return average (10.8). Also, Ross' 268-yard performance against Marist is the second-best rushing total in the nation this season, behind only the 356-yard effort by Portland State's Joe Rubin against Northern Colorado.
• ONE MORE POSITION FOR THE RESUME: Just in case he hadn't played enough positions this season, Dante Ross has also made a handful of appearances as a punter in recent weeks, marking the first time since high school that he had done that in a game. Last week against Lafayette, his lone punt traveled 47 yards and was downed at the Leopards 12-yard line. So in 2005 Ross has now run the ball, thrown a pass, caught a pass, intercepted a pass, returned a punt, returned a kickoff, made a tackle, blocked a field goal, forced a fumble and punted.
• YOUTH IS SERVED: Bucknell's two-deep features 23 first or second-year players this week. Of the 34 freshmen on the Bison roster, 20 have seen varsity action this season.
• A WINNING ERA: After posting a solid 7-4 campaign in 2004, Bucknell has finished at .500 or better in nine of the last 10 seasons. Over that decade span from 1995-2004, the Bison won 63 games, the most in any 10-year period in school history.
• UP NEXT: Bucknell travels to Colgate next week to battle the Raiders at 12:30 p.m. at Andy Kerr Stadium. The game will be televised by Time Warner cable in upstate New York. Bucknell defeated Colgate 42-7 last season at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
