Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Colgate*
Bucknell Football Completes Turnaround Season with 31-28 Win over Colgate
11/18/2006 7:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 18, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - On a day when 15 Bucknell seniors helped finish one of the greatest turnaround seasons in school history, it was a pair of freshmen in Marcello Trigg and A.J. Kizekai who sparked the Bison to a come-from-behind 31-28 victory over Colgate on Saturday in the season finale for both teams at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
Bucknell went 1-10 last season, but literally alternated wins and losses through 11 games this year and finished 6-5. The five-game improvement equals the program record. In 1891, 1949 and 1954 Bucknell won six games after winning just one the previous season. It was also tied for the best victory improvement in the nation this season (Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Liberty and Robert Morris also had +5 improvements).
Saturday's victory also gave the Bison a record of .500 or better for the 10th time in the last 12 years.
Trigg, a freshman quarterback making his sixth career start, had his best game to date. While moving the offense efficiently for most of the day, Trigg completed his first seven passes and finished 9-for-10 for 185 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 73 yards and a score. Kizekai, a rookie slotback, ran 12 times for 84 yards, an average of seven yards per carry, and also caught four passes for 99 yards. Peter Kaufman, the other starting slotback, ran for 54 yards in his final collegiate game, helping Bucknell pile up 231 rushing yards and 416 total yards on the day.
Jordan Scott rushed for 184 yards and a touchdown for Colgate, which finished 4-7 to end a run of 10 straight winning seasons. Scott just completed his sophomore year but already ranks eighth on Colgate's career rushing chart with 2,598 yards. Quarterback Mike Saraceno had a tough day passing, completing 8 of 24 for 105 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for one score.
Bucknell grabbed a 10-0 lead, but the Raiders scored 21 straight points in the second quarter to take the lead. The Bison had plenty of fight left, however, and despite being 0-5 on the year when trailing at halftime, they shot out of the gates quickly in the second half.
Trigg, who started the game but was removed for a few series in the second quarter in favor of Andrew Lair, returned at the beginning of the second half and immediately marched the Bison on an eight-play, 70-yard scoring drive that culminated with Trigg's 1-yard dive across the goal line. Kizekai's 27-yard catch out of the backfield moved the ball into Colgate territory, and a pass interference penalty gave the Bison a first-and-goal.
On the next series the Bison defense forced a three-and-out, and Jason Sutton shanked a 13-yard punt that gave Bucknell a first down at the Colgate 32. Two plays later Trigg threw a strike to senior wideout Richard Simpson for a 27-yard touchdown. Will Carney's extra point put the Bison back in front 24-21.
Later in the third quarter Colgate freshman Ty Henry dropped a sure touchdown on a long pass over the middle, but the Bison could not capitalize when Carney just missed wide left on a 43-yard field goal attempt.
Josh Eden's second sack of the day helped force a third straight three-and-out, and Nolan Applegate, who had a big day returning punts for the Bison, brought one back 27 yards into Colgate territory. After an 11-yard run by Trigg, Kaufman fumbled at the Colgate 39, the team's only turnover of the game.
The Bison finally cashed in after forcing Colgate's fourth punt of the third quarter. Early in the fourth quarter Kizekai had a catch for 22 yards and run for 14 to help move the ball into Raiders territory. The drive seemed to stall at the 37-yard line, but coach Tim Landis gambled and went for it on fourth-and-2, and Trigg made the move pay off when he slid through the right side of the line and just stretched the ball past the first-down marker.
Later in the drive, on third-and-2 from the 26, Trigg broke into the clear but dropped the ball inside the 5-yard line. It squirted into the end zone, but alert left tackle Chad Glasser dove on the loose ball for a touchdown, making it a 31-21 game with 8:55 remaining.
The Raiders needed only 2:16 to answer, however. Colgate took over at its own 41 after a short kickoff, and Saraceno hit tight end Brent Dillingham on a 28-yard pass on the first play of the series. Saraceno converted a fourth-and-4 with a five-yard scramble to the Bison 8-yard line, and two plays later Scott scored from four yards out to make it 31-28 with 6:29 remaining.
But thanks to two critical third-down conversions, Colgate really never got the ball back. On third-and-11 with four minutes to play, Trigg and fullback Josh DeStefano hooked up on a screen pass that went for 14 yards and a first down. Later, on third-and-3, DeStefano made the first down with inches to spare. That was one of six straight handoffs to DeStefano as the Bison tried to spend the rest of the clock.
Colgate finally came up with a stop on a fourth-down play at its own 23-yard line, but only 11 seconds remained. The Raiders tried a razzle-dazzle, multi-lateral play at the end. They pitched it four times before the ball eventually hit the ground near the Colgate 26, where Sam Nana-Sinkam recovered the fumble to end the game.
Carney's 42-yard field goal - his longest of the year - and a 2-yard DeStefano touchdown run gave the Bison a 10-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the game. But Colgate stormed back in the second quarter, scoring three straight TDs on a Saraceno 6-yard scramble, an Eric Tupta 1-yard dive and Henry's 6-yard touchdown catch. The latter was a remarkable play, as Bucknell's Matt Palermo had excellent coverage and Stephen Collage came from his safety spot to deflect the pass. But Henry, with his heels just inside the boundary line at the side of the end zone, somehow came down with the tipped ball just before hitting the ground. The score came with only nine seconds left in the half and put the Raiders in front 21-10.
In one of its best offensive showings of the season, the Bison controlled the ball for more than 36 minutes, and despite yielding six sacks, still averaged 5.7 yards per play.
Farrand, another of the team's outstanding freshmen, led the Bucknell defense with nine tackles and two pass breakups. Cornerback David Frisbey broke up a career-high four passes in his final collegiate game, while Dorian Petersen, another standout senior, had five tackles despite being hobbled by a litany of leg injuries. Petersen went over the 100-tackle plateau for the first time in his career, finishing with 102.
Also of note, Applegate returned four punts for 81 yards, giving him 281 punt return yards on the season. That is tied for third-most in a season in Bucknell history. He averaged 12.2 yards per return on the season, among the league leaders. Sophomore punter Phil Azarik finished with a 40.5 average, which just missed the school record (40.9), but he became only the second punter in school history to average over 40 yards per attempt.
The only other time in school history that Bucknell did not have a winning streak or a losing streak all year was in 1893, when the team alternated wins and losses throughout a seven-game season.
The victory also gave Bucknell a 3-3 Patriot League record and tied the Bison for fourth place alongside Colgate in the league standings.
