Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Football Hosts Cornell on Turn Back the Clock Night
9/13/2006 8:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 13, 2006
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
What: Bucknell vs. Cornell
Where: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium
When: Saturday, Sept. 16, 7 p.m.
Promotions: Turn Back the Clock Night; Bucknell Men's Basketball Ring Ceremony
Tickets // Game Notes
The high from the season-opening overtime victory over Duquesne dissipated by halftime last week, when Lafayette scored on its first four possessions en route to a 31-0 victory over the Bison. The loss evened Bucknell's record at 1-1, and the Bison will try to bounce back this Saturday night against Cornell in the third of three straight home games to start the year. The Big Red, who defeated Bucknell 24-7 last season in Ithaca, are making their 2006 debut.
Saturday night is "Turn Back the Clock Night" at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Ticket prices are being rolled back to $2 for general admission and $1 for seniors and children (normally $8/$5). Concession stand prices are also greatly reduced, with 50-cent hot dogs and popcorn among the discounted items. Also, a vintage automobile will be on display, ushers will wear old-style hats and music from the 1950s and 60s will be played prior to the game.
At halftime of the contest, members of the Bucknell men's basketball team will be presented their 2006 Patriot League Championship/NCAA Tournament rings.
Also the Lewisburg High School band is also scheduled to perform both before and after the game, as well as at halftime.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE BISON
• ON THE SIDELINE: Tim Landis is in his fourth season at the helm of the Bucknell grid program. Landis is now 68-73-1 (.482) in his career, which also includes head coaching stints at Davidson (1993-99) and St. Mary's (2000-02), and 15-21 (.417) in three-plus seasons with the Bison. Landis is 1-2 in his career against Cornell.
• THE OFFENSE: After a sparkling 2006 debut under first-year offensive coordinator Ashley Ingram, the Bison offense was kept off the scoreboard for the first time in four seasons last week. After gaining 434 yards in the opening-night win over Duquesne, including a national-best 386 on the ground, Bucknell was held to 218 total and 149 rushing last week against Lafayette. The Bison committed only one turnover last week, but it was a costly fumble deep in Leopards territory that was initially run back 80 yards for a touchdown before being shortened to 61 yards due to an illegal block on the return.
• UNDER CENTER: Navy transfer Andrew Lair returned from a hip injury that knocked him out of the second half of the opener against Duquesne and started last week against Lafayette. Lair took all the snaps into the fourth quarter, when Terrance Wilson came on in relief. Lair had a 38-yard TD run against the Dukes but was held to 15 rushing yards last week by a strong Lafayette defense. He also completed 5 of 15 passes last week and is 7-for-17 for 117 yards on the year.
• BACKS & RECEIVERS: The Bison backfield took a hit when freshman FB Paul Forcellini went down with a season-ending knee injury late in last week's game. Forcellini, who had rushed for 102 yards and averaged 5.7 yards per carry in two games, was sharing time at fulback with junior starter Josh DeStefano. DeStefano led the Bison with 55 rushing yards last week. At slotback, freshman Rashod Bumpers has 143 yards on only 11 carries (13.0 avg) in two games. Junior Roosevelt Davis and sophomore Peter Kaufman are also running well at slotback. Bucknell's wide receivers caught four passes last week, two from Daniel Zvara and one each from Alex Odenbach and rookie Cale Cadman.
• THE O-LINE: This is Bucknell's most veteran position group, with all five starters and the two top reserves either juniors or seniors with game experience. In each of the first two games, co-captain Stefan Niemczyk (LG) started alongside Chad Glasser (LT), Joel Hoffer (C), Jonathan Grainger (RG) and Michael Anthony (RT). Senior Michael Boccella, a starter in eight games in 2005, also sees action at tackle.
• THE DEFENSE: The Bison defense, featuring first-year starters at several key positions, has given up 1,002 yards in two games. Bucknell was one of the top teams in the nation in forcing turnovers last season, but thus far in 2006 the Bison have just one takaway, a David Frisbey interception on the last play of the first half against Duquesne.
• DEFENSIVE FRONT: Bucknell's linebacker corps has been strong in the early going. Senior co-captain Dorian Petersen equaled his career high with 16 tackles last week and has 25 on the year. Ryan Slater (12) and Matt Palermo (11) also reached double figures against Lafayette, while in the season opener it was freshman Sam Nana-Sinkam leading the way with 15 stops. The front four is the team's most inexperienced position group with three new starters, including a freshman in Josh Eden taking over at defensive end. Eden had four tackles last week, one coming in the backfield. Junior tackle Brandon Friday made a big play, tackling a Lafayette ballcarrier for an 8-yard loss at the 1-yard line, nearly resulting in a safety.
• DEFENSIVE SECONDARY: Senior CB David Frisbey, the team's interceptions leader with four last season, recorded the team's lone pickoff of the night against Duquesne and also blocked a field goal attempt. FS Stephen Collage is a returning starter and has nine tackles thus far. At the other cornerback position, sophomore Nolan Applegate has made his first two career starts, while freshman Jason Davis has also played considerably.
• SPECIAL TEAMS: Bucknell's special teams has been solid thus far. Sophomore K Will Carney hit the game-winning field goal in overtime against Duquesne, but missed his only attempt last week and is 1-for-2 on the season. Despite an 8-yard punt that hurt his average, sophomore P Phil Azarik still averaged 39.6 yards per attempt last week, and he is at 41.6 for the season, 14th-best in the nation. A bright spot last week against Lafayette was the insertion of Rashod Bumpers as a kickoff returner. He totaled 96 yards on four attempts. In coverage, Bucknell opponents are averaging only 11.2 yards per kickoff return and 6.8 yards per punt return. Only four of Azarik's 11 punts have been returned.
BISON FOOTBALL NOTES & NOTABLES:
• MOVING OVER .500: Under coach Tim Landis, Bucknell has a 5-2 record when entering the game with a .500 record at any point in a season. Since 1985, the Bison are 8-4 in week three after splitting the first two games of a season. They have won three straight in such situations, most recently a 42-13 win over Columbia after a 1-1 start in 2004.
• REMEMBERING 9/11: Monday was the five-year anniversary of the horrific terrorist acts in New York, Washington, D.C., and Western Pennsylvania. Memories of that now-imfamous tragedy return to mind whenever Bucknell and Cornell meet on the gridiron. These two teams were scheduled to meet on Sept. 15, 2001, but like nearly every sporting event in the nation in those ensuing days, the game was canceled. It was the first Bucknell football game to be called off since 1963, when the Bucknell-Delaware game was canceled following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
• AGAINST THE IVIES: Bucknell has been playing Ivy League teams since 1888 and has a 35-89-3 (.287) record against the Ancient Eight. The Bison are 2-1 against Brown; 11-3-2 against Columbia; 10-35 against Cornell; 1-4 against Dartmouth; 3-4-1 against Harvard; 5-26 against Penn; 2-13 against Princeton and 1-3 against Yale. Under coach Tim Landis, the Bison are 2-6 against the Ivies, with three losses coming by three points or less and a fourth by seven points in double overtime.
• ALL-PURPOSE BACK: Freshman RB Rashod Bumpers has made a quick impact. His 126-yard rushing performance against Duquesne on opening night marked the first time a Bucknell freshman topped the 100-yard plateau in a season opener since Rich Lemon went for 210 against Bloomsburg in the 1993 season opener. Last week Bumpers added kickoff returns to his arsenal. He gained 96 yards on four attempts, and he is now averaging 136.0 all-purpose yards per game, second-best in the Patriot League.
• PETERSEN PILES UP TACKLES: Senior co-captain Dorian Petersen matched his career high with 16 tackles last week against Lehigh. His other 16-tackle performance came at Cornell last season. Petersen has 25 tackles already this season, ninth-most in the nation, and 227 stops in his career, most on the team.
• A GOOD OMEN?: The Bison last week suffered their first shutout loss at home since a 47-0 setback to William & Mary in week two in 1996. That season, Bucknell bounced back to finish 6-5 and win its only Patriot League title.
• MORE FROM LAST WEEK: Freshman DL David Young recorded his first career sack ... freshman WR Cale Cadman had his first catch, good for 14 yards ... OLs Stefan Niemczyk and Chad Glasser both prevented turnovers by picking up teammates' fumbles ... in addition to his career-high 11 tackles, LB Matt Palermo forced a fumble and broke up a pass ... DB David Frisbey had a pair of pass breakups ... freshman DB Brigham Farrand made his collegiate debut as a nickel back and finished with four tackles ... the 1996 Patriot League championship team was honored at halftime.
• JV TEAM IN ACTION: The Bison played their first of four junior varsity games on Sunday against always powerful Lackawanna College and fell 28-0. The Bison jayvees are back in action this Sunday at 3 p.m. against Milford Academy at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
• CONOVER SIGNED TO TITANS PRACTICE SQUAD: Former Bucknell All-America defensive end Sean Conover, a 2006 graduate, was signed to the Tennessee Titans' practice squad last week. Conover was initially signed as an undrafted free agent by the Titans in May, and he saw significant playing time in all four of the team's preseason games. In those four games he totalled seven tackles, including a sack, against Green Bay. He was one of the Titans' final roster cuts as the team had to get to the NFL-mandated 53-player limit, but he was then one of seven players re-signed to the practice squad.
• FIRST-TIME STARTERS: Several Bison made their first career starts opposite Duquesne. On offense, QB Andrew Lair, RB Roosevelt Davis, RB Rashod Bumpers, WR Alex Odenbach and OL Michael Anthony were first-time starters. Defensively, DL Josh Eden, DL Brandon Friday, DL Todd Rinaldo, LB Sam Nana-Sinkam and DB Nolan Applegate made their initial starts.
• PRESEASON PREDICTIONS: Bucknell over the summer was picked sixth in a preseason poll of Patriot League head coaches and sports information directors. Colgate (68 points) was picked to win the conference, followed by Lafayette (61), Lehigh (57), Holy Cross (35), Fordham (33), Bucknell (27) and Georgetown (13).
• NUMBER CHANGES: A handful of Bucknell players have changed uniform numbers since the media guide was published. The new numbers: DB Eric Baxter (43), WR Cale Cadman (16), WR Trevor Dombeck (82), TE Stephen Edwards (84), RB Paul Forcellini (5), LB Robert Firman (12) and LB Greg Jones (44).
• OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: In a preseason team vote, senior LB Dorian Petersen and senior OL Stefan Niemczyk were elected team captains.
• NEW FACES ON THE SIDELINE: The Bison have four new assistant coaches in 2006, including a new offensive coordinator in Ashley Ingram. He replaces Tim Camp, who is now the offensive coordinator at Eastern Oregon. Ingram came to Bucknell from Rhode Island, where he helped lead the Rams to four straight Atlantic 10 rushing titles in a very similiar offensive system to Bucknell's. Also new to the staff is defensive line coach Pat Kingman, defensive backs coach Steve Vashel and former Bison quarterback/wide receiver Devin Fitzsimmons, who works with the receivers.
• A RARE DOWN SEASON: Last year's losing season was certainly a rare sight in Lewisburg in recent years. Bucknell has finished .500 or better in 9 of the last 11 seasons, including a 7-4 campaign in 2004.
• NIGHT MOVES: Bucknell opens the season with three straight home games, all scheduled for 7 p.m. starts. The last time the Bison began a season with three straight home games was 1996, when they opened with four in a row at home. Interestingly, that season Bucknell went 1-3 in that initial home stretch but rebounded to win the program's only Patriot League championship.
• IN THE CLASSROOM: The Bison boasted a league-high 24 members of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll last season. In the spring 2006 semester, the Bucknell football players combined for a solid 3.0 grade-point average, the sixth straight semester the team has earned a 3.0 or better.
• LOOKING AHEAD: Next week the Bison hit the road for the first time in 2006, taking on No. 10 Richmond, the defending Atlantic 10 champion. The Spiders, coached by former Fordham mentor Dave Clawson, shut out Duke 13-0 in their season opener, then had a bye last week.
