Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Duquesne
High Drama in Bucknell Grid Opener as Bison Rally Past Duquesne 31-28 in Overtime
9/2/2006 8:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 2, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - In the most dramatic victory in Tim Landis' four-year tenure as Bucknell head coach, the Bison pulled out an improbable 31-28 victory over Duquesne Saturday night at rainy Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium when quarterback Terrance Wilson scrambled for a 15-yard tying touchdown on the final play of regulation, then Will Carney won it with a 27-yard field goal in overtime.
The season opener for both teams featured plenty of offense, as the two teams combined for 961 combined yards. It was also a see-saw affair, as both squads led in regulation, but never by more than a touchdown.
Bucknell gained 386 of its 434 total yards on the ground and received significant contributions from a number of newcomers. Freshman Rashod Bumpers ran for a game-high 126 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries, and he caught a 33-yard pass on the first play of the game. Rookie Paul Forcellini ran 10 times for 71 yards and a touchdown, while Navy transfer Andrew Lair started at quarterback in his collegiate debut and carried seven times for 40 yards before leaving with a hip injury just before halftime. On defense, freshman linebacker Sam Nana-Sinkham made a game-high 15 tackles and recorded a sack.
Scott Knapp completed 24 of 36 passes for 348 yards and two touchdowns for Duquesne, which tallied 527 total yards. Knapp's second scoring strike of the day to Bruce Hocker, a 34-yard catch and run with 10:05 left in regulation, gave the Dukes a 28-21 lead.
Still down by seven, Bucknell got the ball back with 2:13 remaining when Todd Rinaldo tackled Duquesne fullback Dennis Void shy of the first-down marker on a 4th-and-2 play. Things seemed dire for the Bison when on the next play Mykol Gardiner sacked Wilson for a 13-yard loss all the way back to the Bucknell 18-yard line.
But Wilson engineered an effective hurry-up drive after that. A roughing the passer penalty helped the Bison convert on 3rd-and-15, and later on another third-down play Bumpers sprinted 26 yards to the Duquense 29. Wilson moved the ball into the red zone with a 16-yard run, but after two incompletions and a short run the Bison faced 4th-and-11 from the 15 with 13 seconds remaining.
Wilson dropped back to pass, but unable to find an open receiver he darted out of the backfield, found a clearing along the left sideline and dove across the goal line with no time showing on the clock. Carney nailed the clutch extra point to send the game to overtime.
Duquesne had the ball first in overtime, but Mark Troyan was off target from 38 yards out, his third miss of the night. Josh DeStefano carried twice for a total of 15 yards to get Bucknell started on its OT possession, and not wanting to take any more chances on a wet field, Wilson centered the ball for Carney, who drilled his first career game-winning kick.
The opening quarter seemed like a track meet, with one big play after another. Hocker's 32-yard grab on 4th-and-4 opened the scoring for the Dukes, but Bucknell answered with a 51-yard run from Bumpers on his first collegiate carry and a 38-yard breakaway run by Lair.
Void brought Duquesne even with a 1-yard run with 8:18 left in the second quarter, but with 1:10 left before halftime Forcellini scored his first career touchdown on a 13-yard run up the middle.
Jeremy McCullough, who finished with 126 rushing yards, tied it on a 22-yard run capping a six-minute Duquesne drive to start the second half. Hocker's second score, coming after a nice catch and cross-field cutback, put the Dukes back in front early in the fourth period, setting up Wilson's relief heroics.
The Bison, who had lost their last four overtime games dating back to a win at Columbia in 2001, improved to 7-3 all-time against Duquesne. Bucknell is now 83-37-1 all-time in season openers.
Bumpers became the first Bucknell freshman to rush for more than 100 yards in a season opener since Rich Lemon had 210 against Bloomsburg to start the 1993 season. Lemon went on to become Bucknell's all-time leading rusher.
Next week the Bison open Patriot League play at home against defending champion Lafayette at 7 p.m., while Duquesne travels to Robert Morris.
