Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Football Makes First-Ever Trip to Marist on Saturday
9/26/2006 8:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 26, 2006
What: Bucknell vs. Marist
Where: Leonidoff Field, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
When: Saturday, Sept. 30, 1 p.m.
Game Notes
Bucknell and Marist meet for just the second time -- and for the first time on the Red Foxes' home field -- this Saturday at 1 p.m. The Bison have alternated wins and losses this season and come in with a 2-2 record. Still stinging from a 48-21 loss to No. 7 Richmond last week that cost them two members of the starting backfield, the Bison hope to repeat last year's 27-7 win over Marist. The Red Foxes (1-3) also hosted a Patriot League team last week, falling to Holy Cross 27-0 at Leonidoff Field.
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 69-73-1 (.486) in his career, which also includes head coaching stints at Davidson (1993-99) and St. Mary's (2000-02), and 16-22 (.421) in three-plus seasons with the Bison. Landis is 1-0 against Marist as a head coach.
• THE OFFENSE: After suffering a shutout against Lafayette on Sept. 9, Bucknell has totaled 41 points in the last two contests, and last week the Bison became the first team this season to score against Richmond's first-team defense. Bucknell ranks first in the Patriot League and eighth nationally in rushing (237.3), 5th/71st in total offense (305.3) and 4th/83rd in scoring offense (18.0).
• UNDER CENTER: Junior Terrance Wilson will get the start at quarterback this week with Andrew Lair sidelined by injury. Wilson does have experience. He was the opening-day starter last season but broke his jaw in that game against Georgetown and missed the rest of the year. This season he has played in three of the four games and became one of the heroes of the season-opening win over Duquesne when he scrambled for the tying touchdown on the final play of regulation. For the year Wilson has rushed 19 times for 48 yards and two touchdowns, and he has completed 3 of 12 passes for 29 yards.
• BACKS & RECEIVERS: For the second time in four games this season, the Bison lost a highly regarded freshman running back to a season-ending knee injury. In week two against Lafayette it was fullback Paul Forcellini who went down, and last week at Richmond it was slotback Rashod Bumpers, who leads the team in all-purpose yards (383). Veteran FB Josh DeStefano is the team's top rusher with 188 yards on 39 carries. At slot, senior Peter Kaufman and junior Roosevelt Davis are expected to start against Marist, with another promising freshman, A.J. Kizekai, likely to see increased playing time. Kizekai came on in the fourth quarter against Richmond and ran for a team-high 57 yards on five carries, including a 36-yard touchdown run on his first collegiate carry. WR Alex Odenbach had another catch last week and now leads the team with six.
• 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. The regular lineup consists of co-captain Stefan Niemczyk (LG) starting alongside Chad Glasser (LT), Joel Hoffer (C), Jonathan Grainger (RG) and Michael Anthony (RT). Senior Michael Boccella, a starter in eight games last season, also plays at the tackle spots.
• THE DEFENSE: Bucknell's young defense has yielded a league-high 482.7 yards per game thus far. The unit made had its best showing two weeks ago when it kept Cornell out of the end zone in a 20-5 win. It was the first time the Bison defense did not allow a touchdown since 2002. Last week, No. 7 Richmond's high-powered offense put up 48 points and 493 total yards.
• DEFENSIVE FRONT: The team's biggest question mark entering the season, the new-look defensive line, featuring three first-year starters has made some plays in the first four games but is still looking for improvement, particularly against the run, when the Bison are allowing 219.8 yards per game. The heart and soul of the Bucknell defense is the linebacker unit, led by senior co-captain Dorian Petersen, freshman Sam Nana-Sinkam and junior Ryan Slater. That trio ranks 1-2-3 on the team and 2-5-6 in the Patriot League with 42, 38 and 37 hits, respectively, through four games.
• DEFENSIVE SECONDARY: Landis and defensive coordinator Jared Backus did some shuffling in the secondary two weeks ago, moving safety Matt Palermo to cornerback and inserting promising freshman safety Brigham Farrand into the starting lineup for the first time. Farrand responded well, tying Petersen for game-high honors with 11 tackles, and he intercepted a pass on the Bucknell 1-yard line and also recovered a fumble against the Big Red. Farrand also had eight tackles, including one for a loss, last week against Richmond.
• SPECIAL TEAMS: Bucknell continues to shine in all facets of the special teams. P Phil Azarik was last week's Patriot League Special Teams Player of the Week after averaging 49.3 yards on three punts against Cornell, and last week in very windy conditions at Richmond he averaged 39.1 yards on eight attempts. K Will Carney is 3-for-4 on field goals and 9-for-9 on PATs this season, and two of his four kickoffs last week were touchdbacks. Bucknell's kickoff and punt coverage have been excellent thus far.
BISON FOOTBALL NOTES & NOTABLES:
• With a victory over marist, Bucknell would ...
• ... improve to 2-0 all-time against Marist.
• ... improve to 3-2 on the season for the first time since 2004.
• ... snap a seven-game road losing streak.
• ... improve to 9-3 all-time against current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
• ... snap a five-game losing streak in the state of New York, dating back to a 31-10 win over nationally ranked Fordham in 2003.
• LAST WEEK: Bucknell jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but Richmond showed why it is the nation's No. 7-ranked team and rallied for a 48-21 victory at UR Stadium (see p. 13 of game notes for recap and boxscore).
• STARTING STRONG ...: Last week Bucknell became the first team this season to score a meaningful point against Richmond. The Bison forced punts on the Spiders' first two possessions, and they turned the second stop into seven points when Andrew Lair dove across the goal line from a yard out.
• ... AND FINISHING STRONG: While Richmond posted 41 straight points to put the game away, Bucknell built some momentum for this week with a strong fourth quarter. QB Terrance Wilson, who replaced injured starter Andrew Lair, led two fourth-quarter scoring drives, capping the latter with a 4-yard touchdown run of his own. Freshman RB A.J. Kizekai, also a replacement for injured starter Rashod Bumpers, came on in the fourth quarter and was outstanding. He scored on a 36-yard run on his first career touch and finished with a team-high 57 rushing yards on only five carries.
• JUMPING RIGHT IN: A.J. Kizekai last week became the second Bison back this season to score a touchdown on his first career carry. In the season opener against Duquesne, Rashod Bumpers scored on a 51-yard run in the first quarter. Also in that game, QB Andrew Lair ran for a 38-yard TD on just his second career rushing attempt, and FB Paul Forcellini had a 13-yard TD run on only his fourth career attempt.
• NANA-SINKAM HONORED: Freshman LB Sam Nana-Sinkam was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Monday, marking the first time he has received the honor. It is the third time in four weeks the Bison have claimed the league's rookie of the week. RB Rashod Bumpers won it in week one after Bucknell's win over Duquesne, and DB Brigham Farrand earned the honor a week ago following the Cornell victory.
• MORE FROM LAST WEEK: Bucknell fell to 0-2 all-time against Richmond and 0-2 against ranked opponents this season ... RB Rashod Bumpers 27-yard reception gave him three catches on the year for 102 yards, an average of 30.4 yards per catch ... TE Nick Mozal made his first career catch ... FBs Josh DeStefano and Kevin Mullen both rushed eight times for 26 yards ... freshmen Casey Williams and Will Braaf both logged their first career tackles ... the Bison were only penalized three times last week and remain the least-penalized team in the Patriot League.
• WELCOME HOME: Bucknell has 10 players on its roster from the state of New York, including a Poughkeepsie native in freshman defensive back Eric Baxter (Poughkeepsie H.S.).
• LEAGUE LEADERS: Bucknell leads the Patriot League in a number of statistical categories: rushing offense (237.2), net punting (38.5), fewest penalty yards (38.8) and kickoff coverage (13.3). Individually, Phil Azarik leads the league in punting (41.8); Will Carney leads in points by kicking (18), field-goal percentage (.750) and PAT percentage (1.000); and Dorian Petersen leads in forced fumbles (2).
• TRULY "SPECIAL" TEAMS: Through four games Bucknell's special teams have been excellent across the board. Some highlights:
• Kickoff Coverage -- Bucknell ranks second in the nation in kickoff coverage, allowing only 13.3 yards per attempt. The Bison have not allowed a return longer than 20 yards this season.
I-AA Kickoff Return Defense
Team Ret. Avg.
1. South Carolina State 18 12.28
2. Bucknell 12 13.25
3. Maine 15 13.27
4. Prairie View 10 13.30
4. Western Illinois 10 13.30
• Punting -- Sophomore P Phil Azarik has been outstanding thus far. He ranks 13th in the nation with a 41.8 average on 22 attempts, and as a team the Bison rank 17th in net punting at 35.8. Azarik's season average would be 43.4 without an 8-yard punt against Lafayette, and 11 of his last 15 boots since that hiccup have traveled at least 40 yards. While there are still at least seven games to play, it is worth noting that the Bucknell single-season punting record is 40.9 by Rich Miller in 1996.• Placekicking -- Sophomore K Will Carney is off to a strong start. He made both field goal attempts against Cornell two weeks ago (40, 24) and is 3-for-4 on the season. Carney is 7-for-10 in his career, including 3-for-3 from 40 yards or better. He is also 9-for-9 on extra points this season.
• WELCOME TO BUCKNELL: The Orange & Blue have received contributions from a number of newcomers thus far. Among the notable performances:
• QB Andrew Lair -- The Navy transfer had been solid in his first four career starts but now is out indefinitely after suffering an injury last week against Richmond. He had rushing touchdowns in the wins over Duquesne and Cornell and completed 50 percent of his passes.
• RB Rashod Bumpers -- The explosive freshman slotback started each of the first four games and has rushed 13 times for 144 yards, an average of 11.1 yards per carry, before going down with a season-ending knee injury at Richmond last week. In his collegiate debut Bumpers ran for 126 yards and a touchdown. His three receptions this season went for 33, 42 and 27 yards. Bumpers had also taken over as the top kickoff returner in week two.
• LB Sam Nana-Sinkam -- The freshman linebacker has been a force thus far. He ranks second on the team and fifth in the Patriot League with 38 tackles. Nana-Sinkam logged a game-high 15 tackles and a sack on opening night against Duquesne, he had nine tackles in the win over Cornell and 11 last week at Richmond.
• DB Jason Davis -- Davis has seen significant time both at cornerback and on kickoff returns thus far. He has returned nine kicks for 161 yards and has seven tackles and a pass breakup on defense.
• DL Josh Eden -- The State College native has started all four games at defensive end and has 14 tackles, including two for loss.
• DB Brigham Farrand -- Farrand made his first career start against Cornell and made a game-high 11 tackles to go with an interception and a fumble recovery. He had eight more stops last week against Richmond.
• WR Cale Cadman -- Cadman has played both wide receiver and on special teams and has one catch for 14 yards.
• FB Paul Forcellini -- Split time at fullback with veteran Josh DeStefano and carried 10 times for 71 yards and a TD on opening night against Duquesne, but he suffered a season-ending knee inury in week two.
• 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 month. 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 last week. 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.
• 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).
• BIRTHDAY BOY: Bucknell senior co-captain Stefan Niemczyk turns 22 on Tuesday, Oct. 3.
• 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.
• 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 is Homecoming at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, when the Bison take on Ivy League power Penn at 1 p.m. Bucknell will be trying to snap a three-game losing streak to the Quakers that includes last season's 53-7 setback at Franklin Field.
