Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's Bumpers, Carney Earn PL Weekly Football Honors
9/4/2006 8:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 4, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - In the wake of a thrilling overtime victory over Duquesne on opening night, the Bucknell football team had two of its game-one heroes honored with Patriot League weekly awards on Monday. Sophomore kicker Will Carney (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern Regional) was named the league's special teams player of the week, while freshman slotback Rashod Bumpers (Mobile, Ala./UMS-Wright) was picked as the rookie of the week.
Carney's "walk-off" 27-yard field goal won the game in overtime, but before he even had a chance to kick the game-winner he had to make a pressure-packed extra point to tie the game at 28-28 with no time remaining in regulation.
Carney took over as the starting kicker midway through his freshman season and went 5-for-7 on field-goal attempts the rest of the way, including a career-long 43-yarder against Lehigh. Saturday night's field goal was the first game-winner of his young career.
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Bumpers made quite a first impression, rushing for a game-high 126 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries in his collegiate debut. He caught a 33-yard pass on Bucknell's very first play of the game, and later he scored a 51-yard touchdown on his very first rushing attempt.
Bumpers, the Alabama state record-holder in the 55-meter dash, drew a start at slotback in the season opener. He became the first Bucknell freshman running back to go over 100 yards since Rich Lemon ran for 210 against Bloomsburg in 1993. Lemon went on to rush for a Bucknell-record 4,742 yards.
In addition to the first career weekly awards for Carney and Bumpers, junior quarterback Terrance Wilson (Trenton, N.J./Hamilton West) and freshman linebacker Sam Nana-Sinkham (Lititz, Pa./Manheim Township) were named to the Patriot League's weekly Honor Roll.
Wilson came on in relief of injured starter Andrew Lair and led a two-minute drill that culminated in his 15-yard touchdown scamper on the final play of regulation. Wilson finished with 25 rushing yards on nine carries. Nana-Sinkham started at linebacker in his collegiate debut and recorded a game-high 15 tackles (13 solo) and his first career sack.
Bucknell (1-0) opens Patriot League play this weekend, hosting No. 25 Lafayette (1-0) Saturday at 7 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
