Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lafayette
Bucknell Football Falls at Lafayette, 35-14
10/31/2009 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 31, 2009
| Highlights
EASTON, Pa. - Lafayette's Rob Curley completed 30 of 35 passes, including 17 of 18 in the second half, for 333 yards and three touchdowns as the Bucknell football team lost to the Leopards 35-14 Saturday afternoon at a damp Fisher Field. The score was tied 7-7 at halftime, but Lafayette scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the second half.
Bucknell's A.J. Kizekai caught a career-high seven passes for a career-high 140 yards, including his sixth career play of at least 70 yards. Marcello Trigg attempted a career-high 36 passes, but managed just 13 completions for 195 yards, 70 of which came on one play to Kizekai.
Lafayette (7-1, 3-0 Patriot League) dominated the second half, piling up 321 of its 475 total yards after halftime. The Leopards also had nearly 23 minutes time of possession in the second half and nearly 39 for the game.
The only points in the first half came on the first and last drives of the stanza. Lafayette took a 7-0 lead on its first series thanks to generous field position following a 19-yard punt by Bucknell's Andrew Bell. The Leopards drove 42 yards on five plays, ending with a one-yard touchdown plunge by Jeff Cumming, who scored on two of his three rushes in the contest.
Seven of the next eight drives ended with punts, including five from the Bison in the first 20 minutes of play. Lafayette worked its way into field goal range with a 14-play drive that spanned more than seven minutes, but a bad snap resulted in a 19-yard loss and the Leopards' kicker Davis Rodriguez missed a 44-yard field goal attempt, giving the Bison the ball at their own 27 with just over three minutes remaining in the half.
Trigg, who engineered a touchdown drive in the final minutes of the first half last week against Lehigh, did the same Saturday. He completed five passes and helped the Bison convert on four third or fourth down opportunities as Bucknell covered 73 yards on 15 plays in a span of 3:05. Trigg threaded a 19-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Kizekai on a third-and-16 to tie the score. It was the 31st career touchdown pass for Trigg, moving him into sold possession of second place on the program's passing touchdowns list.
Lafayette set the tone for the second half on its first drive, registering three plays of at least 13 yards and taking just six plays and 2:49 to cover 68 yards and score a touchdown on a 13-yard Curley pass to Michael Bolton.
Trigg had a third-and-10 pass intercepted on the next drive, and the Leopards scored again on a short run by Cumming, completing a long 82-yard drive that ate up nearly seven minutes of the third quarter.
Bucknell (3-5, 1-2 PL) was unable to draw closer as Lafayette scored again to go up 28-7. The Bison did answer thanks to the long catch and run by Kizekai. On Bucknell's first play of the fourth quarter he went 70 yards down to the Lafayette four-yard line. Two plays later Trigg crossed the goal line for the fifth time this season and the 18th time in his career.
Curley spread the ball around to his receivers as eight different Leopards caught a pass. Mark Layton led the way with nine catches for 70 yards and one touchdown.
Thanks to a 22-yard run, Justin Pulgrano led the Bison with 30 yards rushing. Kizekai was next with 20 as he registered a season-high 202 all-purpose yards. He has 487 all-purpose yards against Lafayette over the last two seasons.
Despite yielding 28 second-half points the Bucknell defense was solid at times. In fact, three different Bison tallied double-figure tackles with Travis Nissley leading the way with a career-high 15. Greg Jones added 12, while Jamal Briggs had 10.
Bucknell has now lost eight in a row to Lafayette and has not scored more than 21 points in any of the last nine meetings.
The Bison, who have lost six in a row on the road, will play the middle contest of a three-game road trip next Saturday at Fordham. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.
