Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Football's Smith, Byers Honored After 26-Point Victory at Lafayette
10/31/2011 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 31, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Junior running back Tyler Smith (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) etched his name into the Bison record books with 42 carries for 212 yards and 283 all-purpose yards, and freshman linebacker Evan Byers (Roaring Brook, Pa./Wyoming Seminary/Trinity-Pawling (N.Y.)) posted a career-high five tackles, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble, helping the Bucknell football team to a 39-13 victory over Lafayette at a snowy Fisher Stadium Saturday evening. Both earned weekly awards on Monday as Smith copped the Susquehanna Valley Limousine Bison Athlete of the Week honor, while Byers was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week.
Smith, who scored two touchdowns against the Leopards, powered Bucknell's offense, which totaled 235 of its 299 yards of total offense on the ground. Smith became just the third player in program history to rush at least 40 times in a game and he fell just one carry shy of Rich Lemon's 16-year-old school record. Smith's 212 yards rank ninth on the Bison all-time list as he became the first Bucknell player since Dante Ross in 2005 to post a 200-yard outing.
One of the best kick returners in the country, Smith also returned three kicks for 71 yards against Lafayette, vaulting his all-purpose tally to a career-high 283. That figure ranks eighth on the Bison single-game ledger.
Smith, this year, has rushed for a career-high 582 yards on 144 carries. That figure ranks second in the Patriot League and is the most yards by a Bison running back since Josh DeStefano registered 643 in 2006.
Smith, who went over 1,000 yards rushing for his career in week eight vs. Holy Cross, now has 1,241 yards and 12 touchdowns his career. He moved into sixth place on Bucknell's single-season kick return yardage (596) list, and he moved over 3,000 (3,106) all-purpose yards in his three-year career.
Byers had a solid defensive outing, tying for the second-most tackles on the team. He forced and recovered a fumble by Jet Kollie on a kickoff return that led to a Brandon Wesley-to-Josh Eden touchdown pass that gave the Bison the lead for good in their first win over Lafayette in a decade.
Byers has played in all nine games this year and now has 26 tackles. He has forced and recovered a fumble each of the last two weeks, and he also had an interception at Cornell. On Saturday he was part of a defense that forced a season-high seven turnovers, the most by a Bucknell team since 2003. Overall this year the Bison have forced 33 turnovers against just 10 giveaways.
Smith is the third football player to earn Bison Athlete of the Week honors this year, joining Eden and Robert De La Rosa. Byers is the second Bucknell player to be named Patriot League Rookie of the Week, following Jordan Dudas (Sept. 12).
The Bison (5-4, 2-2 PL) are idle this coming Saturday before closing their 2011 campaign with a pair of road games at Fordham (Nov. 12) and Colgate (Nov. 19).
