Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Football Returns Home to Host Colgate on Homecoming
10/23/2012 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 23, 2012
What: GameTracker
Game Notes 
Saturday's Bucknell-Colgate game is sponsored by: Susquehanna River Valley Visitors Bureau
Probable Starters - Offense
QB 14 Brandon Wesley (Jr., 6-2, 190) - Top 10 on career yards, attempts, completions, total offense lists
RB 32 Tyler Smith (Sr., 5-9, 195) - DNP due to injury vs. Delaware, Lafayette and Lehigh
FB 33 Travis Friend (Jr., 6-2, 235) - Preseason All-Patriot League selection; 2-time All-PL choice
WR 80 Josh Brake (So., 6-3, 200) - Four multi-reception games this year
WR 5 Victor Walker (Jr., 6-1, 197) - At least one reception in 9 consecutive games
LT 72 Lonnie Rawles (So., 6-4, 285) - Only returning starter on OL
LG 69 Troy Steinhilber (Sr., 6-4, 295) - Made 1st career start in season opener vs. Marist
C 77 Brandon Noblett (So., 6-2, 285) - Made 1st career start in season opener vs. Marist
RG 76 Clayton Hoffmaster (Fr., 6-4, 295) - Only freshman to start a game in 2012
RT 79 Nevin Hagman (So., 6-3, 285) - 8 career games played
TE 88 Patrick Kelly (So., 6-3, 230) - Has started two games in a row for 1st time in career
Probable Starters - Defense
DE 40 Sean Sellers (Jr., 6-0, 235) - At least 0.5 sacks in 5 of 6 games played in 2012
DT 78 Devin Gordon-Hamm (Sr., 6-1, 270) - 22 career games played, made 1st career start vs. Marist
NG 90 Tracey Smith (Jr., 6-1, 255) - Missed start vs. Lehigh due to helmet coming off on special teams
DE 9 Samuel Oyekoya (Sr., 6-3, 235) - 12.5 career sacks is most among current Bison
Mike LB 27 Evan Byers (So., 6-0, 215) - Career-high 61 tackles this season, 5 shy of 100 in career
Sam LB 12 Beau Traber (Sr., 5-11, 220) - Preseason All-Patriot League selection
SS 37 Lee Marvel (So., 6-0, 205) - Career-high 3.5 TFL vs. Lafayette
CB 4 Donald Quarles (Sr., 5-7, 175) - 5 pass breakups vs. Lafayette tied for most in FCS in 2012
FS 26 Matthew Steinbeck (So., 6-0, 205) - Career-high 2 INTs last week at Lehigh
Whip DB 36 Jordan Dudas (So., 6-0, 195) - Made 1st start of 2012 at Lehigh after starting 11 games in 2011
CB 2 Derrick Palmer (Jr., 5-10, 175) - One of four current Bison w/100 career tackles
In the Herd: Bucknell-Colgate Preview
With a Victory over Colgate, Bucknell Would ...
• ... snap a six-game losing streak and avoid its first seven-game streak since 2005.
• ... snap a four-game Patriot League losing streak.
• ... end a six-game losing streak on Homecoming.
• ... defeat the Raiders for the first time since 2006.
• ... keep the chance at an above-.500 home record alive.
About the Game
Once again this Saturday, Bucknell faces a team on a hot streak as Colgate comes to Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium for a 1 p.m. Homecoming game that is sponsored by the Susquehanna River Valley Visitors Bureau. The Raiders are 4-3 on the season, including 2-0 in Patriot League play, and have won three in a row by a combined 155-95 score. Colgate ranks in the top 10 nationally in pass efficiency (4th), total offense (7th), rushing offense (8th) and scoring offense (10th). The Raiders broke their program record for total offense last week vs. Georgetown as they piled up 707 yards in a 57-36 victory. Despite giving up 77 points the last two weeks, Bucknell's defense remains the strength of the team. The Bison are especially strong against the run, holding five of their seven opponents under 100 yards. Bucknell will be charged with stopping Colgate's running attack, which is averaging 266 yards per game. Only two teams (Colgate and Harvard) have rushed for more than 200 yards against Bucknell in its last 19 games.
Bucknell vs. Colgate Series Notes
• Colgate leads 44-16.
• Colgate has won five in a row.
• The home team is 8-3 in the last 11 meetings.
• Bucknell has not scored an offensive touchdown vs. Colgate since 2009 (144 minutes, 52 seconds).
• First meeting was in 1894.
• The winning team has scored at least 28 points in seven of the last nine meetings. The average score for the winning team has been more than 33 points over that span.
Last Time vs. Colgate
Colgate 21, Bucknell 6 (Nov. 19, 2011 - Hamilton, N.Y.)
• Two field goals by Drew Orth accounted for all six of Bucknell's points.
• Bryce Robertson intercepted his 13th pass of the year, bringing him to within one of the FCS single-season record.
• Bucknell ran 74 plays, compared to 49 for Colgate.
• All 20 points scored by the offenses came with the wind at their backs.
• All three of Colgate's scores came on plays of at least 30 yards.
• Bucknell and Colgate combined to go 7-for-29 on third downs and 4-for-5 on fourth downs.
• Colgate rushed for 203 yards against a Bison defense that ranked third in the nation in rushing yards allowed (65.8 ypg).
Inside the Lehigh Box Score
• There were a total of five blocked kicks in the game. Lehigh blocked three punts and an extra point, while Bucknell had one blocked punt.
• Lehigh won for the 15th consecutive time in the series.
• Bucknell held a 149-106 total offense edge in teh first half, but trailed 21-6 after 30 minutes of play. The Bison possessed the ball for more than 20 minutes in the first half.
• Bucknell's 19 points equaled a season high and were its most in a loss since 2010.
• Bucknell RB Jeremiah Young posted his second career 100-yard rushing game. He became the first Bison since Brandon Wesley Sept. 24, 2011 at Princeton to score three rushing touchdowns in a game.
• Bucknell registered 31 yards of total offense after its final touchdown with 5:38 left in the third quarter.
• Bucknell was within 21-19 with five minutes to play in the third quarter, but Lehihg scored three touchdowns over the game's final 17:24.
• Bucknell and Lehigh were a combined 7-for-7 inside the Red Zone. All seven scores were touchdowns.
• Brandon Wesley was 5-for-5 for 108 yards on Bucknell's three scoring drives. He was 7-for-17 for 56 yards on the other 12 drives.
• Bucknell covered 168 yards on its three scoring drives and 104 on its other 12 drives.
• Lehigh had two 100-yard receivers: Lee Kurfis (129 yards) and Josh Parris (114 yards).
Career Highs Set vs. Lehigh
• Jaylen Amaker: tackles (4)
• Travis Friend: receiving yards (30), long reception (29)
• Brian Regan: long kickoff return (32)
• Matthew Steinbeck: interceptions (2)
• Jeremiah Young: long reception (23 yards), rushing touchdowns (3). all-purpose yards (128)
Unbeaten Opponents
Bucknell has played a very difficult schedule in 2012. The Bison have faced five teams that were undefeated at the time of the matchup and the cumulative record of Bucknell opponents entering their contest with the Bison is 21-8, including Colgate. Additionally, seven of the eight opponents have entered the game coming off at least one victory.
| Opponent | Record Entering Bucknell Game | Streak Entering Bucknell Game |
| Marist | 1-0 | W1 |
| Delaware | 2-0 | W5 |
| Lafayette | 2-0 | W2 |
| Cornell | 1-1 | W1 |
| Holy Cross | 0-4 | L4 |
| Harvard | 4-0 | W13 |
| Lehigh | 7-0 | W7 |
| Colgate | 4-3 | W3 |
Welcome Home
Bucknell will play three of its final four games at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Dating to the final three games of 2011, the Bison have played eight of their last 10 contests away from home. Also during that span were two bye weeks, meaning Bucknell has played two games at home in a 370-day span.
Quick Hitters
• The 61 combined points between Bucknell and Lehigh last week marked the most points in a game involving the Bison since Sept. 18, 2010 when Bucknell (20) and Dartmouth (43) combined for 63.
• RB Jeremiah Young has scored Bucknell's last five touchowns. The last Bison touchdown by a player other than Young came against Lafayette.
• Bucknell scored two touchdowns in the third quarter vs. Lehigh. It marked the first points in the third quarter this year for the Bison, who went 134 minutes, 38 seconds without a point in the third quarter (since 10/29/11 vs. Lafayette).
• The junior (42) and senior (36) classes have combined to score all 78 of Bucknell's points this season.
• Bucknell has faced three nationally ranked opponents this year (No. 13 Delaware, No. 21 Harvard, No. 7 Lehigh).
• Bucknell scored three touchdowns last week at Lehigh, marking the first time it has scored three touchdowns in a game since a 21-0 victory at Fordham last November.
Homecoming
Saturday marks Homecoming at Bucknell. The Bison are 41-42-5 all-time on Homecoming and they have posted a 9-7 record over the last 16 years despite not posting a Homecoming victory since 2005.
100-Yard Game for Jeremiah Young
• Senior RB Jeremiah Young posted his second career 100-yard rushing game last Saturday vs. Lehigh.
• Young's other 100-yard game (105 yards) came Sept. 3, 2011 vs. Duquesne.
• It was Bucknell's 228th all-time 100-yard rushing performance.
• The last time a Bison rushed for 100 yards in a game was Nov. 12, 2011 when Tyler Smith piled up 204 at Fordham.
• Young's three rushing touchdowns were the most by a Bison since Brandon Wesley rushed for three in a 34-9 win at Princeton in 2011.
• Young's three rushing touchdowns were the most by a Bison running back since Frank Lazio had three against Delaware State in 2003.
• Young is now 135 yards shy of 1,000 in his career.
Low-Scoring Games
Bucknell is first nationally in terms of fewest average points scored during its games.
| Fewest Combined Points Scored (Avg.) | Pts. Scored | Pts. Allowed | Avg./Game |
| 1. Bucknell | 78 | 161 | 34.1 (7 gms) |
| 2. South Dakota State | 138 | 107 | 35.0 (7 gms) |
| 3. Wagner | 135 | 119 | 36.3 (7 gms) |
| 4. Indiana State | 193 | 99 | 36.5 (8 gms) |
| 5. Columbia | 79 | 142 | 36.8 (6 gms) |
Bucknell Ties Record with First Points vs. Colgate
Bucknell has scored in 71 consecutive games since it was last shut out (vs. Lafayette in 2006). The program record is 72 straight games scoring from 1996 to 2002. The Bison will tie that record with their first points Saturday against Colgate.
High Scoring Loss
Bucknell scored 19 points last week vs. Lehigh. It marked the most points in a loss by the Bison since a 33-21 loss to Fordham in 2010. Bucknell had won seven games in a row, 8 of 10 and 11 of 15 when scoring at least 19 points.
4,000 Yards
QB Brandon Wesley crossed both the 4,000-yard mark for his career and the 1,000 plateau for this season last two weeks ago at Harvard. This is his third straight 1,000-yard campaign. The last Bison to pass for 1,000 yards in three straight seasons was Don McDowell from 1997 to 1999. It's a feat that has been accomlished just three times in program history. Jim Given was the first to do it from 1985 to 1987.
Three Straight 1,000-Yard Passing Seasons
Jim Given: 1985 (1,105), 1986 (2,167), 1987 (1,518)
Don McDowell: 1997 (1,177), 1998 (1,443), 1999 (1,362)
Brandon Wesley: 2010 (1,699), 2011 (1,446), 2012 (1,217)
Records Could Fall Soon
QB Brandon Wesley ranks third in program history (see page 11 for complete lists) in career pass completions (403), pass attempts (707), passing yards (4,362) and total offense (4,707). He is poised to become the program's all-time leader in completions this coming weekend. If he completes 16 passes he will move ahead of Scott Auchenbach, the record holder since 1989, on that list. Wesley has completed at least 16 passes in a game five times this year.
Rushing Defense
Over the last two years (18 games), Bucknell has given up an average of 78.8 yards rushing per game. Thirteen opponents have not reached 100 yards on the ground and two have been held to negative yardage.
Susan to Tie George Landis
In his third year at Bucknell, head coach Joe Susan is starting to move up some career coaching lists. Susan will tie George Landis (10-19-1 record from 1986-88) for 17th place on the program's career games coached list on Saturday. It will be Susan's 30th contest on the Bison sideline. Next up after Landis is Charles Moran, who coached 31 games from 1924-26.
Games Coached (All-Time)
14. Carroll Huntress (1965-68) - 38
15. George Johnson (1915-17) - 32
16. Charles Moran (1924-26) - 31
17. George Landis (1986-88) - 30
18. Edward "Hook" Mylin (1934-36) - 29
Joe Susan (2010-pres.) - 29
Milestone Watch
• Evan Byers is 5 tackles shy of 100 in his career.
• Evan Byers needs nine tackles to equal the most tackles by a Bison in 2011 (Sean Rafferty - 70).
• Ryan Gutowski is 6 punts shy of tying Rich Miller's career record (207) for punts.
• Samuel Oyekoya is 3.5 sacks shy of 10th place on Bucknell's career list.
• Victor Walker needs 271 yards to move into top 10 on program's career receiving yards list.
• Jeremiah Young is 135 rushing yards shy of 1,000 in his career.
Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame
One legendary coach and five outstanding former student-athletes representing a wide variety of sports will be inducted into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame this Homecoming Weekend. The 34th Hall of Fame Class induction ceremony will take place Friday evening in the Terrace Room on the Bucknell campus and the inductees will be introduced at halftime of Saturday's Bucknell-Colgate game. The class includes former men's soccer, track and field and tennis coach Craig Reynolds; two-sport stars Dick Roush `51 (baseball, soccer) and Kevin Eiben `01 (baseball, football); women's track and field record-setters Yetunde Daniels Rubinstein `00 and Stephanie Bango `02; and baseball slugger Tyler Prout `00.
Up Next
Bucknell will continue its two-game homestand when it hosts Fordham next Saturday, Nov. 3, at 1 p.m. The Bison have won four of the last six meetings against the Rams and lead the all-time series 17-10. Bucknell pitched its first shuout in 10 years last season against Fordham.
