Football Aims for Ninth Win of Season Saturday at Home vs. Colgate

11/19/2014 10:43:00 AM | Football

By: TBD

What: Colgate Raiders (4-7, 2-3 PL) at Bucknell Bison (8-2, 4-1 PL)
Where: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014, 1 p.m.
Tickets: 570-577-1000 or www.bucknell.edu/boxoffice
Internet Video: Patriot League Network
Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 WEGH)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: BucknellBison.com

Football Senior Day vs. Colgate with Wealth Professionals Pig Roast
Fans are invited to come early and visit the first annual Wealth Professionals Pig Roast, hosted by Ken Shedleski, prior to Saturday's game. There will be complimentary pork with all the trimmings, drawings for gift cards and a round of golf for two at the Bucknell Golf Course. Join the fun and meet the staff from Wealth Professionals in the tailgate area near the stadium. Pig Roast starts at 10 a.m.

Ticket Promotion
Fans that purchase a ticket for Saturday's football game in person at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium on gameday will receive a complimentary ticket for Saturday evening's Bison men's basketball game vs. Mount St. Mary's at Sojka Pavilion.

Probable Starters - Offense
QB 13 Trey Lauletta (Sr., 6-1, 200) - Crossed 1,000 passing yard mark for career last week
RB 34 Matt DelMauro (Jr., 5-7, 185) - PL Offensive Player of the Week after 139 yards vs. Holy Cross
FB 33 Daniel McManus (Sr., 6-0, 260) - Moved to FB after playing OL earlier in career
WR 18 Will Carter (So., 5-10, 180) - No. 5 on Bucknell's season receiving yards list
WR 86 Jake Hartman (Sr., 6-3, 215) - 272 of 468 rec. yards in 2014 over last 3 games
LT 70 Julie'n Davenport (So., 6-7, 320) - Preseason All-Patriot League selection
LG 72 Lonnie Rawles (Sr., 6-4, 290) - 39 straight starts, Preseason All-Patriot League selection
C 77 Brandon Noblett (Sr., 6-2, 285) - 25 career starts at center
RG 79 Nevin Hagman (Sr., 6-3, 285) - Expected to make eighth start of season
RT 71 Ramy Kased (Jr., 6-6, 320) - 30 career games, 22 starts
TE 88 Patrick Kelly (Sr., 6-3, 230) - Played in all 43 games during career

Probable Starters - Defense
DE 52 Dylan McDonnell (Sr., 6-1, 255) - 66 career tackles
DT 40 Abdullah Anderson (Fr., 6-4, 260) - Only freshman to start all 10 games
NG 97 Demetrius Baldwin-Youngblood (Sr., 6-1, 285) - Preseason All-Patriot League selection
DE 15 Jimmy King (Jr., 6-1, 250) - Career highs for tackles (23), TFL (4) and sacks (1.5) this season
Mike LB 27 Evan Byers (Sr., 6-0, 235) - Ranks t-2nd on Bucknell's career tackles list (369)
Sam LB 37 Lee Marvel (Sr., 6-0, 215) - Team co-captain along with Matthew Steinbeck
SS 5 Clayton Ewell (Jr., 6-1, 195) - 22nd nationally in INT per game (0.4)
FS 43 Louis Taglianetti (Jr., 5-11, 200) - Career-high-tying 57 tackles this season
WS 28 Connor Golden (Fr., 6-0, 200) - 25 of 27 tackles this season in last four weeks
CB 20 Colin Jonov (Fr., 5-11, 195) - PL Rookie of the Week after 2 INTs at Holy Cross last week
CB 7 Jaylen Amaker (Sr., 6-0, 180) - Career-high 12 tackles last week at Holy Cross

With a Victory over Colgate, Bucknell Would ...
• ... win for the 14th time in 17 games.
• ... become just the third Bison team to reach nine wins in a season.
• ... reach five Patriot League wins for just the second time (1997).
• ... improve to 7-2 in its last nine November games.
• ... help the Bison post a three-win improvement for the second straight year.
• ... win its season finale for the third straight year and seventh time in the last nine years.
• ... win four home games in a season for the first time since 2009.
• ... finish just one game out of first place in the Patriot League standings for the second straight year.
• ... defeat the Raiders in back-to-back years for the first time since 1995 and 1996.

About the Game
Bucknell will wrap up the 2014 regular season against longtime rival Colgate (62 meetings) Saturday at 1 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. This is the second time in the last four years the Bison have closed the season against the Raiders. Bucknell enters the contest in the midst of its best season in nearly two decades and it will be looking to reach nine victories in a season for just the third time in program history. Colgate, under first-year head coach Dan Hunt, is 4-7 overall and 2-3 in Patriot League play. After opening the season 4-2, the Raiders have lost five in a row. Five of their final six games are road contests.

About Colgate
• Colgate is being outscored by just over three points per game this season and is no stranger to close games, having played six contests decided by a touchdown or less.
• Sophomore Jake Melville began the season as the starting quarterback, but an injury has opened the door for freshman QB Bret Mooney. Mooney is 48-for-108 for 644 yards in five games played.
• Colgate has rushed (2,067) for more yards than it has passed (1,532) for. Junior Demetrius Russell leads the Raiders in rushing yards with 664. He is one of five Colgate players with more than 250 yards on the ground.

Bucknell vs. Colgate Series Notes
• Colgate leads 45-17.
• Bucknell snapped a six-game losing streak with a 28-7 win in Hamilton last year. It was the first win for the Bison at Colgate since 1999.
• First meeting was in 1894.
• The winning team has scored at least 28 points in nine of the last 11 meetings. The average score for the winning team has been more than 34 points over that span.
• The most recent meeting decided by less than two touchdowns was in 2007 (Colgate 28, Bucknell 24).

Last Time vs. Colgate
Bucknell 28, Colgate 7 (Nov. 12, 2013 - Lewisburg, Pa.)
• Bucknell defeated Colgate for the first time since 2006 and won in Hamilton for the first time since 1999.
• Bucknell possessed the ball for more than 22 minutes in the second half, including 12:03 in the third quarter.
• Colgate entered the game averaging nearly 400 yards per game and was held to 194, including 36 on the ground. The Raiders had ranked 24th nationally in rushing yards per game (216.1).
• Bucknell had a 100-yard rusher (C.J. Williams) and a 100-yard receiver (Boby Kaslander).

Inside the Holy Cross Box Score
• Bucknell tied the FCS record by playing a third consecutive overtime game.
• Bison RB Matt DelMauro started in place of an injured C.J. Williams and posted career highs in rushing attempts (30), rushing yards (139), rushing touchdowns (3), receiving yards (53), long reception (36) and all-purpose yards (192). It was his first career 100-yard rushing performance.
• All four of Bucknell's touchdowns came on the ground. It marked just the second time this year the Bison did not pass for a touchdown.
• There were five lead changes and two ties.
• Bucknell won at Fitton Field for the first time since 2004.
• Bison freshman CB Colin Jonov intercepted two passes, including one in the end zone.
• Bucknell and Holy Cross were a combined 13-for-33 on third down.

Career Highs Set vs. Holy Cross
• Jaylen Amaker: tackles (12)
• Josh Brake: punt returns (3)
• Will Carter: kickoff returns (3), kickoff return yards (31), long kickoff return (15)
• Matt DelMauro: rushing attempts (30), rushing yards (139), rushing TDs (3), receiving yards (53), long reception (36), all-purpose yards (192)
• Colin Jonov: pass breakups (2), interceptions (2), interception return yards (1), all-purpose yards (1)
• Matt Muh: rushing attempts (1), rushing yards (1), long rush (1), passing attempts (1), pass completions (1), all-purpose yards (1)

2014 Success
• Bucknell had its longest unbeaten start (4-0) to a season since 1997 (10-0).
• Bucknell was one of the final nine unbeaten teams in all of FCS.
• Bucknell opened a campaign with at least a 7-1 mark for just the fifth time in program history, joining the 1924, 1929, 1951 and 1997 squads.
• Bucknell has its most wins (8) since posting setting the school record with 10 victories in 1997.
• Bucknell had its longest undefeated Patriot League start (3-0) since 2001.
• Bucknell was one of the final 11 teams nationally to be undefeated in conference play.
• Bucknell is 13-3 in its last 16 games, outscoring opponents 453-302 (28.3-18.9) during that stretch.
• Bucknell had its longest home winning streak (5) since 2000 snapped two weeks ago against Fordham.

Most Wins
• Bucknell's eight wins this season ties it for third-most in program history.
• The only other Bison squads to win at least eight games in a season were in 1924 (8), 1929 (8), 1951 (9) and 1997 (10).

Back-to-Back Winning Seasons
• With eight wins this year, Bucknell has clinched an above-.500 finish.
• This is the first time the Bison will finish above .500 in back-to-back years since 2000 and 2001.

Overtime
• Bucknell has tied an FCS record by playing three consecutive overtime games.
• The Bison tied the record shared by Penn (2006) and Jacksonville State (2013).
• The Quakers were 0-3 during their overtime stretch, while the Gamecocks were 2-1.
• Interestingly, all three of Bucknell's overtime games have been tied at 24-24 entering the extra session.
• Prior to this stretch, Bucknell's last overtime contest was in 2008 vs. Fordham.
• Bucknell is 7-6 all-time in overtime games. The Bison have gone to overtime three times against Colgate (1995, 1996, 2002).

Close Games
• Bucknell's last four games have been decided by a total of 18 points.
• The previous five Bison games were decided by an average of 20.2 points.
• Bucknell is 4-1 in games decided by a touchdown or less this year.
• The Bison are 7-2 in their last nine games decided by a touchdown or less.

Home Success
• Bucknell is 3-1 at home this season.
• The Bison are 5-1 in their last six home games.
• Bucknell will finish with an above-.500 record in home games for the second consecutive year, something it had not accomplished since 2003 and 2004.
• The Bison are 245-157-10 (.607) all-time at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

Season Finales
• Bucknell is an impressive 8-3 in its final game of the season over the last 11 years.
• The Bison are 51-66-11 all-time in their final game of a season.
• Twice (2008 & 2009) in the last six years Bucknell defeated a ranked opponent to close the season.
• This is the first time the Bison have played a Patriot League foe in their season finale since 2011 (Colgate).

100-Yard Rushers
• Junior RB Matt DelMauro posted his first career 100-yard rushing performance last week at Holy Cross with a career-high 139 yards on 30 carries.
• It was the sixth 100-yard rushing performance of the season by a Bison as sophomore RB C.J. Williams has crossed the 100-yard mark five times.
• Williams' team-best 901 rushing yards this season place him just 65 yards shy of 10th on Bucknell's single-season list, while his 1,800 career yards place him 10th on that ledger.
• DelMauro is second on the team with a career-high 534 yards. He crossed the 1,000-yard mark for his career last Saturday and now has 1,021.

Patriot League Weekly Awards
• Junior RB Matt DelMauro was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Monday. He set career highs in six offensive categories in the win over Holy Cross, including rushing attempts (30), rushing yards (139) and rushing touchdowns (3). He posted his first career 100-yard rushing day and scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime.
• Freshman CB Colin Jonov earned his first career Patriot League weekly award on Monday as he was named the league's Rookie of the Week. Jonov intercepted two passes, had two pass breakups and posted two tackles.
• Bucknell has now had 10 different players combine to win 12 Patriot League weekly awards this season.

Forcing Turnovers
• Bucknell has been much better at forcing turnovers of late. After forcing just six turnovers over the season's first five games, the Bison have forced 12 over the last five outings.
• Bucknell has forced 99 turnovers over the last four years (2.3 per game), including 39 in 2011 to rank second nationally.
• The Bison have had at least one interception in eight of 10 games this year and 34 of the last 43 contests.

Two Interceptions
• Freshman CB Colin Jonov had the first two-interception game of his career last week at Holy Cross.
• Four different Bison have posted multi-interception contests this year.
• Clayton Ewell at Sacred Heart, Lee Marvel at Lehigh and Louis Taglianetti vs. Fordham also recorded two interceptions in a game.
• Bucknell has 16 interceptions this season, its most since leading the nation in that category in 2011 with 22.

Senior Day
• Senior Day ceremonies will take place prior to Saturday's game, the final home contest of the 2014 season for the Bison.
• The following 23 seniors will be recognized on the field during pregame ceremonies: Jaylen Amaker, Demetrius Baldwin-Youngblood, Terry Bennett, Josh Brake, Josh Butler, Evan Byers, Dominique Daniels, Nevin Hagman, Jake Hartman, Connor Hayes, Kareem Hyman, Patrick Kelly, Trey Lauletta, Josh Lebo, Lee Marvel, Derek Maurer, Dylan McDonnell, Daniel McManus, Brandon Noblett, Lonnie Rawles, Dillon Rupp, Matthew Steinbeck, Tyler Zbytek.
• Bucknell defeated Georgetown 17-7 last year on Senior Day and has won its final home game four times in the last six years.

100 Career Tackles
• Six current Bison have piled up at least 100 career tackles.

100+ Career Tackles
Evan Byers - 369
Lee Marvel - 221
Matthew Steinbeck - 137
Louis Taglianetti - 119
Demetrius Baldwin-Youngblood - 115
Clayton Ewell - 112

Tackles for Loss
• Senior DL Demetrius Baldwin-Youngblood ranks 34th nationally in tackles for loss per game (1.4).
• Baldwin-Youngblood has a team-high 14 tackles for loss this season, the most by a Bison since Robert De La Rosa had 17.5 in 2011.
• Over the last 10 years (since beginning of 2005 season) Baldwin-Youngblood's tackles for loss are the second-most for a Bison behind only De La Rosa.
• Baldwin-Youngblood has had multiple tackles for loss in each of the last four games and has recorded at least one tackle behind the line of scrimmage in nine of 10 games this season.

Time of Possession
• Bucknell ranks 29th nationally in time of possession this year (31:22).
• Bucknell has had more than 35 minutes time of possession four times this year, including most recently two weeks ago vs. Fordham.
• Since head coach Joe Susan took over in 2010, the Bison have had 19 games with at least 35 minutes time of possession, including a high of six in 2011.

100-Yard Games for Will Carter
• Bucknell sophomore WR Will Carter has posted three 100-yard receiving games this season.
• Only 10 other times have Bison had at least three 100-yard outings in the same season.
• Tom Mitchell (1964), Mike Guerrini (1987), Dave Kucera (1987) and Shaun Pasternak (2008) hold the school record with five 100-yard games in a season.
• Carter is just the 10th player in program history with at least four career 100-yard receiving games.
• Carter has 45 catches for 878 yards and nine touchdowns this year. It is the most yards by a Bison receiver since Shaun Pasternak set the school record of 1,083 in 2008.
• Carter had 246 receiving yards earlier this year at Lehigh, the second-highest figure in program history.

More Passing
• Bucknell enters Saturday's game within potential striking distance of breaking school single-season records for touchdown passes (23) and passing yards (2,465).
• This year, the Bison passed for 21 touchdowns and totaled 2,350 passing yards.
• Twice this year Bucknell has thrown for 300 yards in a game. Prior to this year, the last 300-yard passing game for the Bison came in 1994.

300 Points?
• Bucknell enters Saturday's game just 13 points shy of 300 on the season. Only three times in program history (1951, 1990, 1999) have the Bison scored 300 points in a season.
• Bucknell's 28.7 points per game this year places it 51st nationally in scoring offense and second in the Patriot League.

Big Plays
• Bucknell has had 28 offensive plays of at least 25 yards this season.
• 12 of Bucknell's 38 touchdowns this season have come on plays of at least 25 yards.
• The average yardage length of a Bucknell touchdown this year is 23.6 yards.

November Success
• Bucknell is happy the calendar says November. Since 2011, November is the most successful month for the Bison.
• Bucknell is 8-4 (.667) in November, 8-6 (.571) in September and 6-10 (.375) in October over that span.

Susan Moving Up Lists
• Bucknell fifth-year head coach Joe Susan is in sole possession of 10th place on Bucknell's games coached list with 54.
• Susan's 24 wins at Bucknell place him in sole possession of 11th place on the program's all-time list. Next up is 10th-place Lou Maranzana, who guided Bucknell to 26 wins from 1989-1994.

Tackles for Byers
• Senior LB Evan Byers posted a career-high 23 tackles in the season opener vs. VMI, giving him 42 over a two-game span.
• Byers' 23 tackles vs. VMI were the most by a Bucknell player since at least 2000, and the most by a Patriot Leaguer since 2007.
• Byers ranks 10th nationally this season in tackles per game (10.6) and is second in solo tackles per game (7.1).
• Byers ranks fourth among all current FCS players with 369 career tackles.
• Byers has recorded three consecutive 100-tackle campaigns.

FCS Active Career Tackles
1. Nick Dzunbar, Cal Poly - 407
2. Quinn Backus, Coastal Carolina - 403
3. Caleb Schaffitzel, Missouri State - 380
4. Evan Byers, Bucknell - 369
5. Jonathan Spain, Elon - 352

Milestone Watch
• Will Carter: 122 receiving yards shy of becoming third player in program history with 1,000 yards in a season
• Trey Lauletta: 227 passing yards shy of giving Bucknell two 1,000-yard passers in same season for first time in program history
• Lee Marvel: Needs one tackle to establish new career high
• Derek Maurer: Needs 10 points to equal Bucknell's single-season record for points by a kicker
• Brian Regan: 53 all-purpose yards shy of 1,000 in career
• Louis Taglianetti: needs one tackle to establish new career high

Patriot League Network Broadcast
• Saturday's game will be broadcast live online via the Patriot League Network. The broadcast wil be produced by Campus Insiders.
• Play-by-play duties will be handled by Matt Martucci, while former Colgate QB Ryan Vena will serve as color analyst.