Bucknell University Athletics
Football Back in Action Saturday at Sacred Heart in Matchup of Unbeatens
9/16/2014 11:26:00 AM | Football
What: Bucknell Bison (2-0, 0-0 PL) at Sacred Heart Pioneers (3-0, 0-0 NEC)
Where: Campus Field, Fairfield, Conn.
When: Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014, 1 p.m.
Internet Video: NEC Front Row
Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 WEGH)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: SacredHeartPioneers.com
Probable Starters - Offense
QB 6 R.J. Nitti (So., 6-4, 220) - 4 TD passes equals total from all of 2013
RB 4 C.J. Williams (So., 6-1, 205) - Ranks fourth nationally in rushing yards per game
FB 33 Daniel McManus (Sr., 6-0, 260) - Moved to FB after playing OL earlier in career
WR 2 Bobby Kaslander (Jr., 6-2, 200) - 35 receptions in last six games
WR 80 Josh Brake (Sr., 6-3, 205) - At least one catch in 19 consecutive games
LT 70 Julie'n Davenport (So., 6-7, 320) - Preseason All-Patriot League selection
LG 72 Lonnie Rawles (Sr., 6-4, 290) - 31 straight starts, Preseason All-Patriot League selection
C 77 Brandon Noblett (Sr., 6-2, 285) - 17 career starts at center
RG 79 Nevin Hagman (Sr., 6-3, 285) - 21 career starts
RT 71 Ramy Kased (Jr., 6-6, 320) - 22 career games, 14 starts
TE 88 Patrick Kelly (Sr., 6-3, 230) - Played in all 35 games during career
Probable Starters - Defense
DE 90 Doug Whitlock (Fr,. 6-2, 250) - PL Rookie of the Week (9/8)
DT 40 Abdullah Anderson (Fr., 6-4, 260) - One of two freshmen in opening-day starting lineup vs. VMI
NG 97 Demetrius Baldwin-Youngblood (Sr., 6-1, 285) - Preseason All-Patriot League selection
DE 15 Jimmy King (Jr., 6-1, 250) - First two starts of career this year
Mike LB 27 Evan Byers (Sr., 6-0, 235) - Eight tackles shy of 300 in career
Sam LB 37 Lee Marvel (Sr., 6-0, 215) - Team co-captain along with Matthew Steinbeck
SS 5 Clayton Ewell (Jr., 6-1, 195) - 4th in Patriot League with 12.5 TFL in 2013
FS 43 Louis Taglianetti (Jr., 5-11, 200) - Career-high 10 tackles vs. VMI
WS 26 Matthew Steinbeck (Sr., 6-0, 210) - Missed Marist game with injury
CB 7 Jaylen Amaker (Sr., 6-0, 180) - Team's Most Improved Def. Player in spring 2014 practice
CB 8 Nick O'Brien (So., 5-10, 195) - Missed first two games due to injury
With a Victory over Sacred Heart, Bucknell Would ...
• ... open a season 3-0 for the first time since 1997.
• ... stretch its winning streak to five games for the first time since 2001.
• ... win for the eighth time in nine games.
• ... win its first two road games in a season for the first time since 2008 (Robert Morris & Marist).
• ... win a game in Connecticut for the first time since 1997.
• ... post three wins in September for the first time since 2011.
• ... help Joe Susan push his career record above .500.
About the Game
Saturday's game between Bucknell and Sacred Heart at Campus Field will feature a matchup of unbeaten squads. It is the only game this week between two undefeated FCS teams. The Bison are 2-0 and coming off a bye week, while the Pioneers are 3-0 with wins over Marist, Lafayette and Assumption. It is the second straight year Sacred Heart enters the Bucknell game with an unblemished record. Yards will be tough to come by Saturday as the Pioneers enter the weekend ranked eighth nationally in total defense and Bucknell is 18th. Opponents have struggled to run against both teams as Sacred Heart is limiting the opposition to 63.3 yards per game on the ground, while Bison opponents are averaging 66.0. Last year's contest at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium was the first in the series.
About Sacred Heart
• Sacred Heart was 10-3 overall last year and qualified for the NCAA postseason. The Pioneers lost their NCAA game to Fordham by a 37-27 score.
• Sacred Heart has a four-game homestand to open the season.
• Sacred Heart has outscored its opponents 61-28 in the first halves of games this season.
• QB R.J. Noel leads the Pioneers in both passing (561) and rushing yards (248).
• The Sacred Heart defense has 24 tackles for loss and 10 sacks this year.
Bucknell vs. Sacred Heart Series Notes
• Sacred Heart won the only meeting in series history 16-0 last September at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
Last Time vs. Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart 16, Bucknell 0 (Sept. 28, 2013 - Lewisburg, Pa.)
• Bucknell was shut out for the first time since 2006 to end a program-record streak of 77 consecutive games with a point.
• Sacred Heart entered the game ranked fourth nationally in scoring. The Bison defense held the Pioneers more than 30 points below their average.
• Bucknell and Sacred Heart combined to punt 19 times.
• J.D. Roussel tied a Sacred Heart record with three interceptions in the contest.
• Bucknell turned the ball over six times.
Inside the Marist Box Score
• Bucknell recorded its first shutout since 2011 at Fordham.
• Bucknell's 462 yards of total offense marked the fourth-most in the Joe Susan era. The 138 yards by Marist were the fewest by a Bison opponent since 1996.
• Bucknell dominated the time of possession 36:15-23:45. The Bison had control of the ball for 10:07 in the first quarter and 12:30 in the fourth quarter.
• Bison WR Josh Brake had five catches for 34 yards, pushing his career total (1,017) over the 1,000-yard plateau.
• C.J. Williams rushed for a game-high 161 yards for Bucknell, his sixth career 100-yard outing.
• Bucknell improved to 9-1 all-time against Marist in a series that began in 2005.
• The Bison defense posted five sacks, marking the third time in the last four games it has registered at least five sacks.
• The teams combined to miss three kicks.
• Bucknell's starting lineup on defense featured three changes from week one vs. VMI. CB Terry Bennett, S Thomas Bodolus and DE Dylan McDonnell made their first starts of the season.
• Senior S Matthew Steinbeck saw his 23-game starting streak come to an end.
• The game took 2 hours, 23 minutes to play, eqauling the shortest Bison game in 2013 (at Colgate).
Career Highs Set vs. Marist
• Jaylen Amaker: tackles (5)
• Abdullah Anderson: pass breakups (1)
• Josh Brake: passing yards (28), long pass (28), punt returns (2)
• Matt DelMauro: receiving yards (26), long reception (14)
• Bobby Kaslander: receiving TDs (1)
• Patrick Kelly: receiving yards (15), all-purpose yards (15)
• Jimmy King: tackles for loss (1)
• Lee Marvel: long interception return (31)
• Derek Maurer: punt average (45.0)
• R.J. Nitti: rushing yards (2), long rush (11), pass completions (21)
• Brian Regan: tackles (1)
• Doug Whitlock: tackles (3), tackles for loss (2), sacks (2)
• C.J. Williams: all-purpose yards (210)
Another 100-Yard Game for Williams
• In just 12 career games, sophomore RB C.J. Williams has posted six 100-yard rushing outings, including a career-high 164 yards in week one vs. VMI and 161 yards in week two at Marist.
• Williams is the 11th player in program history to have at least six 100-yard games.
• Williams is ranked fourth nationally in rushing yards per game (162.5).
• Williams crossed the 1,000-yard mark for his career against VMI and is now at 1,224.
• Williams' 899 yards rushing last year ranked as the second-most by a freshman in program history.
Defense vs. Marist
• Bucknell last game recorded a 22-0 shutout of Marist. It was the first shutout for the Bison since a 21-0 blanking of Fordham in 2011.
• Bucknell limited Marist to just 48 offensive plays.
• Marist managed to record just 138 yards of total offense as the Bison defense posted five sacks and seven tackles for loss.
• Marist's 138 yards of total offense marked the fewest yards by a Bucknell opponent since Princeton had 125 yards in a 10-6 loss to the Bison in 1996.
Bucknell's Fewest Yards Allowed Under Joe Susan (since 2010)
1. 138 - at Marist (9/6/14)
2. 171 - vs. Georgetown (11/16/13)
3. 192 - at Lafayette (10/29/11)
4. 194 - at Colgate (11/2/13)
Rushing Defense
• Bucknell limited Marist to 19 yards rushing two weeks ago.
• Bucknell ranks eighth nationally in rush defense (66.0 ypg).
• Bucknell has ranked in the top 10 nationally in rush defense each of the last three years (3rd in 2011, 7th in 2012, 4th in 2013).
• Only Harvard and North Dakota State have joined Bucknell in the top 10 nationally in rushing defense each of the last three years.
• In 24 of 46 games with Joe Susan as head coach, Bucknell's opponents have been held under 100 yards rushing.
Recent Success
• Bucknell has won four games in a row for the first time since late in the 2004 season.
• Bucknell has won seven of its last eight games and is outscoring opponents 230-122 over that span.
• The Bison last won seven times in an eight-game span in 1997 and 1998.
• Bucknell's only loss in its last eight games came at then-No. 7 Fordham by just two points. The Bison had a last-second field goal attempt miss.
Time of Possession
• Bucknell possessed the ball for 36:15 last time out vs. Marist, marking the 16th time in the Joe Susan era that the Bison have held the ball for at least 35 minutes in a game.
Bison Following Bye
• Bucknell is 5-4 in its last nine games following a bye week.
• The Bison lost to Cornell 45-13 last September following their most recent bye week.
• Bucknell will have two bye weeks (Sept. 13, Oct. 18) this season for the first time in the history of the program.
Bucknell vs. Northeast Conference
• Bucknell is 13-6 all-time against teams that are current members of the Northeast Conference: Bryant (1-0), Duquesne (10-5), Robert Morris (2-0) and Sacred Heart (0-1).
• Bucknell will play another Northeast Conference member, Bryant, in two weeks.
Patriot League Rookie of the Week
• Freshman DE Doug Whitlock was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week following Bucknell's most recent game at Marist.
• Whitlock totaled three tackles and two sacks in just his second career contest.
• Whitlock became Bucknell's first Rookie of the Week honoree since Brian Regan in 2012.
Traveling to Connecticut
• Bucknell will be playing its first game in Connecticut since defeating Yale 25-24 in 1997.
Susan Moving Up List
• Bucknell fifth-year head coach Joe Susan will tie Pete Reynolds for 10th place on Bucknell's career games coached list with 48 next Saturday vs. Cornell.
• Thanks to the win vs. Marist two weeks ago, Susan has evened his career record at .500 (28-28).
Impressive Offense
• Bucknell's 462 yards vs. Marist marked the fourth-highest yardage total for the Bison under head coach Joe Susan.
• The Bison have had at least 400 yards of total offense six times under Susan with five of those occurrences happening in the last nine games.
• Bucknell has posted back-to-back 400-yard games for the first time since the final game of 2007 and the first game of 2008.
• Bucknell has outgained its opponents 927-559 thanks to a balanced attack that has 499 passing yards and 428 rushing yards.
• Bucknell is averaging 32.0 points per game this season. The Bison have averaged 30 points for an entire season just twice (1951, 1990) in program history.
Tackles for Byers
• Senior LB Evan Byers posted a career-high 23 tackles vs. VMI, giving him 42 over a two-game span.
• Byers again led the Bison in tackles against Marist (6).
• 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 22nd in the FCS record book for single-game tackles (record kept since 2000).
• Byers has the second-most tackles by an FCS player this year, trailing only Chinedu Ahanonu of Southern Utah, who had 28 stops against Nevada.
• Byers ranks fourth among all current FCS players with 292 career tackles.
Team Captains
• Seniors Lee Marvel and Matthew Steinbeck were elected team captains last spring.
• Marvel is a two-year starter at safety and linebacker who has played in all 35 games during his career. He ranked second on the team with a career-high 68 tackles last fall.
• Steinbeck is a two-time All-Patriot League safety who ranks seventh on the program's career interceptions list (11). He was a Preseason All-Patriot League selection this summer for the second straight year. He missed the Marist game due to injury.
All-Patriot League
• Bucknell had seven players named All-Patriot League and six of them return in 2014.
• First-team selections Evan Byers and Lonnie Rawles return, as do second-team picks Demetrius Baldwin-Youngblood, Julie'n Davenport, Matthew Steinbeck and C.J. Williams.
• The only All-Patriot League player to graduate was All-American Tracey Smith.
• Bucknell has had 14 All-Patriot League selections the last two years and 11 of them have returned the following season.
Turnovers
• Bucknell's defense has at least one interception in 27 of 35 games over the last four years.
• The Bison have forced 83 turnovers over the last four years (2.4 per game), including 39 in 2011 to rank second nationally.
20-Point Games
• Bucknell is 14-3 in its last 17 games it has scored at least 20 points.
• Fifteen of Bucknell's 18 wins under Joe Susan have come when the team has scored 20 points.
• Bucknell has scored at least 20 points on eight occasions over the last two years (2013 & 2014).
35 Gamers
• The following Bison seniors have played in all 35 games over their careers: Evan Byers, Patrick Kelly, Lee Marvel.
Quick Hitters
• Bucknell is one of 14 teams nationally (excluding Ivy League teams that open their season this weekend) that are undefeated heading into this weekend.
• Bucknell is the last Patriot League team to be undefeated.
• Bucknell will play a non-Saturday game for the first time since 2004 when it hosts Fordham Friday, Nov. 7, at 6:30 p.m. in a game that will air live on CBS Sports Network.
Milestone Watch
• Evan Byers: Eight tackles shy of 300 career; 35 tackles shy of fifth place on Bucknell's career list
• Bobby Kaslander: 14 receiving yards shy of 500 career
• R.J. Nitti: 158 passing yards shy of 1,000 career
Up Next
• Bucknell will return home for the first time in a month next Saturday when it hosts Cornell in a Family Weekend game at 6 p.m. The Bison have played the Big Red every year since 2002. Cornell leads the all-time series 42-11. Bucknell's last win was in 2006.
