Bucknell University Athletics
Football Tries to Continue Unbeaten Streak in Family Weekend Matchup with Cornell
9/22/2014 4:56:00 PM | Football
What: Cornell Big Red (0-1, 0-0 Ivy League) at Bucknell Bison (3-0, 0-0 PL)
Where: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, 6 p.m.
Tickets: 570-577-1000 or www.bucknell.edu/boxoffice
Internet Video: Bison Vision on Patriot League Network (FREE!)
Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 WEGH)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: BucknellBison.com
Related Videos:
- Football at Sacred Heart Gameday
- Football at Sacred Heart Highlights
Probable Starters - Offense
QB 6 R.J. Nitti (So., 6-4, 220) - Named Bison Athlete of the Week on Monday
RB 4 C.J. Williams (So., 6-1, 205) - Ranks 14th nationally in rushing (124.7/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) - Averaging 79.0 ypg over last seven games
WR 80 Josh Brake (Sr., 6-3, 205) - At least one catch in 20 consecutive games
LT 70 Julie'n Davenport (So., 6-7, 320) - Preseason All-Patriot League selection
LG 72 Lonnie Rawles (Sr., 6-4, 290) - 32 straight starts, Preseason All-Patriot League selection
C 77 Brandon Noblett (Sr., 6-2, 285) - 18 career starts at center
RG 79 Nevin Hagman (Sr., 6-3, 285) - 22 career starts
RT 71 Ramy Kased (Jr., 6-6, 320) - 23 career games, 15 starts
TE 88 Patrick Kelly (Sr., 6-3, 230) - Played in all 36 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 three starts of career this year
Mike LB 27 Evan Byers (Sr., 6-0, 235) - Ranks third among all active FCS players in career tackles (301)
Sam LB 37 Lee Marvel (Sr., 6-0, 215) - Team co-captain along with Matthew Steinbeck
SS 5 Clayton Ewell (Jr., 6-1, 195) - PL Defensive Player of the Week (9/22)
FS 43 Louis Taglianetti (Jr., 5-11, 200) - Career-high 10 tackles vs. VMI
WS 26 Matthew Steinbeck (Sr., 6-0, 210) - Returned to lineup at SHU after missing Marist game w/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 Cornell, Bucknell Would ...
• ... open a season 4-0 for the first time since 1997.
• ... stretch its winning streak to six games for the first time since capturing 12 straight from 1996 to 1997.
• ... win for the ninth time in 10 games.
• ... win its first two home games in a season for the first time since 2011 (Duquesne & Marist).
• ... record an undefeated month for the first time since November 2004.
• ... post four non-league wins in a season for the first time since 2011.
• ... defeat the Big Red for the first time since 2006.
• ... win on Family Weekend for the first time since 2009.
• ... reach four wins on the earliest date in program history.
About the Game
Bucknell will try to continue its early season success Saturday when it welcomes Cornell to Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium for a Family Weekend affair. The Bison are off to their best start since 1997 and have won three games in three different ways. They defeated VMI in a 42-38 shootout, shut out Marist 22-0 behind a strong defensive showing and posted a 36-20 comeback victory at Sacred Heart. Cornell opened its season last weekend with a 27-12 loss at Colgate on Homecoming in Hamilton, New York. The Big Red were outgained 394-271 and could not dig out of an early 10-0 hole. This will be Bucknell's last home game for more than a month (next one is Nov. 1 vs. Lafayette).
About Cornell
• Cornell was 3-7 a year ago under first-year head coach David Archer, who was the nation's youngest Division I football coach when hired.
• The Big Red opened their 2014 season last week at Colgate and lost 27-12 to the Raiders.
• Cornell had a balanced offensive attack against Colgate with 122 rushing yards and 149 passing yards.
• Three different Big Red players attempted passes against Colgate, with starter James Few completing 10 of 19 for a team-high 102 yards.
• Cornell has lost three straight non-league games since defeating Bucknell in its season opener last September.
Bucknell vs. Cornell Series Notes
• Cornell leads 42-11.
• Cornell has captured the last seven meetings.
• Bucknell's last win was in 2006.
• The home team has won 11 of the last 14 games.
• The scheduled 2001 meeting in Ithaca, N.Y., was cancelled due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It was the first Bison game to be cancelled since 1963.
• The first 25 games in the series were played in Ithaca, N.Y.
• Cornell won 26 of the first 27 meetings.
• Cornell has been on Bucknell's schedule every year since 2000, the longest current stretch of any non-league opponent.
• Bucknell has scored more than 20 points vs. Cornell just once in the last 15 meetings (2000: W, 38-15).
Last Time vs. Cornell
Cornell 45, Bucknell 13 (Sept. 21, 2013 - Ithaca, N.Y.)
• Bucknell had a 10-0 lead after 18 minutes of play. Cornell then scored 45 points in a span of 26:54.
• The game was played in a steady rain that featured intermittent downpours and Bucknell turned the ball over six times.
• C.J. Williams rushed for 148 yards for Bucknell, becoming the 74th Bison to rush for 100 yards in a game.
• Bucknell held Cornell to 17 rushing yards.
• Bucknell dominated the time of possession 39:30-20:30, including 20:38-9:22 in the second half.
• 15,442 was the announced attendance.
Inside the Sacred Heart Box Score
• Bucknell scored all 36 of its points in a stretch of nearly 27 minutes spanning from the second quarter to early in the fourth.
• Bucknell had three pass plays of at least 35 yards.
• Bucknell's Derek Maurer connected on a career-long 45-yard field goal.
• Bucknell held Sacred Heart 117 yards under its season average.
• R.J. Nitti became the first Bison QB to throw for four touchdowns in a game since 1996.
• Clayton Ewell became the first Bison with a multi-interception game since Matthew Steinbeck last October vs. Lehigh.
• Sacred Heart's J.D. Roussel intercepted his 15th career pass in the second quarter, moving him into a tie for first place on the program's all-time interception list.
• Bucknell came back from a 10-0 deficit to lead by as many as 23 points.
• Bucknell posted a season-high nine tackles for loss, including a team-high two by Evan Byers.
• Bucknell improved to 6-4 in its last 10 games following a bye week.
Career Highs Set vs. Sacred Heart
• Abdullah Anderson: tackles for loss (1.5)
• Will Carter: long reception (55), receiving TDs (2), rushing attempts (2)
• Clayton Ewell: tackles (10), interceptions (2), interception return yards (60), long interception return (60)
• Connor Hayes: kickoff return yards (11), long kickoff return (11), all-purpose yards (11)
• Kareem Hyman: tackles (3)
• Bobby Kaslander: long reception (65), receiving TDs (2)
• Lee Marvel: tackles (12)
• Derek Maurer: long field goal (45), punt attempts (6)
• R.J. Nitti: long pass (65), passing TDs (4)
• Nick O'Brien: punt returns (3), punt return yards (20), long punt return (8)
• Mark Pyles: tackles (2)
• Matthew Steinbeck: pass breakups (2)
• C.J. Williams: receptions (5)
Recent Success
• Bucknell has won five games in a row for the first time since the 2001 season.
• Bucknell has won eight of its last nine games and is outscoring opponents 266-142 over that span.
• The Bison last won eight times in a nine-game span in 1997 and 1998.
• Bucknell's only loss in its last nine games came at then-No. 7 Fordham by just two points. The Bison had a last-second field goal attempt miss.
• Bucknell has opened a season 3-0 for the first time since 1997.
Career Day for Nitti
• Bucknell sophomore QB R.J. Nitti was 18-for-31 for 271 yards and four touchdowns last week at Sacred Heart.
• Nitti became the first Bison to throw for four touchdowns in a game since Jim Fox did in the 1996 season finale against Colgate that clinched a Patriot League title for Bucknell.
• Nitti is tied for second on Bucknell's single-game touchdown passes list with six others. Rob Glus holds the record with five touchdown passes against Harvard in 1994.
• Nitti's eight touchdown passes this season are the most by a Bison player since Marcello Trigg threw for 13 in 2008.
• Nitti's 271 yards passing last Saturday equaled his career high.
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 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 third among all current FCS players with 301 career tackles.
FCS Active Career Tackles
1. Quinn Backus, Coastal Carolina - 352
2. Caleb Schaffitzel, Missouri State - 322
3. Evan Byers, Bucknell - 301
4. Ace Clark, Western Carolina - 293
5. Nick Dzunbar, Cal Poly - 288
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 10 games.
• Bucknell posted back-to-back 400-yard games (vs. VMI, at Marist) for the first time since the final game of 2007 and the first game of 2008.
• Bucknell is averaging 33.3 points per game this season to rank 29th nationally. The Bison have averaged 30 points for an entire season just twice (1951, 1990) in program history.
• Bucknell has scored over 20 points in each of the first three games of a season for the first time since 1999.
• The Bison have scored more than 20 points in four consecutive games overall, their longest streak since 2008.
• Bucknell is averaging 6.5 yards per play this season, compared to 4.8 in 2013.
• The Bison are averaging 412.7 yards per game this season, an increase of 27 percent over last year's 324.4 average.
Maurer from Deep
• Senior K Derek Maurer booted a career-long 45-yard field goal last Saturday at Sacred Heart.
• Maurer's 45-yarder was the longest field goal by a Bison since Will Carney's 47-yarder at Holy Cross in 2008.
• The longest field goal in Bucknell history was a 55-yard blast by Lloyd Trimmer in 1925.
• Maurer is 2-for-4 on field goals and 10-for-13 on extra points this season. He ranks fourth on the team with 16 points.
Bucknell 40-yard FGs (since 2006)
Will Carney - 47 yds (11/1/08 at Holy Cross)
Derek Maurer - 45 yds (9/20/14 at Sacred Heart)
Will Carney - 44 yds (9/13/08 at Robert Morris)
Sean Cobelli - 44 yds (10/6/12 at Holy Cross)
Drew Orth - 43 yds. (10/8/11 vs. Lehigh)
Will Carney - 42 yds (11/18/06 vs. Colgate)
Drew Orth - 41 yds (10/8/11 vs. Lehigh)
Will Carney - 40 yds (9/16/06 vs. Cornell)
Drew Orth - 40 yds (9/17/11 at Cornell)
Multiple Touchdowns
• Wide receivers Bobby Kaslander and Will Carter each had two touchdown receptions last week at Sacred Heart. It marked the first time in program history multiple receivers had multiple touchdowns in the same game.
• Frank DeNick (2011 vs. Georgetown) was the last Bison to have two touchdown receptions in a game.
• Kaslander and Carter are tied for the Patriot League lead in receiving touchdowns with three apiece.
Night Games
• Bucknell is 19-16 in night games (6 p.m. or later starts) since 2000.
• The Bison are 2-0 at night this year and are scheduled for four total night contests (vs. VMI, at Marist, vs. Cornell, vs. Fordham).
100-Yard Games for Williams
• In just 13 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 crossed the 1,000-yard mark for his career against VMI and is now at 1,273.
• Williams' 899 yards rushing last year ranked as the second-most by a freshman in program history.
Rushing Defense
• Bucknell limited Marist to 19 yards rushing earlier this month.
• Bucknell ranks sixth nationally in rush defense (78.3 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 47 games with Joe Susan as head coach, Bucknell's opponents have been held under 100 yards rushing.
Bucknell vs. Ivy League
• Bucknell, which is 2-13 in its last 15 games vs. Ivy League teams, is 38-102-3 all-time against Ivy League opponents.
• The Bison defeated Dartmouth last October, marking their first win over an Ivy League opponent since September 2011 at Princeton.
• Bucknell last defeated an Ivy League foe at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium in 2006 (Cornell).
• Cornell is Bucknell's lone Ivy League opponent this year. It is the first time the Bison have not had multiple Ivy League teams on their schedule since 2008.
Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week
• Junior safety Clayton Ewell was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week Monday.
• Ewell had a career-high 10 tackles and two interceptions in the win at Sacred Heart. He returned one interception 60 yards, setting up Bucknell's third touchdown.
• Ewell ranks third on the team with 21 tackles this season.
• Bucknell has now had two Patriot League Defensive Players of the Week this year as Ewell followed Evan Byers (Sept. 1).
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 this Saturday vs. Cornell.
• Susan's 19 wins at Bucknell place him in a tie for 13th place with Charles Moran and Carroll Huntress on the program's all-time list. Next up is 12th-place By Dickson, who guided Bucknell to 20 wins from 1910-1913.
Interceptions
• Bucknell's defense has at least one interception in 28 of 36 games over the last four years.
• Matthew Steinbeck is tied for third place among active players in career interceptions (11).
FCS Active Career Interceptions
1. J.D. Roussel, Sacred Heart - 15
2. Mike Armiento, Colgate - 12
3. Christian Dudzik, North Dakota State - 11
3. Matthew Steinbeck, Bucknell - 11
5. Devonte Johnson, Florida A&M - 10
Big Plays
• Bucknell had seven plays of at least 35 yards vs. VMI and four against Sacred Heart, but none against Marist.
• Six of Bucknell's 14 touchdowns this season have come on plays of at least 35 yards.
• The average yardage length of a Bucknell touchdown this year is 28.6 yards.
Turnovers
• The Bison have forced 84 turnovers over the last four years (2.3 per game), including 39 in 2011 to rank second nationally.
20-Point Games
• Bucknell is 15-3 in its last 18 games it has scored at least 20 points.
• Sixteen of Bucknell's 19 wins under Joe Susan have come when the team has scored 20 points.
• Bucknell has scored at least 20 points on nine occasions over the last two years (2013 & 2014), including each of the last four contests.
36 Gamers
• The following Bison seniors have played in all 35 games over their careers: Evan Byers, Patrick Kelly, Lee Marvel.
Quick Hitters
• In each of Bucknell's first three games, a team has scored in the final 10 seconds of the first half.
• There has been just one fumble in Bucknell's first three games this season (Bison fumbled once vs. VMI).
• Bucknell is one of 11 teams nationally 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: 26 tackles shy of fifth place on Bucknell's career list
• Clayton Ewell: 14 tackles shy of 100 in career
Up Next
• Bucknell will begin the month of October on the road with a trip to Bryant next Saturday, Oct. 4. It will be the second meeting in the series that began with a 24-21 Bison victory at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium to close the 2012 campaign. The Bulldogs are currently 3-1 and have a bye this Saturday.
