Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
VMI
DelMauro's OT Touchdown Lifts Football to 28-22 Win at VMI
10/3/2015 6:24:00 PM | Football
LEXINGTON, Va. – For the second time in his career, Bucknell's Matt DelMauro scored an overtime touchdown to lift the Bison football team to a victory. DelMauro on Saturday afternoon scampered 23 yards through a gaping hole and crossed into the end zone to give Bucknell a 28-22 victory at VMI. He previously scored a game-winning touchdown in overtime at Holy Cross last November.
It was the fourth overtime game in the last two years for the Bison, who defeated the Keydets for the third straight season. Bucknell is 3-1 in overtime over that span and is now 3-1 overall this season. VMI fell to 1-4 on the year.
DelMauro finished with 35 yards rushing on 11 carries, while C.J. Williams ran 17 times for 76 yards before exiting with an injury in the second half.
R.J. Nitti completed 17 of 34 passes for 188 yards for the Bison, who were outgained 395-290. His favorite target was Will Carter, who had eight receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown. He now has 101 catches in his three-year Bison career, placing him ninth in program history.
After a relatively quiet first three quarters of play that featured 13 total punts, the fourth quarter and overtime proved to be an exciting finish.
It all started with VMI holding a 13-7 lead and each of the first eight second-half possessions ending in a punt or a turnover on downs. The Keydets extended their lead to 19-7 when WR Dontae Mauck scored on a 42-yard reverse. VMI attempted a two-point conversion, but the pass by Al Cobb, who was 26-for-47 for 251 yards and two touchdowns, was thrown too far.
Joey DeFloria returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown to narrow the Bison deficit to 19-14. It was Bucknell's first kickoff return for a touchdown since Tyler Smith at Duquesne in 2010.
After the Bison defense, which was on the field for 87 plays in the contest, forced a three-and-out, Bucknell drove down the field on an eight-play, 57-yard drive that concluded with R.J. Nitti finding Will Carter in the back of the end zone from nine yards out. Nitti ran in the two-point conversion to give the Bison a 22-19 edge with 5:02 to play.
Both teams exchanged scoreless possessions before VMI got the ball with 1:50 to play and a chance to take the lead. Cobb completed four passes to move the Keydets down to the 31-yard line. Cobb then took two shots at a long touchdown pass, but Bison freshman CB Bryan Marine got his hands on the ball both times, including one near-interception that would have clinched victory. A short pass by VMI got it into field goal range and Dillon Christopher connected from 40 yards out as time expired to send the game to overtime.
Bucknell won the overtime toss and elected to take the ball second.
Cobb completed a short four-yard pass to Taylor Stout on the first play of overtime, but his next two passes were incomplete. Christopher came in to attempt a 38-yard field goal, but it curved toward the right, giving Bucknell a chance to win the game with any kind of points on its possession.
On the first play of the overtime period, Nitti completed a screen pass to Carter and DelMauro followed with the game-winning touchdown.
Bucknell's defense that ranks third nationally was strong once again with Ben Richard leading the way with a career-high 18 tackles. Mark Pyles had 14 stops and Marine added 10. The top five tacklers (Richard, Pyles, Marine, Connor Golden, Abdulah Anderson) were freshmen or sophomores and combined for 58 of the team's 88 tackles. The Bison totaled four sacks, seven tackles for loss and seven pass breakups.
Both teams started slowly as there were a combined five possessions in the first five minutes of the contest. The Bison field position improved on each of their first three possessions and they finally broke through with the game's first points thanks in part to a short field.
Following VMI's second straight three-and-out to start the game, Bucknell took possession at the VMI 47-yard line. Two passes from Nitti to Carter for a total of 30 yards helped the Bison get down inside the 10-yard line and Nitti corralled a bobbled snap and rushed up the middle for a six-yard touchdown run to give Bucknell a 7-0 edge midway through the first quarter.
VMI's no-huddle offense answered right back on its next drive, marching 63 yards on 11 plays, culminating in a one-yard touchdown pass from Cobb to Aaron Sanders. The Keydets recorded their first first down of the contest on the drive after having a negative total offense figure on their first two drives.
The score remained 7-7 until late in the second quarter when Cobb found Sam Patterson from one yard out on a lofted pass in the back left corner of the end zone. It capped a seven-play, 69-yard drive that featured a 43-yard pass from Cobb to Mauck where the Bison defense almost took Cobb down in the backfield.
Bucknell got possession of the ball one more time in the first half and in less than a minute moved to within range for a field goal attempt, but John Burdick missed a career-long 50-yard boot as time expired in the first half.
Neither team was successful on third downs in the game as the Bison were 5-for-16 and the Keydets were 8-for-21. This led to a combined 17 punts.
Bucknell will try to extend its winning streak to three games next week when it opens Patriot League play against rival Lehigh. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Bison have defeated the Mountain Hawks by a combined 93-34 score the last two years.
Players Mentioned
