Bucknell University
Lehigh
Football Pushes No. 21/24 Lehigh, but Falls 20-13
11/5/2016 4:15:00 PM | Football
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Playing its second consecutive nationally ranked opponent, the Bucknell football team had a chance to prevent No. 21/24 Lehigh from clinching the Patriot League title on its home field Saturday at Goodman Stadium, but the first-place Mountain Hawks prevailed over the Bison by a 20-13 score. Bucknell (3-6, 2-2 PL) had two potential game-tying drives in the fourth quarter, but was unable to convert on either.
Lehigh (8-2, 5-0 PL) still has one more game remaining in the regular season (Nov. 19 at Lafayette), but Saturday's win secured its 11th Patriot League title, and its first since 2011. The Mountain Hawks will be the Patriot League's representative in the NCAA FCS Playoffs.
Bucknell was led on the offensive end by R.J. Nitti, who was 17-for 26 for 228 yards. Will Carter had four catches for 120 yards for his eighth career 100-yard outing, while Joey DeFloria had 28 carries for 119 yards and a touchdown, marking his fifth 100-yard game this season.
Mark Pyles led the Bison with seven tackles, while Abdullah Anderson was all over the field with three tackles, including two sacks, and a pair of pass breakups.
Nick Shafnisky finished 18-for-37 for 264 yards and one touchdown for Lehigh, which won its eighth consecutive game. Troy Pelletier had a game-high eight receptions for 110 yards, while Dom Bragalone ran 17 times for 86 yards.
Bucknell led or was tied for the first 43:14 of the game, but entered the fourth quarter trailing 20-13. The Bison offense controlled most of the fourth quarter as Bucknell had the ball for nearly 12 minutes in the period.
The Bison opened the fourth quarter in the midst of a 17-play, 71-yard drive, putting Bucknell at the Lehigh four-yard line. The drive concluded with the Bison going for it on 4th-and-goal from inside the Mountain Hawks' five-yard line with a chance to tie the score with a touchdown. Donavon Harris made a diving interception of a Nitti pass in the end zone, giving Lehigh the ball with just under six minutes to play.
Troy Glenn recovered a Shafnisky fumble on Lehigh's next drive, giving Bucknell the ball again with 3:36 to play. The Bison converted a 3rd-and-2 from their own 40 with a 15-yard completion to Carter, but he was flagged for a personal foul, pushing Bucknell back 15 yards. Bucknell was unable to advance the ball anymore as it committed another penalty, allowed two Lehigh sacks and threw two pass incompletions, giving the ball back to the Mountain Hawks with just over a minute to play. After a first-down run by Bragalone, Lehigh ran three plays in the victory formation to clinch the league title.
Bucknell opened the game by marching down the field and scoring on its first possession for the second straight game. The Bison defense stopped Lehigh on fourth down on the game's first drive and then the Bucknel offense put together a 10-play, 64-yard drive that concluded with a six-yard touchdown run by DeFloria. DeFloria ran for 35 yards on the drive, while Nitti was 3-for-3 for 29 yards.
Lehigh tied the game up on its next possession, which was an 11-play, 87-yard drive the finished with a one-yard touchdown run by Shafnisky with 1:56 to play in the first quarter.
The Bison had a chance to go up 10-7 on the very next drive, but a 26-yard field goal attempt by John Burdick was wide right. Bucknell got to within field goal range thanks to a 64-yard completion to Carter, who set a Goodman Stadium record with 246 receiving yards against Lehigh in 2014.
After a Lehigh punt, the Bison did take the lead again on an 11-yard touchdown run by Chad Freshnock. It capped an eight-play, 80-yard drive that spanned more than four minutes. Nitti was 3-for-3 on the drive for 35 yards with completions to three different receivers. The extra point attempt hit off the left upright.
Bucknell totaled 249 yards of offense in the first half, seven more than the 242 it registered in the entire game last week at No. 9 Charleston Southern.
The seven points Lehigh scored in the first half marked its lowest first-half total since being held scoreless in the first 30 minutes by Monmouth in the season opener back on Sept. 3. The 20 points the Mountain Hawks finished with marked a season-low figure.
Nitti was 9-for-12 for 144 yards in the first half. He completed his first nine passes in helping Bucknell to the six-point halftime advantage. He went over 400 pass completions (410) in his career and became the third Bison player to throw for more than 5,000 yards (5,113) in a career.
Lehigh took its first lead of the game late in the third quarter when Shafnisky connected with Gatlin Casey on a nine-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone. The score made it 17-13. On the first play of the next drive, Pierce Ripanti pressured R.J. Nitti in the backfield, tipped a pass and intercepted it, giving the Mountain Hawks possession inside the Bison 20-yard line.
Bucknell's defense held Lehigh to a 20-yard field goal by Ed Mish, keeping the Bison within one touchdown (20-13) heading into the final seconds of the third quarter. Mish had previously connected on a 37-yard field goal early in the third quarter.
The two turnovers Bucknell committed were costly. The first one led to Lehigh's field goal, while the second prevented a potential game-tying touchdown. Lehigh's only turnover – a fourth-quarter fumble – gave Bucknell a final chance to tie the game.
“We turned the ball over twice in critical situations,” noted Bison head coach Joe Susan. “Against a good football team like this it is difficult to make mistakes like that.”
Four of the game's six scoring drives were at least 10 plays. The two other scoring drives were seven plays and eight plays.
Bucknell finished with a 382-357 edge in total offense. It was the highest figure for the Bison since they totaled 403 against VMI on Sept. 24, while it was a second-lowest total of the season for the Mountain Hawks, who entered the day ranked seventh nationally in total offense.
Bucknell will play its final road game in 2016 next week when it travels to Georgetown for a 3:30 p.m. contest. The Bison are 16-11-1 all-time against the Hoyas.
“Our seniors have two football games left,” said Susan. “We will work to fix what we have to fix.”
