Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Home for Family Weekend Matchup with VMI on Saturday
9/20/2016 2:58:00 PM | Football
What: VMI Keydets (1-1, 0-0 SoCon) at Bucknell Bison (1-2, 0-0 PL)
Where: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, 3 p.m.
Tickets: 570-577-1000 orwww.bucknell.edu/boxoffice
Internet Video: Patriot League Network
Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 WEGH)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: BucknellBison.com
Probable Starters - Offense
QB 6 R.J. Nitti (Sr., 6-6, 230) - Ranks 4th on Bucknell career passing yards list (4,641)
RB 23 Joey DeFloria (Jr., 5-9, 195) - Ranks in top 10 nationally in TDs, scoring and rushing yards
FB 80 Andrew Owers (So., 6-2, 250) - Only freshman to start last year's season opener vs. Marist
WR 18 Will Carter (Sr., 5-11, 180) - Six career 100-yard receiving games
WR 2 Alan Butler (So., 6-1, 180) - Six career multi-reception games
LT 70 Julie'n Davenport (Sr., 6-7, 315) - 3-time All-Patriot League selection; 36 straight starts
LG 66 Devlin Brennan (Sr., 6-4, 310) - 30 career games played, started all 11 games at RG in 2015
C 62 Ned Bent (Sr., 6-2, 290) - Started 5 games at C in 2015, 29 career games played
RG 63 Griff Barth (Sr., 6-4, 290) - Started first 3 games this season, 9 career games played
RT 72 Chase Watkins (Jr., 6-4, 280) - Started first 3 games this season, 5 career games played
TE 87 Andrew Podbielski (Jr., 6-4, 230) - At least one reception in 9 consecutive games
Probable Starters - Defense
DE 90 Doug Whitlock (Jr., 6-2, 250) - 12 of 56 career tackles have been for loss
DT 40 Abdullah Anderson (Jr., 6-4, 295) - 2-time All-Patriot League selection
NG 96 Troy Glenn (Sr., 6-1, 270) - Made 1st career start in week 2 at Duquesne
DE 48 R.J. Sheldon (Sr., 6-3, 235) - Eight consecutive starts at DE
Mike LB 29 Ben Richard (Jr., 6-1, 240) - Second Team All-PL in 2015; 115 career tackles
Sam LB 5 Mark Pyles (Jr., 6-0, 220) - Preseason All-PL, returned to lineup last week vs. Cornell
SS 12 Bret Berg (Sr., 6-1, 205) - Career-high 13 tackles last week vs. Cornell
FS 26 Joe Lauro (So., 5-11, 200) - Averaging 9.0 tackles the last two weeks
WS 43 Connor Golden (Jr., 6-0, 200) - Crossed 100-tackle plateau for career at Duquesne
CB 9 Bryan Marine (So., 5-9, 175) - Two games with 3 pass breakups this season
CB 8 Nick O'Brien (Sr., 5-9, 180) - 124 career tackles is most among current Bison
Specialists
PK 83 Jack Chambers (So., 5-10, 175) - 21-yard FG, 1-2 XP last week in 1st career game action
KO 93 John Burdick (Jr., 6-0, 195) - Averaged 58.2 yards on 4 kickoffs last week in 1st KOs of career
P 14 Matt Muh (Jr., 6-4, 220) - 42-yard kick last week vs. Cornell on first punt of career
PR 8 Nick O'Brien (Sr., 5-9, 180) - 21 punt returns for 137 yards in career
KR 8 Nick O'Brien (Sr., 5-9, 180) - Averaging 23.0 yards on 38 career kickoff returns
LS 58 Dillon Paprota (Fr., 5-11, 225) - In first year as long snapper
H 11 Alexander Romango (Sr., 6-2, 230) - Also a backup QB
With a Victory over VMI, Bucknell Would ...
• ... defeat the Keydets for a fourth straight year.
• ... improve to 7-3 in September since the beginning of 2014.
• ... win a second consecutive Family Weekend game.
• ... snap a four-game home losing streak and improve to 247-163-10 all-time at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
• ... help Joe Susan tie Albert E. Humphreys for eighth place on the Bucknell career wins list with 30.
About the Game
It will be Family Weekend on the Bucknell campus and the Bison will try to get back on the winning side this week when they host VMI in a rare 3 p.m. game at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Bucknell opened its home schedule last week with a 24-16 loss to Cornell, while the Keydets were idle. VMI's last game on Sept. 10 was a four-point win at Morehead State. The 1-1 Keydets are averaging about 12 yards per game more than the Bison, but Bucknell's defense is much better with 394 yards allowed per game vs. VMI's 472 yards allowed per contest.
Broadcast Options
• As always, Doug Birdsong and Kevin Herr will call all the action on Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3) and BucknellBison.com.
• A live video broadcast will be available on the Patriot League Network (PatriotLeague.tv).
About VMI
• VMI was 2-9 overall and 1-6 in Southern Conference play last year.
• The Keydets were picked to finish in eighth place in this year's Southern Conference Preseason Poll.
• Second-year head coach Scott Wachenheim owns a 3-10 career record.
• VMI opened its 2016 season with a 47-24 loss at Akron and followed with a 17-13 win at Morehead State.
• Saturday's game closes out a three-game road trip to start the season.
• VMI had five players named Preseason All-Southern Conference. QB Al Cobb, WR Aaron Sanders and RS Dane Forlines were named to the First Team, while OL Andrew Lewis and LB Ryan Francis were on the Second Team.
• QB Al Cobb owns four of the top six passing yardage games in VMI history and has six career games of 300 or more yards passing. Cobb ranks second on the VMI career passing list with 5,707 yards with 505 completions and 34 touchdowns.
Bucknell vs. VMI Series Notes
• Bucknell leads the all-time series 3-1.
• VMI won the first meeting in 1978 by a 25-14 score.
• The Bison have won the last three meetings in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
• The last two games have been decided by a total of 10 points.
• Including this year, the most recent games in the series have been played in four different months (2013 - November; 2014 - August; 2015 - October; 2016 - September).
• The average score for the winning team is 32.5 ppg.
Last Time vs. VMI
Bucknell 28, VMI 22 (OT) (Oct. 3, 2015 - Lexington, Va.)
• Bucknell improved to 8-6 all-time in overtime, including 5-1 in its last six overtime contests.
• VMI's Dillon Christopher sent the game to overtime with a 40-yard field goal as time expired in regulation.
• Bison RB Matt DelMauro scored the winning touchdown on a 23-yard run in the first overtime after VMI failed to score on its offensive possession.
• Ben Richard recorded a career-high 18 tackles for Bucknell.
• Thirty of the game's 50 points were scored in the fourth quarter and overtime.
• RB Joey DeFloria returned a kick 85 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. It was Bucknell's first kickoff return for a touchdown since 2010.
• Bucknell and VMI combined to go 14-for-41 on third and fourth downs and punted a combined 17 times.
• There were a total of 13 pass breakups in the game, including seven by Bucknell defenders.
• Will Carter had a game-high eight receptions for 81 yards, moving his career catch total to 101.
Inside the Cornell Box Score
• Bucknell's home opener winning streak was stopped at three. The Bison are now 96-33-1 (.742) all-time in home openers.
• Bucknell built a 10-0 lead, but Cornell scored 24 of the game's final 30 points. The Bison had the ball with a chance to tie in the fourth quarter but turned the ball over on downs in the red zone.
• Both teams had just nine offensive possessions in the game.
• Cornell scored on four consecutive possessions in the second and third quarters.
• Bucknell junior RB Joey DeFloria ran 27 times for a career-high 154 yards and two touchdowns. It was his second 100-yard game in 2016.
• Bucknell senior WR Will Carter had nine catches for 122 yards. It was his sixth career 100-yard outing.
• Cornell won the turnover battle 3-0.
• Bucknell outgained Cornell 392-348. The Big Red were flagged 11 times for 85 yards.
• Bison senior S Bret Berg recorded a career-high 13 tackles to lead the Bison.
• Sixteen different players caught passes, including nine for Cornell.
• The teams punted just five times, including only one punt for Bucknell.
• Bucknell and Cornell combined to go 5-for-6 on fourth down.
Bucknell vs. Southern Conference
• Bucknell is 7-3 all-time against teams that currently compose the Southern Conference: Furman (4-0), The Citadel (0-2) and VMI (3-1).
• The last time the Bison faced a Southern Conference opponent other than VMI was when they lost to The Citadel in the 1971 season opener.
First Starts
• Junior Matt Muh made his first career start at quarterback last week vs. Cornell.
• Muh completed 17 of 33 passes for 215 yards. It was the second significant game action of his career after he came off the bench the previous week at Duquesne.
• Muh has now appeared in four career games and has thrown for 365 yards.
• Muh's 215 yards vs. Cornell marked the most in a quarterback's first career start during Joe Susan's tenure at Bucknell.
First Starts (QB) Under Joe Susan
Burke Batten (2010 at Duquesne): 3-for-3, 4 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
Brandon Wesley (2010 at Marist): 12-for-24, 103 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
Trey Lauletta (2013 vs. Sacred Heart): 10-for-26, 59 yards, 0 TD, 4 INT
R.J. Nitti (2013 at Lafayette): 14-for-32, 64 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Matt Muh (2016 vs. Cornell): 17-for-33, 215 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT
Multi-Position Muh
• With P Alex Pechin out last game, starting QB Matt Muh served as Bucknell's punter.
• The Bison punted just once against Cornell and Muh registered a 42-yard boot.
• Bucknell was going to punt another time. The Bison initially placed Muh under center on fourth down. When he went to drop back to a punting position, Cornell's defense jumped offsides, giving Bucknell a first down.
• It marked the first time Bucknell punted just once in a game since Oct. 30, 2004 at Holy Cross.
DeFloria Continues Run
• Bucknell junior RB Joey DeFloria entered this season with 107 career rushing yards on 36 carries.
• In the first two games of this year, DeFlorida has piled up 397 yards on 78 carries.
• DeFloria ranks seventh nationally in rushing yards per game (132.3).
• DeFloria has rushed for 145, 98 and 154 yards in three games this year. He is the 43rd player in program history to have at least two 100-yard rushing games.
DeFloria Scores
• Joey DeFloria has scored two touchdowns in each game this season for Bucknell and ranks sixth in the country in scoring with 12.0 points per game.
• DeFloria's five rushing touchdowns place him third nationally.
• DeFloria's rushing touchdowns have been for 32, 4, 1, 1 and 26 yards. He also caught a 3-yard touchdown pass against Duquesne.
• Bucknell's record for touchdowns in a season is 21. To reach 10th place on that same list DeFloria will need to score 11 touchdowns.
• R.J. Nitti led the Bison in touchdowns last year with six. His 38 points also paced the team.
100-Yard Game for Carter
• Senior WR Will Carter caught nine passes for 122 yards last week vs. Cornell. It was his sixth career 100-yard performance.
• Carter is tied for fourth in program history with six 100-yard games.
• Carter now ranks second in program history in receiving yards (2,215) and third in receptions (162).
• Carter needs just two more touchdown receptions to tie the program record of 18, held by Tom Mitchell (1963-65) and Lester Erb (1987-90).
• Carter led Bucknell with five touchdown receptions in 2015.
• Carter leads the Bison in receptions (16) and yards (205) this season.
Same Opponents
• Saturday's game vs. VMI marks the conclusion of Bucknell's four-game stretch to open the season that matches the same opponents it played to begin the 2015 campaign.
• The Bison last opened the season with the same four opponents as the previous year in 2009. That year, Bucknell faced Duquesne, Robert Morris, Cornell and Marist in the same order as 2008.
Milestone Watch
• Abdullah Anderson: Needs 10 tackles to reach 100 in career
• Bret Berg: Needs 18 tackles to reach 100 in career
• Will Carter: Needs 12 receptions and 154 receiving yards to break Tom Mitchell's program career records
• Joey DeFloria: Needs 118 all-purpose yards to reach 1,000 in career
• R.J. Nitti: Needs 150 passing yards to pass Jim Given for third place on the school's career list
Up Next
• Bucknell will be idle next week. The Bison will then play seven consecutive Saturdays to end the season.
• The Bison have won their game going into a bye week in four straight years they have had an in-season bye.
• Bucknell will return to action Oct. 8 when it opens Patriot League play at Holy Cross. The Bison 11-21 all-time against the Crusaders, but won in Worcester the last time they played there in 2014.
