Bison Football Q&A: Rick Mottram

Rick Mottram is in the midst of an impressive junior campaign. With 79 tackles, he currently leads the Bison by 22. A 2018 CoSIDA Academic All-District 2 and Academic All-Patriot League honoree, he has also excelled in the classroom. The Mechanical Engineering major boasts a perfect 4.0 grade point average at Bucknell. In 2017, he was chosen as one of five NFF Chapter Scholar-Athletes for his excellence at Allentown High School; the valedictorian of his class, he graduated with the top GPA in school history, a weighted 4.549. Mottram sat down to talk about his emergence as the "quarterback" of the Bison defense, the coolest class project he's worked on at Bucknell and much more.

Q: You've emerged as the "quarterback" of Bucknell's defense this year. How have you been able to make such a seamless transition from role player to starter?

A: When the new coaching staff came in, they put a lot of trust in me to be the guy who would learn the defense inside and out as quickly as possible so I could help teach the rest of the team. As "quarterback," I embraced the role. During the week, I work really hard so I'm ready to make the play calls on game day.

Q: You had a signature game against Lafayette two weeks ago, making a career-high 16 tackles, matching your career best with two sacks and picking off your second career pass. Does that performance give you momentum going into the final three games of the season?

A: The defense played very well for most of the game against Lafayette. Everyone was doing their job, which made it easy for me to do mine. We had a good game plan against their offense and that helped us play with confidence. That game will give the defense momentum going into the last three games. We hope we'll be able to keep points off the scoreboard for the rest of the season.

Q: What has it been like working with new defensive coordinator Ryan Manalac?

A: Coach Manalac has had a huge influence on me in the short time he's been at Bucknell. He's constantly reminding the linebackers that he's proud of us and that he appreciates the work we put in. Our meeting room has become a place where we're not afraid to ask questions or challenge each other. Because of that, we've grown as a unit. I'll take leadership skills I'm learning from Coach Manalac wherever I end up after Bucknell.

Q: As a Mechanical Engineering major, you're kept busy off the field. How are you able to so successfully manage your athletic and academic responsibilities?

A: I'm able to balance everything so well because I truly love what I'm doing on the field and in the classroom. I enjoy going to class and labs just as much as I enjoy game-planning and practicing. I find the material I learn in my engineering classes to be challenging and rewarding, even though it takes up all of the time that I don't dedicate to football.

Q: What's the coolest class project you've worked on during your time at Bucknell?

A: At the beginning of this semester, my classmates and I were tasked with designing a hydrogate that would model a dam and open and close when the water in the container reached a certain level. We had to use hydrostatics and buoyancy concepts to perform our calculations. Then, we used 3D printing and laser-cutting to build the model.

Q: Over the summer, you completed research in the chemical engineering department. Talk about that experience.

A: This summer, I did research with professor [Kenny] Mineart in the chemical engineering department. We attempted to determine how the viscoelastic properties of organogels changed when we added nanocarriers that could potentially deliver medicine to patients through their skin. We also worked together to recreate the curriculum of the engineering seminar that he leads for first-year students: Engineering Athletics.

Q: As a freshman, you attended the NFF Chapter Awards Banquet in New York City as an NFF Chapter Scholar-Athlete. What was that experience like, and what did it mean to you?

A: To be honest, going to the NFF Chapter Awards Banquet as a freshman was a little overwhelming. I was being honored alongside some of the best college players in the country as well as Hall of Famers Peyton Manning and Brian Urlacher. It was amazing to be able to talk to all of those guys and hear about how football has affected their lives. Being honored at the banquet as a freshman has motivated me to work hard in the classroom and on the field. I hope to be invited back again as a senior.

Q: What are three words you would use to describe yourself?

A: Motivated, dependable and multifaceted.

This Q&A originally ran in the program for Bucknell's game against Lehigh on Nov. 9, 2019. It was updated with current statistics to run on BucknellBison.com.

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