Saturday, November 23
Bronx, N.Y.
1 p.m.
Bucknell University
3-8 , 3-3
14
at
31
Fordham
4-8 , 2-4
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
BUCKNELL
0
14
0
0
14
FORDHAM
7
3
7
14
31
Photo by: Jon Lambert
Bucknell Football Wraps Up 2019 Campaign at Fordham
11/23/2019 4:16:00 PM | Football
BRONX, N.Y. – The Bucknell football team dropped a 31-14 decision to Fordham on Saturday at Jack Coffey Field in the 2019 finale for both teams.
The Rams scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second half to down the Bison. Bucknell wrapped up the season, its first under head coach Dave Cecchini, tied for third in the Patriot League standings with a 3-3 record. This is the first time since 2014 the Bison finished in the Patriot League's top three.
"There are a lot of positive things to take away from this season," Cecchini said. "We started the season pretty much unanimously picked to finish last in the Patriot League and finished 3-3. In the three games we lost, we had a lead and couldn't hold it together. We're close, and we're bringing everyone back next year. There's going to be a ton of carryover offensively and defensively. We've got a long off-season here to continue to work to get bigger, stronger and faster. It's a shame we didn't play our best football game at the end, but we're on the right track to where we want to be in the future."
Down 14-10 at halftime, Fordham regained the lead thanks to a 17-play, 99-yard scoring drive that chewed 7:01 off the clock in the third quarter. The Rams then tacked on two touchdowns in the fourth quarter's final six minutes to bring the final score to 31-14.
Bucknell's defense accounted for both touchdowns: a Rick Mottram fumble return and a Micah Dennis interception return that took place in a 30-second span during the final two minutes of the first half. Gerrit Van Itallie had a big game, posting 10 tackles, four of which went for a loss of 17 yards, two sacks and two pass breakups. Mottram reached the double digits in tackles for the fourth-straight game, finishing with a game-best 11 to become the first Bison to eclipse 100 in a single season since 2014.
In total, Bucknell's defense posted seven sacks for a loss of 51 yards and 14 tackles for a loss of 85 yards. Van Itallie was one of three Bison who made at least three tackles for a loss, joining Grayson Cherubino (three for a loss of 31 yards) and Sean Naiman (three for a loss of 10 yards). Cherubino's three tackles for a loss were all sacks; both Cherubino and Naiman also forced a fumble over the course of the contest.
Offensively, Logan Bitikofer completed 28 of 50 passes for 250 yards; he became the first Bison to attempt at least 50 passes since 2001. His favorite target was John McGuire, who caught seven passes for 65 yards. In his final collegiate game, Chad Freshnock led Bucknell on the ground with 66 yards on 10 carries.
Fordham took a 7-0 lead at the first quarter's 2:03 mark on a three-yard Tim DeMorat touchdown. That 12-play, 61-yard drive began after the Rams blocked a 38-yard field goal attempt; it was extended after the Bison took a roughing the kicker penalty on 4th and 8. That penalty brought up 4th and 3 at the Bucknell 43; DeMorat proceeded to complete a 12-yard pass to DeQuece Carter to keep the drive alive.
The Bison had a promising drive, which was highlighted by a 33-yard Dominic Lyles gain, stalled at the Fordham 39 following a fumble. The Rams proceed to advance as far as the Bucknell 23; a sack by Van Itallie on 3rd and 5 forced them to settle for a 44-yard field goal that extended their lead to 10-0.
After scoring two defensive touchdowns in a 30-second span during the final two minutes of the half, Bucknell carried a 14-10 lead into the intermission. The flurry started when Mottram returned a fumble forced by Cherubino for a five-yard touchdown with exactly two minutes on the clock. Then, 30 seconds later, Dennis returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown; he broke two tackles and leapt over a fallen teammate en route to his first career pick 6.
Defense was the story of the first half. Bucknell held a 181-50 edge in total offense; the Bison were bolstered by five sacks, which helped them hold the Rams to -39 rushing yards. Of Bucknell's 181 yards of total offense, 159 came on 16 of 29 passing from Bitikofer.
"The defense probably played its best half of football," Cecchini said. "In the first half, they were amazing. This Fordham offense is clearly the most talented we've seen in the Patriot League, and giving up the 99-yard touchdown drive was the turning point. They were solid in the second half, but they really gave us the momentum in the first half."
The Rams outgained the Bison, 229-78, in the second half. Their go-ahead touchdown came at the third quarter's 3:17 mark. A one-yard Trey Sneed touchdown capped that 99-yard scoring drive; Bucknell All-American punter Alex Pechin pinned the Rams at their own one-yard like with a 70-yard bomb, matching his second-longest punt of his prestigious career.
"From an offensive standpoint, we had more yards at halftime than we had in the entire Georgetown game," Cecchini said. "But to not get offensive points is inexcusable. We didn't take advantage of big-play opportunities, and the teams that had beaten Fordham took advantage of big plays. We couldn't sustain drives. It was somewhat uncharacteristic of us in terms of consistency. For every good play we had, we had another bad one."
For Fordham, DeMorat took the lion's share of snaps at quarterback, completing 23 of 32 passes for 228 yards and one touchdown. Carter made 10 catches for 87 yards while Sneed ran for 76 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. Anthony Tony-Itoyah and Glenn Cunningham each posted eight tackles, with Tony-Itoyah adding a forced fumble and two pass breakups.
Bolstered by their big second half, the Rams finished with advantages in total offense (279-259), first downs (21-18) and time of possession (32:54-27:06). They wrapped up the year 4-8 (2-4 Patriot League) while the Bison posted a 3-8 (3-3 Patriot League) mark.
The Rams scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second half to down the Bison. Bucknell wrapped up the season, its first under head coach Dave Cecchini, tied for third in the Patriot League standings with a 3-3 record. This is the first time since 2014 the Bison finished in the Patriot League's top three.
"There are a lot of positive things to take away from this season," Cecchini said. "We started the season pretty much unanimously picked to finish last in the Patriot League and finished 3-3. In the three games we lost, we had a lead and couldn't hold it together. We're close, and we're bringing everyone back next year. There's going to be a ton of carryover offensively and defensively. We've got a long off-season here to continue to work to get bigger, stronger and faster. It's a shame we didn't play our best football game at the end, but we're on the right track to where we want to be in the future."
Down 14-10 at halftime, Fordham regained the lead thanks to a 17-play, 99-yard scoring drive that chewed 7:01 off the clock in the third quarter. The Rams then tacked on two touchdowns in the fourth quarter's final six minutes to bring the final score to 31-14.
Bucknell's defense accounted for both touchdowns: a Rick Mottram fumble return and a Micah Dennis interception return that took place in a 30-second span during the final two minutes of the first half. Gerrit Van Itallie had a big game, posting 10 tackles, four of which went for a loss of 17 yards, two sacks and two pass breakups. Mottram reached the double digits in tackles for the fourth-straight game, finishing with a game-best 11 to become the first Bison to eclipse 100 in a single season since 2014.
In total, Bucknell's defense posted seven sacks for a loss of 51 yards and 14 tackles for a loss of 85 yards. Van Itallie was one of three Bison who made at least three tackles for a loss, joining Grayson Cherubino (three for a loss of 31 yards) and Sean Naiman (three for a loss of 10 yards). Cherubino's three tackles for a loss were all sacks; both Cherubino and Naiman also forced a fumble over the course of the contest.
Offensively, Logan Bitikofer completed 28 of 50 passes for 250 yards; he became the first Bison to attempt at least 50 passes since 2001. His favorite target was John McGuire, who caught seven passes for 65 yards. In his final collegiate game, Chad Freshnock led Bucknell on the ground with 66 yards on 10 carries.
Fordham took a 7-0 lead at the first quarter's 2:03 mark on a three-yard Tim DeMorat touchdown. That 12-play, 61-yard drive began after the Rams blocked a 38-yard field goal attempt; it was extended after the Bison took a roughing the kicker penalty on 4th and 8. That penalty brought up 4th and 3 at the Bucknell 43; DeMorat proceeded to complete a 12-yard pass to DeQuece Carter to keep the drive alive.
The Bison had a promising drive, which was highlighted by a 33-yard Dominic Lyles gain, stalled at the Fordham 39 following a fumble. The Rams proceed to advance as far as the Bucknell 23; a sack by Van Itallie on 3rd and 5 forced them to settle for a 44-yard field goal that extended their lead to 10-0.
After scoring two defensive touchdowns in a 30-second span during the final two minutes of the half, Bucknell carried a 14-10 lead into the intermission. The flurry started when Mottram returned a fumble forced by Cherubino for a five-yard touchdown with exactly two minutes on the clock. Then, 30 seconds later, Dennis returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown; he broke two tackles and leapt over a fallen teammate en route to his first career pick 6.
The Bison had an opportunity to add to their sudden lead when the Rams muffed a punt with two seconds remaining in the half. They had time to attempt a 39-yard field goal, which was also blocked.How 'bout the Bison?!
— Bucknell Football (@Bucknell_FB) November 23, 2019
That's ✌️ defensive touchdowns in just 30 seconds. 😱#ACT | #rayBucknell pic.twitter.com/YvLj7YtrGU
Defense was the story of the first half. Bucknell held a 181-50 edge in total offense; the Bison were bolstered by five sacks, which helped them hold the Rams to -39 rushing yards. Of Bucknell's 181 yards of total offense, 159 came on 16 of 29 passing from Bitikofer.
"The defense probably played its best half of football," Cecchini said. "In the first half, they were amazing. This Fordham offense is clearly the most talented we've seen in the Patriot League, and giving up the 99-yard touchdown drive was the turning point. They were solid in the second half, but they really gave us the momentum in the first half."
The Rams outgained the Bison, 229-78, in the second half. Their go-ahead touchdown came at the third quarter's 3:17 mark. A one-yard Trey Sneed touchdown capped that 99-yard scoring drive; Bucknell All-American punter Alex Pechin pinned the Rams at their own one-yard like with a 70-yard bomb, matching his second-longest punt of his prestigious career.
Sneed's second touchdown came with 5:06 remaining in regulation; a 15-yard score, it came after the Bison fumbled a punt return. Fordham put an exclamation mark on its comeback victory with a 27-yard DeMorat touchdown pass to Fotis Kokosioulis; that touchdown came after the Bison turned the ball over on downs deep in their end while trying to string together one last scoring drive.A 70-yard 💣 downed at the 1⃣.
— Bucknell Football (@Bucknell_FB) November 23, 2019
That's definitely #ForTheBrand.
How about Alex Pechin, @PatMcAfeeShow?#ACT | #rayBucknell pic.twitter.com/60QG8TH1Hz
"From an offensive standpoint, we had more yards at halftime than we had in the entire Georgetown game," Cecchini said. "But to not get offensive points is inexcusable. We didn't take advantage of big-play opportunities, and the teams that had beaten Fordham took advantage of big plays. We couldn't sustain drives. It was somewhat uncharacteristic of us in terms of consistency. For every good play we had, we had another bad one."
For Fordham, DeMorat took the lion's share of snaps at quarterback, completing 23 of 32 passes for 228 yards and one touchdown. Carter made 10 catches for 87 yards while Sneed ran for 76 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. Anthony Tony-Itoyah and Glenn Cunningham each posted eight tackles, with Tony-Itoyah adding a forced fumble and two pass breakups.
Bolstered by their big second half, the Rams finished with advantages in total offense (279-259), first downs (21-18) and time of possession (32:54-27:06). They wrapped up the year 4-8 (2-4 Patriot League) while the Bison posted a 3-8 (3-3 Patriot League) mark.
Team Stats
BUCKNELL
FORDHAM
Total Yards
259
279
Pass Yards
230
241
Rushing Yards
29
38
Penalty Yards
46
68
1st Downs
18
21
3rd Downs
3
7
4th Downs
2
2
TOP
27:06
32:54
1st Quarter
BUCKNELL 0, FORDHAM 7
FORDHAM - DeMorat, Tim 3 yd run (Mevis, Andrew kick), 12 plays, 61 yards, TOP 4:52
2nd Quarter
BUCKNELL 0, FORDHAM 10
FORDHAM - Mevis, Andrew 44 yd field goal 11 plays, 34 yards, TOP 5:12
BUCKNELL 7, FORDHAM 10
BUCKNELL - Mottram, Rick 5 yd fumble recovery (Keiser, Tyler kick)
BUCKNELL 14, FORDHAM 10
BUCKNELL - Dennis, Micah 39 yd interception (Keiser, Tyler kick)
3rd Quarter
BUCKNELL 14, FORDHAM 17
FORDHAM - Sneed, Trey 1 yd run (Mevis, Andrew kick), 17 plays, 99 yards, TOP 7:01
4th Quarter
BUCKNELL 14, FORDHAM 24
FORDHAM - Sneed, Trey 15 yd run (Mevis, Andrew kick), 4 plays, 27 yards, TOP 1:37
BUCKNELL 14, FORDHAM 31
FORDHAM - Kokosioulis, Fo 27 yd pass from DeMorat, Tim (Mevis, Andrew kick) 4 plays, 26 yards, TOP 0:30
Game Leaders
CMP
28
TD
0
YDS
230
INT
0
CMP
0
TD
0
YDS
0
INT
0
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
CB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR/LS
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
P/K
/ Football
LB
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