Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Football Through the Decades, Presented by Geisinger
6/29/2020 11:37:00 AM | Football
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- This week we are going to take you back through the decades with the Bucknell football program. Each day we will have alumni from different decades join us for a chat, with current head coach Dave Cecchini leading the discussions. Special thanks to Geisinger for sponsoring the series.Â
1950s & 1960s
Our final episode of Bison Football Through the Decades features three outstanding players from the 1950s and 60s: Jack Eachus '60, Bob Marks '67 and Sam Havrilak '69. Head coach Dave Cecchini and rising junior wide receiver Brandon Sanders lead the conversation. Eachus was an outstanding end in the late-50s, starring on the first two Bison teams coached by Bob Odell. His 84-yard touchdown reception against Lehigh in 1958 was the longest in school history at the time and still ranks second today, and as a senior Eachus was an Honorable Mention All-American. A Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame quarterback and defensive back, Marks played on Bucknell teams that won Lambert Cup and Middle Atlantic Conference championships. Marks, who served a 15-year stint as president of the Bison Club, played quarterback and defensive back on Bucknell's 1964 Lambert Cup-winning team, and then he sparked Bucknell to the 1965 MAC championship. He was twice named to the All-MAC and All-Pennsylvania Team as a defensive back and led the Bison in interceptions, kickoff returns and punt returns in 1965. His total of 301 punt return yards in 1965 was a Bucknell record. The Hall-of-Famer Havrilak was a rare triple threat football player at Bucknell at a time when there was an increasing number of specialists. As a senior in 1968, he ran 161 times for 891 yards, completed 96 of 199 passes for 1,179 yards and seven touchdowns, and punted for a 35.5-yard average. The first player in history named Most Valuable Player of the Middle Atlantic Conference for two successive years (1967 and 1968), Havrilak set Bucknell total offense records for a single game (397), season (2,070) and career (4,402). The Associated Press' All-State quarterback in 1968, he was selected to the weekly ECAC All-East Team three times that season. Havrilak captained the 1968 squad, started every varsity game in his career and received honorable mention on the Little All-America Team as a senior. Selected in the eighth round of the NFL Draft by the Baltimore Colts in 1969, Havrilak played four years in Baltimore and one year with the New Orleans Saints.Â
1970s
It's an all-Hall-of-Famer edition today, as Mike Axe '75, Mitch Farbstein '75 and Mike McDonald '80 join us to reflect on Bucknell football life in the 1970s. Head coach Dave Cecchini is joined by rising senior offensive lineman P.J. Barr to lead the discussion. A 2007 inductee into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame,  Axe was a three-year starter on the offensive line and a co-captain of the 1974 Bison football squad. An Associated Press Honorable Mention Little All-American as a senior, Axe was also a Second Team Academic All-American. Recruited as a linebacker before switching to offensive line, Axe captured the George Rieu Award as the team's most outstanding lineman in both 1973 and 1974, and he was twice named to the AP All-Pennsylvania Team and the ECAC Division II All-East First Team. Twice an honorable mention Little All-America fullback and an ECAC All-East choice in 1972, Farbstein also set a school discus throw record and won three letters in both football and track and field at Bucknell. A bruising runner on the gridiron, Farbstein ran for over 100 yards in a game six times, including a 206-yard effort against Gettysburg in 1971 that was the third-best single-game total in school history at the time. He rushed for 1,752 career yards, which was also No. 3 on Bucknell's list at the time. He was named to the ECAC All-East and AP All-Pennsylvania teams in 1972. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991. McDonald joined the Hall of Fame in 2002 after a stellar career that earned him the distinction of being one of the top offensive linemen in school history. He was named to the Associated Press and American Football Coaches Association All-America first teams in 1980. He received the Stuart Smith Award as the team's outstanding sophomore in 1977. After sitting out the 1978 campaign with a broken leg, McDonald returned in 1979 to serve as team co-captain and was named a District II Academic All-American. He completed his eligibility as a graduate student in 1980. McDonald helped open holes for All-America running back Ken Jenkins, who rushed for 1,270 yards in 1980 (then a school record) and 2,336 in his career.
1980s
Yesterday's 1990s chat featured three of the finest ball-carriers in Bucknell annals, and in this edition we add another to the list in Hall-of-Famer Ken Jenkins '82, along with linebacker Will McFarland '86 and Hall-of-Fame quarterback Scott Auchenbach '90. Head coach Dave Cecchini is joined by rising senior linebacker Rick Mottram to moderate the conversation. Jenkins was a Third Team All-America halfback in 1980. He ran for 1,270 yards that year, a school record that stood for 14 years. He graduated with 2,336 ground yards, which ranked second at the time, despite missing much of his senior year with an injury. He was also an outstanding kick returner and piled up a school-record 1,884 all-purpose yards in 1980. A record 384 of those yards came in one game against West Chester. He led all Division I-AA scorers in 1980 while setting a modern Bucknell record with 96 points. That same year he led all divisions in all-purpose yardage. He later played in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles (1982), Detroit Lions (1983-84) and Washington Redskins (1985-86). He became the first player in NFL history to record at least 75 rushing yards, 75 receiving yards, and 75 kickoff return yards in the same game when he did so for the Lions against the Eagles in 1984. McFarland spent his first three varsity seasons as a backup among a deep linebacker corps -- coach Bob Curtis stated that he would have been a starter in most other seasons -- and then had a big senior year as a team co-captain and starting linebacker. As a senior in 1989, Auchenbach was named Most Valuable Player of the Colonial League and was selected as an Honorable Mention All-American. He ranked seventh among all Division I-AA quarterbacks in passing efficiency that season, and he graduated with 13 school passing and total offense records. Auchenbach threw for 2,385 yards and 19 touchdowns in 1989 and had 418 completions for 5,256 yards and 42 touchdowns in his career. A team co-captain and Christy Mathewson Award winner as the top senior athlete at Bucknell, Auchenbach set school records for passing yards in a season and career, completions in a career, touchdown passes in a career and total offense in a season (2,511 in 1989) and career (5,404). He became the first quarterback team history to throw for over 5,000 yards, and he etched his name in the NCAA record book for most consecutive completions to start a game (18 vs. Colgate in 1989).
1990s
It's an all-running back chat in this installment, and we've got three of the best in Bucknell history with us, along with a current back who is looking to write his name as a star in his own right. Rich Lemon '97, Chris Peer '98 and Jabu Powell '02 combined for about 9,000 yards in their careers. Lemon, a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, holds three of the top four single-season rushing totals in school history, and his 4,742 career yards broke the previous team mark by more than 2,000 yards. He broke the career rushing yards record in the first game of his junior season and graduated with 16 school records. Lemon tied an NCAA record by rushing for over 100 yards in all 11 games in 1994, and he had 17 straight 100-yard games spanning multiple seasons. The Patriot League MVP in 1994, Lemon led the Bison to the 1996 Patriot League title, the program's first league championship since 1965. Peer served as the No. 2 running back behind Lemon for his first three seasons, and then took over the lead role as a senior in 1997. All he did that year was rush for 1,111 yards, which was the fifth-highest total in school history at the time. He rushed for a then-school-record 236 yards against Holy Cross, topped the 100-yard mark five times, and earned a spot on the All-Patriot League Second Team. Powell was elected to the Hall of Fame in the Class of 2020, and his 2,919 career yards are second-most in school history, behind only Lemon. Powell broke Peer's single-game record with a 282-yard outburst against Cornell during his junior year, and he was a three-time All-Patriot League selection. Joining these three standout backs is head coach Dave Cecchini and rising junior running back Jared Cooper.Â
2000s
Next up in our football chat series is the 2000s, featuring Hall-of-Famer Kevin Eiben '01, all-star defensive lineman Sean Conover '06, and all-conference running back/return specialist A.J. Kizekai '10. Joining coach Dave Cecchini to lead the discussion is rising senior defensive lineman Roger Mellado. Eiben was a standout two-sport athlete at Bucknell, starring in both football and baseball. On the gridiron, Eiben was an All-America safety and one of the top punt returners in program history. As a senior he led the Patriot League and ranked seventh in the country with eight interceptions, including a record-tying four in one game. After graduation, Eiben embarked on a stellar 12-year career in the Canadian Football League, where he twice led the league in tackles and was twice named the league's Most Outstanding Canadian. He has been a part of two Gray Cups, one as a player with the Toronto Argonauts in 2004, and another as an assistant coach with the Argos in 2017. Conover moved from tight end to defensive end prior to his sophomore season, and a year later was a Second Team All-American after recording 10.5 sacks and 18 tackles for loss. Signed as an undrafted free agent, Conover made his NFL debut with the Tennessee Titans in 2006. He later played with the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons. Kizekai was an electrifying player at Bucknell, with six plays of at least 70 yards in his career. He was a three-time First Team All-Patriot League return man and a Second Team All-Patriot League running back as a senior. He graduated with nearly every kickoff return and all-purpose yardage record at Bucknell.Â
2010s
Our first chat of the week features two recent alums who are currently playing in the National Football League, and another who hopes to join them in the NFL ranks very soon. Julién Davenport '17, Abdullah Anderson '18 and Alex Pechin '20 join us in this installment. Davenport was a fourth-round draft pick of the Houston Texans in 2017, and after two seasons in Houston he was dealt to the Miami Dolphins prior to the 2019 campaign. At Bucknell, he was a two-year co-captain and five-time All-America offensive lineman. He was an All-Patriot League selection all four years, and as a senior he was named to the Walter Payton Award watch list and earned First Team All-America honors from four organizations: AFCA, Associated Press, STATS, Walter Camp. Anderson was just as dominant on the other side of the ball during his playing days at Bucknell, and following his senior year he signed a free agent contract with the Chicago Bears. He appeared in six games with the Bears last season and recorded his first career sack against the Saints. As a senior at Bucknell, Anderson was recognized as a FCS All-American by the Associated Press, STATS, Phil Steele and College Sports Madness. The 2017 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, he joined Rich Lemon (1993-96) and Davenport (2013-16) as the only Bison to capture four All-Patriot League citations in his career. Anderson was honored on the 2017, 2016 and 2015 All-Patriot League First Teams and the 2014 Second Team. A three-time Preseason All-Patriot League selection, he was also selected as the 2017 Brooks-Irvine Memorial Football Club's NCAA FCS Collegiate Player of the Year. Pechin is another of Bucknell's most-decorated players, and he attended this year's NFL Scouting Combine with an eye on receiving a training camp invitation later this summer. Pechin is one of the best punters in Bucknell and FCS history -- his 44.5 career average ranks fifth in FCS annals. Pechin graduated as a 15-time All-American, the Patriot League's 14th consensus All-American, the inaugural FCS Punter of the Year and the 2019 STATS FCS Doris Robinson Award Winner as the FCS's top scholar-athlete. In addition, he was recognized on eight 2019 All-America teams, became the fourth Patriot League student-athlete to make four All-Patriot League First Teams and became the first Patriot League football player to earn three-straight Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards.
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1950s & 1960s
Our final episode of Bison Football Through the Decades features three outstanding players from the 1950s and 60s: Jack Eachus '60, Bob Marks '67 and Sam Havrilak '69. Head coach Dave Cecchini and rising junior wide receiver Brandon Sanders lead the conversation. Eachus was an outstanding end in the late-50s, starring on the first two Bison teams coached by Bob Odell. His 84-yard touchdown reception against Lehigh in 1958 was the longest in school history at the time and still ranks second today, and as a senior Eachus was an Honorable Mention All-American. A Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame quarterback and defensive back, Marks played on Bucknell teams that won Lambert Cup and Middle Atlantic Conference championships. Marks, who served a 15-year stint as president of the Bison Club, played quarterback and defensive back on Bucknell's 1964 Lambert Cup-winning team, and then he sparked Bucknell to the 1965 MAC championship. He was twice named to the All-MAC and All-Pennsylvania Team as a defensive back and led the Bison in interceptions, kickoff returns and punt returns in 1965. His total of 301 punt return yards in 1965 was a Bucknell record. The Hall-of-Famer Havrilak was a rare triple threat football player at Bucknell at a time when there was an increasing number of specialists. As a senior in 1968, he ran 161 times for 891 yards, completed 96 of 199 passes for 1,179 yards and seven touchdowns, and punted for a 35.5-yard average. The first player in history named Most Valuable Player of the Middle Atlantic Conference for two successive years (1967 and 1968), Havrilak set Bucknell total offense records for a single game (397), season (2,070) and career (4,402). The Associated Press' All-State quarterback in 1968, he was selected to the weekly ECAC All-East Team three times that season. Havrilak captained the 1968 squad, started every varsity game in his career and received honorable mention on the Little All-America Team as a senior. Selected in the eighth round of the NFL Draft by the Baltimore Colts in 1969, Havrilak played four years in Baltimore and one year with the New Orleans Saints.Â
1970s
It's an all-Hall-of-Famer edition today, as Mike Axe '75, Mitch Farbstein '75 and Mike McDonald '80 join us to reflect on Bucknell football life in the 1970s. Head coach Dave Cecchini is joined by rising senior offensive lineman P.J. Barr to lead the discussion. A 2007 inductee into the Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame,  Axe was a three-year starter on the offensive line and a co-captain of the 1974 Bison football squad. An Associated Press Honorable Mention Little All-American as a senior, Axe was also a Second Team Academic All-American. Recruited as a linebacker before switching to offensive line, Axe captured the George Rieu Award as the team's most outstanding lineman in both 1973 and 1974, and he was twice named to the AP All-Pennsylvania Team and the ECAC Division II All-East First Team. Twice an honorable mention Little All-America fullback and an ECAC All-East choice in 1972, Farbstein also set a school discus throw record and won three letters in both football and track and field at Bucknell. A bruising runner on the gridiron, Farbstein ran for over 100 yards in a game six times, including a 206-yard effort against Gettysburg in 1971 that was the third-best single-game total in school history at the time. He rushed for 1,752 career yards, which was also No. 3 on Bucknell's list at the time. He was named to the ECAC All-East and AP All-Pennsylvania teams in 1972. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991. McDonald joined the Hall of Fame in 2002 after a stellar career that earned him the distinction of being one of the top offensive linemen in school history. He was named to the Associated Press and American Football Coaches Association All-America first teams in 1980. He received the Stuart Smith Award as the team's outstanding sophomore in 1977. After sitting out the 1978 campaign with a broken leg, McDonald returned in 1979 to serve as team co-captain and was named a District II Academic All-American. He completed his eligibility as a graduate student in 1980. McDonald helped open holes for All-America running back Ken Jenkins, who rushed for 1,270 yards in 1980 (then a school record) and 2,336 in his career.
1980s
Yesterday's 1990s chat featured three of the finest ball-carriers in Bucknell annals, and in this edition we add another to the list in Hall-of-Famer Ken Jenkins '82, along with linebacker Will McFarland '86 and Hall-of-Fame quarterback Scott Auchenbach '90. Head coach Dave Cecchini is joined by rising senior linebacker Rick Mottram to moderate the conversation. Jenkins was a Third Team All-America halfback in 1980. He ran for 1,270 yards that year, a school record that stood for 14 years. He graduated with 2,336 ground yards, which ranked second at the time, despite missing much of his senior year with an injury. He was also an outstanding kick returner and piled up a school-record 1,884 all-purpose yards in 1980. A record 384 of those yards came in one game against West Chester. He led all Division I-AA scorers in 1980 while setting a modern Bucknell record with 96 points. That same year he led all divisions in all-purpose yardage. He later played in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles (1982), Detroit Lions (1983-84) and Washington Redskins (1985-86). He became the first player in NFL history to record at least 75 rushing yards, 75 receiving yards, and 75 kickoff return yards in the same game when he did so for the Lions against the Eagles in 1984. McFarland spent his first three varsity seasons as a backup among a deep linebacker corps -- coach Bob Curtis stated that he would have been a starter in most other seasons -- and then had a big senior year as a team co-captain and starting linebacker. As a senior in 1989, Auchenbach was named Most Valuable Player of the Colonial League and was selected as an Honorable Mention All-American. He ranked seventh among all Division I-AA quarterbacks in passing efficiency that season, and he graduated with 13 school passing and total offense records. Auchenbach threw for 2,385 yards and 19 touchdowns in 1989 and had 418 completions for 5,256 yards and 42 touchdowns in his career. A team co-captain and Christy Mathewson Award winner as the top senior athlete at Bucknell, Auchenbach set school records for passing yards in a season and career, completions in a career, touchdown passes in a career and total offense in a season (2,511 in 1989) and career (5,404). He became the first quarterback team history to throw for over 5,000 yards, and he etched his name in the NCAA record book for most consecutive completions to start a game (18 vs. Colgate in 1989).
1990s
It's an all-running back chat in this installment, and we've got three of the best in Bucknell history with us, along with a current back who is looking to write his name as a star in his own right. Rich Lemon '97, Chris Peer '98 and Jabu Powell '02 combined for about 9,000 yards in their careers. Lemon, a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, holds three of the top four single-season rushing totals in school history, and his 4,742 career yards broke the previous team mark by more than 2,000 yards. He broke the career rushing yards record in the first game of his junior season and graduated with 16 school records. Lemon tied an NCAA record by rushing for over 100 yards in all 11 games in 1994, and he had 17 straight 100-yard games spanning multiple seasons. The Patriot League MVP in 1994, Lemon led the Bison to the 1996 Patriot League title, the program's first league championship since 1965. Peer served as the No. 2 running back behind Lemon for his first three seasons, and then took over the lead role as a senior in 1997. All he did that year was rush for 1,111 yards, which was the fifth-highest total in school history at the time. He rushed for a then-school-record 236 yards against Holy Cross, topped the 100-yard mark five times, and earned a spot on the All-Patriot League Second Team. Powell was elected to the Hall of Fame in the Class of 2020, and his 2,919 career yards are second-most in school history, behind only Lemon. Powell broke Peer's single-game record with a 282-yard outburst against Cornell during his junior year, and he was a three-time All-Patriot League selection. Joining these three standout backs is head coach Dave Cecchini and rising junior running back Jared Cooper.Â
2000s
Next up in our football chat series is the 2000s, featuring Hall-of-Famer Kevin Eiben '01, all-star defensive lineman Sean Conover '06, and all-conference running back/return specialist A.J. Kizekai '10. Joining coach Dave Cecchini to lead the discussion is rising senior defensive lineman Roger Mellado. Eiben was a standout two-sport athlete at Bucknell, starring in both football and baseball. On the gridiron, Eiben was an All-America safety and one of the top punt returners in program history. As a senior he led the Patriot League and ranked seventh in the country with eight interceptions, including a record-tying four in one game. After graduation, Eiben embarked on a stellar 12-year career in the Canadian Football League, where he twice led the league in tackles and was twice named the league's Most Outstanding Canadian. He has been a part of two Gray Cups, one as a player with the Toronto Argonauts in 2004, and another as an assistant coach with the Argos in 2017. Conover moved from tight end to defensive end prior to his sophomore season, and a year later was a Second Team All-American after recording 10.5 sacks and 18 tackles for loss. Signed as an undrafted free agent, Conover made his NFL debut with the Tennessee Titans in 2006. He later played with the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons. Kizekai was an electrifying player at Bucknell, with six plays of at least 70 yards in his career. He was a three-time First Team All-Patriot League return man and a Second Team All-Patriot League running back as a senior. He graduated with nearly every kickoff return and all-purpose yardage record at Bucknell.Â
2010s
Our first chat of the week features two recent alums who are currently playing in the National Football League, and another who hopes to join them in the NFL ranks very soon. Julién Davenport '17, Abdullah Anderson '18 and Alex Pechin '20 join us in this installment. Davenport was a fourth-round draft pick of the Houston Texans in 2017, and after two seasons in Houston he was dealt to the Miami Dolphins prior to the 2019 campaign. At Bucknell, he was a two-year co-captain and five-time All-America offensive lineman. He was an All-Patriot League selection all four years, and as a senior he was named to the Walter Payton Award watch list and earned First Team All-America honors from four organizations: AFCA, Associated Press, STATS, Walter Camp. Anderson was just as dominant on the other side of the ball during his playing days at Bucknell, and following his senior year he signed a free agent contract with the Chicago Bears. He appeared in six games with the Bears last season and recorded his first career sack against the Saints. As a senior at Bucknell, Anderson was recognized as a FCS All-American by the Associated Press, STATS, Phil Steele and College Sports Madness. The 2017 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, he joined Rich Lemon (1993-96) and Davenport (2013-16) as the only Bison to capture four All-Patriot League citations in his career. Anderson was honored on the 2017, 2016 and 2015 All-Patriot League First Teams and the 2014 Second Team. A three-time Preseason All-Patriot League selection, he was also selected as the 2017 Brooks-Irvine Memorial Football Club's NCAA FCS Collegiate Player of the Year. Pechin is another of Bucknell's most-decorated players, and he attended this year's NFL Scouting Combine with an eye on receiving a training camp invitation later this summer. Pechin is one of the best punters in Bucknell and FCS history -- his 44.5 career average ranks fifth in FCS annals. Pechin graduated as a 15-time All-American, the Patriot League's 14th consensus All-American, the inaugural FCS Punter of the Year and the 2019 STATS FCS Doris Robinson Award Winner as the FCS's top scholar-athlete. In addition, he was recognized on eight 2019 All-America teams, became the fourth Patriot League student-athlete to make four All-Patriot League First Teams and became the first Patriot League football player to earn three-straight Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards.
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Players Mentioned
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