Bucknell Football Falls to Fordham

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell football team fell to Fordham, 31-17, on Saturday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

The Rams (2-1, 1-1 PL North) scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second half to hand the Bison (2-1, 2-0 PL South) their first loss of the 2021 spring campaign. Quarterback Tim DeMorat, the Patriot League's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, completed 32 of 42 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns to lead Fordham to its eighth-straight victory over Bucknell. In addition, linebacker Glenn Cunningham filled the stat sheet with eight tackles, one sack and two interceptions.

The Rams' touchdowns came at the third quarter's 5:49 and 2:42 marks and the fourth quarter's 8:45 mark. One was a 49-yard pick 6 while the other two were passing touchdowns of at least 45 yards that came on the heels of interceptions.

For the Bison, freshmen Coleman Bennett and Tyler Beverett each ran for his first career touchdown. Bennett had a strong showing, totaling a career-best 186 all-purpose yards on 34 rushing yards, 24 receiving yards and 128 kick return yards.

Bucknell got on the board early, bolstered by Bennett returning the opening kickoff 76 yards to the Fordham 16. The Ram defense held fast, most notably forcing a fumble that pushed the Bison back six yards. Ethan Torres ultimately booted a career-long 39-yard field goal to put Bucknell up by a 3-0 margin.

Following Torres's field goal, Fordham marched 67 yards to the Bison's one-yard line. A big hit by Conner Romango caused DeMorat to cough up the ball, which was pounced on by Simeon Page to halt the promising Ram drive a single yard short of a go-ahead score.

During the second quarter, the Rams picked up a field goal and scored the game's first touchdown to claim a 10-3 advantage. Their field goal, a 41 yarder, came after the ball hit a Bison during a punt return, resulting in them gaining possession at the Bucknell 21. Gerrit Van Itallie tied up Trey Sneed for a loss of seven yards to bring up 4th down and force the field-goal attempt.

Fordham's touchdown, a three-yard pass from DeMorat to M.J. Wright, capped a 10-play, 87-yard drive. During that go-ahead possession, Sneed rattled off a 17-yard run while DeMorat connected with Fotis Kokosioulis for a 38-yard gain; after spinning out of a tackle, Kokosioulis nearly found the end zone himself but stepped out of bounds three yards shy.

Just when it looked like the Bison would go into the locker room facing a deficit for the first time this spring, Rick Mottram picked off a DeMorat pass to give them one last scoring opportunity. Mottram returned his interception 36 yards to the Fordham 23 with 35 seconds left in the half; one play later, Bennett found a seam to score his first career touchdown.

Bucknell took its first lead of the game at the third quarter's 9:22 mark following Beverett's four-yard touchdown run. The Bison covered 76 yards in nine plays, with Logan Bitikofer connecting with three different wide receivers for four first downs, including three in a row to advance from the Bucknell 24 to midfield.

The Rams went three and out after Beverett's touchdown run. The Bison appeared poised to add to their lead on their next possession, with Jared Cooper's 30-yard scamper advancing them quickly to Fordham's five-yard line. Three plays later, Cunningham picked off a pass in the end zone to put an end to that drive; DeMorat then found Dequece Carter for a 33-yard gain and Kokosioulis for a 50-yard touchdown on back-to-back plays to even the score at 17-17.

Mike Courtney's 49-yard interception return for a touchdown proved to be the game-winning score. The Rams added a 46-yard touchdown catch by Carter from DeMorat in the middle of the fourth quarter when Bucknell was resting the majority of its starters.

The Bison used three quarterbacks, with Bitikofer seeing the majority of the action. He threw for 145 yards on 14 of 25 passing. Cooper posted 35 yards on five carries while John McGuire (41) and Dominic Lyles (40) each reached 40 receiving yards on three catches.

Gavin Pringle led all players with nine tackles while Van Itallie paced Bucknell with two tackles for a loss. Page's sack brought his career total to 25.5, matching the school record held by Dave Hibbard (1978-1980) and Ed Burman (1993-95).

For the Rams, Kokosioulis (149) and Carter (111) each exceeded 100 receiving yards. Along with his pick 6, Courtney totaled a game-best 3.5 tackles for a loss.

Fordham led in total offense (421-199), passing yards (335-153) and rushing yards (86-46) while Bucknell held a slim edge in time of possession (30:39-29:21). The Bison, who did not turn the ball over during their first two games, threw three interceptions and lost one fumble.

Bucknell will next host Patriot League North Division winner Holy Cross in the first-ever Patriot League Championship Game on Saturday, April 17 at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network.

Players Mentioned

Coleman Bennett

Tyler Beverett

Logan Bitikofer

Jared Cooper

Dominic Lyles

John McGuire

Rick Mottram

Simeon Page

Gavin Pringle

Conner Romango

Ethan Torres

Gerrit Van Itallie