Football Takes on FBS Foe Central Michigan in Saturday Road Game

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell football team heads to the state of Michigan for the first time since 1936 for its first-ever matchup with Central Michigan. Both the Bison and the Chippewas are seeking their first wins of the season.

Bucknell takes on a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent for the third straight full season. It's Bucknell's first meeting with a Mid-American Conference opponent since the 2001 season opener.

Media Notes & Game Program

When: Saturday, Sept. 17 – 1 p.m.
Where: Kelly/Shorts Stadium – Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: 100.9 The Valley (WVLY)
Internet Radio: WVLY.com/The__Valley
Live Stats: CMUChippewas.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_FB

With a victory Bucknell would...
• collect its first win on the road since the 2021 spring season
• defeat an FBS opponent for the first time
• move to 1-0 all-time against the Chippewas
• snap a nine-game losing skid that dates back to last season

Bucknell at a Glance
• The Bison are 0-2, but they've shown second-half grit and have outscored opponents 27-17 after returning from the locker room. Bucknell also boasts a +1.0 turnover margin through two contests.
• Last week in Lexington, Va., Nick Semptimphelter came off the bench to throw two touchdown passes in the second half to get the Bison back in the game after an early deficit, but VMI's defense stiffened late.
• Bucknell's defense has been solid thus far. Its 19.0 points per game allowed ranks No. 3 in the Patriot League and No. 26 in the FCS.
• Bucknell was picked to finish seventh in the Patriot League based on a vote by the league's head coaches and sports information directors ahead of the 2022 season.
• The Bison finished 1-10 overall in the 2021 season and went 0-6 against league opponents. They were picked in the same spot prior to the shortened 2021 spring season before capturing the Patriot League South Division title and earning a spot in the first-ever Patriot League Championship. Bucknell eventually fell to Holy Cross in the title game that spring, and the Crusaders were picked to win the league again in 2022 as the three-time defending champions.
• Senior defensive back Gavin Pringle was voted to the 2022 Preseason All-Patriot League Team for a third time in his career. Pringle is a two-time All-Patriot League selection and tied for the team lead in pass breakups last year despite missing more than half the season with injury.
• The Bison returned a staggering 51 letterwinners in 2022, as dozens of underclassmen gained playing experience during an injury-plagued season last fall. The young group of returning lettermen include 18 sophomores, 23 juniors and 10 seniors. Five seniors are three-time letterwinners: Pringle, DB Jonathan Searcy, LB Ben Allen, DB Brent Jackson and DL Cooper Kim.
• Bucknell's lone victory during the 2021 campaign came at home in week 4 against Cornell. The Bison scored two unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter and generated four turnovers during Homecoming Weekend. Quarterback Nick Semptimphelter connected with tight end Christian Spugnardi for the go-ahead touchdown. Semptimphelter later ran for a two-yard touchdown.
• Bucknell is in its fourth season under head coach Dave Cecchini, who spent the previous five years at Valparaiso. For leading the Bison to a spot in the Patriot League Championship Game during the 2021 spring season, he was voted as the Patriot League Dick Biddle Coach of the Year.
• Searcy, Allen, Jackson and junior OL Ethan Pitzel were selected as team captains for the 2022 season.

Inside the VMI Box Score
• The Keydets grabbed a 24-0 lead early in the third quarter before Bucknell scored 14 unanswered points in the second half to pull within two possessions of tying. VMI limited Bucknell to just 61 yards of offense over the first two quarters, but the Bison rallied and put up 122 yards in the second half.
• Bucknell came away with two fumble recoveries and an interception, making it four turnovers generated in its first two games.
• The Bison saw a number of chunk plays on offense, including a 34-yard reception by Okeyo Ayungo, a 21-yard reception by Damian Harris, a 19-yard completion to Charlie Kreinbucher, and a 15-yard run by Rushawn Baker.
• Nick Semptimphelter threw his first two touchdowns on the season, connecting with Rushawn Baker for a 13-yard TD pass in the second quarter and Kyle Fontes for a 4-yard TD pass in the fourth. Three of Bucknell's four TD passes this season have gone to tight ends.
• Senior safety Brent Jackson led the team in tackles for a second straight week, registering eight after posting a career-high 12 a week before in the Towson game.
• Sophomore Patrick Quinlivan put on a show against the Keydets, recording two sacks and a forced fumble.
• Senior corner Gavin Pringle posted a career-high four pass breakups while grabbing the third interception of his career. He returned the pick 17 yards to prevent the Keydets from adding to their 21-0 lead with under two minutes to play in the second quarter.

Central Michigan at a Glance
• The Chippewas are 0-2 to begin the season after suffering a 58-44 loss at Oklahoma State and a 38-24 loss to South Alabama.
• Central Michigan finished 9-4 overall and 6-2 in conference play in 2021. The Chippewas earned a 24-21 win over Washington State in the Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl for their first bowl victory since 2012.
• Running back Lew Nichols III has led the team in rushing (92 yards) through two games and finished first in the nation last season in both rushing yards (1,848) and all-purpose yards (2,186), carrying the ball 341 times.
• Central Michigan currently ranks 13th in the nation with 340.5 passing yards per game. Quarterback Daniel Richardson has completed 58 of 95 passes, tossing five touchdowns and one interception.
• Head coach Jim McElwain is 20-15 since arriving at Central Michigan and 64-44 for his career, having made previous stops at Florida and Colorado State. McElwain was a two-time national champion as the offensive coordinator at Alabama from 2008-11.

Bucknell vs. FBS Opponents
• Central Michigan will be Bucknell's third Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent in the past four seasons; the Bison faced off against Army West Point in 2021 and Temple during the 2019 campaign.
• Bucknell is 0-8 against FBS schools since the FBS/FCS (formerly I-A and I-AA) classification began in 1978.
• The Bison's average margin of defeat to an FBS program is 39.5-12.

Bucknell vs. FBS Programs (since Division I classification began in 1978)
• Sept. 23, 1978: Rutgers 27, Bucknell 13 (Lewisburg, Pa.)
• Sept. 22, 1979: Rutgers 16, Bucknell 14 (Piscataway, N.J.)
• Oct. 1, 1988: Army West Point 58, Bucknell 10 (West Point, N.Y.)
• Nov. 18, 1995: Army West Point 37, Bucknell 6 (West Point, N.Y.)
• Sept. 8, 2001: Kent State 38, Bucknell 17 (Kent, Ohio)
• Oct. 17, 2015: Army West Point 21, Bucknell 14 (West Point, N.Y.)
• Aug. 31, 2019: Temple 56, Bucknell 12 (Philadelphia, Pa.)
• Nov. 13, 2021: Army West Point 63, Bucknell 10 (West Point, N.Y.)

Inside the Bucknell Depth Chart
• Bucknell's projected starters on offense have made a combined 87 starts. All 11 projected offensive starters have made at least one start.
• Bucknell's projected starters on defense have made a combined 117 starts. All 11 projected starters on defense have made at least one start.
• On offense, one senior (OL R.J. Mehan), six juniors and four sophomores are expected to start. Junior LT Ethan Pitzel leads the offensive group with 15 starts under his belt.
• On defense, four seniors, three juniors and four sophomores are expected to start. DB Gavin Pringle leads the entire roster in career starts (18).
• 12 Bison currently have at least 10 career starts: DB Gavin Pringle (18), OL Ethan Pitzel (15), DB Brent Jackson (14), DL Mike Bright Jr. (13), OL Zack Tarburton (12), LB Ben Allen (13), OL R.J. Mehan (13), RB Coleman Bennett (13), DL Connor Carretta (12), WR Damian Harris (12), ILB Blake Leake (12) and DB Jonathan Searcy (12). Of that group, five are seniors and seven are juniors.
• Only Allen and Jackson started all 11 of Bucknell's 2021 games. On the offensive side of the ball, Harris, Pitzel and Mehan each made 10 starts last season.
• Three Bison currently boast starting streaks in the double digits: Allen (11), Jackson (11) and Carretta (10).
• Only two seniors have played in all 28 of Bucknell's games during their time in Lewisburg to date: Allen and Searcy.
• Two juniors have played in all 17 of Bucknell's games during their time in Lewisburg to date: DL Tyler Alston and P/K Ruben Anderson.
• In 2021, a staggering 30 players each made their first career start. The total of 30 represented just over 34 percent of that team's roster; two were seniors, four were juniors, 12 were sophomores and 12 were freshmen.

Bison Award Winners
• DB Gavin Pringle was named an honorable mention for Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.
• The Bison returned one All-Patriot League player in DB Gavin Pringle (1st in '21S, 2nd in '19).
• Pringle has been voted to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team in three consecutive seasons, and RB Coleman Bennett was voted to the 2021 Preseason All-Patriot League Team, representing Bucknell as a return specialist.
• The Bison graduated All-Patriot League honorees RB Jared Cooper and WR Dominic Lyles following the 2021 season.
• DB Brent Jackson was voted to the 2021 Academic All-Patriot League Team, earning the award for the first time in his career.
• Bennett and Jackson were named 2022 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars by the publication Diverse: Issues in Higher Education in May. The award recognizes undergraduate students of color who have excelled in the classroom as well as on the athletic fields.

Head Coach Dave Cecchini
• Dave Cecchini, one of the all-time great wide receivers in Patriot League history who has since gone on to achieve tremendous success in the coaching ranks, was named the 27th Bob Odell Head Football Coach at Bucknell University on February 6, 2019.
• Cecchini was voted as the 2021 Spring Patriot League Dick Biddle Coach of the Year for guiding the team to a spot in the Patriot League Championship Game. In addition, he was selected as a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, presented by STATS to the FCS Coach of the Year, for the second time in his career.
• In his first season at the helm, Cecchini led the Bison to a third-place finish in the Patriot League, their highest placement since they were the 2014 runners-up. Their Patriot League victories came over defending champion Colgate (32-14), rival Lehigh (20-10) and Georgetown (20-17); two of their three league losses came by a touchdown or less.
• In 2017 while at Valparaiso, Cecchini was a finalist for the American Football Coaches Association's FCS National Coach of the Year and the STATS FCS Coach of the Year awards; he was also voted as the Pioneer Football League Coach of the Year and the AFCA FCS Region 4 Coach of the Year.

Inside the 2022 Schedule
• This is the 137th season of football at Bucknell. The Bison played their first game in 1883 and have played continuously since 1887.
• Bucknell's challenging 2022 schedule includes trips to FBS program Central Michigan and Ivy League opponent Yale. Central Michigan marks the third FBS team the Bison have scheduled in four seasons.
• Bucknell's 2022 opponents went a combined 58-64 in 2021, with Central Michigan winning its Sun Bowl game and Holy Cross advancing to the FCS playoffs for the third-straight season. VMI earned a spot in the 2021 spring FCS playoffs on the strength of its first conference title since 1977 while Towson, which did not compete during the 2020-21 school year, won seven games in both 2019 and 2018, advancing to the 2018 FCS playoffs.
• Bucknell begins Patriot League action at home against Lafayette on Oct. 1.
• Bucknell's other home contests include on Colgate on Oct. 29, Fordham on Nov. 5, and Pioneer Football League member Marist for Senior Day on Nov. 19 to close out the regular season on 19.

How to Follow the Bison
• All of Bucknell's home games and its road contests at VMI, Yale, Holy Cross, Lehigh and Georgetown will air on ESPN+, which became home of the Patriot League Network ahead of the 2020-21 school year.
• The Bison's game at FBS foe Central Michigan will be broadcast on ESPN3.
• All of the Bison's games will be broadcast on 100.9 The Valley (WVLY). The broadcast will also be available on WVLY.com/The__Valley and BucknellBison.com.
• Bucknell is active on Twitter (@Bucknell_FB) and Instagram (Bucknell_FB). Interact with the team using the hashtags #ACT and #rayBucknell.

Up Next
Bucknell looks ahead to its bye week next weekend before returning to action on Saturday, Oct. 1 when Lafayette visits Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium on Homecoming in the Bison's Patriot League opener.

Football Takes on FBS Foe Central Michigan in Saturday Road Game

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ben Allen

Tyler Alston

Ruben Anderson

Okeyo Ayungo

Rushawn Baker

Coleman Bennett

Mike Bright Jr.

Connor Carretta

Jared Cooper

Kyle Fontes

Damian Harris

Brent Jackson

Cooper Kim

Charlie Kreinbucher

Blake Leake

Dominic Lyles

R.J. Mehan

Ethan Pitzel

Gavin Pringle

Patrick Quinlivan

Jonathan Searcy

Nick Semptimphelter

Christian Spugnardi

Zack Tarburton