Bucknell University
James Madison
Bucknell Football Kicks Off 2023 Season with Road Challenge at James Madison
8/29/2023 10:21:00 AM | Football
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell football team opens the 2023 campaign with a trip to James Madison for a 6 p.m. game on Saturday, Sept. 2.
The Bison have faced an FBS opponent every year under head coach Dave Cecchini, excluding the abbreviated spring 2021 season, and this is the second time his team has opened a season against an FBS foe.
Saturday marks the first-ever matchup between the Bison and the Dukes. After a dominant run at the FCS level that saw JMU go 19 consecutive seasons with a .500 record or better, the Dukes reclassified in 2023. JMU made nine consecutive NCAA playoff appearances and was crowned the 2016 National Champion leading up to the transition.
Bucknell, now in its fifth season under Cecchini, is looking to build off the success it saw at the tail-end of last season where it won three of its final five games. A strong recruiting class combined with a group of experienced returning starters will power the Bison as they look to climb the Patriot League standings in 2023.
Media Notes:
When: Saturday, Sept. 2 at 6 p.m.
Where: Bridgeforth Stadium – Harrisonburg, Va.
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: 100.9 The Valley (WVLY)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: JMUSports.com
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_FB
With a Victory the Bison would…
• move to 94-43-1 all-time in season openers
• move to 50-83-4 all-time in first road games
• win a third consecutive game, dating back to 2022
• defeat an FBS opponent for the first time
• move to 1-0 all-time against James Madison
• improve to 2-3 in season openers under Cecchini
Bucknell at a Glance
• The Bison were picked to finish in a tie for sixth in the Patriot League based on a vote by the league's head coaches and sports information directors ahead of the 2023 season.
• Bucknell went 3-8 (2-4 PL) during the 2022 campaign, finishing in a tie for fourth. The Bison, who were picked to finish last in that season's Patriot League preseason poll, earned league wins over Lehigh (19-17) and Georgetown (24-21, OT) before ending the year with a victory over Marist (24-13).
• Bucknell is in its fifth season under head coach Dave Cecchini, who spent the previous five as head coach at Valparaiso. Cecchini was honored as the Patriot League Dick Biddle Coach of the Year during the four-game spring 2021 campaign.
• Bucknell returned a total of 56 letterwinners in 2023, a group that includes 23 seniors, 20 juniors and 13 sophomores. 12 seniors are three-time letterwinners.
• RB Coleman Bennett, LB Blake Leake, QB Nick Semptimphelter and OL Casey Stephenson are serving as 2023 team captains, as voted on by their teammates.
• Bucknell welcomed a host of new faces to the staff this season, including new offensive coordinator John Bear. Wide receivers coach Braelon Roberts, offensive line coach Sean Pearson, defensive backs coach Pat Clark and safeties coach McNeil Parker are all new assistants on the staff as well.
James Madison at a Glance
• James Madison was picked to finish atop the Sun Belt Conference East Division in 2023 based on a vote by the head coaches and media members. The Dukes also landed four on the Preseason All-Conference squad: OL Nick Kidwell, DL James Carpenter, P Ryan Hanson and LB Taurus Jones.
• In their first season competing at the FBS level, the Dukes finished top 30 nationally in six statistical categories, including sixth in time of possession (33:44), seventh in yards per completion (14.54), and 13th in points per game (37.0).
• JMU returned just four of its 12 All-Sun Belt Conference honorees from last season. Notably, the Dukes lost Offensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year QB Todd Centeio, as well as All-Sun Belt Third Team RB Percy Agyei-Obese and First Team WR Kris Thornton.
• Kidwell and Carpenter, who are both three-year starters on the defensive line for JMU, were selected to the 2023 HERO Sports Group of Five Preseason All-America Team.
• JMU head coach Curt Cignetti is entering his fifth season with the Dukes and has led the program to a 41-8 record. He carries a 108-34 career record, having spent two seasons at Elon and six at IUP. He guided the Dukes to the 2019 FCS National Championship game as well as FCS semifinal appearances in 2020 and 2021.
The Bucknell/James Madison Series
• This will be the first-ever meeting between Bucknell and James Madison.
• The Bison have never faced a current member of the Sun Belt Conference.
• JMU is 3-5 all-time against current members of the Patriot League, having faced Colgate, Lafayette and Lehigh.
Inside the Bucknell Depth Chart
• Bucknell's projected starters on offense have made a combined 100 starts.
• Bucknell's projected starters on defense have made a combined 127 starts.
• On offense, four seniors, three juniors and four sophomores are expected to start.
• On defense, four seniors, six juniors and one sophomore (CB Roman Pearson) are expected to start.
• Sophomore OL John Ohnegian, sophomore WR Eric Weatherly, junior QB Ralph Rucker, junior LB Brad Jamison, and junior CB Roman Pearson are each expected to make their first career starts on Saturday.
• 16 Bison have made at least 10 career starts. Four have started 20 games or more: OL Ethan Pitzel (23), WR Damian Harris (21), LB Blake Leake (20), and DL Connor Carretta (20).
• Six Bison have starting streaks of 10 or more games in a row: Leake (18), Robinson (17) Harris (13), S John Schlendorf (11), DL Aneesh Vyas (11) and DL Tyler Alston (10).
• Five Bison, Harris, Leake, Robinson, Schlendorf and Vyas, started all 11 of Bucknell's games in 2022.
• Only seniors P Ruben Anderson and Alston have played in all 26 of Bucknell's games over the past three seasons. Leake has missed just one appearance during his career.
• Of the junior class, Schlendorf, Robinson and S Alex Smith Jr. have played in all 22 of the team's games over the past two seasons.
• In 2022, seven players each made their first career start. Two were juniors, two were sophomores, and three were freshmen. 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.
Milestone Watch
• Tyler Alston needs 17 tackles to reach 100 for his career
• Coleman Bennett needs 128 kick return yards to reach 1,000 for his career
• Damian Harris needs 1 reception to reach 50 for his career
• Rushawn Baker needs 119 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for his career
• John Schlendorf needs 11 tackles to reach 100 for his career
Bison Award Winners
• The Bison returned one All-Patriot League player, OL Ethan Pitzel (2nd Team in '22). DL Tyler Alston and K Matt Schearer were both voted to the 2023 Preseason All-Patriot League Team. Coleman Bennett was a 2021 Preseason All-League honoree as a return specialist.
• The Bison graduated three All-Patriot League players following the 2022 season: LB Ben Allen (2nd Team in '22), S Brent Jackson (2nd Team in '22), and CB Gavin Pringle (2nd Team in '22 and '19, 1st Team in 'S21).
• Bucknell collected five Patriot League weekly awards last season. Schearer was twice named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week, Bennett earned Special Teams Player of the Week recognition, and Jackson was twice named the Defensive Player of the Week.
• In 2022, Bennett was named an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar by the publication Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. The award recognizes undergraduate students of color who have excelled in the classroom as well as on the athletic fields.
• Six Bison were named to the 2022 CSC Academic All-District Team: Ben Allen, Connor Carretta, Brent Jackson, Ethan Pitzel, Jonathan Searcy and Aneesh Vyas.
• Bucknell returned two of its three Academic All-Patriot League honorees from the 2022 season: Bennett and Pitzel.
• In March, 50 Bucknell football players were named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll for achieving a 3.2 GPA or higher. The Bison led all Patriot League teams in the category.
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.
• Since arriving at Bucknell, Cecchini's players have combined to earn 20 All-Patriot League First/Second Team awards as well as one First Team All-American.
Inside the 2023 Schedule
• This is the 138th season of football at Bucknell. The Bison played their first-ever game in 1883 and have played continuously since 1887.
• The Bison open the 2023 slate against FBS opponent James Madison, which tied for first place in the Sun Belt East Division during its inaugural season in the conference with an 8-3 (6-2 SBC) record. Bucknell is 0-10 against FBS schools since the FBS/FCS classification began in 1978.
• After hosting VMI for the home opener on Sept. 9, the Bison remain at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium to face Penn, which is coming off its winningest season in more than a decade. It marks the 44th time in the last 45 seasons that Bucknell has had an Ivy League program on the schedule.
• Bucknell's other non-league games include Cornell on Oct. 14 and Marist to close out the regular season on Nov. 18.
• Bucknell opens Patriot League play on the road at Lafayette on Sept. 30. The Bison will play host to reigning league champion Holy Cross, Lehigh and Georgetown.
• Bucknell's 2023 opponents went a combined 58-64 last season.
Facility Upgrades
• Thanks to the support of the Pascucci family, Bucknell's new artificial turf practice field was broken in last preseason camp. Offering additional training and practice space for several men's and women's teams, the new field provides even greater training opportunities for a variety of programs beyond the ones that call Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium home.
• The stadium's new state-of-the-art video board made its debut in 2021, greatly heightening the fan experience at home events.
• Currently under construction is The Pascucci Team Center which, upon completion, will include a new strength and conditioning center, locker rooms, and a team meeting and event space.
• In recognition of Pascucci's historic commitment to both financial aid and athletics, the area of campus that includes the stadium and the Christy Mathewson Gates was named the Pascucci Family Athletics Complex.
• The picturesque Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium was dedicated in 1924 and was known originally as Memorial Stadium as a tribute to Bucknell's numerous war veterans. The stadium underwent a major renovation in 1989, and at that time it was rededicated to honor the iconic Christy Mathewson, who was a three-sport star and model student-athlete during his playing days at Bucknell.
How to Follow the Bison
• All of Bucknell's games this season, home and away, will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• All of the Bison's games will be broadcast on 100.9 The Valley (WVLY). The broadcast will also be available for internet streaming on 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 plays at home for the first time in 2023 when VMI visits Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 9. It's the second consecutive season the Bison and Keydets have faced off in week two. Bucknell will be celebrating First Responder and Hero Appreciation Day during the home opener. Visit the Bucknell Campus Box Office to purchase tickets.
