Bucknell Football Hosts Georgetown in Patriot League Contest

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell returns home to take on Georgetown in a conference battle on Saturday, Oct. 25 at noon at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. This will be the 37th meeting between the two teams since their first battle in 1904. Bucknell holds the overall winning record at 20-15-1 and the Bison also lead the Hoyas in wins in Lewisburg with a record of 7-6. Last year's contest went to Georgetown in a 21-20 game. Bucknell enters the game 4-4 (1-2 PL) after a loss to Cornell in Ithaca and Georgetown comes in 4-3 (1-1PL) with its last game being a 21-17 victory over Colgate.

In the Bison's last time out, their late fourth quarter surge wasn't enough to combat the 23-7 lead that Cornell garnered at the end of the third quarter. Thanks to a fumble recovery by Nick Hoying, Bucknell scored back-to-back touchdowns in the final five-and-a-half minutes of the game to cut their deficit to 10 with just over two-and-a-half minutes left, but were unable to make up the difference in the final stretch as the Big Red came away with a game-ending interception with 1:45 remaining on the clock. Christopher Dietrich found his second start at quarterback for the Bison and went 19-of-32 for 220 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Sam Milligan led the Bison in receiving with 7 attempts for 78 yards and a fourth quarter, one-handed touchdown. Bush led the Bison in rushing with 29 yards and one touchdown on 9 carries. On defense, Brandon Biagiarelli led the bunch with 12 total tackles (5 solo and 7 assisted).

In the Hoya's last time out, they used a late rushing touchdown from quarterback Dez Thomas II to secure the 21-17 victory over Colgate in Patriot League action. Thomas completed 15-21 passes for 165 yards, while rushing for two touchdowns. Savion Hart carried the ball 23 times for a gain of 69 yards and one touchdown. Braylon Wise led the defense with 14 tackles (10 solo, 4 assists), while Naiteitel Mose managed 12 tackles (8 solo, 4 assists). Brian Allen and Brian Lloyd both managed interceptions.

Media Notes:

When: Saturday, Oct. 25 at 12 p.m.

Where: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium

Watch: ESPN+

Radio: 1070 AM WKOK

Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com

Live Stats: bucknellbison.com

Media Notes: Bucknell

Follow on X: @Bucknell_FB

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell returns home for its conference game against Georgetown. The Bison will host the Hoyas at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 25 at noon.
The Bison are coming off of a 30-20 loss at Cornell. Chris Dietrich got his second start as the Bison quarterback and went 19-of-32 for 220 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Thanks to a fumble recovery by Nick Hoying, Bucknell scored back-to-back touchdowns in the final five-and-a-half minutes of the game to cut their deficit to 10 with just over two-and-a-half minutes left, but were unable to make up the difference in the final stretch as the Big Red came away with a game-ending interception with 1:45 remaining on the clock.
The Bison have had three Patriot League Players of the Week this season: Zachary Corna (Rookie of the Week,9/15), James Schlendorf (Rookie of the Week, 10/6) and Ralph Rucker IV (Offensive Player of the Week, 10/6).
The Bison were picked to finish fourth in the 2025 Preseason All-Patriot League Poll.
Alongside Ralph Rucker IV (PL OPOTY) and Tariq Thomas (PL ROTY), the Bison are returning two other Patriot League First Team selections in return specialist TJ Cadden and special teams standout Sam Milligan. Bucknell also returns two Patriot League Second Team selections in offensive lineman and 2024 Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year, John Ohnegian and punter Matt Schearer.
The Bison are entering their seventh season under head coach Dave Cecchini in 2025. Cecchini was voted the Patriot League Dick Biddle Coach of the Year during the 2021 campaign for leading the Bison to a spot in the first-ever Patriot League Championship game following the abbreviated season, Cecchini's team is coming off a record setting season where the squad broke 13 individual records, seven team records and scored the most single-season points in program history.
Bucknell returned a total of 65 players from the 2024 season and lost 34 athletes from the roster.
The Bison welcomed 40 newcomers this season, including 32 freshmen. The additional eight players came from the transfer portal.
The Bison welcomed a host of new faces to the staff during the offseason; offensive coordinator Drew Folmar, tight ends coach P.J. Barr, defensive line coach Kentwan Balmer, running backs coach Jerome Smith, wide receivers coach Sam Costantino, linebackers and special teams coach Chase Murdock and Strength and Conditioning Coach Tim Warren.
Bucknell's 2025 captains are second-time captain and offensive lineman John Ohnegian, fifth-year quarterback Ralph Rucker IV, senior punter/kicker Matt Schearer and senior cornerback Terian Williams II.

Georgetown at a Glance

Georgetown enters the contest 4-3 overall with a 1-1 Patriot League record. They are currently ranked third in the Patriot League.
In their last time out, the Georgetown football team used a late rushing touchdown from quarterback Dez Thomas II to secure the 21-17 victory over Colgate in Patriot League action on Cooper Field on Saturday afternoon.
Thomas completed 15-21 passes for 165 yards, while rushing for two touchdowns. Savion Hart carried the ball 23 times for a gain of 69 yards and one touchdown. Braylon Wise led the defense with 14 tackles (10 solo, 4 assists), while Naiteitel Mose managed 12 tackles (8 solo, 4 assists). Brian Allen and Brian Lloyd both managed interceptions.
Dez Thomas II is 59-for-116 overall with four touchdowns and five interceptions.
Savion Hart leads the team in rushing with 91 attempts for 416 yards and six touchdowns on the season.
Jimmy Kibble is the Hoyas leading receiver with 34 catches for 605 yards and three touchdowns.
GianCarlo Rufo leads Georgetown's defense with 58 total tackles (29 solo, 29 assisted), 3.5 TFL, 0.5 sacks and two quarterback hurries.
Josh Leff is the Hoya punter and has 29 punts for 1,152 yards. He has three touchbacks, nine fair catches, 10 punts inside the 20 yard line and two 50+ yard punts.
Thomas Anderson is 4-for-9 on field goals and has had 32 kickoffs for 1,958 yards with 10 touchbacks and three kicks out of bounds.

Bucknell / Georgetown Series

This will be the 37th meeting between the two teams since 1904, when they first met.
Bucknell leads the series 20-15-1
Georgetown is on a two-game winning streak over Bucknell.
The last time in Lewisburg (11/11/23), Georgetown took the victory in OT 50-47.
At home against Georgetown, Bucknell is 7-6.

Inside the Record Book

QB Ralph Rucker IV re-invented the record books. Rucker is now Bucknell's single-season leader in touchdown passes (25), passing yards (2,826), completion percentage (.672), passing completions (244) and total offense (2,922) Rucker also leads Bucknell in single game passing yards (437) and single game touchdown passes (5 TD passes 3X). With this being his final season, Rucker holds career records in passing touchdowns (56), passing yards (6,873), total offense (7,254) and completion percentage (.650).
Sam Milligan ranks first in touchdown catches in a single game with four against VMI on Saturday, Sept. 13. He also ranks sixth all-time in receiving yards in a single game with 192 yards in that VMI win for Bucknell.
TJ Cadden tied for the longest kickoff return (100 yds) and holds the records for most punt return touchdowns in a season (2) and most total return touchdowns (3; two punt returns and one kickoff return).
Matt Schearer holds the record for season PAT's with 45.
As a 2024 team, Bucknell broke even more records. The 2024 team holds the records for; single season completions (277), single season passing yards (3,220), single season average passing yards per game (268.33), single season total yards (4,651), single season total plays (836), single season total points (346), single season first downs (252), single game total offense (428) and single season touchdown passes (28).

On Record Watch

Ralph Rucker is 118 passing attempts away from the career record for passing attempts.
Ralph Rucker is 5 pass completions away from the career record.
Matt Schearer is 7 field goals away from the career record.

Milestone Watch

Charlie Kreinbucher is 66 yards away from a career 500 receiving yards.
TJ Cadden is 39 yards away from 1,000 career receiving yards.

Bison Award Winners

James Schlendorf was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week (10/6) and was named a Stats Perform FCS Freshman Player of the Week Honorable Mention athlete (10/6).
Ralph Rucker IV was named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week (10/6).
Zachary Corna was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week (9/15) and was named a Stats Perform FCS Freshman Player of the Week Honorable Mention athlete (9/15).
Sam Milligan was named a Stats Perform FCS National Offensive Player of the Week Honorable Mention athlete (9/15/)
Terian Williams II was named a Stats Perform FCS National Defensive Player of the Week Honorable Mention athlete (9/8/).
The Bison returned six 2024 All-Patriot League Selections; Ralph Rucker IV, Tariq Thomas, TJ Cadden, Sam Milligan, John Ohnegian and Matt Schearer.
Rucker was the 2024 PL Offensive Player of the Year and Thomas was the 2024 PL Rookie of the Year.
Rucker was named the 2025 Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and 2025 Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Third Team.
Five Bison were named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team; Rucker, Ohnegian, Aaron Davis, TJ Cadden and Milligan.

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 34 All-Patriot League First/Second Team awards as well as one First Team All-American.

Inside the 2025 Schedule

This is the 140th season of football at Bucknell. The Bison played their first-ever game in 1883 and have been playing a consistent schedule since 1887.
Bucknell is scheduled to play 12 games for just the fourth time in program history. The Bison will host six games and have six games on the road.
Bucknell opened the 2025 season with back-to-back away games at Air Force and Marist before going on a four-game home stand.
This is the first time since the Bison's Patriot League Championship season of 1996, that there will be four home games in a row.
Senior Night took place on Sept. 27 against Saint Francis at 6 p.m. and Homecoming was the final game of the homestand on Oct. 4 against Richmond at 12 p.m.
Bucknell's home opener was on Sept. 13 against VMI. The Bison then started Patriot League play against Lehigh on Sept. 20 at home, which was Bucknell's Family Weekend game.
After its home stand, Bucknell was on the road for two games against Lafayette and Cornell.
The final four games of the season are all against conference opponents. Bucknell hosts Georgetown on Oct. 25, travels to Fordham on Nov. 8, takes on Holy Cross at home on Nov. 15 and then ends the season at Colgate on Nov. 22.

How to Follow the Bison

All of Bucknell's games this season will be broadcast on ESPN+ with the exception of the season opener at Air Force, which will be shown on CBS Sports Network.
All of the Bison's games will be broadcast on 1070 AM (WKOK). The broadcast will also be available for internet streaming on BucknellBison.com.
Bucknell is active on X (@Bucknell_FB) and Instagram (Bucknell_FB).
Interact with the team using the hashtags #ACT and #rayBucknell.

Up Next

Bucknell will travel to New York to take on Fordham on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m.

Bucknell Football Hosts Georgetown in Patriot League Contest

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brandon Biagiarelli

TJ Cadden

Aaron Davis

Christopher Dietrich

Nick Hoying

Charlie Kreinbucher

Sam Milligan

John Ohnegian

Ralph Rucker IV

Matt Schearer

Tariq Thomas

Terian Williams II

Bucknell Football Hosts Georgetown in Patriot League Contest

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brandon Biagiarelli

TJ Cadden

Aaron Davis

Christopher Dietrich

Nick Hoying

Charlie Kreinbucher

Sam Milligan

John Ohnegian

Ralph Rucker IV

Matt Schearer

Tariq Thomas

Terian Williams II

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