Ralph Rucker IV Earns Stats Perform FCS All-America Honors
7/15/2025 12:03:00 PM | Football
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Fifth year quarterback Ralph Rucker IV has been named to the 2025 Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Third Team as announced Tuesday.Â
Rucker is the lone Bucknell player and one of seven Patriot League players listed on the All-America teams for 2025. The quarterback finds a spot on the third team offense after his record breaking season in 2024.
2024 was a banner season for Rucker, a Lucas, Texas native who transferred to Bucknell from Oklahoma before the 2023 campaign. He earned five Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week citations, including four in a row to close out the season and he was Bucknell's first Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year since Hall-of-Famer Rich Lemon in 1994. Rucker is also Bucknell's first First Team All-PL quarterback since Daris Wilson in 2004. The quarterback found himself as a Walter Payton Award Finalist following his 2024 campaign as well.
Rucker capped off a record-setting season with one of the best performances of his career in the Bison's 48-34 win over Colgate. He finished 31-for-45 for 457 yards and five touchdown passes. Bucknell previously had never had a 400-yard passer in any game in team history. Rucker set the previous mark of 387 against Colgate last season, giving him 824 yards in two career games against the Raiders.
It was Rucker's second straight five-touchdown game, tying the school record, He also set new team records for TD passes in a season (25) and career (46). Scott Auchenbach had held the Bucknell career mark of 42 touchdown passes since 1989. Rucker also broke the Bucknell single-season record for passing yards with 2,826 and his career total of 5,363 in just two seasons ranks second all-time.
Rucker threw for 300+ yards four times this season and his .672 completion percentage on the season set a new school record, just above the previous mark of .671 by Marcello Trigg in 2008. He led the Patriot League in passing yards, passing touchdowns and passing efficiency, as he finished the year with 25 TD passes and only seven interceptions.
The reigning Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year decided to return to the Bison using his fifth year of eligibility to continue playing for Bucknell for the 2025 season and looks to build upon his record-setting 2024 stint with another solid season under center.
