Bucknell Football Opens 2025 Season at FBS Opponent Air Force

LEWISBURG, Pa. --- Bucknell kicks off its 140th season of football when it visits Air Force on Saturday for the 2025 opener. This will be the Bison's first meeting with the Falcons and begins just the fourth 12-game schedule in program history.

Bucknell enters the season on the heels of a record breaking 2024 campaign where the team broke 13 individual records, seven team records and scored the most single-season points in program history. Bucknell's record-breaking offense returned seven of its 11 starters for the 2025 campaign and added in some exciting transfers to help build talented depth. 2024 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, Ralph Rucker returns for his final season with the Bison as a captain, alongside Rucker is returning PL Rookie of the Year running back Tariq Thomas. Bucknell saw five players on the 2025 Preseason All-Patriot League Team, Sam Milligan, Aaron Davis, TJ Cadden, John Ohnegian and Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Ralph Rucker IV. The Bison will be under the direction of head coach Dave Cecchini for the seventh season.

Air Force is led by head coach Troy Calhoun, who is in his 19th season at the academy. The Falcons are coming off of a 5-7 overall season where they defeated San Diego State 31-20 to cap off their year on a four-game winning streak and build momentum heading into the 2025 season. Air Force returns punter Luke Freer for his senior season. Freer earned Second-Team All-Mountain West and Second-Team All-Colorado honors in 2024. Air Force has an 18-game winning streak in season openers.

When: Saturday, Aug. 30 at 3:30 p.m. (ET)

Where: Falcon Stadium – Colorado Springs, CO

Watch: CBS Sports Network

Radio: 1070 AM (WKOK)

Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com

Live Stats: goairforcefalcons.com

Media Notes: Bucknell | Air Force

Follow on X: @Bucknell_FB

Bucknell at a Glance

Bucknell opens its 140th season on Saturday when it visits Air Force at 3:30pm ET.
The Bison are coming off of a 6-6 season in 2024, where they went 4-2 in the Patriot League and held both the conference Rookie of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year in Tariq Thomas and Ralph Rucker IV respectively.
Bucknell is looking to start off its season with a win for the first time since 2020.
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 32 newcomers this season, including 29 freshmen. Three newcomers transferred to Bucknell in the spring of 2025.
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.

Air Force at a Glance

Air Force is coming off of a 5-7 overall season and in their final game of 2024, the Falcons defeated San Diego State 31-20.
The Falcons closed out the 2024 season on a four-game winning streak. Over the four games, Air Force averaged 29.3 points per game, 302.1 rushing yards per game and 372.3 total yards.
The Falcons are returning one Second-Team All-Mountain West and Second-Team All-Colorado player in senior punter Luke Freer and an All-Mountain West Honorable Mention Second Team All-Colorado player in senior offensive lineman Costen Cooley.
Air Force's inside linebackers coach Ken Lamendola was selected by the AFCA for its 2025 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute.
Air Force has a new defensive line assistant in Fred Wyatt. Wyatt went to the Academy after spending the 2024 season as a defensive line coach at Southern Mississippi.

Bucknell/Air Force Series

This will be the first meeting between Bucknell and Air Force.

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). With this being his final season, Rucker holds career records in passing touchdowns (46) and completion percentage (.647).
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 return and one kickoff return).
Matt Schearer holds the record for single-season PAT conversions 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 281 passing attempts away from the career record for passing attempts.
Ralph Rucker is 1,563 yards away from the career total offense record.
Ralph Rucker is 116 pass completions away from the career record.
Ralph Rucker is 914 passing yards away from the career passing yards record.

Milestone Watch

Charlie Kreinbucher is 96 yards away from a career 500 receiving yards.
Sam Milligan is 219 yards away from 500 receiving yards and 12 yards away from 100 kick-return yards.
Matt Schearer is 14 yards away from 500 kickoff yards.
Tariq Thomas is 217 yards away from 1,000 rushing yards.

Bison Award Winners

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 opens the 2025 season with back-to-back away games at Air Force and Marist before going on a four-game home stand. Homecoming will be the final game of the home stand on Oct. 4 against Richmond.
Bucknell's home opener will be on Sept. 13 against VMI. The Bison will then start Patriot League play against Lehigh on Sept. 20 at home, which will also be Bucknell's Family Weekend game.
After its home stand, Bucknell will head on the road for games against Lafayette and Cornell.
The final four games of the season will all be against conference opponents. Bucknell will host Georgetown on Oct. 25, travel to Fordham on Nov. 8, take on Holy Cross at home on Nov. 15 and then end 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 (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

The Bison stay on the road for their second contest of 2025 when they travel to Marist on Saturday, Sept. 6. Bucknell and Marist will face off for the fourth consecutive season. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Bucknell Football Opens 2025 Season at FBS Opponent Air Force

Next Event

Players Mentioned

TJ Cadden

Aaron Davis

Charlie Kreinbucher

Sam Milligan

John Ohnegian

Ralph Rucker IV

Matt Schearer

Tariq Thomas

Terian Williams II

Bucknell Football Opens 2025 Season at FBS Opponent Air Force

Next Event

Players Mentioned

TJ Cadden

Aaron Davis

Charlie Kreinbucher

Sam Milligan

John Ohnegian

Ralph Rucker IV

Matt Schearer

Tariq Thomas

Terian Williams II

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