Saturday, August 30
USAF Academy, Colo.
3:30 p.m. ET
Bucknell University
0-1 , 0-0
13
at
49
Air Force
1-0 , 0-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Bucknell
0
7
3
3
13
Air Force
14
14
14
7
49
Bucknell Football Drops Season Opener at Air Force, 49-13
8/30/2025 7:27:00 PM | Football
USAFA, Colo. – Cade Harris rushed for two touchdowns and caught another to lead Air Force to a weather-delayed 49-13 win over Bucknell in the season openers for both teams on Saturday before 30,207 fans at Falcon Stadium.
Ralph Rucker IV completed 10 of 18 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown, and Tariq Thomas had a good day on the ground with 80 yards on 18 carries, but the Bison dropped their opener on the road against a Football Bowl Division (FBS) team for the third year in a row.
"Our players are smart, and they know we played a really good football team today," said head coach Dave Cecchini. "Physically, we played with them at times, but we weren't able to sustain it for the whole game. Our first step is to fix the assignment errors where it doesn't matter who you're playing. We have an opportunity to get better from week one to week two, and that will be our focus."
Known more for its potent option running attack, Air Force opened up a big first-half lead thanks to its passing game. The Bison defense forced a punt on the first series of the game, but the Falcons cashed in with an 80-yard touchdown march on their second drive. Bucknell's secondary bit on the run, and Josh Johnson found a wide-open Quin Smith for a 40-yard scoring pass at the 6:22 mark of the first quarter.
After a punt, Liam Szarka completed passes of 18 and 29 yards to set up a Harris 9-yard touchdown run with 2:31 left in the opening stanza.
Bucknell answered with a terrific 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, culminating with Rucker's 12-yard strike to Sam Milligan on a slant pattern. Earlier in the drive, Nate Anderson drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone on third-and-9 to set the Bison up with a first-and-goal.
Air Force came right back with a matching 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. This time, the Falcons gobbled up all the yardage on the ground. Fullback Dylan Carlson started the series with a 17-yard run, and he finished it off with a dive across the goal line from the 2 to make it 21-7 with 7:14 left in the second quarter.
Bucknell made two first downs on its next drive, one on the first career catch from tight end Jack Bohm-Squicciarini, but Roger Jones picked off a pass at the Air Force 38-yard line to end the threat. One play later, Johnson came back in at quarterback and connected with Harris on a 62-yard bomb to make it 28-7.
The defense came up with a big stop to keep it a three-score game at the end of the half. A Deuce Geter sack and a Brandon Biagiarelli QB pressure forced a 42-yard field goal attempt, which was pushed wide to the right in the final 20 seconds.
The Bison received the second-half kickoff and went for it on fourth-and-inches from their own 34. Rucker appeared to have the first down on the quarterback sneak, but as he drove the pile, Mikhail Seiken ripped the ball out, and Korey Johnson returned the fumble for a backbreaking touchdown. Harris then scored his third touchdown of the day on an 8-yard run one play after a shanked punt, and suddenly the Falcons led 42-7 only 3:26 into the second half.
Some good, hard running from Thomas and Michael Cadden led to Matt Schearer's 37-yard field goal with 5:49 left in the third quarter. Rucker's TD pass to Josh Gary was waved off on an offensive pass interference penalty, but the Bison still managed points on a long 12-play drive that took 5:45 off the clock. That was the last play before the game was delayed about 45 minutes due to lightning.
Air Force won its fifth straight game dating back to last season. The Falcons used three quarterbacks in the game, and Johnson and Szarka combined to complete 6 of 9 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Harris led a balanced rushing attack with 66 yards on eight carries. Air Force totaled 270 yards on the ground.
Seven different Bucknell receivers caught passes, with Milligan, Michael Cadden, and TJ Cadden grabbing two apiece. Sophomore quarterback Christopher Dietrich saw his first action and completed all six of his passes on a 13-play drive that culminated with Schearer's second field goal of the day, this one from 39 yards with 44 seconds remaining.
Biagiarelli paced the defense with eight tackles, all solo, while Geter and Terian Williams II tallied six each.
"A lot of our mistakes were self-inflicted, and we will go back and look at those and correct them," said Cecchini. "The start of the second half was not Bison Football, but we came back after the delay with a lot of younger guys on the field and put together a good drive. There were a lot of positives to take from this. We'll build on the negatives and be ready to take on Marist next week."
Bucknell heads back on the road next Saturday to face the Red Foxes at 1 p.m. Then the Bison will play their next four at home, starting with VMI on Sept. 13 at 3:30 p.m.
Ralph Rucker IV completed 10 of 18 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown, and Tariq Thomas had a good day on the ground with 80 yards on 18 carries, but the Bison dropped their opener on the road against a Football Bowl Division (FBS) team for the third year in a row.
"Our players are smart, and they know we played a really good football team today," said head coach Dave Cecchini. "Physically, we played with them at times, but we weren't able to sustain it for the whole game. Our first step is to fix the assignment errors where it doesn't matter who you're playing. We have an opportunity to get better from week one to week two, and that will be our focus."
Known more for its potent option running attack, Air Force opened up a big first-half lead thanks to its passing game. The Bison defense forced a punt on the first series of the game, but the Falcons cashed in with an 80-yard touchdown march on their second drive. Bucknell's secondary bit on the run, and Josh Johnson found a wide-open Quin Smith for a 40-yard scoring pass at the 6:22 mark of the first quarter.
After a punt, Liam Szarka completed passes of 18 and 29 yards to set up a Harris 9-yard touchdown run with 2:31 left in the opening stanza.
Bucknell answered with a terrific 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, culminating with Rucker's 12-yard strike to Sam Milligan on a slant pattern. Earlier in the drive, Nate Anderson drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone on third-and-9 to set the Bison up with a first-and-goal.
Air Force came right back with a matching 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. This time, the Falcons gobbled up all the yardage on the ground. Fullback Dylan Carlson started the series with a 17-yard run, and he finished it off with a dive across the goal line from the 2 to make it 21-7 with 7:14 left in the second quarter.
Bucknell made two first downs on its next drive, one on the first career catch from tight end Jack Bohm-Squicciarini, but Roger Jones picked off a pass at the Air Force 38-yard line to end the threat. One play later, Johnson came back in at quarterback and connected with Harris on a 62-yard bomb to make it 28-7.
The defense came up with a big stop to keep it a three-score game at the end of the half. A Deuce Geter sack and a Brandon Biagiarelli QB pressure forced a 42-yard field goal attempt, which was pushed wide to the right in the final 20 seconds.
The Bison received the second-half kickoff and went for it on fourth-and-inches from their own 34. Rucker appeared to have the first down on the quarterback sneak, but as he drove the pile, Mikhail Seiken ripped the ball out, and Korey Johnson returned the fumble for a backbreaking touchdown. Harris then scored his third touchdown of the day on an 8-yard run one play after a shanked punt, and suddenly the Falcons led 42-7 only 3:26 into the second half.
Some good, hard running from Thomas and Michael Cadden led to Matt Schearer's 37-yard field goal with 5:49 left in the third quarter. Rucker's TD pass to Josh Gary was waved off on an offensive pass interference penalty, but the Bison still managed points on a long 12-play drive that took 5:45 off the clock. That was the last play before the game was delayed about 45 minutes due to lightning.
Air Force won its fifth straight game dating back to last season. The Falcons used three quarterbacks in the game, and Johnson and Szarka combined to complete 6 of 9 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Harris led a balanced rushing attack with 66 yards on eight carries. Air Force totaled 270 yards on the ground.
Seven different Bucknell receivers caught passes, with Milligan, Michael Cadden, and TJ Cadden grabbing two apiece. Sophomore quarterback Christopher Dietrich saw his first action and completed all six of his passes on a 13-play drive that culminated with Schearer's second field goal of the day, this one from 39 yards with 44 seconds remaining.
Biagiarelli paced the defense with eight tackles, all solo, while Geter and Terian Williams II tallied six each.
"A lot of our mistakes were self-inflicted, and we will go back and look at those and correct them," said Cecchini. "The start of the second half was not Bison Football, but we came back after the delay with a lot of younger guys on the field and put together a good drive. There were a lot of positives to take from this. We'll build on the negatives and be ready to take on Marist next week."
Bucknell heads back on the road next Saturday to face the Red Foxes at 1 p.m. Then the Bison will play their next four at home, starting with VMI on Sept. 13 at 3:30 p.m.
Team Stats
BU
AF
Total Yards
266
426
Pass Yards
169
159
Rushing Yards
97
267
Penalty Yards
50
56
1st Downs
18
23
3rd Downs
3
6
4th Downs
1
1
TOP
28:22
31:38
1st Quarter
BU 0, AF 7
AF - Smith,Quin 40 yd pass from Johnson,Josh (Medina,Jacob kick) 6 plays, 80 yards, TOP 02:47
BU 0, AF 14
AF - Harris,Cade 9 yd run (Medina,Jacob kick), 5 plays, 61 yards, TOP 02:25
2nd Quarter
BU 7, AF 14
BU - Milligan,Sam 12 yd pass from Rucker IV,Ralph (Schearer,Matt kick) 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:34
BU 7, AF 21
AF - Carson,Dylan 2 yd run (Medina,Jacob kick), 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 05:40
BU 7, AF 28
AF - Harris,Cade 62 yd pass from Johnson,Josh (Medina,Jacob kick) 1 plays, 62 yards, TOP 00:09
3rd Quarter
BU 7, AF 35
AF - Johnson,Korey 34 yd fumble recovery (Medina,Jacob kick)
BU 7, AF 42
AF - Harris,Cade 8 yd run (Medina,Jacob kick), 1 plays, 8 yards, TOP 00:06
BU 10, AF 42
BU - Schearer,Matt 37 yd field goal 12 plays, 55 yards, TOP 05:45
4th Quarter
BU 10, AF 49
AF - Martin,Maguire 1 yd run (Tubbs,Reagan kick), 17 plays, 75 yards, TOP 14:25
BU 13, AF 49
BU - Schearer,Matt 39 yd field goal 13 plays, 53 yards, TOP 05:40
Game Leaders
CMP
10
TD
1
YDS
126
INT
1
CMP
6
TD
0
YDS
43
INT
0
Players Mentioned
WR
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LB
/ Football
TE
/ Football
RB
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QB
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S
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WR
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P/K
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RB
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S
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