Bucknell Hosts VMI Saturday Afternoon at Christy for 2025 Home Opener

Saturday, September 13

Lewisburg, Pa.

3:30 p.m.

Bucknell University

VMI

Football Offensive Line Huddle at Marist

Photo by: Isabelle Roes

Bucknell Hosts VMI Saturday Afternoon at Christy for 2025 Home Opener

9/9/2025 1:28:00 PM | Football

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell will begin its first four-game home stretch since its Patriot League Championship season of 1996 on Saturday as they face VMI at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium at 3:30 p.m. Both teams enter the contest with an overall 1-1 record and are coming off of their first wins of the 2025 season.

Bucknell found its victory at Marist with a 34-23 win. Tariq Thomas led the offensive charge as he rushed for 77 yards and two touchdowns. Ralph Rucker IV went 18-of-23 for 236 yards through the air, and TJ Cadden (104 yards) and Sam Milligan (87 yards) both broke their career records in receiving yards. Freshman Logan Busson recorded his first career interception in the first half, and Terian Williams II and Deuce Geter paced the defense with 13 tackles each.

VMI is coming off of a decisive victory over Ferrum 42-7. The Keydets scored the first 21 points before the Panthers struck and were able to limit Ferrum to zero points in the second half of the game.The Keydets totaled 400 yards of offense, which included 176 rushing yards and 223 passing yards. Collin Shannon threw for three touchdowns in the game to Owen Sweeney, Malik McNeely and Morgan McPhaul.

The contest between Bucknell and VMI will be sponsored by Belfor Property Restoration and will serve as the Bison's Military and First Responder Appreciation Game.

Media Notes:

When: Saturday, Sept. 13 at 3:30 p.m.

Where: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium — Lewisburg, Pa.

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 begins a four-game home-stand on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 3:30 p.m. as they take on VMI at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
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.
The Bison are coming off of a 34-23 win over Marist in Poughkeepsie. Tariq Thomas led the offensive charge, rushing for 77 yards and two touchdowns. TJ Cadden (104 yards) and Sam Milligan (87 yards) both set career-records in receiving yards on the afternoon.
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.

VMI at a Glance

VMI is 1-1 entering its contest with Bucknell. The Keydets are coming off of a 42-7 home win over Ferrum College.
Quarterback Collin Shannon spearheads the VMI offense. He has gone 31-of-52 for 420 yards, four touchdowns and one interception across two games with a 75-yard pass as his longest so far this season.
Noah Grevious leads the Keydets in rushing yards with one attempt for 78 yards and a touchdown. Leo Boehling followed with 24 attempts for 64 yards.
Owen Sweeney leads the receiving room for the Keydets with seven receptions for 189 yards and two touchdowns across two games. Sweeney was the recipient of Shannon's 75-yard pass.
Kouri Crump leads the Keydet defense with 16 total tackles and one tackle for loss. Donovan Burnett leads the defense in tackles for loss with two.
Ben Shrewsbury is the Keydet kicker and punter. He has punted 12 times for 561 yards. He has one touchback, one fair catch, three punts inside the 20-yard line and six 50+ yard punts including his season-long 61-yarder. Shrewsbury is 0-1 on field goals.
Jack Joyce is the VMI kickoff specialist. He has had nine kickoffs for 578 yards and three touchbacks.

Bucknell / VMI Series

The Bison lead the series 5-3 overall.
Bucknell is 2-1 at home against the Keydets. On the road, the Bison are 3-2 against VMI.
The Bison are currently on a two-game winning streak over the Keydets with their latest win a 35-28 victory last season.
The last time VMI defeated Bucknell was on September 10, 2022, where the Keydets won 24-14.

Inside the Record Book

QB Ralph Rucker IV has 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 season point after 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 240 passing attempts away from the career record for passing attempts.
Ralph Rucker is 1,173 yards away from the career total offense record.
Ralph Rucker is 88 pass completions away from the career record.
Ralph Rucker is 552 passing yards away from the career passing yards record.

Milestone Watch

Charlie Kreinbucher is 75 yards away from a career 500 receiving yards.
Sam Milligan is 91 yards away from 500 receiving yards and 12 yards away from 100 kick-return yards.
Tariq Thomas is 61 yards away from 1,000 rushing yards.

Bison Award Winners

Terian Williams II was named a Stats Perform FCS National Defensive Player of the Week Honorable Mention athlete (9/8/25).
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.
Senior Night will take place on Sept. 27 against Saint Francis at 6 p.m. and Homecoming will be the final game of the homestand on Oct. 4 against Richmond at 12 p.m.
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 was shown on CBS Sports Network.
All of the Bison's games will be broadcast on WKOK 1070 AM. 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 stay at home for its first conference game of the season against Lehigh on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 6 p.m., which is the Family Weekend game for the Bison.