Football Travels to Face Pitt in Acrisure Stadium

Saturday, September 26

Pittsburgh, Pa.

Noon

Bucknell University

Pittsburgh

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Photo by: Jon Lambert

Football Travels to Face Pitt in Acrisure Stadium

9/22/2026 11:28:00 AM | Football

Bucknell Football at Pitt

Football

at Pittsburgh

Sep 26, 2026 at Noon

Days

Hours

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Bucknell football is on the road this weekend as it ends its non-conference slate against ACC opponent Pitt. The Bison will face the Panthers in Acrisure Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 26 at noon.

This will be the 10th time in program history that these two teams meet, but the first in 81 years. Pitt currently holds a 7-2 overall record over Bucknell, with the most recent contest in 1945 ending in a 38-0 victory for the Panthers. That game also marked the last time that Bucknell played an ACC opponent. The Bison last earned a win over Pitt in 1913 with a score of 9-0. In Pittsburgh, Bucknell is 2-6 against Pitt.

GAME DAY GUIDE FOR FANS

Bucknell-Pitt Tailgate Information

9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Great Lawn on North Shore Drive, directly adjacent to Acrisure Stadium.
Get ready to show off your Bucknell spirit with Bison Athletics and the Bucknell Club of Pittsburgh for an exciting day at the Bucknell vs. Pitt tailgate and football game. We are excited to have Tim Pavlechko, vice president for Athletics & Recreation, as a guest speaker to provide insights into our athletic programs.

MEDIA LINKS

Watch: ACCNX | Radio: 1070 AM (WKOK) | Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com

Live Stats: pittsburghpanthers.com | Media Notes: Bucknell | Follow on X: @Bucknell_FB

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BUCKNELL AT A GLANCE

Bucknell is back at home as it continues its non-conference slate by hosting Penn at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sep. 19 in Christy. The game is Bucknell’s Family Weekend presented by Giant, JRBC Day presented by Knoebels and VS Cancer game presented by Geisinger.
The Bison are coming off of a fourth quarter comeback win over VMI. Bucknell earned its first win of the 2026 season 14-3 over the Keydets with back-to-back touchdown drives and an interception in the fourth quarter.
Langston Blair was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week (9/14) for his defensive performance against VMI.
Sam Milligan (WR) and Brandon Biagiarelli (LB) earned 2026 Preseason All-Patriot League Team honors.
Ahead of the 2026 season, Milligan was named to the Walter Payton Award Preseason Watch List and the 2026 Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Second Team.
The Bison were picked to finish 10th in the 2026 Preseason All-Patriot League Poll.
Bucknell returns just one of their four 2025 All-Patriot League players as Sam Milligan, who earned First Team All-Patriot League Special Teams Non-Specialist and Second Team All-Patriot League Wide Receiver returns for his senior season in 2026.
The Bison are in their first season under head coach Jeff Behrman. This new era of Bison football also comes with a mostly new coaching staff under Behrman with the lone returner to the staff being safeties coach McNeil Parker.
Rounding out the coaching staff are new additions to the Bison family; Travis James (OC/OL), Jeffrey Long Jr. (DC), Rex Rover (WR/Recruiting Coordinator), Mac Austin (TE), Joe Collins (QB), Joseph Torok (RB), Anthony Trotta (DL), Jason Nelson (CB), Tyler Hughes (DOFO/Video Operations) and Kendrick O’Mary (strength & conditioning coach).
Bucknell returned a total of 65 players from the 2025 season and lost 32 athletes from the roster. The Bison rounded out the roster with 35 newcomers ahead of the 2026 season.
Patriot League Football, much like Bucknell Football, are entering a new era this season. With the additions of Villanova and William & Mary, the league has announced a new slogan; “The Power of 10”.

PITT AT A GLANCE

Pitt enters the contest with Bucknell undefeated with a 3-0 overall record and a 1-0 record in the ACC.
Mason Heintschel has been the starting quarterback for the Panthers. He is 59-for-93 in passing for 788 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception. He is also third in rushing on the team with 23 carries for 77 net yards and a touchdown.
Pitts' receiver room is a vast one with many options. Of the seven receiving touchdowns so far this season, Pitt has utilized seven different receivers. The targets are also spread out with seven receivers having five or more receptions in 2026 thus far.
Leading the receivers for Pitt is Cataurus Hicks, who has nine catches for 186 yards and a touchdown.
When it comes to rushing the ball, Pitt has two running backs that have been more heavily utilized in 2026. Damon Ferguson Jr. leads the group with 36 attempts for 183 net yards and two touchdowns. La’Vell Wright has 31 carries for 141 net yards and one touchdown.
Eight defenders have 10 or more tackles so far this season. Nine defenders have found their opponents quarterbacks for sacks in 2026. Josh Guerrier and Cruce Brookins lead the defense in tackles with 18 apiece (11 solo and seven assisted). Guerrier has a tackle for loss and Brookins has a pass breakup and quarterback hurry. The Panthers defense has come up with two interceptions, one from Braylan Lovelace and one from Raion Strader.
Antonio Chadha is the field goal kicker for Pitt. He is 4-for-4 this season with a season-long 58-yarder.
Gabe Russo handles punting duties for the Panthers and has had 13 punts for 577 yards, averaging 44.4 yards per punt. He has had five 55+ yard punts so far this season and five inside the 20.
Sam Hunsaker is the kickoff guy for Pitt. He has had 18 kickoffs for 1,161 yards, averaging 64.5 per kickoff. Hunsaker has had nine touchbacks and one out-of-bounds kickoff.

BUCKNELL / PITT SERIES HISTORY

This will be the 10th meeting between the two teams since 1902, when they first met.

Pitt leads the overall series 7-2 and leads the Bison in Pittsburgh 2-6.

The Panthers are currently on a three-game winning streak, with its most recent win being 38-0 in 1945.

The last time Bucknell won was in 1913 with a 9-0 score-line.

ON RECORD WATCH

Sam Milligan is one touchdown catch away from holding sole custody of the career receiving touchdowns record. (Currently tied with Tom Mitchell’65, Lester Erb ‘90 and Will Carter ‘16 with 18.)

MILESTONE WATCH

Takai Whitmore is eight solo tackles away from 50 career solo tackles.
Chris Dietrich is 39 passing yards away from 1,500 career passing yards.
Deuce Geter is 33 tackles away from 150 career total tackles.
Brandon Biagiarelli is 13 solo tackles away from 100 solo tackles.

INSIDE THE RECORD BOOK

Sam Milligan is tied for first in career receiving touchdowns with 18.
Milligan ranks first in touchdown catches in a single game with four against VMI on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025.
Milligan ranks sixth all-time in receiving yards in a single game with 192 yards in that VMI win for Bucknell.
Milligan is currently tied for third in career touchdown catches with 15 and is tied for second in season touchdown catches with 10 in 2025.
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).

2026 BISON AWARD WINNERS

Langston Blair was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week (9/14/26).
Sam Milligan was named to the 2026 Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Second Team and the Walter Payton Award Preseason Watch List.
Milligan was named to the 2026 Preseason All-Patriot League Team
Brandon Biagiarelli was named to the 2026 Preseason All-Patriot League Team

INSIDE THE 2026 SCHEDULE

This is the 141st 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 fifth time in program history. With the additions of Villanova and William & Mary to the Patriot League, the Bison have a record-high nine conference games in 2026, with just five home games.
The Bison opened the 2026 season with back-to-back Patriot League night games. First up was Richmond on the road on Saturday, Aug. 29 at 6 p.m. and then Bucknell held its home opener in Christy on Saturday, Sept. 5 at 6 p.m.
Week three featured VMI on the road before a home game against Penn on Saturday Sept. 19 at 3 p.m. in Christy.
Bucknell next faces an ACC opponent in Pitt for the first time since 1945, the last time these two teams met. They then have a bye week before getting back on the road to face Patriot League opponent Georgetown on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 12:30 p.m.
On Saturday, Oct. 17 Bucknell hosts Lafayette at 3 p.m. in Christy before taking on Holy Cross and Lehigh on the road.
The Bison then host Fordham on November 7, take to the road on November 14 against newly added Patriot League member William & Mary and end the season at home on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. against Colgate.

How to Follow the Bison

All of Bucknell's games this season will be broadcast on ESPN+ with the exception of the Pitt game.
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 #ThunderOn and #rayBucknell.