Bucknell Football Has Plenty to Play for in Season Finale vs. Colgate
Nov. 16, 2006
What: Bucknell (5-5, 2-3 PL) vs. Colgate (4-6, 3-2 PL) Bucknell closes out its 2006 football season on Saturday against Patriot League rival Colgate. The 5-5 Bison have a lot on the line in this one. A victory would give them a winning season and move them into fourth place in the Patriot League standings. Bucknell would also like to win this one for its 15 seniors who are wrapping up their careers on Saturday. Even though Colgate is out of the Patriot League title chase, the Raiders are still the defending league champs for one more week and have been one of the league's winningest teams over the last decade. A CLOSER LOOK AT THE BISON • THE OFFENSE: Despite a number of key injuries to backfield personnel, Bucknell leads the league and ranks fifth nationally in rushing at 235.6 yards per game. The Bison are fifth in the league in both total offense (306.0) and scoring offense (19.1). • UNDER CENTER: Collarbone injuries to Andrew Lair and Terrance Wilson, the top two quarterbacks on the depth chart, have meant a quick indoctrination to college football for promising freshman Marcello Trigg. The Tampa, Fla., native has gone 2-3 in five starts, in addition to finishing off the Marist win after Wilson went down. He was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week after the Georgetown and Lehigh games. Lair made a brief return against Holy Cross two weeks ago but slightly reaggravated his injury. He could see some action this week, but it will likely be a game-time decision. • BACKS & RECEIVERS: Bucknell is also a bit depleted at running back, where FB Paul Forcellini and SB Rashod Bumpers were both lost with ACL injuries early in the year. Fortunately, the Bison are still deep in the backfield, particularly with the addition to the lineup of exciting freshman SB A.J. Kizekai, who has four rushing touchdowns and a critical TD catch in the win over Fordham. Kizekai is averaging 7.8 yards per carry seven games, the last five of which are starts. FB Josh DeStefano has been terrific in the last two games. He rushed for a personal-best 180 yards in the win over Fordham, then added 90 yards, including a TD, in the loss at Holy Cross. • THE O-LINE: This is Bucknell's most veteran position group, with all five starters and the two top reserves either juniors or seniors with game experience. The regular lineup consists of co-captain Stefan Niemczyk (LG) starting alongside Chad Glasser (LT), Joel Hoffer (C), Jonathan Grainger (RG) and Michael Anthony (RT). Senior Michael Boccella, a starter in eight games last season, also plays at the tackle spots. • THE DEFENSE: Bucknell's young defense has yielded a league-high 408.7 yards thus far. The Bison have had some big performances on defense, though. Three times this season they have held teams to single digits on the scoreboard, against Cornell (20-5), Georgetown (17-7) and Fordham (13-3). • DEFENSIVE FRONT: The heart and soul of the Bucknell defense is the linebacker unit, led by senior co-captain Dorian Petersen, freshman Sam Nana-Sinkam and junior Ryan Slater. That trio ranks 1-2-3 on the team and 5-7-8 in the Patriot League with 97, 81 and 77 hits, respectively, through 10 games. Petersen, who returned an interception for a touchdown against Colgate last season, is having an All-Patriot League caliber season and has been named the league's defensive player of the week twice. He leads the league in tackles in PL games (12.0). Rookie DL Josh Eden leads the team with five tackles for loss, while Eden and Nana-Sinkam lead the team with two sacks each. • DEFENSIVE SECONDARY: Landis and defensive coordinator Jared Backus did some shuffling in the secondary prior to week three, moving safety Matt Palermo to cornerback and inserting promising freshman safety Brigham Farrand into the starting lineup for the first time. Farrand responded well, tying Petersen for game-high honors with 11 tackles, and he intercepted a pass on the Bucknell 1-yard line and also recovered a fumble against Cornell. Palermo has adjusted very well at cornerback of late. He had an outstanding game against Fordham, when he made five tackles, intercepted a pass and made an important touchdown-saving tackle in a 3-3 game in the second half. Junior safety Stephen Collage is tied for the league lead with four interceptions. • SPECIAL TEAMS: Bucknell has shine in all facets of the special teams all year long. P Phil Azarik and K Will Carney are both all-league candidates. Nolan Applegate ranks third in the Patriot League in punt return average at 10.9. Bucknell ranks 10th in the nation in kickoff return defense, allowing only 16.0 yards per attempt. BISON FOOTBALL NOTES & NOTABLES: • 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF BUCKNELL-COLGATE CLASSIC: Ten years ago Bucknell and Colgate also met in the season finale. There was quite a bit more at stake in that one, as the the Patriot League championship awaited the winner. In one of the most thrilling games in Bison football history, LB Brandon Little broke up a two-point conversion pass in overtime, giving Bucknell a 28-27 victory and its first league title of any kind in 31 years. The 1996 championship team was honored at halftime of the Lafayette game back in September. • AFTER A BYE: Bucknell has won each of its last two games coming off a bye week and is 5-3 in its last eight games following a week off. Last season, the team won its only game of the year -- 27-7 over Marist -- with the extra week of preparation. This is the latest in a season Bucknell has ever had a bye week. • LAST TIME OUT: Bucknell made its final road trip of the season to Worcester, Mass., two weeks ago and fell 27-10 at Holy Cross. The Crusaders scored two first-quarter touchdowns to get going, and after Bucknell closed within 20-10 on a Josh DeStefano TD run in the third quarter, Holy Cross pulled away with a late Mike Kielt touchdown. • MORE FROM THE HOLY CROSS GAME: RB Josh DeStefano's 24-yard touchdown run was the second of his career ... K Will Carney booted his eighth field goal of the season ... the Bison defense twice stopped Holy Cross on fourth down, once at the goal line and once at the 10-yard line ... the Crusaders were 3-for-7 in the red zone ... DB Stephen Collage had a 78-yard interception return, Bucknell's longest since Joe Glenn ran one back 90 yards for a TD against Delaware State in 2003 ... DL Josh Eden also had a pick, the first of his career ... LB Dorian Petersen led all players with 14 tackles ... DB Brigham Farrand also had a big game with 10 tackles and three pass breakups. • MILESTONE WATCH: Some numbers to look for in Saturday's season finale: • NO STREAKING: We are now 10 games into the 2006 season, and the Bison still have not had a winning streak or a losing streak all year. Starting with a 31-28 overtime win over Duquesne on opening day, Bucknell has alternated wins and losses ever since. Once in school history have the Bison followed that pattern over the course of an entire season, that coming in a seven-game season (4-3) in 1893. • SENIOR SALUTE: In a pregame ceremony, Bucknell will bid farewell to 15 seniors who will be participating in their final collegiate football game. • YOUTH MOVEMENT: Head coach Tim Landis is relying on freshmen all over the field this season. This week against Holy Cross the Bison are expected to start five freshmen, two on offense and three on defense. A whopping 14 of the 44 players on this week's offensive and defensive two-deeps are true freshmen. Bucknell's starting quarterback (Marcello Trigg), No. 2 rusher (A.J. Kizekai), No. 2 tackler (Sam Nana-Sinkam), No. 4 tackler (Brigham Farrand), No. 2 scorer (Kizekai), No. 3 receiver (Cale Cadman), leading kickoff returner (Jason Davis), leader in sacks and tackles for loss (Josh Eden) and total offense leader (Trigg) are all rookies. • ROOKIE HONORS: If it's not clear just how much of an impact the class of 2010 is making this season, just check out the list of Patriot League Rookie of the Week honorees for 2006. Bucknell has claimed the honor six times ... and by five different players. QB Marcello Trigg became the fifth different Bison to win the honor on Oct. 16, after leading the team to a 17-7 win over Georgetown, and he won it again the following week after a solid performance against Lehigh. Previously, RB Rashod Bumpers won for his 126-yard rushing effort against Duquesne in the season opener; Brigham Farrand was honored after finishing with 11 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery in his first career start against Cornell; Sam Nana-Sinkam won after posting 11 tackles in a loss to No. 7 Richmond; and A.J. Kizekai was cited for his two-touchdown performance against Marist. • PETERSEN ROCK SOLID ON DEFENSE: Senior co-captain Dorian Petersen is making a major push for All-Patriot League honors in his final season. Despite playing each week on a very sore knee, Petersen is offering outstanding production on a youthful Bison defense. He had 14 tackles (12 solo) in in the most recent outing against Holy Cross. Petersen is fifth in the league with 97 overall tackles, and he leads the PL in tackles in league games with 60. The all-league competition at linebacker is going to be fierce, as the league's top eight overall tacklers are all linebackers. • AMONG THE BEST: Bucknell ran for 193 yards against Holy Cross and ranks No. 5 in Division I-AA in rushing offense. I-AA Rushing Offense Team Avg. 1. Central Connecticut State 284.9 2. Wofford 258.1 3. Youngstown State 240.6 4. Nicholls State 236.2 5. Bucknell 235.6 6. South Carolina State 234.5 • IN THE CLASSROOM: The Bison boasted a league-high 24 members of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll last season. In the spring 2006 semester, the Bucknell football players combined for a solid 3.0 grade-point average, the sixth straight semester the team has earned a 3.0 or better. • CONOVER SIGNED TO TITANS PRACTICE SQUAD: Former Bucknell All-America defensive end Sean Conover, a 2006 graduate, was signed to the Tennessee Titans' practice squad prior to the start of the NFL season. Conover was initially signed as an undrafted free agent by the Titans in May, and he saw significant playing time in all four of the team's preseason games. In those four games he totalled seven tackles, including a sack against Green Bay. He was one of the Titans' final roster cuts as the team had to get to the NFL-mandated 53-player limit, but he was then one of seven players re-signed to the practice squad. |
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