LEWISBURG, Pa. — We’re down to four games remaining in the 2024 regular season, and three of them will be home games at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Next up is defending Patriot League champion Lafayette this Saturday, and both teams will be looking to bounce back from close losses.
The Bison left Washington, D.C., frustrated after a 21-20 loss to Georgetown on Saturday. Twice Bucknell marched the ball right down the field on the way to an early 14-0 lead, but the Bison struggled to sustain drives in the second half and missed on two good chances to take the lead in the fourth quarter. Lafayette, meanwhile, spotted Holy Cross a 21-0 lead before falling 34-28 at home on Saturday. Down six, the Leopards drove to the Holy Cross 16 late in the fourth quarter, but a 4th-and-8 pass into the end zone fell incomplete.
The Crusaders now lead the Patriot League with a 3-0 conference record, and then Bucknell is one of the four one-loss teams, making this week’s game all the more important in the title chase.
This will be the 102nd all-time meeting between the Bison and Leopards. The very first also happened to be Bucknell’s first official intercollegiate football game on Nov. 30, 1883. Since then, Lafayette has become Bucknell’s most-played opponent, and the Leopards hold a 57-38-6 lead in the all-time series.
When: Saturday, Nov. 2, 1 p.m.
Where: Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium
Internet Video: ESPN+
Radio: 1070 AM (WKOK)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Follow on X: @Bucknell_FB
Media Notes: Bucknell | Lafayette
BUY TICKETS | DIGITAL PROGRAM
Happy 100th Birthday, CMMS!
• Bucknell Athletics is proudly celebrating Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium’s 100th anniversary season in 2024. The actual 100th anniversary of the first game ever played in the facility was two weeks ago. On Oct. 18, 1924, Bucknell lost its Homecoming game to Lafayette 21-3. It was one of only two losses in an 8-2 season.
• Over the course of 10 decades, the historic landmark has played host to more than 450 football games along with countless other athletic events and community gatherings. The Bison are celebrating a century of tradition throughout the 2024-25 academic year
• The picturesque Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium was dedicated in 1924 and was known originally as Memorial Stadium as a tribute to Bucknell’s numerous war veterans. The stadium underwent a major renovation in 1989, and at that time it was rededicated to honor the iconic Christy Mathewson, who was a three-sport star and model student-athlete during his playing days at Bucknell.
• Bucknell is 256-188-10 all-time at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
With a victory, Bucknell would …
• … snap a three-game losing streak and move to 2-1 in Patriot League play.
• … shake a three-game series losing streak to the Leopards.
• … get back to .500 (23-23-1) in home games against Lafayette.
• … improve to 2-2 at home this season.
Thomas in Good Company
• Freshman RB Tariq Thomas has earned three Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors in the last five weeks, and last Wednesday he was one of 30 players named to the Jerry Rice Award Watch List. The Jerry Rice Award, which is named after the legendary Hall of Fame wide receiver, is presented to the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Rookie of the Year.
• Montana’s Eli Gillman received the award last season, and past recipients include familiar names such as Shedeur Sanders (Jackson State 2021), Trey Lance (North Dakota State 2019), Chase Edmonds (Fordham 2014), and Cooper Kupp (Eastern Washington 2013).
• Thomas has set career rushing highs in back-to-back games. He ran for a career-high 94 yards on nine carries – an average of 10.4 yards per carry — against Cornell two weeks ago, and last time out at Georgetown he logged 136 yards and two touchdowns.
• Thomas has started each of Bucknell’s last seven games, and over the last four he has amassed 364 yards on the ground.
Bucknell at a Glance
• The Bison might be wise not to play blackjack anytime soon. Bucknell is 0-4 this season and 2-6 over the last two seasons when scoring exactly 21 points.
• LB Gavin Willis recorded a career-high 19 tackles against Cornell and added 13 more against Georgetown. The 19 tackles is the highest total by a Bucknell player since Evan Byers had 23 against VMI in 2014, and it is the third-highest total by an FCS player in 2024. Blake Gotcher of Northwestern State logged 23 tackles against Prairie View A&M, and this past Saturday Villanova’s Shane Hartzell had 20 against New Hampshire.
• Willis is now second in the Patriot League in tackles per game (10.5), trailing only Colgate’s Cole Kozlowski (10.9), and he is one of only seven FCS players averaging double-digit tackles.
FCS Leaders, Tackles Per Game
1. Blake Gotcher, Northwestern State 13.3
2. Garret Oliendieck, Indiana State 11.5
3. Cole Kozlowski, Colgate 10.9
4. Gavin Willis, Bucknell 10.5
5. Evan DiMaggio, Furman 10.3
6. Kimal Clark, Central Connecticut State 10.1
Dontae Lunan, UAlbany 10.1
• Last week, the Bison faced the Patriot League’s top-ranked defense at Georgetown, and now Bucknell takes on the No. 2 defense in Lafayette. The Leopards are giving up 25.1 points per game, but the Bison still lead the Patriot League in passing yards per game (235.8) and rank third in total yards per game (363.0).
• One big difference from last week is that the Bison had to be wary of a Hoyas pass rush that leads the league and ranks in the top five nationally with 25 sacks. Lafayette has only six sacks all season, but the Leopards have a league-high seven fumble recoveries to go with seven interceptions.
• In last year’s game in Easton, Lafayette piled up seven sacks and limited the Bison to -24 rushing yards in its 56-22 win. Bucknell fell behind 28-0 and it was 42-12 at the half, so the Bison were forced to throw the ball on most plays.
• Bucknell leads the PL with 10 interceptions, two of which have been returned for touchdowns. Aaron Davis leads the team with three picks, which ties him for the league lead with three others.
• The Bison would like to see its defense get more rest this week. Bucknell’s defense has been on the field for just under 34 minutes per game, which is the fourth-most in all of FCS. Only Rhode Island, Houston Christian, and Utah Tech have had their defenses on the field more.
• TJ Cadden is in the midst of a historic special teams season for the Bison, as he added to his two punt return touchdowns with a 100-yard kickoff return TD at Lehigh. Cadden leads the nation in return TDs.
• Cadden ranks fifth in the Patriot League in touchdowns with six. In addition to the three return scores, he also has three TD receptions as a wide receiver. Cadden’s 114.1 all-purpose yards per game rank second in the league, just 0.6 behind Lehigh’s Jaden Green.
• Michael Cadden, a freshman, is TJ’s younger brother. Both have reached the end zone this season. Michael scored on a 2-yard run in the Navy game on opening day.
• Eric Weatherly surpassed the 1,000 mark in career receiving yards as a Bison against Cornell. Weatherly is in his second season at Bucknell after transferring from Duke.
• Ralph Rucker IV is in his second season leading the Bison offense after transferring from Oklahoma. Rucker missed the Cornell game with an injury before returning last week at Georgetown. In 17 games at Bucknell he has thrown for more than 4,000 yards, he has completed 63.9% of his passes, and he has 32 touchdown passes against only nine interceptions. The 32 TD tosses are third-most in team history, and his 4,043 passing yards rank 6th all-time.
Bucknell Career Passing Leaders
1. Brandon Wesley (2010-13) 6277
2. Scott Auchenbach (1986-89) 5256
3. R.J. Nitti (2013-16) 5171
4. Jim Given (1985-87) 4790
5. Marcello Trigg (2006-09) 4090
6. Ralph Rucker IV (2023-24) 4043
7. Jim Fox (1993-96) 3988
8. Don McDowell (1997-99) 3982
9. Rob Glus (1991-94) 3940
10.Bob Gibbon (1983-84) 3895
Bucknell Career Passing Touchdown Leaders
1. Scott Auchenbach (1986-89) 42
2. R.J. Nitti (2013-16) 34
3. Ralph Rucker IV (2023-24) 32
4. Marcello Trigg (2006-09) 31
5. Bob Gibbon (1983-84) 30
• The Bison were picked to finish seventh in the 2024 Patriot League Football Preseason Poll after finishing the 2023 campaign in a tie for sixth with a 4-7 (1-5 PL) record.
• K Matt Schearer was named to the 2024 Preseason All-Patriot League Team for a second season in a row. The Bison also landed eight on the Phil Steele 2024 Patriot League Preseason All-Conference Team.
• Bucknell is in its sixth season under head coach Dave Cecchini, who was voted as the Patriot League Dick Biddle Coach of the Year during the 2021 spring 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 campaign in 2023 that saw the offense average 38.8 points per game over the final four contests.
• Bucknell returned a total of 42 letterwinners in 2023, a group that includes two fifth-year seniors, 18 seniors, 14 juniors and eight sophomores. 11 Bison are three-time letterwinners, and fifth-year RB Danny Meuser is a four-time letterwinner. Bucknell lost 32 letterwinners last year.
• Bucknell welcomed 33 newcomers this season, including 27 freshmen. Five newcomers transferred to Bucknell.
• The Bison welcomed a host of new faces to the staff during the offseason: special teams coordinator/linebackers coach Brad Jarman, running backs coach Jalen Banks, defensive line coach Codey Cole, assistant offensive line coach/run game analyst Ashley Cornwell, defensive quality control/cornerbacks coach Roger Wright-Lester, and video coordinator Kiem LeGrant.
• Fifth-year senior OL Casey Stephenson, senior LB Brad Jamison, senior S Alex Smith Jr., and junior OL John Ohnegian were selected by their teammates to serve as team captains for the 2024 season. Stephenson is just the 12th multi-year captain in program history.
• The “CD” stickers Bucknell is wearing on its helmets are to honor fallen teammate Calvin Dickey, who tragically passed away in July.
Inside the Bucknell Depth Chart
• Bucknell’s projected starters on offense have made a combined 161 starts at Bucknell.
• Bucknell’s projected starters on defense have made a combined 173 starts at Bucknell.
• On offense, one fifth-year (OL Casey Stephenson), one senior, seven juniors, one sophomore, and one freshman are expected to start.
• On defense, seven seniors, two juniors and two sophomores are expected to start.
• 17 Bison have made at least 10 starts entering Saturday’s game. S John Schlendorf leads the team with 29 career starts. Schlendorf is joined by five other Bison that have started 20 or more games: Stephenson, TE Charlie Kreinbucher, DL Aneesh Vyas, DB Alex Smith Jr., and OL Jake Guy.
• 13 Bison in total have made their first career starts this season. The latest was QB Michael Hardyway on Oct. 19 against Cornell
• Five Bison have starting streaks of 10 or more games in a row: Schlendorf (30), Kreinbucher (22), S Alex Smith Jr. (19), OL John Ohnegian (19), and Stephenson (17).
• Seniors Schlendorf and Smith Jr. have played in all 41 of the team’s games over their three-plus seasons.
In the Record Book
• TJ Cadden became just the third Patriot League player to return two punts for touchdowns in a single season, and his three total return touchdowns in a season is a school and league record.
• Cadden’s 100-yard kickoff return at Lehigh was just the second 100-yard play of any kind in Bucknell history. A.J. Kizekai had a 100-yard kickoff return against Lafayette in 2008.
• QB Ralph Rucker in 2023 set single-season records for passing completions (211), passing yards (2,537) and total yards (2,667). He also tied the single-season passing touchdowns mark (21).
• Rucker also tied for the second-most touchdown passes in a game (4) and set the record for the most passing yards in a single game (387). At VMI this season, Rucker became just the second Bucknell quarterback with three 300-yard passing games in his career, joining Jim Given ’87.
• On Bucknell’s all-time career lists, Rucker now ranks third in touchdown passes (32), 10th in passing yards (4029), and eighth in completions (345) — all in just 17 games played.
• Rucker’s .639 career completion percentage would be a school record. The current record is .631 by Daris Wilson from 2001-04.
• WR Eric Weatherly tied for fifth in single-season receiving touchdowns in 2023 with seven.
• Bucknell’s 400 passing attempts in 2023 were second-most in program history behind the 426 attempts in 2019. The team’s 242 completions, 2,854 passing yards and 24 touchdown passes were each records.
Milestones to Watch
• Ralph Rucker IV needs 10 touchdown passes to tie Scott Auchenbach’s school record of 42, which has stood since 1989.
• Rucker needs 971 passing yards for 5,000 in his career.
• Eric Weatherly needs 15 catches for 100 in his career.
• Josh Gary needs 76 receiving yards to reach 1,000 in his career and 21 catches to reach 100 in his career.
• Derrick Anderson Jr. needs 8 receiving yards to reach 500 for his career.
Bison Award Winners
• The National Football Foundation announced the 203 semifinalists for the 2024 William V. Campbell Trophy®, college football’s premier scholar-athlete award. Bucknell senior linebacker Brad Jamison was among the semifinalists this year. Only Bucknell and Dayton have had a Campbell Trophy semifinalist each of the past 19 years.
• Bucknell has earned eight Patriot League weekly awards this season.
• TJ Cadden has twice been an honorable mention for Stats Perform FCS National Special Teams Player of the Week this season, and Gavin Willis earned the same distinction on defense after the Lehigh game.
• The Bison returned one All-Patriot League player, LB Brad Jamison.
• K Matt Schearer was named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team in July. It was his second time being named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team after earning the honor in 2023 as well.
• Eight Bison were named to the 2024 Phil Steele Patriot League Preseason All-Conference Team: K Schearer (1st Tm), LB Jamison (2nd Tm), QB Ralph Rucker (3rd Tm), WR Eric Weatherly (3rd Tm), OL Xavier Allen (3rd Tm), OL Casey Stephenson (3rd Tm), OL John Ohnegian (3rd Tm) and S John Schlendorf (3rd Tm).
• The Bison lost First Team All-Patriot League CB Ethan Robinson as well as First Team All-Patriot League KR and Second Team All-League RB Coleman Bennett from last season.
• Bucknell returned one of its three Academic All-Patriot League honorees from last season: OL Ohnegian.
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 24 All-Patriot League First/Second Team awards as well as one First Team All-American.
Facility Upgrades
• The Bison officially opened the doors to the Pascucci Team Center on April 15, 2024, completing a plethora of enhancements in and around Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium in recent years that were made possible through the generous support of Michael Pascucci ’58, P’81, P’87, G’21, G’22.
• Standing prominently between the turf practice field and the north end zone of the stadium, the new facility is a 16,000-square-foot athletics hub that features a state-of-the-art strength and conditioning facility with an expansive weight room that overlooks the turf practice field. Adjacent to the weight room is a sports medicine center.
• Specifically designed to bridge the practice and game-day fields, the team center’s south facade offers sweeping views of Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Inside, a spacious team meeting room and conference room allows teams to review film and gather for off-field training and learning events. A Bison Fuel station ensures convenient access to nutritious snacks, supplements and hydration.
• Earlier phases of the project included the installation of a modern LED video board at the south end zone of Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium in 2021 and the completion of a turf practice field in 2022.
• The Bucknell football team’s locker room, located within Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium, was also redone over the summer and includes brand-new lockers, a player’s lounge, and more.
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 Navy, which was shown on CBS Sports Network.
• All of the Bison’s games are aired on local radio 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
• The Bison welcome Fordham to Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium next Saturday, Nov. 9.
