https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1EliCH_0vjPYAQo00 — Photo by: John Rooney

LEWISBURG, Pa. – It's a big week for the Bison, as they open Patriot League play at in-state rival Lehigh. Looking to jump out to the top of the league standings, a win on Saturday would give Bucknell a 3-2 overall record. Bucknell is also looking to make it back-to-back victories after a commanding win over Marist at home last week.

The Bison were humming on offense, defense and special teams when they last took the field and scored touchdowns in all three phases of the game. For their efforts, Ralph Rucker IV and TJ Cadden both received Patriot League weekly awards, and Bucknell continues to climb the FCS rankings in passing and special teams return stats.

Lehigh currently boasts the best record in the Patriot League after winning three consecutive games to start the year 3-1, but Bucknell has walked away from Goodman Stadium victorious the last two times it visited Bethlehem. Bucknell head coach Dave Cecchini has had success against his alma mater, where he was a First Team All-American wide receiver and later spent time as offensive coordinator, winning three out of five games against the Mountain Hawks since arrive at Bucknell. A win on Saturday would give Bucknell its best start to a season since 2015.

Media Notes:

When: Saturday, Sept. 28 – noon

Where: Goodman Stadium – Bethlehem, Pa.

Internet Video: ESPN+

Radio: 1070 AM (WKOK)

Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com

Live Stats: LehighSports.com

Follow on X: @Bucknell_FB

Media Notes: Bucknell | Lehigh

Digital Program

With a Victory the Bison would…

• improve to 3-2 on the season for the first time since 2015

• move to 2-1 in road games

• open Patriot League play 1-0

• improve to 35-50-3 in the all-time series with Lehigh

• improve to 4-2 against Lehigh under Coach Cecchini

• beat the Mountain Hawks in Bethlehem for a third straight time

Bucknell at a Glance

• Bucknell is set to open Patriot League play against in-state rival Lehigh Saturday. The winner of Saturday's game will jump to the top of the league standings with the most overall wins and a 1-0 start in league play.

• Bucknell evened its season record at 2-2 with a win over Marist last weekend. The Bison also improved to 1-1 in home games.

• Bucknell's losses are to FBS foe Navy and a strong Merrimack team, while the Bison earned their win on the road at VMI.

• As a team, Bucknell currently ranks top 30 in the FCS in passing offense (26th, 245.5/game) and passing efficiency (21st, 150.56). Special teams have also been outstanding for the Bison this season, thanks in large part to punt returner TJ Cadden and punter Matt Schearer. Bucknell ranks 29th in net punting average (39.65) and 19th in punt return average (15.92).

• Several Bison also rank top 30 in individual stats. Cadden is 10th in all-purpose yards per game (132.0), Ralph Rucker IV is seventh in passing touchdowns (8) and 20th in passing yards (875), Gavin Willis is 21st in tackles per game (9.5), and Schearer is 13th in punting average (45.4).

• 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.

• 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.

Inside the Marist Box Score

• Bucknell scored touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams to jump out to a 27-7 lead over Marist by halftime. The Bison held on to win 34-18, defeating the Red Foxes for a 10th consecutive time.

• Bucknell's offense rolled to 458 yards of total offense. Ralph Rucker completed 21 of 27 passes for 272 and three touchdowns.

• TJ Cadden registered a 73-yard punt return touchdown and also caught a touchdown pass in the game. He finished with 155 all-purpose yards.

• Alex Smith Jr. intercepted a Marist pass in the second quarter and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown. It was Bucknell's first pick-six since the 2021 season.

• Freshman running back Michael Cadden led all Bison with 71 rushing yards on just five carries, all of which came in the fourth quarter. Paul Neel rushed eight times for 44 yards, and Tariq Thomas carried the ball 12 times for 40 yards.

• Eric Weatherly was Rucker's top target, hauling in five catches for 74 yards and a score. Charlie Kreinbucher also caught a touchdown.

• Brandon Biagiarelli logged seven tackles and two sacks. Gavin Willis led all Bison defenders with nine tackles, including six solo stops. Nick Hoying made three tackles for loss, and Aaron Davis added an interception.

• For Marist, quarterback Sonny Mannino passed for 209 yards and a touchdown, and Enzo Arjona threw for 124 yards and a touchdown.

Lehigh at a Glance

• Lehigh enters Saturday's game with the best record among Patriot League teams at 3-1. After opening the year with a loss at Army, the Mountain Hawks have rattled off three straight victories against Wagner, LIU and Princeton.

• Lehigh's hot start comes after being picked to finish sixth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll. The Mountain Hawks finished in a tie for sixth last season after going 2-9 (1-5 PL). They dropped seven of their last eight games.

• The Mountain Hawks rank ninth nationally in passing defense (146.0) and are 17th in the FCS with 303.3 yards allowed per game. They also lead the Patriot League with seven interceptions this season.

• Fifth-year linebacker Mike DeNucci was one of two Mountain Hawks to appear on the 2024 Preseason All-Patriot League Team. He leads Lehigh's defensive efforts with 25 tackles.

• Lehigh running back Luke Yoder ranks fifth in the Patriot League with 282 rushing yards and five touchdowns, while freshman running back Jaden Green is coming off a strong performance in the Princeton game that earned him Patriot League Rookie of the Week.

• Lehigh is led by second-year head coach Kevin Cahill, who enters Saturday's game with a 5-10 career record.

Series History with the Mountain Hawks

• The Bucknell-Lehigh series dates back to 1888. Bucknell trails 34-50-3 in all-time matchups with the Mountain Hawks.

• Lehigh has won six of the last 10 games, but the two teams have alternated wins over the last four meetings. Bucknell head coach Dave Cecchini is 3-2 in meetings with the Mountain Hawks since arriving at Bucknell.

• The last time either team won back-to-back games was Bucknell in 2019 and the in the spring 2021 season. Before that, the Mountain Hawks claimed four in a row from 2014 to 2018.

• The Bison are 19-26-1 when facing the Mountain Hawks on the road, including wins in the last two games that were played in Bethlehem.

• Bucknell and Lehigh have played each other every year since 1950. The Bison have only faced Lafayette (102) more times than Lehigh (87).

The Last Time Bucknell and Lehigh Met

Lehigh 27 – Lehigh 18 (Oct. 21, 2023 – Lewisburg, Pa.)

• Lehigh held a 20-3 lead most of the way during last year's meeting in Lewisburg. The Bison and Mountain Hawks then combined for three touchdowns in the final 4:17 of the contest, but Bucknell fell 27-18.

• Special teams were a major factor in the game, which featured a blocked Bucknell field goal, a muffed Lehigh punt, a Lehigh punt return touchdown and a Bucknell kick return touchdown.

• Bucknell's offense was limited to 80 rush yards and 172 passing yards. The Bison alternated quarterbacks with Ralph Rucker sidelined due to injury.

• Lehigh running back Luke Yoder carried the ball 38 times for 138 yards and scored two touchdowns.

• The two teams went scoreless in the third quarter before Yoder scored his second rushing touchdown with 4:17 to play to extend Lehigh's lead to 27-3.

• On the ensuing kickoff, Bucknell's Josh Gary returned the kick 88 yards for a score. The Bison got the ball back with 2:24 to play and added one more score – a 3-yard touchdown pass from Semptimphelter to Derrick Anderson Jr. with 36 seconds left. Eric Weatherly ran in the two-point conversion.

• Lehigh held a 35:30-24:30 advantage in time of possession.

• Bucknell won the turnover battle, as Roman Pearson and John Schlendorf both recorded interceptions. Connor Carretta led all tacklers with 12 stops and two tackles for loss.

Inside the Bucknell Depth Chart

• Bucknell's projected starters on offense have made a combined 134 starts at Bucknell.

• Bucknell's projected starters on defense have made a combined 131 starts at Bucknell.

• On offense, one fifth-year (OL Casey Stephenson), three seniors, six juniors and one sophomore (OL Xavier Allen) are expected to start.

• On defense, eight seniors, two juniors and one sophomore (LB Gavin Willis) are expected to start.

• 17 Bison have made at least 10 starts entering Saturday's game. S John Schlendorf leads the team with 26 career starts. Schlendorf is joined by three other Bison that have started 20 or more games: Stephenson, TE Charlie Kreinbucher and DL Aneesh Vyas.

• LB Jack Goheen made his first career start last game vs. Marist. 11 Bison in total have made their first starts this season.

• Five Bison have starting streaks of 10 or more games in a row: Schlendorf (26), Kreinbucher (18), S Alex Smith Jr. (15), OL John Ohnegian (15) and Stephenson (13).

• Seniors Schlendorf and Smith Jr. have played in all 37 of the team's games over their three seasons.

Bison Award Winners

• On Wednesday, 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 four Patriot League Weekly Awards this season. TJ Cadden has twice been named the Patriot League Special Teams Player of the Week following punt return touchdowns at VMI and vs. Marist. Ralph Rucker IV earned PL Offensive Player of the Week honors for a second time in his career following a three-passing touchdown game vs. Marist. Linebacker Brandon Biagiarelli earned PL Rookie of the Week honors after recording his first career sack along with three tackles at VMI.

• Cadden has twice been an honorable mention for Stats Perform FCS National Special Teams Player of the Week this season.

• 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.

• Four current members of the roster have earned Patriot League Weekly Awards during their careers. QB Rucker was named PL Offensive Player of the Week last year (10/30), DL Aneesh Vyas was named PL Special Teams Player of the Week last year (9/25), K Schearer was named PL Rookie of the Week twice in 2022 (10/24 & 11/14), and DL Justin Fisher was named PL Rookie of the Week as well as HIMS National Freshman of the Week in 2021 (9/6).

Milestone Watch

• Ralph Rucker IV is 1 touchdown pass shy of 30 in his career, which would tie for fourth in the Bucknell record book.

• Eric Weatherly needs 131 receiving yards to reach 1,000 in his Bucknell career.

• Derrick Anderson Jr. needs 8 receiving yards to reach 500 for his career.

• Matt Schearer is 7 points shy of 100 in his career.

Milestones Met Last Week

• TJ Cadden registered his second punt return touchdown of the season.

• Gavin Willis reached 100 career tackles.

• Alex Smith Jr. recorded the fifth interception of his career.

In the Record Book

• TJ Cadden became just the third Patriot League player to return two punts for touchdowns in a single season.

• QB Ralph Rucker set single-season records in passing completions (211), passing yards (2,537) and total yards (2,667) in 2023. 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.

• Rucker moved into fifth on Bucknell's all-time passing touchdowns list vs. Marist with 29 in his brief career.

• 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.

• The Bison set a new program record with 259.45 average yards per game in 2023.

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.

Inside the 2024 Schedule

• This is the 139th season of football at Bucknell. The Bison played their first-ever game in 1883 and have played continuously since 1887.

• Bucknell is scheduled to play 12 games for just the third time in program history and for the first time since 2003. The Bison also played 12 games is 1916. Bucknell will host six home games for the first time since 2017.

• The Bison opened the 2024 slate against FBS opponent Navy. It's the fifth FBS team Bucknell has faced under head coach Dave Cecchini and the third time it has faced an FBS foe in the season opener.

• Bucknell went on the road again in week two to face VMI for a third season in a row. The Bison defeated the Keydets for a second straight season.

• Bucknell hosted Merrimack for its home opener on Sept. 14 for what was the first-ever meeting between the two programs. The Bison then defeated Marist a week later for Family Weekend on Sept. 21, making it three consecutive wins over the Red Foxes in as many seasons.

• The Bison open Patriot League play on the road at Lehigh on Sept. 28 before hitting the bye week. They return from the bye on Oct. 12 with a trip to Penn for the first of two back-to-back games against Ivy League teams. Bucknell hosts Cornell on Oct. 19 over Homecoming Weekend. It marks the 45th time in the last 46 seasons that Bucknell has had at least one Ivy League program on the schedule.

• A trip to Georgetown rounds out the month of October before the Bison play three of their final four games at home. The Bison and the Hoyas have played overtime games the last two years and have alternated wins over the last six meetings.

• Lafayette visits Lewisburg on Nov. 2, and Fordham comes to town Nov. 9 before Bucknell visits Holy Cross for its final road game. The regular season comes to a close at home against Colgate on Nov. 23.

• Bucknell's 2024 opponents went a combined 63-69 last season.

• Bucknell's 2024 opponents are off to a combined 13-27 record this season.

Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium's 100th Anniversary Season

• Bucknell Athletics proudly celebrates Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium's 100th anniversary season in 2024. 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 will celebrate a century of tradition throughout the 2024-25 academic year, and the Oct. 19 home game vs. Cornell will serve as the football team's official Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium 100th Anniversary Game during Homecoming Weekend.

• 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 256-187-10 all-time at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

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 will be shown on CBS Sports Network.

• All of the Bison's games will be broadcast on 100.9 The Valley (WVLY). 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.

Bucknell Football Vs. Cancer

*Bucknell Football's official Vs. Cancer Game has been moved to Saturday, Oct. 19 vs. Cornell.

• For a sixth consecutive season, the Bucknell football team is partnering with Vs. Cancer to bring awareness to pediatric cancer and raise funds for the cause.

• The Bison raised over $23,000 in 2023 and have totaled $98,500 since the partnership began in 2018.

• Bucknell's Oct. 19 home game vs. Cornell will serve as the team's official Vs. Cancer Game. Help Bison football reach its fundraising goal and make a difference in the lives of children with cancer by donating to the Bucknell Vs. Cancer Team Page.

• Bucknell reaches its bye week and will not compete next Saturday, Oct. 5. The Bison return to game action on Saturday, Oct. 12 with a trip to Ivy League opponent Penn.