Utica Game Notes

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BROADCAST INFO: Saturday's game will begin at 1:30 p.m. and it will be broadcast all across New York State on Time Warner Cable Sports … All Utica College games will be broadcast on the radio at WTLB 1310 AM (ESPN Radio) … Links for live stats for Saturday's contest will be available at www.ucpioneers.com … Live streaming video can be accessed online at empire8.tv and fans can now watch live video on their Iphone, Android or Blackberry devices at m.empire8.tv … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB's new website, www.espnur.com … All of UC's home games will also be broadcast on WPNR 90.7 FM.

WINS AND LOSSES COME IN PAIRS: Success and failure seems to be coming in two's for the Pioneers this year and they hope to snap that trend on Saturday against visiting Ithaca College … Utica won its first two games of the season, before dropping two straight contests … Utica is currently back on track and riding the highs of a two game winning streak after consecutive victories over RPI and Hartwick. 

COMMON OPPONENTS: Utica and Ithaca have played three common opponents, and the result has been the same for both squads … Both teams defeated Union and Hartwick while losing to national-power Salisbury … Ithaca holds a slight advantage over the Pioneers in this category - UC edged out Hartwick and Union by coming from behind in the fourth quarter in each contest - while the Bombers earned a convincing 37-18 win over Union and a two touchdown victory over Hartwick.

26 & COUNTING FOR BENKWITT: Junior quarterback Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) is making his 26th consecutive start on Saturday and he continues to live up to the hype, ranking 28th in the nation and first in the E8 with an average of 278.67 total yards per contest … He has completed 141 passes for 1,642 yards to go along with a conference-best 15 touchdown passes … Maybe even more impressive is that he has only thrown four interceptions in six games. 

LARSON CARRYING THE LOAD AS OF LATE: Junior running back Jake Larson (Bemus Point, NY/Maple Grove) has posted three consecutive 100+ yard rushing performances … He has tallied five rushing touchdowns in the last three games and he now leads the team and ranks third in the E8 with seven rushing touchdowns … He ran the ball a career-high 29 times for 163 yards in the Pioneers' win over Hartwick last week.

HERBERGER TURNING INTO THE HULK: Junior defensive end Michael Herberger (Amherst, NY/Williamsville North) has recorded four sacks in the last four games and he is coming off a career-best nine tackle performance against Hartwick last Saturday. 

BEST BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE: Sophomore safety Eric Rindo (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) has been quite possibly the biggest surprise for the Pioneers defensive unit this season … Rindo currently leads the team with 53 total tackles through six games … His 21 solo tackles ranks third on the team … He also has one interception … He currently ranks tenth in the conference with 8.8 tackles per contest. 

IT'S LIKE RIDING A BIKE FOR MEIER: Despite missing the first three games of the season with a broken hand, Utica senior wide out Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) has not missed a beat and he already ranks fourth on the team with 18 catches … He caught the eventual game-winning touchdown in the Pioneers' victory on Saturday and he now has three TD catches in three games … His 15 career touchdown catches is a school-record. 

ACEVEDO DOES IT ALL-PURPOSE: Sophomore receiver Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) currently leads the conference and ranks 19th nationally with an average of 160.50 all-purpose yards per game … He leads Utica with 39 catches for 604 yards and three touchdowns this season … He is currently averaging 100.7 yards receiving per game.

GET IT DUNN: Junior tight end Matt Dunn (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) leads the team with four touchdown grabs this year … Three of his four touchdown catches have come inside the Pioneers' eight yard line … He also ranks second on the team with 29 catches.

LAST TIME AGAINST ITHACA: The Utica College football team lost to host Ithaca College 30-6 in Empire 8 Conference action on a rainy and wet afternoon at Butterfield Stadium last season … The Pioneers could not seem to get their nationally-ranked (21st in total offense) offense going, converting on just 2-of-15 third down opportunities, en route to a season-low 221 yards of total offense … Quarterback Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) closed out the day completing 24 passes for 200 yards and one touchdown.

ITHACA HAS HAD UTICA'S NUMBER: Utica has never beaten Ithaca in ten previous meetings … The Pioneer's closet encounter with the Bombers was in 2009 when UC lost by a mere three points, 27-24, right here at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium … The largest margin of defeat was in the Pioneers' first varsity season, back in 2001, when the Bombers took home a convincing 66-0 victory.

LAST TIME ON TIME WARNER: The last time the Pioneers played on Time Warner Cable Sports was Sept. 25 of last year … UC scored 17 points in the third quarter on its way to a 24-10 victory over Wilkes University in non conference play in front of 2,750 fans …The Pioneer defense held the Colonels to just 130 yards of total offense (41 yards passing) and three points in the second half as UC improved to 4-0 for the first time in the program's ten year history.

PIONEERS LIKE 'EM CLOSE: UC has won two of its four games this year three points or less, including a 28-27 win over Union and a 20-17 come-from-behind win over Hartwick last week. 

UC UNDER A MICROSCOPE: Utica is currently averaging 33.8 points per game to go along with an average of 434.7 yards of total offense per contest … The Pioneers' are averaging 148.5 rushing yards per game and 286.2 passing yards per contest … The Utica pass defense has put forth a great effort so far this season, allowing just 173.3 yards passing per game … As a team, the Pioneers have posted eight sacks to go along with four interceptions.

UC LAST WEEK: Benkwitt engineered a nine-play, 71 yard game-winning drive, capped by a 16-yard touchdown grab by senior wide out Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) with 1:04 remaining, to help lift the Utica College football team to a huge 20-17 win over visiting Hartwick College last Saturday … Sophomore linebacker Alex Rukavena (Utica, NY/Whitesboro) racked up a career-high 12 tackles for Utica, while Genaro Scampone (Utica, NY/Proctor) added one interception. … Junior nose guard Cody Adams (Adirondack, NY/Boonville) tacked on a key sack late in the game to help secure the Pioneer victory … Rindo made nine stops; while freshman Xavier Richardson (Clay, NY/CNS) added a career-best nine tackles for the UC defensive unit.

SCOUTING ITHACA:  The Bombers (3-3, 1-3 E8) look to snap a two game slide on Saturday when they head to Utica … Ithaca is currently averaging 22.2 points per game and 296.7 yards of offense per game … The Bomber defense has held its opponents to less than 20 points per contest so far this year … D3football.com Special Teams Player of the Week Dan Ruffrage, from nearby Notre Dame High School, has made several appearances in Utica's local newspaper this year after averaging 146.7 all-purpose yards per contest  … Sal Sulla leads the Bombers rushing attack with an average of 55.7 yards per contest to go along with three touchdowns … Three different quarterbacks have played in at least four games for Ithaca including Jason Hendel, Phil Neumann and Pat Griffin … Hendel has posted the most impressive numbers under center, totaling 812 yards and five touchdowns this year … Joe Gilfedder leads the Bomber defense with 58 tackles this season.