Game Notes

Live Audio  (WTLB 1310 AM)

Quick Hitters

BROADCAST INFO: All Utica College games will be broadcast on the radio at WTLB 1310 AM (ESPN Radio) … Links for live video for Saturday's contest will be available at www.ucpioneers.com … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB's new website, www.espnur.com. 

REGULAR SEASON FINALE: Saturday's meeting will mark the third straight season that Utica and Alfred have squared off in the final game of the regular season.

GETTING OVER THE HUMP: The Pioneers have not finished the season with a record higher than .500 since the beginning of the Blaise Faggiano era in 2008 … However, they have improved their win total by one game each season since 2008 … They went 3-7 in Faggiano's first year as head coach, 4-6 in 2009 and 5-5 in 2010 … It would only be fitting that the Pioneers knocked off Alfred for the first time in program-history to advance its record to 6-4 overall. 

MOST WINS IN PROGRAM-HISTORY?: If the Pioneers win on Saturday they will tie the school record for wins in a single-season (six) … The 2005 edition of the Pioneers set the single-season mark with a 6-4 ledger. 

ALL-TIME SERIES: Utica has played Alfred every year since the Pioneers first season of existence back in 2001 … UC is 0-10 against the Saxons all-time … Their closest encounter came back in 2002 when the Pioneers' lost 10-0 at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium … Alfred has outscored Utica 340-143 over the course of those ten meetings.

BOWL BOUND?: The Pioneers need to defeat Alfred Saturday to enter the ECAC South Bowl game conversation … If the Pioneers were to win and the selection committee deemed their body of work substantial enough, it would mark the program's first post season berth … Fisher and Salisbury both receiving NCAA Tournament bids would also help the Pioneers cause … 18 teams from the South have declared for an ECAC Bowl bid … The Bowl selection committee will take six teams from the south region for three bowl games and seed them 1-6 … The top three teams will host if their facility is available … UC barely missed out on a bid to the ECAC's back in 2005.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Pioneers are currently 2-2 on the road this season … UC opened the season with a 48-35 win at St. Lawrence before dropping a road contest at Frostburg … UC traveled to RPI and took down the Engineers before losing their most recent road game, two weekends ago at St. John Fisher College … The Pioneers hope to earn their first conference road win of the season on Saturday. 

STOP THE BLEEDING: The Pioneers have not lost three straight games all season and they hope to continue that trend on Saturday … The last time Utica lost at home this season they followed it up with a win on the road at RPI.    

TALE OF THE TAPE: Utica holds a slight edge in average points per game over Alfred this season, 30.3-27.4 … The Pioneers also hold the advantage in total passing yards, 2,553-1,765 … Alfred has rushed for 1,521 yards compared to the Pioneers' 1,205 yards on the ground … UC has converted on 45% of its third down conversions compared to the Saxon's 40% … The Alfred defense has 16 sacks this year compared to Utica's 14 and the Saxons have an edge in interceptions, 9-4. 

MERRILL FIELD IS A POPULAR PLACE TO PLAY: Alfred is averaging 3,001 fans per home game this season as 15,007 fans have made their way through the turn styles in five contests.

ACEVEDO PLAYS WITH A(LL) PURPOSE: Sophomore receiver/return man Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) is second in the conference and ranks 48th in the nation with an average of 141.22 all-purpose yards per contest … He has caught a team-best and a career-high 50 balls for 751 yards this season … He is averaging 83.4 yards receiving per game to go along with five touchdowns … Acevedo also has 489 return yards.

BENKWITT STANDS STRONG ATOP E8 LEADERBOARD: Junior quarterback Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) leads the conference with 248.9 yards passing per game … He also leads the E8 with 16 touchdown throws.  

TOP TIGHT END IN THE E8: Junior tight end Matt Dunn (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) ranks eighth overall and leads all Empire 8 tight ends with 43 catches for 530 yards and four touchdowns this season.

LARSON CARRIES THE LOAD: Junior running back Jake Larson (Bemus Point, NY/Maple Grove) ranks fifth in the conference with an average of 89.8 yards rushing per game … His 11 touchdown runs leads the team and ranks third among all E8 backs … He is averaging 5.2 yards per carry. 

BALDASSARE MAKING MOVES: Sophomore running back/return man Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) continues to prove he is an impact player and over the course of the last three games he has totaled 238 all-purpose yards. 

THE USUAL SUSPECTS ON D: The Pioneer defensive unit has been led all season by the likes of sophomore safety Eric Rindo (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster), junior Luke Manolescu (New York Mills, NY/Notre Dame), sophomore Dana Christofferson (Richford, NY/Dryden), junior Michael Herberger (Amherst, NY/Williamsville North) and junior captain Genaro Scampone (Utica, NY/Proctor) … Rindo currently ranks eighth in the conference with a team-best 81 tackles … Manolescu is not far behind with 73 stops and three pass break-ups … Christofferson has posted 23 tackles in the last three games and he currently ranks third on the team with 70 tackles … Despite having just one sack in the last three games, Herberger still ranks second in the conference with five sacks … Scampone has done a little bit of everything for UC this year and he is tied with Herberger for fourth on the team with 54 tackles … Scampone also has one sack, one pass break up and one interception. 

BENKWITT'S BUNCH: Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) has a slew of solid receivers to distribute the ball to this season, including four receivers with over 29 catches, 300 yards receiving and at least three touchdowns … Acevedo leads the way, while junior tight end Matt Dunn (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) has caught 43 balls … Jamie Murphy (Canadaigua, NY/Marcus Whitman) has 38 catches for 424 yards and Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) as 29 grabs, three touchdown catches and one touchdown run. 

SENIORS – WE THANK YOU: 12 seniors will play in their final regular season game as a Pioneer Saturday … This group has compiled 17 wins over the course of the last four seasons and has helped UC become a post season threat on a yearly basis … Senior captain Jon White (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) will play in his final regular season game and he currently ranks fourth on the College's all-time list with five career interceptions.

COMMON OPPONENTS: Alfred and Utica have played the exact same schedule with the exception of one non conference game where the Saxons defeated Rochester and the Pioneers took down Union  … Both teams lost to Fisher, Salisbury and Frostburg … Both teams defeated RPI, St. Lawrence, Hartwick and Ithaca … Alfred holds a slight advantage in the common opponents category, having defeated Springfield 30-22 … Utica lost to Springfield 40-14 last week … UC managed to put up 45 points in a loss to national-power and conference champ Salisbury, while Alfred was shut out by the Sea Gulls, 69-0.

UC LAST WEEK: The Springfield College football team racked up 437 yards rushing on the ground and held Utica College scoreless in the final three quarters on its way to a 40-14 victory in Empire 8 Conference play last weekend at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium … The Pioneers jumped out to a 14-6 lead in the first 4:17 of the contest but they were unable to find the end zone for the remainder of the game as they dropped to 5-4 overall and 2-4 in conference play …  Springfield used its triple option ground game to manage the time of possession, 38:49 – 21:11, and the Pride outscored UC 34-0 in the final 51:49 of the contest to improve their record to 6-3 overall and 4-3 in the E8 … Five different Pioneers recorded at least nine tackles …  Leading the way was Scampone, who posted 11 tackles … Rindo added ten tackles, while Jon White (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott), Luke Manolescu (New York Mills, NY/Notre Dame) and Dana Christofferson (Richford, NY/Dryden) each posted nine stops for Utica … Acevedo finished the day with four catches for 63 yards for Utica, while Baldassare added four catches for 26 yards.

LAST TIME AGAINST ALFRED: The Utica College football team jumped out to an early 14-2 lead but NCAA Tournament bound Alfred University responded with 35 straight points to earn a 37-20 Empire 8 Conference victory in the season finale for the Pioneers at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium last season … Acevedo added a late, Wildcat formation, rushing touchdown to close out the scoring on the day … Benkwitt completed 18 passes for 138 yards and one touchdown, but he also threw two interceptions.

SCOUTING ALFRED: The Saxons, who were a fixture in the D3football.com national rankings for the first five weeks of the season, have won two straight close games over Rochester and Ithaca … They are coming off an emotional 21-19 victory of Ithaca, marking their first victory at Butterfield Stadium in 12 tries … Alfred boasts the top rushing defense in the conference, allowing an average of 120 yards on the ground per contest … The Saxons have been money in the red-zone all season, scoring on a conference-best 33-of-37 chances inside the 20 yard line … They also field the most efficient field goal kicking team in the conference, having knocked down 12-of-13 field goal attempts … Sophomore tailback Austin Dwyer ranks third in the conference with an average of 91.6 rushing yards per contest to go along with eight touchdown runs … Senior quarterback T.J. Killcarr has emerged as the Saxon's top option at quarterback and he has thrown for 676 yards and six touchdowns on 57 completions … Senior linebacker Nick Clark is the Saxon's most potent threat on short yardage plays, having scored eight touchdowns on just 42 carries … Clark also leads the conference with an average of 10.4 tackles per contest.