#50 Dana Christofferson and the Pioneer defense posted a shut out for the first time since 2003 last weekend
BROADCAST INFO: All Utica College games will be broadcast on the radio at WTLB 1310 AM (ESPN Radio) by play-by-play man Dave Peroni and color analyst Fred Miller … Links for live stats and video for Saturday's contest are available at www.ucpioneers.com … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB's website, www.espnur.com … Live stats and video will be provided by Hartwick Sports Information.
LAST TIME THESE TWO MET: Quarterback
Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) 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 at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium last season ... Hartwick actually had a chance to tie the game up on the ensuing drive, but Harley Edwards' 50 yard field goal attempt with one second left on the clock fell short, much to the delight of the Pioneers homecoming crowd … Utica, which trailed for the entire game, moved its record to 4-2 overall and they picked up their first conference victory of the year … Tight tend
Matt Dunn (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) caught a career-high nine balls, while Benkwitt finished the day with 30 completions for 298 yards and one key touchdown throw to Meier on the Pioneers' final drive of the game …
Alex Rukavena (Utica, NY/Whitesboro) racked up a career-high 12 tackles for Utica, while
Genaro Scampone (Utica, NY/Proctor) added one interception.
LAST WEEK: The Utica College football team held visiting Frostburg State to 168 yards of total offense, and posted 523 total yards of its own, en route to a convincing 41-0 victory in front of a homecoming crowd of 2,625 fans at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium on Saturday… The win, which advanced the Pioneers record to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Empire 8 Conference, marked UC's first shutout victory since 2003 when it topped Husson 36-0 … Frostburg (3-3, 1-2 E8) ran into a stingy Pioneer secondary which allowed just eight completions on 24 attempts and 72 total yards in the air … UC rebounded from last year's 44-24 loss at the hands of the Bobcats and the Pioneers have now won two consecutive games in the always competitive Empire 8 Conference … Junior running back
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) racked up a career-high 134 yards rushing, including a 72 yard scamper, and he also punched in one touchdown … The 72 yard run marked the second longest run from scrimmage in program-history and he now has 645 career rushing yards (9th all-time)… Senior wide receiver
Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) continued his banner year by catching six balls for 153 yards and two touchdowns… Benkwitt completed 18 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns … Benkwitt now has 21 touchdown passes this year, breaking his own single-season record of 20, set back in 2010.
RECORD STILL STANDS: In 2007, Hartwick College (72) and Utica College (70) scored a combined 142 points, etching themselves into the NCAA record books as the most prolific scoring effort by two teams in a single game since the NCAA began keeping official records in 1937… Across the board, the combined total broke all previous records, at that time, at any level of NCAA collegiate football … The previous record of 141 points, was set by Weber State (73) and Portland State (68) on October 27, 2007, prior to the UC/Hartwick quadruple-overtime contest that featured an astounding 20 touchdowns, 1,042 yards of total offense and 52 first downs … Utica's 70 points also broke a national-record for most points scored by a losing team.
ALL-TIME SERIES: These two team have met on the gridiron every year since 2002 …Hartwick holds the all-time series lead with a 7-3 advantage … The last time Utica won two straight against Hartwick was back in 2004-2005 … It's always a competitive game between these two rivals, with 7-of-10 meetings being decided by ten points or less … Four of the meetings have been decided by three points or less.
THREE IN A ROW?: The Pioneers have now won two consecutive games for the second time this season to increase their record to 4-2 … UC opened the season 5-2 last year, but finished the year with three straight losses for a 5-5 overall record … The Pioneers last three-game win streak was this time last year when UC downed visiting Ithaca College at Gaetano Stadium.
TALE OF THE TAPE: Utica is averaging 37.5 points per game this year compared to Hartwick's 31.67 ppg … The Pioneers have secured 142 first downs, the Hawks have moved the sticks 116 times … Hartwick has an edge in the ground game, outrushing UC 893-748 … The Pioneers have amassed 2,073 passing yards compared to the Hawks' 1,417 … UC is 50.6% (42-of-83) on third down conversions this year compared to Hartwicks' 36.36% (24-of-66) … Utica has scored 31 touchdowns, Hartwick has 27 … Utica's most productive quarter this year is the 2nd quarter where they have totaled 86 points.
RED “ZONED IN”: The Pioneers are nearly perfect in the red zone this year, scoring on 26-of-28 chances inside the 20 yard line … 23 of the scores have been touchdowns, while three were field goals, including two last week … The Hawks have scored a touchdown in 13-of-24 red zone chances.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: UC is 2-1 on the road this year … They were 2-3 overall on the road in each of the past two years … The last time UC traveled to Oneonta, NY to take on Hartwick, the Pioneers lost by three points, 24-21.
IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: Senior quarterback
Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck), who has started 36 consecutive games for UC, is among the national leaders in several categories … He currently ranks ninth in the nation in total offense with an average of 343.67 yards per contest … He also ranks 22nd in the country in passing efficiency (160.16) … As a team, the Pioneers ranks fifth nationally in passing offense with an average of 345.50 yards passing per game … Senior wide receiver
Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), a native of Rome, NY, currently ranks fourth in the country with an average of 135.50 receiving yards per game … Meier is also tied for 11th in the country with an average of 7.83 receptions per game … Junior linebacker
Joe Giametta (Seaford, NY/MacArthur) currently is tied for 17th in the country with an average of 11.67 tackles per game.
WOODBURN HAS A DAY: Freshman kicker Thomas Woodburn was named to the D3football.com National Team of the Week on Tuesday … Woodburn registered a career day, as the Pioneers dropped the Bobcats 41-0 … He was also named the Empire 8 Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for the first time in his young career on Monday … He knocked down two field goals of 30 and 39 (career-long/ tied for fifth longest in school-history) yards to seal the homecoming victory for UC ... Woodburn was also a perfect 5-for-5 in extra point opportunities … 11 points scored marked the most by a kicker in the program's 12 year history.
HERBERGER HAVING HIS WAY: Senior defensive end Michael Herberge tallied two sacks last week and moved into sole possession of fourth place on the College's all-time sack list … Herberger, who now has nine career sacks, also tied for the team lead with seven tackles in the Pioneers' win over Frostburg Saturday.
BENKWITT'S TROPHY CASE NEEDS ANOTHER SHELF: Senior quarterback
Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) won his second consecutive Empire 8 Conference Offensive Player of the Week award on Monday … Benkwitt, who is on pace to break several of his own single-season school-records this year, completed 18 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns on Saturday … He is also on pace to break his own school record for passing yards (2,604) and through six games this year he already has 1,958 yards in the air … If Benkwitt continues this pace he will become the first player in school-history to throw for more than 3,000 yards in a single season.
BALDASSARE HEATING UP: Junior running back
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) leads UC with 437 yards rushing this year to go along with four touchdowns … He also has 18 catches for 179 yards out of the back field.
LEADING THE WAY IN THE E8: The Pioneers currently lead the Empire 8 in three different offensive categories … UC is first in scoring offense with an average of 37.50 points per game … The Pioneers are first in total offense with an average of 464.83 yards per game … They are also first in passing offense (345.50 ypg).
SCOUTING HARTWICK: Nationally ranked No. 9 Salisbury University scored on its opening drive and never looked back in a 37-7 win over Hartwick on Saturday at Sea Gull Stadium in Salisbury, MD … The Gulls tacked on 17 second-quarter points for a 24-0 lead at halftime and held Hartwick to 142 yards of total offense … They also forced a total of five Hawk turnovers in the game … With the loss, Hartwick drops to the .500 mark overall at 3-3 ... The Blue and White is still looking for its first Empire 8 win with a record of 0-3 … Kurtis Ahart leads the rushing attack with 432 yards on the ground and two touchdowns … Two different quarterbacks have carried the bulk of the load this season, Mike Matthews and Keegan Corbett … Corbett has completed 49 passes for 567 yards and four touchdowns, while Matthews has thrown for a team-high 850 yards and nine touchdowns … Tanner Williams has 26 catches for 550 yards and five touchdowns and Frankie Molina has 12 catches for 299 and five scores … Bryan Schweitzer leads the defense with 37 tackles … Joe Seney has a team-best 3.5 sacks and seven tackles for a loss … Dante Crump leads the secondary with three INT's.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING: Meier is on pace to become the first player in school-history to record over 1,000 yards receiving in a single season … Meier currently has 813 yards receiving, with four games left to play – the current single season record is held by Cody Elliot, who totaled 868 yards in 2009 … Meier is also on pace to shatter the single season receptions mark – he currently has 47 catches and the school record is held by Elliot who tallied 65 catches in '09 … Meier needs two more touchdowns to tie Jake Scott's 2010 single-season record of 12 … Meier is the College's all-time leader with 27 career touchdowns …
James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) is currently tied for second on the school's single season interception list – he currently has four and needs three more to tie first place Jon Klosner's 2002 record of seven …
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) needs 88 rushing yards to jump three spots into sixth place on the College's all-time rushing yards list…
James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) needs two interceptions to tie former player and current assistant coach Lazarus Morgan for third place on the College's all-time interceptions list … Senior defensive end
Michael Herberger (Amherst, NY/Williamsville North) needs 1.5 sacks to move into a tie for third place on the College's all-time sacks list – he currently has nine.
--- www.ucpioneers.com ---
