The Pioneers will wear pink on Saturday in support of breast cancer awareness month
BROADCAST INFO: All Utica College games will be broadcast on the radio at WTLB 99.1 FM/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 … WPNR 90.7 FM will broadcast every UC football home contest this season and live streaming audio of the contest can be accessed at www.utica.edu/wpnr ... Live video for the game contest can be accessed at www.empire8.tv.
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH: In honor of breast cancer awareness month the Pioneers have joined forces with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) to raise funds for the fight against breast cancer … The Pioneers will dawn pink gear throughout their contest against the Saxons … A portion of the Friends of Football 50/50 raffle will be donated to the Perfect Fit Boutique of the Regional Cancer Center of Faxton-St. Luke's Healthcare here in Utica …The boutique specializes in products for post-mastectomy women who are breast cancer survivors, and provides clothing to suite the unique needs of these patients.
ALL TIME SERIES: Utica and Alfred have met every year since the Pioneers began varsity football back in 2001 … UC is still in the hunt for its elusive first win against the Saxons, having lost 11 straight to Alfred … Alfred's smallest margin of victory was in 2002 when it defeated Utica 10-0.
LAST WEEK: The Utica College football team put together its second straight dominant Empire 8 Conference performance, this time topping host Hartwick College 43-7 at Wright Stadium on Saturday... The Pioneers once again controlled play on both sides of the ball and they have now outscored their opponents 83-7 over the course of their last two conference victories ... UC advanced its record to 5-2 overall for the second straight year and the Pioneers moved into a second place tie with a 3-1 overall record in the E8... One of the most impressive aspects of the Pioneers' game was their rushing attack, which totaled 219 yards on the ground… Junior back
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) led the way with a career-best 153 yards, marking his third 100 yard performance of the year… The big running game led to the Pioneers' second straight 500 yard performance as a team, while the defense shut the door on the hosts, holding the Hawks to just 24 yards rushing and 224 total yards... UC finished with 582 yards of total offense, marking the second highest single-game total in the program's 12 year history …The Pioneers are beginning to finish games strong, outscoring the host Hawks 30-0 in the final 31:26 of play.
LAST TIME THESE TWO MET: The Utica College football team closed out regular season play last year with a 41-13 loss against Empire 8 Conference foe Alfred University at Merrill Field …
Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) broke his own record for completions in a single-season after totaling 27 completions for 228 yards... The Pioneers closed out the regular season with a 5-5 overall record, marking a tie for the second most wins in the program's 11 year history … UC's second half woes continued for the second straight week as it could not muster a touchdown in the final 30 minutes... Alfred netted 281 yards rushing on the ground, compared to the Pioneers' 26, as the Saxons moved to 7-3 on the year... Austin Dwyer carried the ball 20 times for 109 yards, while Tyler DeRosa added 105 yards on 13 carries for Alfred.
FOUR IN A ROW?: The last time Utica won four straight games was back in 2010 when the Pioneers opened the season with four straight victories against non-conference opponents … The Pioneers have now won three consecutive games for the first time this season to increase their record to 5-2 … UC opened the season 5-2 last year, but finished the season with three straight losses for a 5-5 overall record.
RECORD SETTING YEAR: A win on Saturday would help the Pioneers' tie the school-record for wins in a single season which was set back in 2005 when they finished 6-4 … That same year they also finished 3-3 in Empire 8 Conference play, marking the highest win total in conference … A win on Saturday would help UC break the school-record for conference wins in a single season … A win would also help guarantee Utica its second winning season in the program's 12 year history.
BOWL ELIGIBLE?: A win Saturday would guarantee the Pioneers' six wins, making them ECAC bowl eligible for the first time since 2006 … UC has never participated in post season competition.
TALE OF THE TAPE: Utica is averaging 38.29 points per game this year compared to Alfred's 25.3 ppg … The Pioneers have secured 172 first downs, the Saxons have moved the sticks 100 times … Alfred has an advantage in the ground game, outrushing UC 1209-967 … The Pioneers have amassed 2,436 passing yards compared to the Saxons' 825 … UC is 49.47% (47-of-95) on third down conversions this year compared to Alfreds 37% (33-of-90) … Utica has scored 36 touchdowns, Hartwick has 22 … The Pioneers have 23 sacks, while the Saxon's have 16 … Alfred allows just 15.3 points per game, while the Utica defense has allowed 22.86 points per game … UC's most productive quarter this year is the second quarter, having scored 96 total points … Coincidentally the Saxons best quarter is the second quarter, as they have tallied 64 points in the 15 minute stretch before halftime.
COMING ON STRONG IN THE 4TH: UC started the year with a combined three points in the fourth quarter over the course of the first three games … In their last four contests they have accumulated 65 4th quarter points.
RUN VS. PASS: One of Utica's obvious strengths is its excellent passing game … Although Alfred does not go to the air often, they are one of the best rushing teams in the conference, averaging a hair over 200 yards per contest on the ground … It should be an excellent battle as the Saxons defense has held opposing quarterbacks to the lowest pass efficiency in the E8.
IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: As a team the Pioneers rank seventh in the country in passing offense with an average of 348.00 yards per game … UC's total offense per game (486.14) ranks 16th nationally … The Pioneers scoring offense of 38.29 points per game ranks 26th in the country … The Pioneers are averaging three sacks per game, which ranks 27th nationally … Benkwitt ranks 8th in Division III with an average of 338.71 yards of total offense per game … Meier ranks 8th in the nation in receiving yards per game with 121.71.
40 OR MORE KEYS UC VICTORY: In all five of the Pioneers' wins this season they have scored at least 40 points … In their two losses this season they scored 26 and 22 points.
LEADING THE WAY IN THE E8: Utica leads the Empire 8 in four team categories: passing offense, total offense, scoring, and turnover margin (1.29)… Benkwitt leads the conference in passing efficiency (165.11) and total offense … Meier leads the conference in receiving yards per game … Woodburn leads the conference with six field goals.
WOODBURN IMPRESSES ONCE AGAIN: Freshman kicker Thomas Woodburn was named the Empire 8 Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for the second consecutive week on Monday afternoon … Woodburn broke his own school-record for points by a kicker in a single-game, which he originally set the week before, as he totaled 12 points (three field goals, three extra points) in the Pioneers' convincing 43-7 win over Hartwick on Saturday … He also tied the school-record for field goals made in a single-game with three … Woodburn knocked down field goals of 22, 22 and 30 yards.
HERBERGER HEADED TOWARDS MILESTONE: Senior defensive end
Michael Herberger (Amherst, NY/Williamsville North) needs two sacks to tie the school-record for sacks in a single season set by
Tracy Branch and James Brain back in 2010 … Herberger currently has 6.5 sacks.
LENAHAN IS A BALL HAWK: Sophomore safety
James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) needs two interceptions to tie the school's single –season record of seven set by Jon Klosner back in 2002 … Lenehan currently has five picks this year, including two in the last two games.
BALDASSARE BREAKING OUT: Junior running back
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) now has three 100+ yard rushing games this season … He ranks 34th in the country with an average of 145 all-purpose yards per contest … He leads the team with 590 yards rushing this season and he also has four rushing TD's … He has 21 catches for 208 yards out of the backfield.
SCOUTING ALFRED: Alfred (4-2, 3-1 Empire 8), which was ranked No. 21 nationally by D3football.com last week, recently dropped out of the nation's top 25 after a 24-21 loss to No. 7 Salisbury … Alfred is currently receiving the fifth highest votes just outside of the top 25 … Senior fullback Chuck Beckwith leads the Saxons with 553 yards on the ground and ten rushing touchdowns … Austin Dwyer has 276 yards rushing and two touchdowns … Junior quarterback Zach Sopak has completed 80 passes for 744 yards and five touchdowns … Adam Schutz has 23 catches for 159 yards and three touchdowns … Reggie Pressley leads the staunch Alfred defense with 52 tackles and four pass break ups … Mike Raplee ranks second on the team with 46 tackles and he also has a team-best 7.5 sacks … Jon Jackson leads the team with four interceptions.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING: Meier needs just three yards receiving to break the College's all-time record for receiving yards in a career … The record is currently held by Cody Elliot '09 who compiled 2,119 over the course of four years … Meier also needs nine catches (currently has 164) to become the College's all-time leader in career receptions, passing Elliot, who caught 176 balls … Baldassare needs 91 yards rushing to move into third place all-time on the College's career rushing yards list … Baldassare needs 59 all-purpose yards to move into fifth place all-time on the College's list, passing James Proniewych '07, who totaled 1,794 all-purpose yards in his career … Sophomore
James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) needs two interceptions to pass current coach Lazarus Morgan for third place on the College's career interceptions list … Benkwitt needs 271 passing yards to reach 10,000 for his career … Senior
Genaro Scampone (Utica, NY/Proctor) needs 12 tackles to move into ninth place on the College's all-time tackles list … Scampone currently has 174 career tackles and he would pass Jon Klosner '06 who recorded 185 career stops …
Michael Herberger (Amherst, NY/Williamsville North) needs one sack to move into third place all-time on the career sack list … He heads into Saturday's contest with ten career sacks … As a team the Pioneers are just 353 receiving yards shy of the single-season record of 2,788 set last year … They need 65 receptions to break the single-season record … They need 617 yards of total offense to break the record … 11 more touchdowns will also break the school-record of 47 TD's in a single season set in 2009 … They need six interceptions to break the single season mark of 15 set back in 2002 … They need two sacks to break the school-record of 24 set in 2010.
SINGLE SEASON RECORDS TO WATCH: Freshman place kicker Thomas Woodburn needs four field goals to tie the College's all-time single season mark of ten set by Casey McNulty back in 2008 … Woodburn has five field goals in his last two games …
Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) needs six points to tie the school's single season scoring record of 72 points set by Jake Scott back in 2012 … Meier currently has 11 touchdown catches and 66 total points this year … Meier also needs just 15 yards receiving to break the school's single-season record for receiving yards set by Cody Elliot in 2009 … Meier needs 146 yards to become the program's first 1,000 yard receiver in a single season … He also needs 15 catches in the next three games to tie Cody Elliot's single-season record of 65 … Senior quarterback
Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) is currently averaging 326 yards receiving per game … No quarterback in school-history has ever finished the year with an average of 300+ yards passing per game … Benkwitt can tie his own school-record for passing attempts in a single season if he attempts 54 passes in the next three games (currently has 173) … He needs 322 passing yards to tie his own single-season record (2,604) for passing yards in a single season – he currently has 2,282 yards passing through seven games … Two weeks ago he broke his own record for touchdown passes in a single season – he now has 25 this year … Junior running back
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) needs 191 yards rushing to move into fourth place on the College's single season rushing list … Baldassare currently has 590 yards rushing this year.
