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 for Saturday's contest are available at www.ucpioneers.com … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB's website, www.espnur.com.
SAY HI TO THE CAMERAS: Time Warner Cable Sports will be covering the Pioneers' contest at Buffalo State … If you live in the following areas make sure to tune in live: Buffalo Channel 13 (HD 713), Rochester Channel 98, Syracuse Channel 1026, Manhattan Channel 197, or taped delayed (Sunday 1:00pm) in Albany Channel 3 (HD 1083) … The contest marks the second game this season that the Pioneers will be televised on TWCS … The first was UC's home opener when it downed St. Lawrence 40-7 at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Saturday's game marks the first meeting between Utica and Buffalo in the Pioneers' 13-year history … This is just the fourth time in program-history that the Pioneers have played a school from the State University of New York (SUNY) system … The last time the Pioneers played a SUNY school was back in 2003 when they lost to Cortland, 43-7 ... The Pioneers have never beaten a Division III SUNY program in four tries … The SUNY system does not offer an athletic conference for football, like it does for other Division III sports, and Buffalo State joined the Empire 8 as a full-time member at the beginning of the year.
IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE LAST YEAR: Success and failure seems to be coming in two's for the Pioneers once again this year … Utica has won its first two games of the season, before dropping two straight contests … Last season, UC opened the year with two wins, followed by two losses, followed by two more wins … If last season is any indication, the Pioneers may be staring down a victory on Saturday.
TALE OF THE TAPE: Please note that Buffalo State has played five games compared to Utica's four … Utica has scored 133 points this year compared to Buffalo's 104 … The Pioneers have 92 first downs compared to the Bengals' 85 … UC has an edge in rushing yards, 492-390 … The Bengals are the first team all season to have more passing yards than Utica, 1,510-1,290 … UC has a 51% (27-of-52) 3rd down conversion rate compared to Buff State's 29% (19-of-65) … UC has scored 19 touchdowns compared to the Bengals' 14.
DEADLY IN THE RED ZONE: The Pioneers are nearly perfect this season in the red zone … When UC has had the ball inside the 20 yard line the Pioneers have scored on 14-of-15 chances … 13 of those scores have been touchdowns, while one was a field goal … Buffalo State has scored eight touchdowns on 17 red zone chances.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Utica hits the road for the second consecutive weekend … The Pioneers have 16 road victories in 12 + seasons … UC downed Union on the road earlier this season and one more road victory will tie the program's single season record, which has been done six other times.
IMPROVING IN E8 PLAY: The Pioneers and Buffalo State play in arguably the toughest football conference on the East Coast … UC has ten conference victories in program-history, including two of which came last season against Hartwick and Ithaca.
LAST WEEK: The Ithaca College football team jumped out to a 24-10 lead in the first half and used great ball control (38:43 time of possession) and a balanced offensive attack (490 yards of total offense) in the second half to down visiting Utica College 40-22 in Empire 8 Conference action at Butterfield Stadium Saturday afternoon … The Bombers had just three full possessions in the second half, which led to two touchdowns, while the Pioneers (2-2, 0-1 E8) only had three offensive drives in the entire second half as well, scoring on two of them … It was a matchup of arguably two of the top wide receivers in the Empire 8 as Ithaca's Joseph Ingrao and UC's
Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) both posted great showings … Ingrao finished the afternoon with 10 catches for a game-high 174 yards and one touchdown, while Meier added 10 catches for 151 yards.
BENKWITT EYEING ANOTHER RECORD: Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck), who enters the contest having played in 34 straight games, is on pace to break his own school record of 20 touchdowns in a single season … Benkwitt has 12 touchdown throws through four games.
IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: Senior wide receiver
Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) is ranked 5th in the country with an average of 129 yards receiving per contest … Junior
Joe Giametta (Seaford, NY/MacArthur) is tied for fifth in the nation with 14 tackles per game … As a team the Pioneers rank 13th in the nation with an average of 322.50 yards of passing offense per game.
LEADING THE WAY IN THE E8: The Pioneers lead the conference in passing offense and total yards per game (445.50) … Benkwitt leads the conference in passing yards per game (306.8) and touchdowns … Giametta and Meier lead the conference in tackles and receiving yards.
EVERYONE GETS A PIECE: Five different Pioneers have caught at least ten passes this year … Meier leads the way with 29 catches, followed by
Matt Dunn (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) (15),
Jamie Murphy (Canadaigua, NY/Marcus Whitman) (14),
Paul Smith (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara-Wheatfield) (11) and
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) (10).
GIAMETTA LOOKING TO BREAK RECORDS: If
Joe Giametta (Seaford, NY/MacArthur) averages 12 tackles per game for the next six games he will finish the year with 128 total tackles, breaking the College's single-season record of 123 which is currently held by arguably the great defender to ever wear a Pioneer uniform – Anthony Venturino '04.
BALDASSARE DOING THE JOB: In three games played junior running back
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) has an average of 78.33 rushing yards per game, including two touchdowns … He also began returning kicks for the Pioneers once again and he needs 313 kick off return yards to move into second place on the College's all-time list.
SAFETY NET: Senior free safety
Luke Manolescu (New York Mills, NY/Notre Dame) ranks second on the team with 34 tackles this season … He also has three tackles for a loss and two pass break ups … Sophomore safety
James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) ranks first on the team with two interceptions and two fumble recoveries … Lenahan also ranks fourth on the team with 22 tackles to go along with two pass break ups.
CHRISTOFFERSON STUFFS THE MIDDLE: Junior middle linebacker
Dana Christofferson (Richford, NY/Dryden) ranks third on the team with 33 tackles to go along with a half of a sack.
MEIER LOOKING GOOD: Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) is on pace to break Cody Elliot's '09 single season receiving yards record … Meier currently has 512 receiving yards through four games … Elliots record stands at 868 yards... Meier also has a shot at the receiving touchdowns single season record, also held by Elliot … Elliot caught seven in 2009, while Meier has caught four so far this year.
HERBERGER OFF THE EDGE: Senior defensive end
Michael Herberger (Amherst, NY/Williamsville North) recently moved into a tie for sixth place on the College's all-time sacks list with seven career sacks … He needs two more sacks to move into fourth place all-time.
SACK ATTACK: 11 different Pioneer defenders have at least a half of a sack this season …
Ryan Hansen (Woodcliff Lake, NJ/Pascack Hills): 2.0,
Kyle Taft (Salt Point, NY/F.D. Roosevelt): 2.0,
Michael Herberger (Amherst, NY/Williamsville North): 2.0,
Anthony Cipoletti (Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills West): 1.0,
Genaro Scampone (Utica, NY/Proctor): 1.0,
Luke Manolescu (New York Mills, NY/Notre Dame): 0.5,
Dana Christofferson (Richford, NY/Dryden): 0.5,
Josh Visalli (Deerfield, NY/Whitesboro): 0.5,
Jerrod Clowes (Rochester, NY/Irondequoit): 0.5,
Adam Luczak (Letchworth, NY/Silver Springs): 0.5,
Chris Adams (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa): 0.5.
SCOUTING THE BENGALS: Buffalo State enters this week's contest 2-3 overall and is still in search of its first win in Empire 8 play at 0-2 … The Bengals dropped a 20-7 decision to Salisbury last week, as the Sea Gulls ran the ball 68 times, compared to just three pass attempts … Buffalo State pulled off a shocking upset at UW-Whitewater on Sept. 15, defeating the three-time defending national champions 7-6 with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Casey Kacz to Ryan Carney with just three seconds remaining … The Bengals kept the winning drive alive, converting a fourth-and-19 on a “hook and double-lateral”… It was the first time ever that an unranked team defeated a No. 1 team in the regular season in the history of Division III football … Junior newcomer Chris Hall has made an instant impact in the Bengals' secondary, tying a school record with three interceptions in the season opener vs. Cortland. Hall, a transfer from Mt. San Antonio College (CA) was named the Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts… He added a fourth pick in his second game, and picked up two more at UW-Whitewater… Hall currently is tied for the national lead with six interceptions … Senior linebacker Pasquale Vacchio led the Bengals with a career-best 19 tackles in the win at UW-Whitewater.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING: Benkwitt is the only quarterback in program-history to attempt 1,000 or more passes in a career … Benkwitt eclipsed 700 completions for his career two weeks ago, and he now has 740 all-time, which is more than double Nick Martin '06, who holds second place… Benkwitt needs one touchdown pass to reach 70 for his career … He has an incredible career completion percentage of 63.7 (He has both thrown and completed more passes than any other QB in school-history) …
Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) became the College's all-time leading scorer in week two and he now has 128 career points … Meier needs 17 yards receiving to move into second on the College's all-time list … Meier and
Matt Dunn (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) currently rank third and sixth on the College's all-time receiving yards list … Meier has 1,777 career receiving yards and Dunn recently became the sixth player in school-history to break the 1,000 yard barrier, as he now has 1,180 … Dunn needs four catches to reach the 100 catch mark for his career … Dunn needs one touchdown catch to tie Cody Elliot '09 for third on the College's all-time receiving touchdowns list – He currently has 11 touchdown catches …
Jamie Murphy (Canadaigua, NY/Marcus Whitman) needs one touchdown catch to tie two others for eighth on the College's all-time list … Murphy needs 39 yards receiving to move into ninth on the all-time receiving yards list (He currently has 563) …
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) ranks third on the College's all-time list with 648 career kick return yards …
Genaro Scampone (Utica, NY/Proctor) ranks seventh all-time with 96 career assisted tackles …
Luke Manolescu (New York Mills, NY/Notre Dame) ranks tenth all-time with 78 assisted tackles …
Michael Herberger (Amherst, NY/Williamsville North) needs one sack to move into a tie for fifth place on the College's all-time sacks list (He currently has 7.0).
