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.
FIRST MEETING: Today's contest between Utica and Hobart marks the first time these two teams have met in the regular season … Today's meeting is also the final non-conference game of the season for the Pioneers before opening up Empire 8 Conference play at Ithaca on Sept. 29th.
LIBERTY LEAGUE OPPONENTS: The Pioneers are headed into their third consecutive game against a Liberty League opponent … They topped St. Lawrence (40-7) and Union (45-17) in weeks one and two … Utica has seven consecutive victories against Liberty League opponents … The last time UC lost to a Liberty League opponent was back on Sept. 19, 2009 when RPI upended Utica 17-14.
TALE OF THE TAPE: Utica has scored 85 points this year compared to Hobart's 59 … The Pioneers have 51 first downs compared to the Statesmen's' 42 … Hobart has an edge in rushing yards, 409-374 … The Pioneers have a strong lead in passing yards, 627-299 … UC has a 64% (16-of-25) 3rd down conversion rate compared to Hobart's 42% (14-of-33) … Hobart has allowed just one touchdown all year compared to the Pioneers' three.
BYE WEEK COMING UP: The Pioneers have next weekend off before entering Empire 8 Conference play … The Pioneers have traditionally struggled the week before a bye, going 1-9 all-time in the week prior to a bye …. The only time the Pioneers won a game headed into a bye week was back in 2004 when UC knocked off RPI, 9-7.
TOUGH TO BEAT IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY: The Pioneers are 14-1 in their last 15 non-conference contests … Utica has 24 non-conference victories in the program's 12 year history … The Pioneers are 24-27 all-time in non-conference contests … Head Coach
Blaise Faggiano is 15-3 all-time in non-conference games.
NIGHT CRAWLERS: The Pioneers open up their 2012 season with three consecutive night games (7 p.m. start) ... Tonight is just the 4th night game in program-history … UC has participated in seven night games (four home/three away) all-time.
GAETANO RECOGNITION: Utica College President Todd Hutton and Athletic Director
David Fontaine '89 are hosting a recognition ceremony to honor the Gaetano Family prior to Saturday night's contest … The recognition will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the plaza located in front of Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.
LAST WEEK: Senior quarterback
Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) tied a school-record after he tossed five touchdowns to lead the Utica College football team to a 45-17 road win over Union College Saturday night at Frank Bailey Field … The Pioneers improved to 2-0, while the Dutchmen fell to 0-2 on the season … Utica has now topped Union in two consecutive seasons … The Pioneer defense came to play once again as it held the Dutchmen to just 17 points and less than 400 yards of total offense … Junior transfer
Joe Giametta (Seaford, NY/MacArthur) racked up a game-high 16 tackles, while senior captain
Luke Manolescu (New York Mills, NY/Notre Dame) accompanied with 12 tackles of his own.
MEIER MAKES HISTORY: UC's
Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) caught two touchdown passes on Saturday and became the program's all-time leader with 116 career points scored, surpassing former Pioneer kicker Casey McNulty '09 (109 career points) … Meier has 19 career touchdowns.
GIAMETTA HONORED: Junior
Joe Giametta (Seaford, NY/MacArthur) was named the Empire 8 Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Monday … Giametta made 16 stops in the Pioneers' 45-17 win over Union on Saturday … The junior transfer from C.W. Post has helped transform a Pioneer defense that allowed 38 points per game last year … He currently ranks sixth in the nation with an average of 15 tackles per game … He also forced one fumble, recovered a fumble and tallied a tackle for a loss on Saturday night … Originally from Seaford, NY, the 5-foot-9 215 pound outside linebacker recorded 14 tackles in the Pioneers' 40-7 win over St. Lawrence in week one... He has 30 total tackles this year (11 solo).
GROUND AND POUND: Junior running back
Jesse Baldassare (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) controlled the workload in the back field, rushing for a career-high 141 yards on 25 carries and a score, while tallying four catches for 33 yards, in last week's win over Union.
FAGGIANO ETCHES HIS NAME IN HISTORY: Head Coach
Blaise Faggiano became the program's all-time leader in wins two weekends ago … Faggiano, who is in the midst of his fifth season at the helm, now has 19 career victories, eclipsing the previous record set by the program's founding head coach Mike Kemp, who tallied 17 wins in just under six full seasons … The UC football program began varsity competition in 2001 … Faggiano has progressively improved with each season as the Pioneers' head coach … He posted a 3-7 overall mark in his first season, a 4-6 record in his second year, and a 5-5 record in each of the following seasons.
DEFENSE IS THE NAME OF THE GAME: After allowing an average of 38 points per game last season, the Pioneer defense has stepped it up over the course of the first two weeks allowing an average of just 12 points … The secondary has held opposing quarterbacks to an average of 216 yards passing … The defense has also shown they can close out games, allowing zero points in the fourth quarter and just seven points in the second half all season.
SHUT DOWN THIRD DOWN: The Pioneers have held their opponents to just nine third down conversions in 25 attempts for a conversion rate of 36%.
OFFENSE IS HOT IN 2ND QUARTER: The second quarter of play has been nice to the Pioneers this year as they have scored 48 of their 85 total points in the 15 minutes prior to halftime … UC would like to see more offensive production in the fourth quarter as they have only scored three fourth quarter points in two games.
DISCIPLINE, DISCIPLINE, DISCIPLINE: The Pioneers have only given up an average of 53.5 yards in penalties per game this year compared to their opponents 102.0 yards in penalties per game.
YOU HAVE TO SCORE TO WIN: UC has scored 12 touchdowns through two games compared to their opponents' (St. Lawrence, Union) three touchdowns.
IRONMAN: Senior quarterback
Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) is making his 33rd consecutive start, marking the longest active streak … Benkwitt did not miss a start in each of his first three seasons.
D3FOOTBALL.COM FEATURE: Benkwitt was recently highlighted in a feature article by D3football.com contributing writer Andre Lovell … To find the article go to D3football.com, select the tab COLUMNS, select AROUND THE REGION and check out the East Region section.
HUGE PLAY HANSEN: Junior linebacker
Ryan Hansen (Woodcliff Lake, NJ/Pascack Hills) has found himself in the right place at the right time on more than one occasion this season … Hanson has one interception, which he returned 32 yards, two sacks for a loss of 16 yards and three tackles for a loss.
SCOUTING THE STATESMEN: Following Saturday's 28-7 win over Geneva College, the Hobart College football team climbed up four spots to No. 14 in the latest D3football.com poll … Sophomore linebacker Nolan Toran and first-year running back Conner Hartigan were named the Liberty League Special Teams Performer of the Week and Liberty League Rookie of the Week, respectively, by the conference office for their roles in the win over the Golden Tornadoes … Toran was a key member of Hobart's punt return unit. In the first quarter, he recovered a blocked punt at the Geneva 1 to set up the first Statesmen touchdown … In the second quarter, Toran blocked a punt and recovered it, again at the Geneva 1, to set up a second TD … Hartigan rushed for more yards (66) on just seven carries than Geneva managed in the entire game (31 carries, 55 yds) … He averaged a robust 9.4 yards per carry, thanks in large part to a 40-yard run, Hobart's longest play of the season … In addition to Toran and Hartigan, junior linebacker Devin Worthington was named to the Liberty League's Weekly Honor Roll … He had a team-high seven tackles and broke the Hobart game record for tackles for a loss. (Courtesy of Hobart Sports Info.)
