The Pioneers head to Union College to take on the Dutchmen Saturday at 7 p.m.
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 (courtesy of Union Athletics) for Saturday's contest will be available at www.ucpioneers.com … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB's website, www.espnur.com.
LAST TIME AGAINST UNION: The Utica College football team rallied from an eight point deficit in the fourth quarter, taking the lead after a 7-play, 60 yard touchdown drive with 3:20 left, to lift the Pioneers to a 28-27 victory in their home opener against Union College last season in front of 4,075 fans at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium … Benkwitt had a huge day, completing 27-of-35 passes for 337 yards and two touchdowns … Wide receiver
Jamie Murphy (Canadaigua, NY/Marcus Whitman) had a career-day, catching a game-high eight balls for 153 yards and two touchdowns, including a key 54 yard touchdown grab in the fourth quarter to help the Pioneers remain undefeated … Union was successful on 4-of-4 fourth down conversions until the final drive of the contest when the Pioneer defense came up huge when it had to, and stopped the Dutchmen on fourth down with 1:51 to go to seal the one point victory for UC … Defensive lineman
Jerrod Clowes (Rochester, NY/Irondequoit) added a career-best 11 tackles … Linebacker
Dana Christofferson (Richford, NY/Dryden) made a career-high ten tackles and safety
Luke Manolescu (New York Mills, NY/Notre Dame) added nine stops to pace the Pioneer defense.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Utica holds a 1-0 advantage over the Dutchmen, with their first meeting coming last season.
NIGHT CRAWLERS: The Pioneers open up their 2012 season with three consecutive night games (7 p.m. start) ... UC returns home for its final non-conference contest of the season next Saturday against Hobart on Sept. 15th.
LAST WEEK: UC compiled 508 yards of total offense, and the Pioneer defense held visiting St. Lawrence to just seven points, as UC downed the Saints 40-7 in the season-opener at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium Saturday night … 2,653 fans turned out to watch the Pioneers win their fourth consecutive season opener, including their third straight win on the Time Warner Cable Sports Television Network … Senior quarterback
Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) put on a good show in his 31st consecutive start as he completed 20-of-36 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns.
FAGGIANO ETCHES HIS NAME IN HISTORY: Head Coach
Blaise Faggiano became the program's all-time leader in wins last weekend … Faggiano, who is in the midst of his fifth season at the helm, now has 18 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 stepped it up in week one against St. Lawrence, allowing just one touchdown … This was the fewest points the Pioneer defense has allowed since Oct. 10, 2009 when they beat first-year program Anna Maria College 43-7 … The Utica defense held the Saints to 286 yards of total offense last weekend.
WELCOME TO UTICA JOE GIAMETTA: Junior transfer
Joe Giametta (Seaford, NY/MacArthur) led UC with 14 tackles last weekend against St. Lawrence… The outside linebacker transferred from Division II C.W. Post last Spring and he made an immediate name for himself on the defensive side of the ball.
BENKWITT'S FAVORITE TARGETS: Senior tight end
Matt Dunn (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place), a preseason All-American, caught five balls for 105 yards and two touchdowns, while classmate
Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) added six catches for a game-high 136 yards in the Pioneers' week one victory.
PEELIN' OFF BIG RUNS: Sophomore running back
Dakota Peel (Alden, NY/Alden) rushed the ball 11 times for 42 yards and a career-high two touchdowns in his first collegiate start on Saturday … Peel scored on runs of two and three yards on two straight UC drives to help the Pioneers take a 20-0 lead … Even more impressive is that he also started at punter and averaged 41.5 yards per punt, including three punts inside the 20 yard line.
OFF TO A QUICK START: The Utica offense scored on its first four possessions and took a convincing 27-0 lead with 9:27 to go in the second quarter of play against St. Lawrence last weekend.
MOVIN' ON UP: Matt Dunn (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place)'s two touchdown catches in week one helped him move into sole possession of fourth place on the College's all-time receiving touchdowns list … He now has 10 touchdown catches over the course of the last four years.
HARD WORK PAYS OFF: Sophomore safety
James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) had a great camp according to the coaching staff and it paid off in week one as he picked off a career-high two passes and added five tackles for UC … Junior cornerback
Xavier Richardson (Clay, NY/CNS) also picked off a pass for the Pioneers last weekend.
IRONMAN: Junior quarterback
Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) is making his 32nd consecutive start, marking the longest active streak … Benkwitt did not miss a start in each of his first three seasons.
QUICK HITTERS: Before last weekend, the last time the Pioneers had scored 40 or more points was on Oct. 1, 2011 against Salisbury … The last time Benkwitt threw for 300 or more yards was on Sept. 10, 2011 against Union College … Meier needs three catches to tie James Proniewych for second on the College's all-time receptions list … Meier now has 120 career catches … Utica is now 7-5 all-time in season opening games … The Pioneers are now 3-0 all-time in televised games … Dunn now has 85 career receptions, the most for a tight end in school-history.
FOLLOW THE PIONEERS: Don't forget to
Like the Pioneers on Facebook and
follow UC on Twitter all season long … You can catch Head Coach
Blaise Faggiano on ESPN Radio WTLB 1310 AM or streaming on
espnur.com every Monday afternoon as he recaps each contest and previews the upcoming weekend with Fred Miller and Gene Conti.
HEAVY ON EXPERIENCE: Utica returns 14 total starters to the gridiron this season after a successful 2011 campaign … On the offensive side of the ball the Pioneers return fourth year starting quarterback
Andrew Benkwitt (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck), senior wide receiver
Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), senior preseason All-American
Matt Dunn (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place), offensive guard Tom Owens, junior wide out
Jamie Murphy (Canadaigua, NY/Marcus Whitman), former all-conference offensive lineman
Matt Malunat (Minisink Valley, NY/Slate Hill), and junior lineman
Michael Vitacolonna (Bellmawr, NJ/Camden Catholic) … Seven more returning starters will line up on the defensive side of the ball including a cast of experienced linebackers in senior
Genaro Scampone (Utica, NY/Proctor), junior all-conference selection
Dana Christofferson (Richford, NY/Dryden) and classmate
Alex Rukavena (Utica, NY/Whitesboro) … The defensive line also boasts an experienced crew in all-conference defensive end
Michael Herberger (Amherst, NY/Williamsville North), alongside seniors
Jerrod Clowes (Rochester, NY/Irondequoit) and
Adam Luczak (Letchworth, NY/Silver Springs) ... Senior free safety
Luke Manolescu (New York Mills, NY/Notre Dame) also returns to the secondary after finishing the year ranked third on the team with 85 tackles last season.
LEADING THE WAY: The Pioneers recently announced their 2012 captains … For the offensive unit Benkwitt and Dunn will wear the “C” … On the defensive side of the ball second year captain
Genaro Scampone (Utica, NY/Proctor) was voted in again, while senior
Luke Manolescu (New York Mills, NY/Notre Dame) was named captain as well.
SCOUTING THE DUTCHMEN: Christian Clark hit a 35 yard field goal with 10:01 remaining in the fourth quarter to lead Salve Regina University to a 17-14 non-league football victory over Union College last weekend at Frank Bailey Field … It was the season opener for both teams … Union was led by wide receiver Jimmer Bennett and linebacker Noah Joseph … Bennett had a career best 172 yards on seven catches with a TD, and Joseph recorded a game high 17 tackles, including two for losses … Brian Daley and Jake Lebowitz had nine tackles each for the Dutchmen … Connor Eck was 10 for 22 in the first varsity game of his career, and also passed for a touchdown with 172 yards. Eck also led the Dutchmen on the ground with 41 rushing yards.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING: Benkwitt is the only quarterback in program-history to attempt 1,000 or more passes in a career … He has completed a school record 667 of those passes … He needs 198 passing yards to eclipse the 8,000 yard barrier for his career … His 60 career touchdown passes is a school-record … For his career he is averaging 251.7 yards passing per game …
Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) needs one touchdown to become the College's all-time leading scorer … Meier currently has 104 career points and the school record was set by kicker Casey McNulty '09 as he made 16 field goals and 61 extra points for a total of 109 … Meier needs just one all-purpose yard to gain sole possession of 4th on the College's all-time list, he currently has 1,794 all-purpose yards and is tied with James Proniewych '07 … Meier and
Matt Dunn (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) rank fifth and sixth on the College's all-time receiving yards list … Meier has 1,402 career receiving yards and Dunn recently broke the 1,000 yard barrier, he now has 1,060 … Dunn needs 14 catches to reach the 100 catch mark for his career … Dunn needs one touchdown catch to tie for fourth on the College's all-time receiving touchdowns list … 367 passing yards last week tied for second most in a single game in the program's 12 year history … 508 total offensive yards against St. Lawrence last week marks just the seventh time in school-history that the Pioneers have eclipsed the 500 yard marker.
