Utica College (2-2) @ Frostburg State (1-3) - Empire 8 Conference Football
Game Details	Saturday, Oct. 12 | Frostburg, Md. | 1 p.m.  Bobcat Stadium | Directions
Game Coverage	Coverage: Live Stats  Tweet ##LetsGoUC
Utica Links	News | Roster | Schedule
Frostburg Links	News | Roster | Schedule

Utica, NY (10/10/2013) – The Utica College football team hits the road on Saturday as the Pioneers travel to Frostburg State to take on the Bobcats in Empire 8 Conference action.  The contest is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in Frostburg, Maryland.   

LIVE STATS: Due to renovations at Frostburg's Bobcat Stadium, ESPN Radio is unable to travel to Maryland to broadcast the Pioneers' over the radio airwaves … Frostburg Athletic Communications will offer live stats throughout the contest at: http://www.sidearmstats.com/frostburg/football. 

SOCIAL MEDIA: If you can't make it out to the game make sure to follow live updates on the Pioneers official Twitter feed: @UCPioneers … If you are at the game on Twitter, or talking about the game on Twitter, make sure to use #LetsGoUC … You can also "Like" the Pioneers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UCpioneers.

LAST TIME UC PLAYED FROSTBURG: (10/13/2012) - 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 Oct. 13, 2012 … The win marked UC's first shutout victory since 2003 when it topped Husson, 36-0 … Frostburg ran into a stingy Pioneer secondary which allowed just eight completions on 24 attempts and 72 total yards in the air.

ALL-TIME AGAINST FROSTBURG: Frostburg joined the Empire 8 as an affiliate member in 2011 … Saturday's match-up marks the third time these two teams have squared off in as many years … The Pioneers are 1-1 all-time against the Bobcats, downing Frostburg 41-0 at Gaetano Stadium on homecoming last year …  Frostburg won the first-ever contest between these two teams 44-24 back in 2011.  

LAST TIME OUT: (10/5/2013) – The Utica College football team lost its Empire 8 Conference opener 34-0 to visiting Salisbury University Saturday afternoon on the turf at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium … The Pioneers are now 2-2 overall and 0-1 in conference play, while the visiting Sea Gulls, who are the two-time defending conference champs, evened their record at 2-2 on the year and opened E8 play with a victory …  UC, which has not been shut out since 2007, gave up 21 points in the second quarter and the Pioneers surrendered three interceptions while going 0-for-2 in the red zone as they lost their second straight contest to a nationally-renowned program … Salisbury, which is receiving votes in the d3football.com national poll, rushed for 364 yards on the ground in the victory … UC junior quarterback Connor Butkiewicz (Southington, CT/Southington) completed 30-of-46 passes for 178 yards on the afternoon, while senior Jamie Murphy (Canadaigua, NY/Marcus Whitman) caught a game-high nine balls for 46 yards … Junior Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) made seven catches for 53 yards for the Pioneers, while senior running back Jake Larson (Bemus Point, NY/Maple Grove) carried the ball 14 times for 48 yards.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Pioneers hit the road for the second time this season, with their first road matchup ending in a loss to nationally-ranked Hobart … UC is now 5-6 on the road dating back to the 2011 season. 

EMPIRE 8 OPPONENTS: The Pioneers are hoping to snap a three-game Empire 8 Conference losing streak dating back to the end of last season … UC set a school-record with four conference victories last year … The Pioneers have 14 victories against Empire 8 Conference opponents in program-history.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING:  Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) currently ranks third on the school's all-time receptions list and he now has 138 … Acevedo is currently tied for second all-time at UC with 13 career touchdown catches (Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) holds the school-record with 30) … Acevedo needs 98 yards Saturday to become the third player in school-history to catch for 2,000+ yards … Acevedo needs 504 all-purpose yards to become just the second player in school-history to accumulate 3,000+ career all-purpose yards … Acevedo needs one touchdown to become the fourth player in school-history to score 100 or more points … Two weeks ago Jake Larson (Bemus Point, NY/Maple Grove) moved into second place on the College's all-time rushing yards list (1,198) and he needs three touchdowns to become the College's all-time leader in rushing touchdowns for a career … Larson currently has 15 touchdowns and is tied for second all-time with former UC back Mike Capra … Larson needs 14 carries to move into second place on the College's all-time carries list … Senior Jamie Murphy (Canadaigua, NY/Marcus Whitman) became the seventh player in school-history to catch over 100 balls and record over 1,000 yards receiving in the Pioneers' loss to Hobart … Against Salisbury, Murphy moved into sole possession of sixth place on the College's all-time receptions list … He needs 12 more catches to move into fourth place on the College's all-time receptions list, he currently has 112 … Murphy needs one touchdown catch to become the sixth player in school-history with 10 or more touchdown grabs … Acevedo and Murphy rank first and third in career receptions per game (6.57 & 4.87), respectively … Junior quarterback Connor Butkiewicz (Southington, CT/Southington) became the fifth player in school-history to complete over 100 career passes last weekend… Butkiewicz also became the fifth quarterback in school-history to throw for over 1,000 yards in a career last week …Butkiewicz needs four touchdowns passes to become one of three QB's in school-history to throw 10+ touchdown passes … Butkiwicz currently ranks second all-time with a 63.4 career completion % … Sophomore kicker Thomas Woodburn (West Islip, NY/West Islip) needs three extra points to move into sole possession of second place on the College's all-time list … Woodburn needs two field goals to move into second place on the school's all-time field goals made list … He needs to make six field goals to become the College's all-time leader in field goals made … Punter Dakota Peel (Alden, NY/Alden) became the fifth player in program-history to punt for 2,000+ yards last week … Junior James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) is tied for second all-time with eight career interceptions … Freshman Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) is the College's all-time leader with an average of 29.62 yards per kick return (minimum five attempts) … Senior linebacker Dana Christofferson (Richford, NY/Dryden) is one of eight players all-time to register 100 or more career assisted tackles. 

EMPIRE 8 RANKINGS: UC's defense currently ranks first in the Empire 8, allowing a conference-low 163.3 yards passing per contest … UC's passing offense ranks fourth in the conference with an average of 223.5 passing yards per game.

PROTECTING BUTKIEWICZ: The Pioneers offensive line has done a tremendous job protecting quarterback Connor Butkiewicz (Southington, CT/Southington) this season … The offensive line leads the Empire 8, allowing just four sacks through four games this season … On the opposite side of the ball the Pioneers rank fourth in the Empire 8 with ten sacks … UC ranks third in the Empire 8 with an average of 22.3 first downs per game. 

UC's QB: Junior quarterback Connor Butkiewicz (Southington, CT/Southington) ranks 17th in the nation with an average of 26 completions per game … He leads the conference in total completions (104) and attempts (166) … He is the only quarterback in the Empire 8 with over 100 completions … His average of 223.3 passing yards per game ranks fourth in the conference … His completion percentage of 62.7 ranks second in the conference.  He also has 893 yards passing this season to go along with five touchdown throws. 

ACE IN THE HOLE: Junior receiver Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) ranks 14th in the country with an average of 8.3 catches per game … His average of 93.3 yards receiving per game ranks 40th nationally … He leads the Empire 8 in catches with 33 and he ranks third in the conference with 373 yards receiving this year. 

LARSON IS A WORKHORSE: Senior running back Jake Larson (Bemus Point, NY/Maple Grove) ranks third in the Empire 8 with an average of 86.8 yards rushing per game this season … His 347 total yards also ranks third in the conference … He has carried the ball 80 times this year, good for second in the E8 … His four rushing TD's are tied for fourth in the conference. 

LENAHAN LEADS THE NATION: Junior safety James Lenahan (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) leads the nation with an average of 1.0 interception per game … He also ranks 33rd in the conference with an average of 5.3 tackles per game. 

MURPHY HOLDING HIS OWN: Senior receiver Jamie Murphy (Canadaigua, NY/Marcus Whitman) ranks 24th in all of Division III football and second in the E8 behind Acevedo, with an average of 7.5 receptions per game … He has totaled 30 catches for 208 yards and a touchdown this year.

PEEL THE PUNTER: Utica punter Dakota Peel (Alden, NY/Alden) ranks 11th in the nation and second in the conference with an average of 41.8 yards per punt this season … Peel has punted 22 balls for a total of 919 yards this season … He has boomed six punts over 50 yards and four of his punts have pinned the opponent inside the 20 yard line … He has a season-long punt of 57 yards this year. 

GIAMETTA RACKS UP TACKLES: Senior linebacker Joe Giametta (Seaford, NY/MacArthur) ranks sixth in the Empire 8 with an average of 9.5 tackles per game this season … He has 38 total tackles to go along with two sacks. 

SULLIVAN LURKS: Safety Mike Sullivan (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) is tied for second in the Empire 8 with four pas break ups this year … He also has one interception for a total of five passes defended … He has 14 tackles this season.

WOODMAN OFF THE EDGE: 6-foot-5 sophomore defensive end Nick Woodman (Utica, NY/Proctor) ranks fourth on the team with 19 tackles this season … He also has one sack, one pass break up and one forced fumble. 

HANSEN GETS IN THE BACKFIELD: Senior linebacker Ryan Hansen (Woodcliff Lake, NJ/Pascack Hills) is tied for eighth in the E8 with 5.5 tackles for a loss this season … Hansen also ranks second on the team with 33 tackles and he has one pass break up to go along with one sack. 

JACK OF ALL TRADES: Junior corner back Rob Alexander (Dobbs Ferry, NY/Dobbs Ferry) ranks third on the team with 24 tackles this season … He also has one interception, one pass break up, one forced fumble, one tackle for a loss and he returned a blocked extra point for a score in the Pioneers season-opener. 

TOUGH AS IT GETS: Four of the Pioneers opponents this season are either ranked or receiving votes in the current D3football.com National Poll … UC has taken on No. 7 Hobart and also will play No. 20 St. John Fisher, Salisbury (receiving votes), and Hartwick (receiving votes).

STAT LINE: UC has 89 first downs compared to its opponents' 75 … UC has completed 106 passes compared to its opponents' 58 and the Pioneers have compiled 894 passing yards compared to their opponents 653. 

GOOD ON 3RD DOWN: The Pioneers have converted on 28-of-65 third down attempts this year (43.08%).

RUN & GUN: The Pioneers have featured a very balanced offense so far this season … UC is averaging 118.3 rushing yards per game and 223.50 passing yards per game … The Pioneers are averaging 4.5 yards per play and they have totaled 1,367 total yards of offense in the first four games.

SCORING IN THE RED ZONE: Utica has scored on 13-of-19 red zone chances (inside the 20 yard line) … Ten of the Pioneers 19 red zone scores have been touchdowns.

TALE OF THE TAPE: The UC defense has allowed an average of 26.5 points per game, Frostburg has allowed 44.2 points per game … The Utica defense has allowed an average of 163.25 passing yards per game compared to the Bobcat's 264.0 … UC is averaging 22.0 points per game compared to Frostburg's 30.8 ppg … UC has 89 first downs compared to the Bobcat's 99 … Frostburg leads in rushing yards per game 201.8-118.3 … Utica is averaging 223.50 passing yards per game compared to Frostburg's 267.5.

SCOUTING FROSTBURG: Frostburg currently holds a 1-3 overall record, including an 0-1 mark in the Empire 8 … Frosburg lost its season opener on the road at Geneva, 47-3 … The Bobcats returned home for two straight games, losing to Waynesburg 59-49 in their home-opener …  They picked up their first win of the season against Case Western at home, 36-33, after kicker Isaac Robinson knocked down a 19 yard field goal with three seconds left on the game clock … Frostburg then traveled to nationally-ranked St. John Fisher for its Empire 8 opener and held a fourth quarter lead, but the Cardinals were able to come from behind to take a three point lead mid way through the final frame to earn the victory, 38-35 … The Bobcats have three players with 200+ yards rushing this season including quarterback Ken Emmons, who has 280 yards and four touchdowns on the ground … Emmons has also completed 67 passes for 1,038 yards and eight touchdown throws … Mike Fourth leads the Bobcat rushing attack with 323 yards and two touchdowns, while Janai Billips will also see several touches, as he has 202 yards rushing and two TD's … Myles Burgess leads the Frostburg receiving corps with 316 yards receiving and four touchdowns on 17 catches … The Frostburg defense is led by Rowan Pinkett, who has a team-high 49 tackles and 1.5 sacks … Marcus Moody has 43 tackles as well.