UTICA, NY – The Utica College football team hits the road to take on Empire 8 Conference opponent Alfred on Saturday afternoon at Yunevich Stadium in Alfred, NY. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

ESPN Broadcast Info:  All Utica College football games will be broadcast on the radio locally at WTLB 99.1 FM/1310 AM (ESPN Radio) by Dave Peroni and UC alum Ray Biggs … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB's website, www.espnur.com... Fans can also download the free ESPNUR app on their Iphone or Droid device by searching "ESPNUR" in their respective app store. 

Needed Rest: The Pioneers had a bye week last weekend after coming off of a tough loss to Buffalo State on Saturday, October 24 … The 28-16 loss to Buffalo State marks back-to-back losses for UC for the first time this season, as well as the first time the Pioneers lost at home all year.

Where We Stand: Utica is at .500 overall (4-4) and in Empire 8 Conference play (3-3) through eight games … UC had victories in week one over Misericordia (42-28), week three over Morrisville (38-14), week 5 over Ithaca (30-27 OT), and week six over Brockport (22-19 OT) … The Pioneers losses came to Ohio Northern (29-22), SUNY Cortland (47-40 OT), St. John Fisher (32-27), and Buffalo State (28-16).

On The Road: UC is 1-3 on the road this season including a 1-2 conference road record … Utica heads into Alfred looking to regain its footing after two straight losses … This is the final road game of the regular season and UC hopes to gain its second road victory of the season and even their conference road record at 2-2.

Oh So Close: Three of the Pioneers four losses have come by seven points or less and one of the losses came in overtime at Cortland.

Chasing Records: A sweep in their final two games would help UC tie the program-record for conference victories in a single season … UC set a new program mark last season with five E8 wins … The last time UC won exactly four conference games was back in 2012. 

Conference Standings: SUNY Cortland still stands atop of the E8 with a 5-2 conference ledger even after being defeated by Morrisville on Saturday … Alfred and St. John Fisher are tied for second place with a 4-2 conference record, followed by fourth place Morrisville who sits at 4-3 … Buffalo State and Utica College are in fifth with a 3-3 conference record, while Brockport and Ithaca are tied for seventh at 2-4 … Hartwick brings up the bottom of the E8 with a 1-5 conference record.

Against Alfred: The Pioneers are 2-8 against the Saxons in the last 10 years … In the last five years UC has gone 2-3 against Alfred, including winning two of the last three matchups.

Offensive Notes
Offensive Firepower: UC is ranked third in the conference in passing yards (2,310), seventh in rushing yards (1,002), and sixth in total offense (3,312) … The Pioneers average of 288.8 yards per game ranks second on the College's single season list and their 414.0 yards of total offense per game also rank second all-time.

Receiving Threats: The Pioneers top two deep threats are Gregory Palmer (Richland, NY/APW) and Alex DeRusso (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) … DeRusso leads the team and is ranked 40^th in the nation with 740 yards receiving off of 41 receptions and has one touchdown on the year … His 740 yards receiving rank sixth on the College's single season list … Palmer is second on the team and 46^th in the nation with 716 yards receiving off of 36 receptions and has four touchdowns … DeRusso is third in the conference and 44^th in the country in receiving yards per game (92.5), while Palmer is ranked sixth in the conference and 54^th in the nation with (89.5) … DeRusso also recently cracked the top ten for career receiving yards at UC as he now has 1,062 for his career … Palmer ranks ninth on the College's career list with 1,162 receiving yards and he needs one touchdown catch to become the seventh player in program-history to catch at least ten touchdowns.

Quarterback Play: Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) is third in the conference and 20^th in the nation in passing yards (2,210), and third in the conference and 26^th in the nation in passing yards per game (276.3) … He is fifth in the conference and 55^th in the nation in yards per completion (13.39) … On the year he has 11 passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, and eight interceptions … He needs just 35 completions to become the third quarterback in program-history with 200 completions in a single season … He needs 259 passing yards to hold sole possession of third place on the College's single season passing yards list.

Running Game: Junior Ryan Burnett (Mount Vernon, NY/Arch Bishop Stepinac), freshman Malcolm Stowe, and junior Nicodemus Gambill (Rochester, NY/East High) make up the majority of the Pioneers backfield production … Burnett has a team-high 102 carries for 336 yards, two touchdowns and a 3.3 yard per carry rate … Burnett needs 14 more rushing yards to move into fifth place on the College's career list (he currently has 875 career rushing yards) … Stowe is second on the team with 86 carries for 294 yards, three touchdowns, and 3.4 yards per carry … Gambill has 31 attempts for 152 yards, two touchdowns, and a 4.9 yard per carry rate … Mike Cottle (Windsor, CT/South Windsor) chipped in with a team-best 16 carries for 43 yards against Buffalo State in week 8.

Mr. Utility: Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) is third in the conference and 40^th in the nation in all-purpose yards per game (147 yards) and he is first in the conference and 27^th in the country in combined kickoff return yards (567) … Beniquez has 1,176 all-purpose yards off of 102 rushing yards, 507 receiving yards, 33 punt return yards, and 534 kick return yards … He has one rushing touchdown, four receiving touchdowns, and a kickoff returned for a touchdown … He now has 55 catches this season which is tied for sixth on the College's single-season list … Beniquez ranks seventh on the College's career list with 1,255 receiving yards … He currently has 120 career receptions and needs four more to move into sole possession of fifth on the College's all-time receptions list … He is also the College's all-time leader with an average of 115.4 all-purpose yards per game (29 career games).

Special Teams
National Leader: Thomas Woodburn (West Islip, NY/West Islip) is ranked second in the conference in scoring with 77 points on the season … He is first in the conference and first in the nation in field goals per game (2.38) and field goal percentage (.950) … His 77 points this season rank second on the College's single season list … Woodburn is the College's all-time leading scorer with 219 career points (105 PAT, 38 FG) … He is the first kicker in school-history to make over 100 extra points and he has 22 more made field goals than any other kicker in program-history. 

Defensive Notes
Defensive Rankings: UC is seventh in the conference in total yards allowed (3,134), eighth in rushing defense (1,247), and fifth in passing defense (1,887) … The defense is ranked third in sacks (27), sixth in interceptions (10), is tied for second in interceptions returned for touchdown (two), and is ranked first in the conference and fourth in the nation in defensive touchdowns (four).

Tackling Machine: Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross) leads the team and the conference with 91 total tackles … Wilson is first in the conference and 16^th in the nation in tackles per game (11.4) … He also has two interceptions, one sack, 5.5 tackles for a loss, and one touchdown off of a returned interception … His 91 tackles this season ranks 10th all-time at Utica and his 211 career tackles are sixth on the College's career list.

QB's Nightmare: The Pioneers have nine players with at least one sack and six players with multiple sacks … Nick Woodman (Utica, NY/Proctor) leads the team and the conference with nine sacks on the year … Woodman is first in the conference and 13^th in the nation in sacks per game (1.13) … Woodman's nine sacks this year ranks second on the College's single season list and he needs three more sacks to tie his own school-record of 12.0 which he set in 2014 … Woodman is the College's career leader with 25.5 sacks.

Sack City: UC needs just 1.5 more sacks to break the school-record for most team sacks in program-history … Utica currently has 27 total sacks through eight games … Derrick Sekuterski (Depew, NY/Depew) is second on the team with five sacks followed by Mike Kata (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) (three sacks) … Nicholas Bruzzese (Utica, NY/Proctor) and Frank DeNome (New Windsor, NY/Cornwall) each have 2.5 sacks while Jimmy McLaughlin (Schenectady, NY/Guilderland) has two sacks.

Adding Interceptions: UC has six players with at least one interception and three players with multiple interceptions … Matthew McCoy (Sherrill, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) leads the team with three interceptions … Wilson and Sekuterski each have two interceptions … Chance Harris (West Henrietta, NY/Rush Henrietta), Anthony Bierria-Anderson (Freeport, NY/Freeport), and Isaiah Washington (Ozone Park, NY/Fort Hamilton) each have one interception … McCoy's four career interceptions are tied for eighth all-time at UC … McCoy is also tied for fourth on the College's career list with 13 pass breakups. 

 Alfred Profile
Scouting Alfred: The Saxons are 6-2 overall with a 4-2 E8 record … Alfred is seventh in the conference in total offensive yards (2,957), and third in overall defensive yards allowed (2,814) … The Saxons are fourth in the conference in rushing offense (1,369) and seventh in rush defense (1,242) … Alfred is eighth in the conference in passing offense (1,588) and first in pass defense (1,572) … The Saxons have won their last two games, downing Empire 8 opponents Hartwick College (42-18), and Brockport (35-13) … Alfred's offense is led by quarterback Tyler Johnson (123 attempts, 461 yards, 3.7 yards per carry, seven rushing touchdowns, 1,588 passing yards, and 13 touchdowns), and Brendan Buisch (26 receptions, 401 yards, and five touchdowns) … The Saxon's defense is led by Corry Wallace (77 total tackles, 10.5 tackles for a loss, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, and half a sack), and A.J. Licata (73 total tackles, 10.5 tackles for a loss, three and a half sacks, one interception, and one forced fumble).