UTICA, NY – The Utica College football team returns to action on the road Saturday as the Pioneers travel to Buffalo State to take on the Bengals in a key Empire 8 Conference matchup at 12 p.m. The contest will be televised live across New York State on the Time Warner Cable Sports Channels.

Follow the Game Live
TV Broadcast: Time Warner Cable Sports will be on Buffalo State College's campus Saturday, and the game will be televised live across New York State on Time Warner Cable Sports in Syracuse/Utica (Channel 26/323), Albany/Hudson Valley (Channel 50/323), Rochester (Channel 26/323) and Buffalo (Channel 25/323) … The contest will also be replayed on TWCS in all markets.

Radio Broadcast: All Utica College football games will be broadcast over the radio airwaves on ESPN Utica/Rome (1310 AM) by Dave Peroni, in his 40th year of broadcasting, and UC alum Ray Biggs … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on ESPNUR's website, www.espnur.com or download the ESPN Utica/Rome APP available in the Google Play store and on Apple ITunes by searching "ESPNUR".

Online Video & Stats: Live stats will be produced by the Buffalo State Athletic Communications Department: http://bscintra.buffalostate.edu/athletics/football/xlive.htm ... Live video will also be provided via the Buffalo State Athletics Live Video portal: http://www.buffalostateathletics.com/sports/2015/8/20/Boxcaster.aspx

Team Notes
Last Week: Utica knocked off previously undefeated and nationally-ranked No. 13 St. John Fisher College, 23-6, in Empire 8 Conference action Saturday … The win marked the Pioneers third victory over a ranked opponent this season and it was also the first time Utica has defeated St. John Fisher in program-history … The Pioneer defense came away with a school-record nine pass breakups to go along with two interceptions … Utica held Fisher to just 279 yards of total offense and forced four sacks, while controlling the time of possession game (Utica: 41:05, SJFC: 18:55).

National Polls: UC is in the receiving votes category of the D3football.com and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) National Polls released Monday … The Pioneers are receiving one vote in each poll after topping 13th-ranked St. John Fisher College … Utica is making its third appearance of the season in the D3football.com receiving votes category … The Pioneers received six votes after defeating nationally-ranked Ohio Northern in week two … Utica then received 21 votes after improving to 4-0 with a win over nationally-ranked Cortland State in week four.

Overall Record: The Pioneers are now 5-2 overall for just the fourth time in program-history, matching their record through seven games which they also recorded in 2010, 2011 and 2012 … UC has wins over three teams who were ranked in the D3football.com National Poll at the time of their meeting … The Pioneers downed No. 18 Ohio Northern, 34-30, at home in week two … Utica defeated No. 23 Cortland, 24-13, on Homecoming at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium in week four … Most recently, the Pioneers topped No. 13 St. John Fisher, 23-6, at home on Saturday. 

In the National Spotlight: Utica's offense currently ranks 21st in the country and leads the Empire 8 Conference with 156 first downs this season … The Pioneers also rank 13th nationally and first in the Empire 8 with an average of 25.25 yards per kickoff return … Senior quarterback Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) ranks 20th in the country with 1,785 total passing yards and he leads the Empire 8 with 22.57 completions per game … Senior Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) ranks 18th nationally and leads the E8 with an average of 8.0 receptions per game … Freshman running back Lindell Reed (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) ranks 33rd nationally with eight rushing touchdowns this season.

Offensive Notes
College's Male Athlete of the Week: Senior Ryan Burnett (Mount Vernon, NY/Arch Bishop Stepinac) was named the College's Male Athlete of the Week for his performance in the Pioneers win over St. John Fisher on Saturday … Burnett's 204 rushing yards in the win over St. John Fisher is the first time a Pioneer has broken the 200 yard rushing barrier in a single game since 2005 …Burnett is currently ranked fifth in the Empire 8 conference in rushing yards per game (80.1) and third in total yards (561) … He now needs just 118 yards to move into third place on Utica's all-time rushing list.

Steady Teddy: Senior quarterback Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) leads the conference with 158 completions and 253 attempts this season … He ranks second in the Empire 8 with 1,785 yards passing … He has thrown for over 300 yards in two of his last three games … Last weekend, VanGalen moved into second on the College's career list with 4,513 career passing yards.

A Nose for the Goal Line: Freshman running back Lindell Reed (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) has a team-best eight touchdowns in his first seven collegiate games … He has two touchdowns in three of seven games this season … On Saturday against St. John Fisher, he scored twice, including a 33 yard touchdown on a fourth down and one situation in the third quarter … His eight touchdowns this season rank seventh on the College's all-time single season list.

Primary Targets: Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) has no shortage of passing options with Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston), Imani Vincent (Brooklyn, NY/Sheepshead Bay) and Shawn Marchant (Kingston, NY/Kingston) all posting solid numbers this season … Beniquez, who is the College's career leader in all-purpose yards, is the most popular target and currently leads the conference with 56 receptions … Beniquez's 56 catches rank fifth on the College's all-time single season list … He is now tied for third on the College's all-time list with 176 career catches … Vincent ranks second on the team with 33 catches for 435 yards and three touchdowns … Marchant has 25 catches for 372 yards and three scores. 

Defensive Notes
Strong Secondary: The Pioneers lead the Empire 8 in passing defense, allowing an average of just 166.4 yards passing per game … UC ranks second in the conference with ten interceptions and they have only allowed four touchdowns through the air all season.

Team Defense: The Pioneers defense has held its opponents to an average of 16.3 first downs per game, which ranks second in the conference … UC ranks second in the Empire 8 in opponent third down conversion rate, holding opponents to just 31 conversions on 89 third down attempts this season. 

E8 Defensive Player of the Week: Senior linebacker Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross) was named the Empire 8 Conference Defensive Player of the Week and the ECAC North Defensive Player of the Week for his performance on Saturday … Wilson led the Pioneer defense with nine tackles, 1.5 sacks and one interception … Wilson is now just the second player in program-history to total over 300 career tackles … Wilson and the UC defense held the Cardinals to just six points on the afternoon … Fisher headed into the contest averaging 39.5 points per game … Wilson is currently tied for third in the Empire 8 with 67 total tackles and he also has 2.5 sacks, two interceptions, one fumble recovery and one pass break up this season … Over the course of four seasons at Utica he has 304 tackles, 14 pass deflections, 8.5 sacks and four interceptions.

Ball Hawks: Utica's Anthony Beaubrun (West Hempstead, NY/West Hempstead) leads the team with three interceptions this season … He posted a key interception on Saturday towards the end of the first half as St. John Fisher threatened to score with the ball inside the Utica ten yard line … Utica's Anthony Bierria-Anderson (Freeport, NY/Freeport) currently ranks second on the team with a career-high 46 tackles this season … He also has one interception, three pass breakups and one forced fumble … Dehstin Smart (Paterson, NJ/Hackensack) ranks third on the team with 28 tackles and he also has two interceptions.

In the Trenches: On Saturday, defensive lineman Nicholas Bruzzese (Utica, NY/Proctor) totaled five tackles and picked up 1.5 sacks … He now leads UC with 3.5 sacks this season … Bruzzese also moved into sixth on the College's all-time list with 9.5 career sacks.

Opponent Notes
All –Time Against Buffalo State: Utica is 2-2 against Buffalo State all-time … The Pioneers have never lost at Buffalo State, earning road victories over the Bengals in 2012 and 2014.

Last Year's Meeting: Utica lost to visiting Buffalo State 28-16 back on Oct. 24, 2015 … The Pioneers trailed by just two points, 15-13, with 1:41 to go in the third quarter, but the visiting Bengals outscored UC 13-3 down the stretch to earn the conference victory … Buffalo State rushed for 199 yards on the ground and posted a 100 yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Dale Stewart towards the end of the third quarter to keep the game out of reach for Utica.

Meet the Bengals: Buffalo State currently holds a 4-2 overall record and a 2-2 mark in Empire 8 play … The Bengals have won two straight contests, including a 39-21 week six victory over Cortland State … Buffalo State's Dale Stewart leads the team with seven touchdowns this season … Stewart went down with an injury in week six against Cortland and did not participate in the Bengals last game against Alfred State … Tre Jones has stepped in nicely to fill the void and now leads the team with 466 yards rushing this season … Quarterback Kyle Hoppy has started the last three games for the Bengals and currently leads the team with 1,147 yards passing and four touchdowns through the air … Hoppy is also a threat on the ground as he has carried the ball 32 times this year and has three rushing touchdowns … Bart Mazzara leads the Bengal defense with 58 tackles … Ish Height has two interceptions and Billy Carroll has a team-best 4.5 sacks. 

Follow the Pioneers
Pioneer Pride Points: Utica Athletics has a fan rewards program to promote fan engagement for all 26 of UC's intercollegiate sports… Powered by SuperFanU, the "Pioneer Pride Points" Fan Rewards app uses GPS tracking to recognize where fans are located at specified home games… Points are earned by attending and "Checking In" to UC athletics games, participating in a variety of contests and interacting with social media platforms through the app… The app is available on all IPhone and Android devices by searching 'Pioneer Pride Points' in the Apple App Store or GooglePlay Market and is free to all Utica College students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni and fans.

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 #UCMoose… You can also "Like" the Pioneers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UCpioneers ... Fans can also follow the Pioneers on Instagram: UCPioneers.