UTICA, NY -- The Utica College football team returns to action Saturday for its final regular season home contest of the year when the Pioneers take on nationally-ranked No. 15 Alfred University in a key Empire 8 Conference matchup at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.  The contest is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m.
 
Promotional Events
Seniors Being Honored: For the last home game of the regular season UC will host senior day and 18 Pioneers will participate in their final home game … The seniors include: Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston), Austin Berninger (River Edge, NJ/Riverdell), Nicholas Bruzzese (Utica, NY/Proctor),  Ryan Burnett (Mount Vernon, NY/Arch Bishop Stepinac), Joe Castellitto (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac), Frank DeNome (New Windsor, NY/Cornwall), Tyler DePasquale (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady), Jack Doyle (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields), Nicodemus Gambill (Rochester, NY/East High), Peter Mueller (Yorktown Heights, NY/Somers ), James Murphy (West Islip, NY/West Islip), Dan Pamlanye (Oakdale, NY/Connetequot), Robert Pontbriand (Yorktown Heights, NY/Somers), Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) and Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross) … The Pioneers will also be joined on the field by senior cheerleaders Tionna De Freitas, Elliot Coleman and Bianca Velardi … There will be a ceremony prior to the game to honor the seniors. 

Thank You for Your Service: The Pioneers are encouraging all veterans to attend Saturday's game ... All veterans get in the game for free by wearing clothing that represents their military service.

Orange Out: Fans are encouraged to show their UC pride on Saturday and participate in an "Orange Out" … Utica College's Student Senate is hosting a contest asking fans to upload photos to instagram or twitter with the #UCOrangeOut for a chance to win a football jersey … For more information contact ssenate@utica.edu. 

Team Notes
Success Against Ranked Opponents: UC is undefeated this season against nationally-ranked opponents …  Alfred is the fourth nationally-ranked team to visit Charles A. Gaetano Stadium in 2016 … The Pioneers defeated No. 18 Ohio Northern at home 34-30 (9/10/16) … UC also defeated No. 23 Cortland 24-13 (9/24/16) and No. 13 St. John Fisher, 23-6 (10/15/16). 

Overall Record: The Pioneers are currently 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the highly competitive Empire 8 Conference … They have now started the season 6-2 overall for just the second time in program-history, matching a program-best 6-2 mark to start a season that they set back in 2012 … UC needs one more win to tie the program-record for wins in a season, originally set in 2014 when the Pioneers earned the program's first ECAC Bowl bid. 

Receiving Votes:  The UC football team is receiving votes in the latest American Football Coaches Association National Poll … The Pioneers received two votes, marking the third consecutive week they have appeared in the receiving votes category. 

Bye Week:  The Pioneers were off last Saturday for their scheduled bye week … This week marks the third straight season UC has faced Alfred when coming off a bye week … The Pioneers are 3-10 in the last 13 years when coming off a bye week, with one of those wins coming against Alfred, 35-14, back in 2014. 

Last Time Out: The Pioneers are back on track and riding the highs of two consecutive victories, including a 26-13 win over host Buffalo State on October 22^nd … Utica quarterback Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) completed 15 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns in the win …  Senior wide receiver Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) finished the day with three catches for 74 yards and two key touchdowns … Senior running back Ryan Burnett (Mount Vernon, NY/Arch Bishop Stepinac) recorded a total of 153 net rushing yards and one touchdown … Senior linebacker Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross) led the Pioneer defense with 10 tackles and one sack. 

Pioneer Defense: Defensive Coordinator Will Pluff and the UC defense has now held its opponents to less than 300 yards of total offense in each of the last two games … Utica has combined to hold its opponents to an average of 9.5 points in the last two weeks, allowing 13 points against Buffalo State and just six points against St. John Fisher … The Pioneer defense has allowed just six second half points over the course of the last two contests.

Welcome Back Coach Morgan: Alfred University Defensive Coordinator Lazarus Morgan is a Utica College alum and former Pioneer … Morgan was recently promoted to defensive coordinator after serving two seasons (2014 and 2015) as the Saxons' junior varsity coach and assistant coach in charge of defensive backs … Morgan coached five seasons at Utica College after concluding a stellar collegiate playing career … He was a four-year starting defensive back at Utica (2004-08) and was an Empire 8 All-Conference selection as a junior, in 2007.
               
Offensive Notes
Signal Caller: Senior quarterback Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) leads the Empire 8 and ranks 32^nd nationally with an average of 21.63 completions per game … He also ranks second in the conference and 45^th nationally with 1,985 passing yards … VanGalen has a total of 4,713 career passing yards, which ranks him second in school history.

Primary Target: Senior receiver Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) ranks 18^th nationally and first in the Empire 8 with an average of 7.4 receptions per game … He has caught ten or more passes in three games and leads the team with 59 catches for 608 yards and four touchdowns … Beniquez currently has 59 receptions this season and needs 15 more to break the single season receptions record.

Ball Control: Senior running back Ryan Burnett (Mount Vernon, NY/Arch Bishop Stepinac) has carried the ball over 30 times in three games this season, with the Pioneers winning each of those contests … UC currently ranks in the top 25 nationally in average time of possession per game (33:07), in large part due to the recent success of the run game … Burnett carried the ball 36 times for a career-high 204 yards and a touchdown in the Pioneers win over St. John Fisher … He added 32 carries for 153 yards and one score against Buffalo State … He currently ranks fourth in the Empire 8 with 714 rushing yards this season … Burnett is currently third all-time in career rushing yards with 1,595 yards on the ground … With another 177 rushing yards he will move up to second and he needs 252 yards to become the top rusher in program history … In the team's last game against Buffalo State, Burnett became first all-time in career carries for Utica College with 409.

Nose for the Goal Line: Freshman running back Lindell Reed (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) ranks fourth in the conference and leads the team with nine rushing touchdowns this season … He is now just four scores away from breaking the single season record.

Defensive Notes
Defensive Leader: Senior linebacker Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross) has a team-best 77 tackles and 3.5 sacks this season and he has recorded double-digit tackles in five of eight starts … He ranks sixth in the Empire 8 Conference with an average of 9.6 tackles per game … Wilson now ranks third all-time in career SOLO tackles with 135 … Earlier this season he became just the second player in program-history to record 300+ career tackles and he now has 314 in four seasons.

INT Specialist:  Anthony Beaubrun (West Hempstead, NY/West Hempstead) has four interceptions so far this season and he is now tied for sixth on the College's single season list … He also has 28 tackles and two pass breakups. 

Pressuring the QB: The Utica defense has 18 sacks, led by Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross), Nicholas Bruzzese (Utica, NY/Proctor) and Xyier Woodard (Albany, NY/LaSalle), who each have 3.5 sacks this season. 

Cleaning Up: Anthony Bierria-Anderson (Freeport, NY/Freeport) ranks second on the team with a career-high 46 tackles … Isaiah Washington (Ozone Park, NY/Fort Hamilton) has come on strong as of late with 22 tackles in his last three starts, while Dehstin Smart (Paterson, NJ/Hackensack) is tied for third on the team with 30 tackles. 
 
Special Teams Notes
Dangerous Return Game: Utica ranks eighth nationally and first in the Empire 8 Conference with an average of 25.74 yards per kick return …  Nicodemus Gambill (Rochester, NY/East High) ranks 25^th nationally and first in the conference with 590 combined kick return yards … His 590 kick return yards so far this season are good for fourth in the single season record books … Gambill is five yards short of third place, 26 yards short of second place, and 108 yards short of breaking the single season record for kick return yards ... With the highest average yards per kick return in school history (29.5/per return), Gambill is projected to break that single season record.  

Kicking with Confidence: Freshman kicker Desmond Akpanoko (Roosevelt, NY/Roosevelt) ranks 34^th nationally and second in the Empire 8 Conference with an average of 1.00 field goals per game this season … He is currently tied for third for most field goals in a single season with eight this year … Akpanoko needs three more field goals to move into second in the single season record book.

Meet the Opponent
Against Alfred: The Pioneers are 2-9 against the Saxons in the last 11 years … In the last six years UC has gone 2-4 against Alfred, including winning two of the last four matchups … UC's most recent win over Alfred was in 2014. 

Scouting Alfred:  The nationally-ranked No. 15 Saxons are undefeated overall (8-0) and in the Empire 8 Conference (6-0) … Their last victory came Saturday (Oct. 29) at home against the Brockport Golden Eagles … The Saxons scored two touchdowns in the second half to dig out of a 28-17 deficit and beat Brockport, 30-28 … Alfred leads the Empire 8 in scoring (40 touchdowns), rushing (2,067 yards and 24 rushing touchdowns), and in sacks (27 sacks) … Maleke Fuentes leads the team in rushing with 751 yards and five touchdowns … In eight starts, quarterback Tyler Johnson has completed 111 passes for 1,544 yards and 15 touchdowns … Wide receiver Brendan Buisch has caught 39 passes for 652 yards and 10 touchdowns. 

Looking Ahead: The Pioneers will return to action on the road next Saturday (11/12) to close out regular season play … Utica will travel to face Empire 8 opponent Hartwick College … Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Follow the Game Live
Broadcast Info:  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" ... Utica College home games are also broadcast over the air and online by Utica College's student radio station, WPNR 90.7 FM.
 
Pioneers All-Access: If you can't make it out to Utica to watch the game in person, Pioneers All-Access is the place to be on game day, providing live video, audio (WPNR 90.7 FM) and stats for all UC home games on the turf …. Pioneers All-Access is a completely FREE service provided for those members of the Pioneer nation that might not be able to make it out to the game … Social media and live stats are fully integrated into the Pioneers All-Access site for the most comprehensive viewing experience …  Make sure to check out Pioneers All-Access at www.ucpioneers.com/watch.
 
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.