Utica, NY -- The undefeated Utica College football team travels to Ithaca College on Saturday for an Empire 8 Conference matchup against the Bombers at Butterfield Stadium.  The contest is scheduled to kickoff at 1 p.m.

Undefeated: Utica is 4-0 for just the third time in the 16 year history of the program … The last time UC was 4-0 to begin a season was in 2014 when they went on to win a school-record seven games and earn the program's first ever ECAC bowl bid … A win against Ithaca on Saturday would push the Pioneers to a 5-0 record for the first time in program-history … Utica is one of just 20 teams in Division III football with a 4-0 record … There are 51 undefeated teams left in Division III with a record of either 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 or 4-0.

Broadcast Info:  All Utica College football games will be broadcast over the radio airwaves on 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 ... Ithaca College will provide a live video broadcast of the contest via: http://ictv.org/live/ … Live stats will also be provided by Ithaca's Athletic Communications Department: http://sidearmstats.com/ithaca/football/

Week Four Review:  The Pioneers hauled in a school-record five interceptions and remained undefeated as they topped visiting and nationally-ranked No. 23 Cortland State 24-13 in Empire 8 Conference action on homecoming at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium last Saturday … Utica defeated Cortland for the first time in program-history and has now beaten two top-25 opponents in the last three weeks.

Top Ten INT: UC was in the national media spotlight after an interception that went off the back of a SUNY Cortland receiver, and off the helmet of Utica's Matthew McCoy (Sherrill, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill), landed in the arms of Pioneer defensive back Dehstin Smart (Paterson, NJ/Hackensack)… The clip of the incredible play went viral on several national media outlets last Saturday night … The play was featured on ESPN's 1 a.m. airing of SportsCenter anchored by the highly popular Scott VanPelt … It was also featured on SportCenter's Week 4 Must See Plays at 2 a.m. and on SportsCenter's Top 10 segment, coming in at No. 6 on the top ten list … The play was also highlighted on several national social media feeds and websites, including ESPN.com, SB Nation, Bleacher Report, USA Today Sports and Fox Sports. 

Play of the Week:  Dehstin Smart (Paterson, NJ/Hackensack)'s incredible interception was also selected as the D3football.com  National Play of the Week, marking the second time in three weeks that the Pioneers earned the National Play of the Week distinction … Back in week two Matt Stone (Rochester, NY/Brighton)'s 83 yard interception returned for a touchdown sparked the Pioneers come from behind victory and also earned the D3football.com National Play of the Week Award.

Receiving Votes: The undefeated Pioneers are now receiving a program-best 21 votes in the latest D3football.com National Poll.

In the National Spotlight: The Pioneers rank 10^th nationally and first in the Empire 8 with an average of 28.42 yards per kick return … Nicodemus Gambill (Rochester, NY/East High) ranks ninth nationally and first in the E8 with 342 total kick return yards … Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) leads the nation with an average of 31.6 yards per punt return … Freshman kicker Dennis Akpanoko ranks sixth nationally and first in the conference with an average of 1.75 field goals per game … Quarterback Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) ranks 30^th nationally with 995 total passing yards … Freshman running back Lindell Reed (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) ranks 28^th in the nation with five rushing touchdowns this season. 

Homecoming for Coach Faggiano: Utica College Head Football Coach Blaise Faggiano is an Ithaca College graduate, class of 1993 … Faggiano was a member of the football team and helped guide the Bombers to a Division III National Championship in 1991 … After earning his undergraduate degree from Ithaca, he accepted a graduate assistant coaching position at the University at Albany, where he earned a master's degree in liberal arts … Faggiano returned to Ithaca College in 1995, and was part of a coaching staff that led the Bombers to postseason appearances in three out of four seasons … Faggiano is in the midst of his ninth season at Utica College and currently holds a 42-44 overall record with the Pioneers.

Offensive Notes
Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Week: Senior running back Ryan Burnett (Mount Vernon, NY/Arch Bishop Stepinac) carried the ball 30 times for 144 yards and one touchdown against Cortland on his way to earning Empire 8 Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors ... Burnett also caught four balls for a team-best 74 yards receiving … Burnett's 30 carries ranks fifth on the College's all-time single game list … He also moved into fourth on the College's all-time rushing list with 1,153 career rushing yards … Burnett's nine career rushing touchdowns now rank seventh on the College's all-time list.

Big Freshman: First year running back Lindell Reed (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) leads the team with five rushing touchdowns this season … He has 33 total carries for 109 yards and ranks 28^th nationally with five rushing TD's.

VanGalen Under Center: Senior quarterback Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) ranks third in the Empire 8 Conference with an average of 248.8 yards passing per game … He ranks second in the conference with 78 completions.

Beniquez is Rolling:  Senior wide receiver and punt return man Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston)  leads the conference with 27 catches this season … Last week he moved into second on the College's all-time all-purpose yards list … He currently has 3,824 career all-purpose yards.

Receiving Corps: Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) leads the way for the Pioneer receivers, but not far behind is Imani Vincent (Brooklyn, NY/Sheepshead Bay) who has hauled in 14 catches for 237 yards and two touchdowns this season … Junior Shawn Marchant (Kingston, NY/Kingston) leads the team with three receiving touchdowns to go along with 12 catches for 191 yards. 

Defensive Notes
Approaching Another Milestone: Senior linebacker Juwan Wilson (South Ozone Park, NY/Holy Cross) moved into third place on the College's all-time tackles list last week … He now needs 22 tackles to move into second place on the College's all-time tackles list … He currently has 269 tackles over the course of the last four seasons … Wilson currently leads the team with 32 total tackles this season.

INT Kings: Utica's Anthony Beaubrun (West Hempstead, NY/West Hempstead) and Dehstin Smart (Paterson, NJ/Hackensack) each have two interceptions this season to lead the team … Smart also ranks third on the team with 27 tackles … Beaubrun ranks fourth on the team with 22 tackles … Anthony Bierria-Anderson (Freeport, NY/Freeport) ranks second on the team with 29 tackles to go along with one interception and two pass break ups this year.

Laying on the Pressure: The Pioneers have five players with at least one sack this season … Xyier Woodard (Albany, NY/LaSalle) leas the way with 2.5 sacks, while Nick Yelich (Lancaster, NY/Depew) has 1.5 sacks and an interception … Derrick Sekuterski (Depew, NY/Depew), Nicholas Bruzzese (Utica, NY/Proctor) and Frank DeNome (New Windsor, NY/Cornwall) each have one sack on the season for the Pioneers. 

Special Teams
Empire 8 Special Teams Player of the Week: Freshman kicker Desmond Akpanoko (Roosevelt, NY/Roosevelt) was named the Empire 8 Conference Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday after his performance in the Pioneers' 24-13 win over nationally-ranked Cortland on Homecoming last weekend … The award marks the first of Akpanoko's career and the second straight week a member of the UC football team has been honored as the Conference's Special Teams Player of the Week … Akpanoko made four field goals on the day, marking the second most field goals made in a single game in program-history … He made field goals of 28, 24, 20, and 31 … His 31-yarder with 3:10 to go in the fourth quarter put the Pioneers up by two scores and essentially sealed the victory against Cortland … Akpanoko's 12 points tied for the second most points scored by kicking in a single game in program-history … He has now made seven of nine field goal attempts this season through four games.

History in the Making: Senior running back Ryan Burnett (Mount Vernon, NY/Arch Bishop Stepinac) ranks fourth on the College's all-time list with 1,153 career rushing yards … He needs two more rushing touchdowns to move into sole possession of fifth on the College's career list … Teddy VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) needs eight completions to become just the fourth quarterback in program-history to complete 300+ career passes … VanGalen needs 277 yards passing to become the fourth quarterback in program-history to pass for over 4,000 yards in a career … Beniquez needs 48 yards receiving to move into fifth on the College's all-time receiving yards list … Beniquez needs 176 all-purpose yards to become just the second player in program-history to record over 4,000 all-purpose yards in a career … Nick Bruzzese needs 1.5 sacks to move into sole possession of sixth place on the College's all-time sack list. 

All-Time vs. Ithaca: The Pioneers are 2-13 against the Bombers in the last 15 years … UC has never beaten Ithaca on the road in seven previous tries … The Pioneers last defeated Ithaca, then ranked No. 17 nationally, in overtime last season at Homecoming … Utica's Jerred Beniquez (Port Ewen, NY/Kingston) made the game-winning touchdown grab on the Pioneers first offensive possession of overtime to lift the home team to a thrilling 30-27 victory.

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 ... Fans can also follow the Pioneers on Instagram or Snapchat by searching UCPioneers.