UTICA, NY - The Utica College football team continues its early non-conference slate on Saturday, September 11th as the team heads to Union, New Jersey for a battle with non-conference foe Kean University. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. at Kean's alumni stadium.

Follow Along: Live Video and Stats will be available courtesy of Kean University Athletic Communications. Live video is available at https://keanathletics.com/watch/, and live stats will be located at https://keanathletics.com/sidearmstats/football/summary. 

New, But Familiar: This will be Utica's first regular season meeting with the Cougars. However, it is far from the first time the two sides have met on the gridiron. In previous years, the two programs have scrimmaged one another prior to the start of the season. Between Alfred State, Kean, and Western New England, the Pioneers are playing three teams it had never played in NCAA recognized competition prior to this season to begin the schedule. 2021 also marks the first time ever that Utica has played three straight road games to begin the season. 

Last Week: Utica broke open a three point halftime lead with a 22 point third quarter en route to a 39-21 victory at Alfred State. UC outgained their hosts in total offense by a 467-257 margin, and the Pioneers also gapped the home team 117 to 7 in net rushing yards. Utica was 8-of-18 on third down, and Alfred State went just 3-of-12 offensively. The offense's third down performance was the most efficient in the Empire 8 conference in the first week. 

Opening Up Shop: Utica's win this past weekend extends a dominant winning streak in season openers for the Pioneers. The win over Alfred State put Utica at a 1-0 record for the thirteenth consecutive season. The last time Utica did not win its season opener was in a loss to now-defunct Becker College in 2008. 

Own A Piece of Pioneer Football Tradition: Last Monday, the Utica College football team unveiled its retro jerseys in commemoration of the College's 75th anniversary.  The Pioneers will be wearing special uniforms modeled after the club football jerseys of the 1950s for their game against Union College on Sept. 25. The team is currently auctioning off these limited-edition uniforms with all proceeds being donated to the Believe 271 Foundation and the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge. For more details on the jersey auction, please visit the Auction page HERE.

On The Sidelines: Head Coach Blaise Faggiano is now 61-65 in his fourteenth season. Utica's second head coach has had a record of .500 or better in four of the last five years, and achieved his 60th career win this Spring. 

An Area to Improve: Utica went on to score a conference-leading 39 points in week one, but the squad will be looking to get more efficient in the red zone after scoring points on five of seven trips in their opener.

A Sonny Outlook: Quarterback Sonny Badyna (Brooklyn, NY/St. Peter's) picked up his second career win as a starter on Saturday in the win over Alfred State. Badyna threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns, and was credited with two more rushing touchdowns. He completed 27 of 44 passes, and went on to be named the E8 Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Monday. Badyna had the best passing yardage performance in the conference by over 100 yards, and is an emergent early leader in a conference that collectively does not have an overwhelming amount of starting experience at the quarterback position. 

Mr. Season Opener: Senior wide receiver Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) has established a tendency to play well in season openers in his career. That trend continued on Saturday as he lit up the Alfred State defense for a career-high 180 yards on nine catches, and also added a touchdown. His touchdown grab went for 58 yards. In his career, he has 312 receiving yards and two touchdowns in three season openers. Additionally, he was a force in the return game on Saturday. Palmer repeatedly brought the Pioneers excellent field position with 68 yards on three punt returns, with a long of 35 yards. He was chosen as the E8's Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday. Palmer was one of only four receivers in the conference to go over 100 yards on Saturday. 

Helping Hands: Badyna completed a pass to nine different receivers in Saturday's win. With Palmer leading the way, the door was open for others to have breakout performances. Elijah Parker (New London, CT/New London) opened his first full season with the Pioneers with an explosive performance. While making several key first half catches, Parker had 7 catches for 77 yards and a touchdown. Joey Nare also built off a strong training camp, and had four catches for 58 yards. That balance helped Utica collect a total of fifteen first downs through the air.

On The Ground: As expected, Utica spread the ball around the backfield with a committee approach on Saturday. Six different Pioneers touched the ball on run plays, leading to a total of 117 net yards, which ranks second among Week One rushing totals in the Empire 8 conference. Tim Hogan (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove) led the team with 38 net yards rushing while averaging 6.3 yards per carry, while wide receiver Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) logged 34 yards, including the team's longest carry at 27 yards. Lamont McGriff (Yonkers, NY/Iona Prep) had 27 net yards rushing. 

Defensive Leaders: Utica saw some expected names at the top of the tackle list after Saturday's game. Defensive lineman John Stroughn (Baldwin, NY/Holy Trinity) and star linebacker Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) led the Pioneers with a team-high five tackles, and the pair each added a sack. Stroughn broke up a pass and also tacked on two tackles for loss. As a unit, the Pioneers played fearlessly up front and netted five quarterback sacks, while also limiting the hosts to just eight yards rushing. Dating back to the 2019 season, UC has had four or more sacks defensively in three of its last four games. Among other defensive leaders, Anthony McDonald (Huntington, NY/Huntington) had four total tackles, Dan Amady (Suffern, NY/Suffern) broke up three passes, Chris Washington (Suffern, NY/Suffern) had an interception, and Josh Powell (Tampa, FL/Sickles) and Ben Arthur (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) each added a sack. Amady is second in the conference with his three pass breakups exiting week one, while Stroughn is in a tie for third in the tackles for loss category.

In The Trenches: Utica did its job well in both the pass rush, and in pass protection on Saturday. Utica's defensive unit piled up a conference-leading five sacks in the first game of the season, with Alfred State losing 13 yards off of those sacks. On offense, an underclassman-laden unit on the offensive line allowed just one sack against the home team on Saturday, which should provide a nice boost of confidence to the young group. Just one of the six E8 teams to play a week one game did not allow a sack. 

About Kean: The Cougars are 0-1 after falling 57-6 against #12 Delaware Valley in their opener. They played just one game in the Spring, a 41-12 loss to Montclair State, and they were 3-7 in 2019. They have an active four game losing streak. Fifth-year senior linebacker Dante Capozzoli is a player to watch, as he was named a D3football.com preseason All-American. He had 11 tackles in the team's opener. On offense, they will be looking to get traction in the run game after being held to -4 net yards by Delaware Valley. 

Around the League: The Empire 8 had a very successful week of non-conference play last week, as the six participating teams combined to go 5-1. All seven E8 football squads are in non-conference action for week two. St. John Fisher will host Framingham State, Alfred travels to Ohio for a battle with Mount St. Joseph, while Cortland will renew a former NJAC rivalry when they meet The College of New Jersey. Brockport will host Ithaca in a vitally important early season clash, Hartwick will battle Alvernia, and a tough early season schedule continues for Morrisville as they face Hobart. 

Up Next: Utica hosts Western New England in its 2021 home opener on Saturday, September 18th. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.