UTICA, NY - The Utica College football team plays its second home game of the Fall 2021 season on Saturday, September 25th as the Pioneers host No. 12 Union College. Game time is set for 1 p.m. at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.
Follow Along: Live video and stats will be available at portal.stretchinternet.com/utica, and on the FREE Empire 8 apps available on Roku, Amazon Fire, and AppleTV devices. Additionally, WPNR 90.7 FM, Utica College Pioneer Radio, will also carry the call of Saturday's game. That can be found over local airwaves, or online at PioneerRadio.org.
Coach to Cure MD: This week the Utica coaching staff will be wearing special arm patches in honor of the AFCA's Coach to Cure MD program, sponsored by Werner Ladder. The goal of CTCMD is to raise awareness and funding for Duchenne muscular dystrophy while demonstrating coaches' commitment to the betterment of young men and the core academic research missions of their universities. Help tackle Duchenne by texting CURE to 501501.
The Best Price of All: Admission to all 2021 UC football home games will be free of charge.
Last Call: Saturday's game is the final non-conference game of the 2021 season for Utica, with the Pioneers set to play six Empire 8 conference games the rest of the way.
Where We Sit: The Pioneers have opened with a 3-0 record for the first time since 2016, which was also the last time they started 4-0. That year, UC Football went on to make its second ECAC bowl appearance, and ended up with a record of 7-4 as part of one of the team's best years ever.
The Series: This will be the sixth all time meeting between the Pioneers and the Dutchmen. Utica leads the series 4-1 all-time, and has never lost to Union at Gaetano Stadium. Utica won the first four meetings in the series, but the fifth went the way of Union as the Dutchmen topped the Pioneers 13-7 in a late 2019 meeting at Frank Bailey Field. Ryan VanGalen threw a 40 yard touchdown pass to Keegan Wright to comprise Utica's scoring output for the day, and Utica's defense held the No. 14 Dutchmen to just four third down conversions.
Last Time Out: Sonny Badyna (Brooklyn, NY/St. Peter's) threw two late touchdown passes to Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) to overturn a 28-24 deficit as host Utica rallied past Western New England 37-28 in a non-conference game at Gaetano Stadium. The game featured high octane offensive output, with Utica totaling 492 yards of offense to Western New England's 412. Badyna finished the day with a career-high 368 yards and four touchdowns on 15-of-30 passing. He rushed for an additional score. Three Utica backs and receivers went over the century mark in yardage. Brantley finished with 135 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) had a team-high 154 receiving yards and a touchdown. Running back Jamarious Morgan (Utica, NY/Thomas R. Proctor) (Utica, NY/Thomas R. Proctor) had 100 net rushing yards for the best rushing performance of the year by a Utica back. Utica's defense was led by Kwasi Addo's (Menands, NY/Shaker) 11 tackles, and the unit also came up big against the pass with nine pass breakups.
Totaling it Up: Offensively, Utica is second in the Empire 8 Conference in average total offensive yardage (414.3), and scoring offense (22.7 points per game). They lead the E8 in passing offense at 297 yards per game. Defensively, they are third in the conference in scoring defense (12.7), and total defense at 290.7 yards conceded per game. They are fourth in the E8 at defending both the run, and the pass.
Mr. Utility: Senior wide receiver Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) has certainly saved his best yet for this season. The local product ranks first in the conference and second in the nation with an average of 203 all-purpose yards per game. The conference's leading receiver has 377 yards and two touchdown grabs to his name, and is also leading the E8 in punt return average at 43.3 yards per return. Palmer is also the team's second-leading rusher.
Touchdown Targets: Wide receivers Matt Brantley (Rochester, NY/Eastridge) and Elijah Parker (New London, CT/New London) have been a quarterback's best friend so far this season. The pair each have three touchdown receptions to rank in a tie for the Empire 8 Conference lead. Brantley has 194 receiving yards to rank fourth in the conference, and his 67 yard touchdown in Saturday's win over Western New England was the longest reception in the E8 so far this season. Parker, a transfer from FCS school Southern Connecticut State, is fifth in the conference with 161 receiving yards.
Sonny Days: Badyna was chosen as the Empire 8 Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season on Monday, following his career-best performance against Western New England. He also won the award in week one for his performance against Alfred State. This season, he has 891 yards on 57-of-102 passing for nine touchdowns. He has also rushed for an additional four touchdowns. He is twelfth in the nation in passing touchdowns this year, and also occupies the co-lead in the Empire 8 in that category.
Emerging Out of the Backfield: After a committee approach in the first few weeks balanced the carries amongst Utica's running backs, Jamarious Morgan (Utica, NY/Thomas R. Proctor) may have made his case to get a few more. The Utica native scampered to the team's first triple digit rushing total of the season on Saturday, and he now has a team-leading 144 yards rushing. However, the Utica backfield is still looking for its first touchdown of the season, as all five rushing scores for the team have come from the quarterback or wide receiver position.
A Dual Threat: Jamel Smith (Spring Valley, NY/Avon Old Farms) has proven himself to be quite a well-rounded player this fall. On special teams, he leads the E8 in kick return yards at an average of 23.3 per return. Defensively, he has three pass breakups to rank in a tie for second in the E8.
Air Traffic Control: Fresh off breaking up nine passes, the Pioneer defense has three players tied for second in the conference in pass breakups. Dan Amady (Suffern, NY/Suffern), Smith, and Terrance Toussaint (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) each have three pass breakups, and are just one behind the conference lead. Amady and Devin Bryant (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) are two of the thirteen Empire 8 players to record an interception this year.
That'll Addo It: After missing Spring play, graduate student linebacker Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) has resumed his normal place at the top of the team's tackling list. His 11 tackles from Saturday have landed him with a team-best 21 for the campaign.
Have A Seat: Senior linebacker Jimmie Warren (Suffern, NY/Suffern) has been playing some of the most productive football of his college career recently. He has thirteen tackles and two sacks, and he is one of just six E8 football players with two or more quarterback sacks in the first two weeks.
Setting Them Back: The UC defense sports five players out of the top 16 in the Empire 8 in tackles for loss per game. Daryl Savage (Elmira, NY/Elmira) is 7th with an average of 1.50 per game. John Stroughn (Baldwin, NY/Holy Trinity), Evan Gohringer (Utica, NY/Proctor), and Jordan Harris (Woodbridge, NJ/Woodbridge) are tied for ninth with an average of 1.00 per game. Warren is 16th at a clip of 0.83 per game.
Controlling the Trenches: Utica leads the conference in sacks allowed, with opponents allowed to sack Sonny Badyna (Brooklyn, NY/St. Peter's) just two times this year. They also lead the conference defensively in sacks with 12 this season. Jimmie Warren (Suffern, NY/Suffern) has two, while Jordan Harris (Woodbridge, NJ/Woodbridge) has 1.5.
About Union: The Dutchmen are 3-0 under head coach Jeff Behrman. Central to their offense averaging an impressive 46.67 points per game is the play of All-Region quarterback William Bellamy. Bellamy has thrown for 574 yards in three appearances this year, but has nine touchdown passes to his name. Freshman Robbie Tolbert and two-time All-Conference pick Andre Ross Jr. have been brilliant at receiver, with Tolbert notching four receiving touchdowns, and Ross adding another three scores. Union is averaging just 16.67 points per game allowed, and the defense is led by linebacker Colin Lama, who has 27 stops this year. The Dutchmen convert almost 50 percent of their third downs offensively.
Up Next: Utica kicks off a three-game road trip when they drive to Oneonta on Saturday, October 2nd for a game at Hartwick. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m.
