UTICA, NY - The Utica University football team chases an outright program record eighth win, while also attempting to further cement their postseason hopes on Saturday. The Pioneers will host Alfred University for an Empire 8 matchup beginning at 1 p.m. at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium.
Veterans Day Game: Ahead of the annual Veterans Day observance, the Pioneers wish to show their thanks for all who have served in the military. They have partnered with Sitrin and GPO Federal Credit Union to provide complimentary admission for all veterans of the Armed Forces.
Senior Day: As the program's last guaranteed home date of the season, Saturday will also serve as Senior day. The Pioneers will recognize seniors Noah Turtura (Cleveland, NY/Central Square), Cameron Davis (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial), Ben Arthur (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial), Dan Amady (Suffern, NY/Suffern), Joey Lipani (Rochester, NY/Hilton), Mike Kreuter (Hauppauge, NY/Hauppauge), Anthony McDonald (Huntington, NY/Huntington), Sonny Badyna (Brooklyn, NY/St. Peter's), Terrance Toussaint (West Orange, NJ/West Orange), Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill), Corey Evans (Canastota, NY/Canastota), Jimmie Warren (Suffern, NY/Suffern), Daryl Savage (Elmira, NY/Elmira), Mason Knauf (Heuvelton, NY/Heuvelton), Zach Hoage (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), Josh Powell (Tampa, FL/Sickles), and Ryan Walker (Syracuse, NY/Westhill) ahead of Saturday's game. The team will also recognize student assistants Trevor Milliman and Mitch Carley, and football operations director Tara Mulligan for their contributions to the program, along with cheerleaders Madison Derouin and Taylor Arndt.
Follow Along: Live video and stats for the matchup will be available at portal.stretchinternet.com/utica. Home games are also available on local airwaves at WPNR 90.7 FM, Utica University Pioneer Radio, or at PioneerRadio.org.
On The Line: With a 7-1 record, Utica has already more than secured the best start in program history, and made more history on Saturday by tying the program's record for wins in a season and becoming the first edition of the Pioneers to win seven times in their first eight games of the year. Now, the Blue and Orange hunts down their eighth win of the year, which would give the 2022 team an opportunity to stand alone in the history of the program. A win also assures that the Pioneers would finish no worse than a tie for second place, which would mark a new program-best finish in the standings.
In The Mix: The Pioneers are regionally ranked in the first edition of the NCAA regional rankings released on Wednesday. No numerical ranking is assigned to any team on those lists until next week, but the regional ranking means the Pioneers are one of a handful of teams under consideration for a bid into the NCAA Championship Tournament, which would be their first appearance.
Last Time Out: The Pioneers beat the clock to win on the final play of regulation at Morrisville by a 20-17 score. After a pass play to Doug Elsesser (Massapequa, NY/Plainedge) parked the Utica offense inside the ten year line, Braeden Zenelovic (Ontario Center, NY/Wayne Central) found Joey Nare (Canajoharie, NY/Canajoharie) from a distance of eight yards for the winning score as time expired. The Pioneers erased a 14-0 deficit with a 20-3 run to win the game after being shut out in the first half. Zenelovic threw for all three Utica touchdowns, to three different receivers.
Player of the Week: Senior Brendan Belott (Rexford, NY/Shenendehowa) was named the E8's Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday. Against Morrisville, Belott had a total of three punts inside the 20 yard line, one pinned on the six yard line, and two more pinned inside the one yard line. His longest punt was a 57 yard bomb, while he averaged 48 yards on four punts and had two 50 yard punts in a big field position game.
Mr. 1,000: With his 102 yard outing against Morrisville, graduate wide receiver Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill) joined elite company on Saturday. He became just the second receiver in the history of the program to record 1,000 receiving yards in a single season, joining All-American Jeremy Meier. This season, he has a 100 yard receiving performance in six out of eight games. His 1,007 yards and twelve touchdowns lead the conference in both categories, and he is fifth nationally in receiving yards. Meier's single-season program record of 1,212 yards is within reach if Palmer can keep up his current conference-leading pace as the only E8 receiver averaging over 100 yards per game. He has 2,285 receiving yards and is within striking distance of 2,500 yards for his career as well.
A Very BZ Passing Game: Utica ranks second in E8 passing offense with an average of 263.4 yards per game this season. Leading that attack is quarterback Braeden Zenelovic (Ontario Center, NY/Wayne Central). The senior has thrown for 1,981 yards and seventeen touchdowns this season. He has completed 66 percent of his passes. He is 32nd nationally in passing yards, tied for 48th in passing touchdowns, and is 28th in completion percentage. He has thrown touchdowns to four different receivers this season. Other than Palmer, he has three touchdown passes to Travis Decker (Oneida, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill), with all three of his receptions coming against opponents who entered the matchup with Utica undefeated. Two more have landed in the hands of Joey Nare (Canajoharie, NY/Canajoharie), and one has been caught by James Salles (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon).
Two Men, Two Huge Games: The Utica defense got a pair of exceptional performances by two of Saturday's honorees to beat Morrisville. Senior defensive end Jimmie Warren's (Suffern, NY/Suffern) nine tackles included a sack and 2.5 tackles for loss, including a key fourth quarter stop. He leads the team with 68 total tackles. His average of 1.6 tackles for loss per game is in the top 50 nationally, and he also averages a sack per game to lead the conference and rank 20th nationally. He has 141 total tackles for his career, and his eight sacks this season rank in the top five for a single season in school history. Classmate Terrance Toussaint (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) also had a tremendous outing at corner, as he had six tackles, a portion of a tackle for loss, and a critical fourth quarter interception. This season, Toussaint has defended an average of 1.13 passes per game to rank in the top five in the Empire 8 Conference.
Move The Sticks: The Pioneers have been very strong on third down offense and defense this season. They rank second on third down offensively at 39.4 percent among E8 teams, which is very reflective of their strong passing game. Meanwhile, Utica has risen up to fourth in third down defense with opponents converting 38.5 percent of chances. They held Morrisville to just two conversions on eleven attempts on Saturday. Their industrious third down offense has kept that unit on the field, and the Pioneers have seen their efforts rewarded with a terrific 84.6 percent conversion rate on points in the red zone. In 26 trips to the red zone, the Pioneers have logged a touchdown eighteen times. Utica's defense is eighth nationally in red zone percentage defense.
The Series: This will be the 23rd all-time meeting between Utica and Alfred. The Pioneers have met the Saxons more than any other program. The Pioneers are 5-17 against the Saxons, with a young program struggling to beat the established Alfred program over the first decade of the program's life. 2012 marked their first win over Alfred, and the Pioneers have gone on to record a 4-1 record at home over the last ten years against the Saxons.
About Alfred: The Saxons are 2-6 this season under head coach Bob Rankl, with a 1-3 conference record. They feature the E8's leading tackler, Joe Copp, at linebacker. He is sixth in the nation with 11.8 tackles per game, and is a Section III product from East Syracuse-Minoa. He has an impressive 14 tackles for loss as well. Christopher Cox has a team-high four interceptions. On offense, they're led by sophomore Max Freeman IV, who has 793 net rushing yards and 7 touchdowns.
Up Next: The Pioneers will face Fisher in their regular season finale on the road.
