October 6, 2008

BULLDOGS TRAVEL TO MARIST SATURDAY

GAME NOTES (PDF)
Game 6 - Bryant (3-2) at Marist (1-5)
DATE: Saturday, October 11, 2008
TIME: 6:00 pm EST
SITE: Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field (3,200)
SERIES: First Meeting
COACHES: Bryant, Marty Fine, 5th year, 30-16; Marist, Jim Parady, 86-82-1, 17th year
RECORDS: Bryant 3-2, Marist 1-5
RADIO:  WOON-AM 1240, www.bryantbulldogs.com.  John McCarthy calls the live action.

Coming off a bye weekend, the Bryant University football team returns to action this Saturday evening when the Bulldogs (3-2) travel to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. to face Marist in a 6 p.m. contest.  This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools as Bryant looks for its second win in-a-row after defeating Wagner 24-14 two weeks ago in Staten Island, NY while Marist will be looking to bounce back from a 21-17 home loss to Bucknell last Saturday.  Marist took a 17-7 lead into the fourth quarter but the Bison scored two touchdowns in the final 10 minutes - including the game-winner with 1:03 left.  Bryant will return home next weekend hosting Robert Morris for Parents & Family Weekend (Oct. 18).

THE BULLDOGS

This will be Bryant's third road trip of the season as the Bulldogs are 1-1 away from Smithfield, RI this season.  After opening with a tough 42-35 loss at Central Connecticut back in August, Bryant earned a hard-fought 24-14 win at Wagner on Sept. 27 behind 143 yards from running back Jerell Smith.  Bryant's defense limited Wagner to minus 17 yards rushing in the game and only 10 first downs to earn the win. Senior rush end Don Smith had a pair of sacks in the game and has four on the season.  Smith, a transfer from Howard University and native of Brooklyn, NY, is averaging 123.2 yards rushing per game.  Senior quarterback Jay Graber has been efficient in running the Bryant offense in his first year as the starting quarterback.  Graber comes into Saturday's game with 837 yards and 8 touchdowns.  He has completed 55.2 percent of his pass attempts (80 for 145) with just six interceptions.   

THE RED FOXES OF MARIST

This will be the fourth of five-straight home games for Marist College which brings a 1-5 overall record into Saturday's game with Bryant.  The Red Foxes are currently 0-4 at home this year with the lone win coming at St. Francis (PA), 30-22, back on September 13.  Last Saturday, Marist dropped a tough 21-17 loss to Bucknell. Senior running back Bo Ehikioya rushed for 156 yards on 25 carries including a 80-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.  Quarterback Debowski completed 14 of 21 passes for 140 yards and was sacked twice.  

TALE OF THE TAPE                   Bryant  Marist

Scoring Offense                      27.0        17.5

Scoring Defense                      25.8        26.7

Rushing Offense                     159.6     153.5

Rushing Defense                    126.4     158.2

Passing Offense                      167.4     133.2

Passing Defense                     237.4     208.7

Total Offense                                    327.0     286.7

Total Defense                                    363.8     366.8

THE COACHES:

Bryant coach Marty Fine is in his fifth season coaching the Bulldogs.  Since his first year in Smithfield in 2004, Fine owns a coaching record of 30-16. Marist coach Jim Parady is 86-82-1 in his 17th year at the school. A 1983 graduate of Maine, Parady was a four-year member of the Black Bears football team as a quarterback.  He has been an assistant at Colby, Syracuse, Northeastern and at Brown University during the 1988 and 1989 seasons. 

TALKING POINTS

* Bryant is 16-2 at home in the regular season over the past four seasons. 

* Bryant has allowed only one field goal this season (vs. Monmouth, 20 yards)

* Bryant has scored 50 points in the fourth quarter this year, while the Bulldogs have given up 56 points in the fourth quarter as well. 

* Bryant is 3-1 in its last four trips to the state of New York (defeating pace, C.W. Post, Wagner but falling to Stony Brook last season).  

* Marist senior offensive lineman Danny Angelastro and freshman offensive lineman David Toriola both graduates of St. Francis Prep, the school Bryant's Jerell Smith attended.  Marist sophomore linebacker Kees Coughlin and Bryant freshman defensive back Samad Wagstaff are both graduates of New Rochelle High School.   Marist senior defensive lineman Aubrey Holmes and Bryant senior wide receiver Ross Giffune are graduates of Foxboro HS in Foxboro, MA.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Bulldogs are 16-2 at home in regular season games in the past four seasons.  The Bulldogs were 4-0 last season and 5-1 in 2006. Before the loss to Monmouth, the previous loss was a 24-21 defeat to C.W. Post in 2006.  The Bulldogs fell to West Chester in the NCAA Playoffs that same year.  

STANDING ROOM ONLY TO SEE THE BULLDOGS
Bryant, which led the Northeast-10 Conference in average attendance for four-straight seasons, drew 5,530 fans at the Sept. 13 Homecoming & Reunion game.  It was the second-largest in school history, just behind the 5,561 fans that showed up for Bryant's first-ever football game, a 30-14 win over Assumption in 1998.  The total eclipsed last year's season-best of 5,434 against Stonehill.

1.            5,561     vs. Assumption (9/26/98)

2.            5,530     vs. Merrimack (9/13/08)

3.            5,434     vs. Stonehill (10/13/07)

4.            5,234     vs. West Chester (11/18/06)

5.            4,854     vs. Merrimack (9/19/06)

MAKING THE GRADE
Senior punter Brian Donnelly (East Dennis, MA) is one of 164 semifinalists (FOR ALL DIVISIONS) for the 2008 National Football Foundation Draddy Trophy as a national scholar-athlete.  The award recognizes individiuals for academic success, football performance and community leadership.  The finalists will be announced Oct. 29. 

FRESHMAN PICKINGS
Freshman defensive back Samad Wagstaff (New Rochelle, NY) has shown he has a nose for the ball.  Against Merrimack, Wagstaff tied a school record (held by six others) with two interceptions in the game.  In FIVE games this season, Wagstaff has five interceptions, already the second-most in a season, trailing only Jesse Lewis who had six in 2003. 

LUCKY SEVENS
After forcing Southern Connecticut into seven turnovers (3 INTs, 4 fumbles), the Bryant defense forced seven more turnovers against Merrimack on Sept. 13. The Warrior quarterbacks were intercepted five times by the Bryant defense (twice by Samad Wagstaff) and fumbled the ball away twice.  This season, Bryant has 11 interceptions and recovered 9 fumbles (forcing 20 turnovers).  Bryant's offense has thrown just six interceptions by comparison and fumbled away the ball 4 times (10 turnovers).   

10 YEARS = 50 WINS 
Bryant is celebrating its 10th season of varsity football this season.  The Bulldogs, who fielded a club team in 1998, started its first varsity season in 1999.  Saturday's game is the 96th game in the history of Bryant football with the Bulldogs owning a 51-44 record. 

MILESTONES:

* Junior tailback Jerell Smith need only 38 yards to move into the top-five all-time for career rushing yards at Bryant. 

* Chris Bird needs 2 field goals to tie Peter DiMartino's all-time record of 15 career field goals (1999-01).  Bird has made 13 of 21 in two seasons.

* Bird also needs just three more PATs to tie Bobby Heilmann's career record of 50.  Bird is 46 of 47 on PATs in his career.

CAREER RUSHING YARDS

1.       3,521          Andre McLeod (2000-03)

2.       3,259          Lorenzo Perry (2005-06)

3.       1,555          Chris Peaks (2003-07)

4.       1,335          Austin Martin (1999-00)

5.       1,272          Tony Granieri (1999-02

6.       1,235          Jerell Smith (2007-present)

7.       1,221          Lindsey Gamble (2006-pres.)

NEXT UP
Bryant returns home next week to host Robert Morris for Parents & Family Weekend at Bryant (Oct. 18). Kickoff is at 1 p.m.

BYE BYE
This past weekend was the first of two bye weeks for Bryant. The Bulldogs will be idle Nov. 8 before traveling to Iona on Nov. 15.  The Bulldogs are 1-0 in games after a bye under coach Fine.  Bryant defeated Bentley 36-15 in 2006 on the road.

DYNAMIC DUO
The backfield duo a junior running backs Jerell Smith and Lindsey Gamble give the Bulldogs a dangerous one-two punch out of the backfield.  The pair combined for 174 of the team's 134 yards with Smith finishing with 93 yards including a long of 32.  With Gamble out of the lineup against Southern Connecticut, Smith picked things up with a career-high 221 yards against the Owls.  Smith followed with another strong outing against Merrimack, rushing for 130 yards and one touchdown.