*Thank you to the Patriot League posters on AGS who helped put this together
2015 Results: 4-7 (1-5)
Returning starters:
Offense – 8
Defense – 10
Bucknell is a team defined by its defense which will need to find ways to score points and the man charged with that is quarterback R.J. Nitti. Nitti returns for his 3rd year as the starting quarterback and is coming off a year with 2,477 passing yards with 13 touchdowns but a concerning 10 interceptions. He operates behind a veteran OL anchored by Preseason All-American lineman Julien Davenport. The healthy return of running back C.J. Williams should help Nitti to improve upon his TD:INT by forcing the secondary to respect play action and giving the receiving corps room against defenders. That receiving corps is led by an an explosive WR/KR in Will Carter, who can be a game changer with the ball in his hand. Last season Carter finished the year with 60 catches, which is fourth most in single season history for the Bison, for 655 yards. One issue for Coach Susan to get righted this season is getting this group to finish drives with scores, which is something the Bison struggled with last season as they converted just 61% of their red zone possessions into points. Most concerning from that stat is the fact that just 45% of their trips into the red zone ended in a touchdown.
Once again, the defense will be the star of the team. Last season the defense led the Patriot League in points per game given up last season at just 18.7 (though the offense scored just 15.6 per game) and yards per game given up with 338 (again, the offense was behind at just 325 yards per game). The defensive line will be led by Ben Schumaker, who finished last season with 13.5 TFL and 6.5 sacks, and Abdullah Anderson and his 8 TFL and 4.5 sacks. The linebacking corps is led by the team’s leading tackler, and All Patriot performer, Mark Pyles. Last season Park finished with 95 tackles, 7.5 TFL and a pair of sacks. Joining park in the second level of the defense is the team’s second leading tackler from last season, Ben Richard who was also an All Patriot performer with 79 tackles and 8.5 TFL. The secondary will be led by Bryan Marine (4 INT, 53 tackles) and Connor Golden (60 tackles). There are other pieces in the secondary that saw a decent amount of playing time last season, but they will need to up their game to help take the defense to another level.
2016 Schedule
9/3 @ Marist
9/10 @ Duquense
9/17 Cornell
9/24 VMI
10/8 @ Holy Cross
10/15 Colgate
10/22 Lafayette
10/29 @ Charleston Southern
10/5 @ Lehigh
11/12 @ Georgetown
11/19 Fordham
AGS Patriot League Preseason prediction: 5th place