Bucknell Football: a Century of Tradition
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
BBUCKNELLUCKNELL FFOOTBALLOOTBALL HHISTORYISTORY BBUCKNELLUCKNELL FOOTBALL:FOOTBALL: A CENTURYCENTURY OFOF TRADITIONTRADITION Th e game bore little resemblance to what we now know as football, and even one of the school names has been changed. In November of 1883, a group of students from Lafayette College journeyed west to play a group from the University at Lewisburg in the relatively new sport of football. Th e sport was so new, in fact, that the majority of the dozen or so students from Lewisburg, who did not have a coach and had practiced only briefl y, had never seen a game of football before playing in one. Th e players from Lewisburg, whose school would be renamed Bucknell University in 1886, lost that fi rst game, 59-0, and perhaps because of that experience, their school did not play another offi cial game until 1887. Still, the seeds had been planted for a program that would grow into one of the most respected programs in the East by the 1950s, and will celebrate its 122nd season in 2007. Scores of marvelous players have donned the Orange and Blue over the course of the 121 seasons of Bucknell football, and each season gives rise to new names, new heroes, new legends. Here is a quick trip through the colorful tradition that is Bucknell football: 11891891 11924924 Still playing without a full-time coach, Bucknell gains its fi rst Th e team sets a then-school record for victories with an 8-2 mark and victory ever with a 16-10 triumph over Lafayette. Th e Bison also meets Lafayette on October 18 in the fi rst football game ever played in defeat Cornell (4-0) and Penn State (12-10) on their way to a 6-2-1 Memorial Stadium. Wally record. Th e team includes Andrew Wyant, who later goes on to play Foster, the captain of that for the legendary Amos Alonzo Stagg at the University of Chicago Bucknell team, scores the and is a member of both the Bucknell Hall of Fame and the National fi rst points in stadium his- Football Hall of Fame. tory. 11900900 11931931 Christy Mathewson concludes his marvelous Bucknell football Led by future NFL Hall career and begins a professional baseball career that ranks among of Famer Clarke Hinkle, the best of all time. A hard-running fullback and tackler, “Matty” Bucknell rolls to an un- also excels as a kicker and gains national attention with two fi eld beaten 6-0-3 record. The goals against Army. Bison’s undefeated mark is tested in the fi nal game of the season, against also- 11918918 unbeaten Fordham, but the Bucknell records the fi rst of its three undefeated seasons. En route Bison prevail, 14-13, in a classic at the Polo Grounds. to a 6-0 record, the Bison are nothing short of dominant, outscor- ing opponents 236-7. Th e season ushers in a quarter-century of prosperity, as Bucknell enjoys 24 winning seasons in the next 26 11934934 years. Edward (Hook) Mylin leads the Bison to a 6-2-2 regular-season record and a berth in the fi rst Orange Bowl game, on January 1, 1935. After a two-day train trip to Miami for the game, Bucknell hammers the University of Miami, 26-0. 11951951 In the midst of a four-year stretch in which Bucknell goes 27-8, head coach Harry Lawrence and his team fi nish perfect at 9-0, perhaps the fi nest season in school history. Th e defense includes Little All-America defensive tackle George Young (long-time general manager of the BBucknell’sucknell’s 11899899 ffootballootball tteameam — CChristyhristy MMathewsonathewson iiss iinn tthehe bbackack rrow,ow, tthirdhird ffromrom tthehe rright.ight. 98 BBUCKNELLUCKNELL FFOOTBALLOOTBALL HHISTORYISTORY New York Giants), while the relentless off ense averages 463.3 yards 11989989 per game. Th at breaks the Eastern record set in 1945 by a Davis- and Bucknell’s newly-renovated stadium is rededicated in honor of Christy Blanchard-led Army team. Mathewson. Much like the stadium’s namesake, Bucknell opens play in the “new” facility with a victory, handing Dartmouth a 36-20 setback on September 30. 11960960 After opening the season at 2-2, Bucknell rolls past Lafayette, Lehigh, Colgate, Temple and Delaware — by a combined score of 107-14 — to 11995995 fi nish 7-2 and win its fi rst-ever Lambert Cup. Quarterback Paul Terhes Th e Tom Gadd tenure begins at Bucknell, and the Bison fi nish 7-4. Rich earns Little All-America honors. Lemon becomes Bucknell’s all-time rushing leader on opening day. 11964964 11996996 Just four years after leading Bucknell to its fi rst Lambert Cup title, Fittingly, Rich Lemon concludes his head coach Bob Odell repeats that feat, as the Bison fi nish 7-2. After remarkable career with a Patriot League opening the season with a loss, Bucknell wins seven of the next eight title, as Bucknell outlasts Colgate, 28-27, games, including a 21-14 season-ending win at Delaware. Th e Bison in the heart-stopping season fi nale. Th e squad features Little All-America end Tom Mitchell, who would later win gives Bucknell its fi rst football title enjoy a fi ne pro career with Baltimore and San Francisco. in over 30 years. Lemon graduated with 4,742 rushing yards, nearly 2,100 more than the previous record-holder. 11968968 Sam Havrilak sets a Bucknell single- game total offense record with 397 11997997 BBucknellucknell ccareerareer rrushingushing yards against Colgate, a mark that still Th e Bison roll out to a 10-0 record before lleadereader RRichich LLemonemon stands. Havrilak, who would gradu- falling to Colgate in their season fi nale to ate with every Bucknell total off ense fi nish 10-1. Th e 10 wins were the most in school history, and many record, later played with Tom Mitchell came in thrilling fashion, as the Bison won seven times by seven for the Baltimore Colts. points or less. Sam Havrilak 11978978 22001001 Ken Jenkins arrives at Bucknell, and over the next four years, devel- Bucknell celebrates its seventh straight winning season, a fi rst in ops into one of the fi nest players in Bucknell history. He would set a Bison annals. school record with 1,270 rushing yards in 1980, and he later played with three NFL teams. 22003003 After the legendary Tom Gadd loses a long battle with brain cancer, 11986986 Bucknell turns to Tim Landis as its 25th head coach. Landis Two years after formation of the league is announced, the Colonial quickly resores the good fortunes of the Bison football pro- League (later renamed the Patriot League) debuts with six members gram. After a 2-9/0-7 season in 2002, Bucknell fi nishes 6-6/4- — Bucknell, Colgate, Lehigh, Lafayette, Holy Cross and Davidson. Th e 3 in one of the nation’s best one-season turnarounds. Bison’s fi rst-ever league game is one for the ages. Trailing Colgate in the fourth quarter, 39-25, Bucknell rallies to take a 40-39 lead with 52 seconds left, but the Red Raiders drive for a game-winning fi eld goal at- 22004004 tempt with four seconds left. After a bobbled snap from center, Colgate Bucknell wins its fi nal four games of the season for the fi rst completes an impromptu pass play that nearly goes for a touchdown, time since 1975 to claim its fi rst winning season since 2001 but Bison defensive back Robert Hawkins drags down the receiver at with a 7-4 record. the 9-yard line on the fi nal play of the game. 22006006 Bucknell fi nishes with a 6-5 record and posts a fi ve-game improvement from 2005, equaling the largest jump in program history. 99 BBUCKNELLUCKNELL FFOOTBALLOOTBALL HHISTORYISTORY TTHEHE TOPTOP 1010 A LOOKLOOK ATAT THETHE 1010 MOSTMOST SIGNIFICANTSIGNIFICANT BUCKNELLBUCKNELL FOOTBALLFOOTBALL GAMESGAMES EEVERVER PPLAYEDLAYED . ANDAND THETHE ONEONE THATTHAT WASN’TWASN’T By Brad Tufts The 1900 team finished 4-4-1, but gained national at- Stephen Taylor wasn’t able to observe a football tention in an 18-10 loss to West team practicing as he made his way to Harrisburg Point. All the scoring for Buck- early in 1846 with the proposed charter for the nell came on two fi eld goals by fl edgling University at Lewisburg, but even before a hard-running fullback named the name of the school was changed in recognition of Christy Mathewson. benefactor William Bucknell, the sport had been in- Th e New York writers cov- troduced on campus and gained some popularity. ering the game spread the word Today, the sport is a fi xture on fall Saturdays, about this talented athlete, and its history is prominent in any accounting of whose 48-yard fi eld goal in that Bucknell’s athletic heritage. Th e Bison gridiron story game was the longest in the (did you know that the word “gridiron” derives from country that year. Mathewson, the manner in which the fi eld was formerly marked?) who went on to become one includes many notable games, and we could probably of the nation’s most admired argue for the next 150 years as to which were the athletes as a pitcher for the most signifi cant. New York Giants, liked football The Bison of 1895 ... their legacy endures more than a Before designating the 10 most significant more than baseball, and if the century later. games, please permit a look back at some of the National Football League had more noteworthy games played by Bucknell football existed at the time, it is probable that baseball would Bucknell from its schedule for three years.