DEEPER BISON LOOKING to IMPROVE VICTORY TOTAL for THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR Rom Two Wins in 2002 to Six in 2003 to Going to Be Years of Transition
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2005 SEASON OUTLOOK DEEPER BISON LOOKING TO IMPROVE VICTORY TOTAL FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR rom two wins in 2002 to six in 2003 to going to be years of transition. You don’t seven in 2004, the Bucknell football lose 24 seniors and not expect to play some Fprogram is, as a stock analyst might note, younger guys.” “trending in the right direction.” A bright crop of 35 newcomers are set to But, to borrow another term you might join 58 upperclassmen this fall, with several hear from a fi nancial advisor, “past perfor- interesting position battles shaping up. mance does not guarantee future profi t.” While areas such as the offensive and So Bison head coach Tim Landis and his defensive lines and fullback are loaded with staff set out this offseason to begin working experienced players, others, like quarterback on a plan to keep the victory total moving up- and wide receiver, will feature new faces. ward in 2005. With six starters on each side “Are there some unknowns? Absolutely,” of the ball lost to graduation, including First- admitted Landis. “But at the same time our Team All-Patriot League quarterback Daris [roster] numbers are up, which is going to help Wilson, that is no easy task, particularly in a us practice better. There is defi nitely more rapidly improving Patriot League landscape. depth across the board than in the last two Still, Bucknell will return to years. We’ve got the returning defensive the gridiron in the fall with no and special teams players of the year in shortage of all-star talent and the Patriot League, which are two really a young crop of Landis good players to build around.” recruits ready to fi ll Those two reigning major award that significant winners — senior DL Sean Conover graduation void. and senior CB Dante Ross Kenny Davis “We have — will be the cornerstones of a defensive unit that will quarterback position throughout preseason be led by new defensive co- camp. Daris Wilson’s 1,149 rushing yards and ordinator Jared Backus. Tripp 17 touchdowns will be very diffi cult to replace, and many forget that his two top backups in Sean Merritt, who held that posi- Conover tion for the last two seasons, John Henry Jackson and Cole Ciesnolevicz accepted the head coaching have also graduated. position at Davidson during the Sophomores Terrance Wilson and Ryan offseason, and Backus expects Ahern lead a four-horse race to be the the Bison’s rapidly improving 4-4 Bison’s next conductor of the spread option defense to pick up where it left off last offense. season. The good news is that a veteran offensive “Early in the season I think we are going line returns to protect the new signal caller, to see the defense a bit ahead of the offense, and there are plenty of options to call upon just based on experience,” predicted Landis. in the backfi eld. Notably, senior FB Blamah “I don’t want to say we are relying on them to Sarnor, a former 900-yard rusher, returns in carry us, but I am very confi dent our defense 2005 after a knee injury wrecked his 2004 can lead the way. It is a very cohesive group season. with some outstanding talent there.” “I think some people may have forgot- With Ross, the league’s most dangerous ten about Blamah,” said Landis. “He needs kickoff and punt returner, back for his senior to come back and have a great year for us, season and two-year starter Ryan Korn back and I am confi dent that he will. Kenny Davis as well, Landis is also excited about his spe- and Peter Kaufman are both big-play guys at cial teams corps. slotback, and Josh DeStefano looked good gotten much bet- “There is a lot of potential to put points on last year fi lling in for Blamah. We are going ter in each of the last the board out of our special teams, both in the to rely on those guys, especially early in the two years, and that is kicking and return areas,” said Landis. “The season when we are straightening out the your main objective when increased depth is a major help. Last year we quarterback situation.” building a program,” said Landis. had to play a lot of starters on special teams, Here is a position-by-position outlook “You don’t want to take any steps backward, and that takes a lot out of you over the course heading into preseason camp. and I feel that progress is also showing in our of an 11-game season. Now, we have some recruiting. Having said that, there are always other guys we can mix in.” Offensively, all eyes will be focused on the 2005 Bucknell Football • 34 • www.BucknellBison.com 2005 SEASON OUTLOOK the jayvees as a freshman, Wilson logged a OFFENSE team-high 335 rushing yards (7.3 avg.) and QUARTERBACK fi ve touchtowns in three games, including For obvious reasons, starting quarterback 155 ground yards in a win over a very strong will be the highest profi le position skirmish Lackawanna College team. Like his predeces- this preseason. In 2004 Daris Wilson became sor, Terrance Wilson is a blazing runner but the fi rst Bucknell quarterback in nine years also stands 6-1 and could be a more effective to earn First Team All-Patriot League honors, pocket passer than the 5-8 Daris Wilson, who but Wilson has graduated, taking 1,149 did most of his damage on rollouts. rushing yards and 17 touchdowns with him. Likewise, sophomore Ryan Ahern has also Overshadowed by his elusive running was a made signifi cant strides this spring, lending dangerous throwing arm that hit for several relief to a coaching staff that fretted after los- big plays out of the team’s complex spread ing its top three quarterbacks on the depth option offense. chart to graduation following last season. The nuances of the option can be diffi cult They will have to learn the system in a for a young quarterback, but that is where hurry, but Landis refuses to count out fresh- Landis and offensive coordinator Tim Camp men Ben Bouffard and Mahdi Woodard in the will have to turn in 2005, with two sopho- quarterback battle. Both are terrifi c athletes, and Bouffard directed an option offense in high school in Vermont. QUARTERBACK CAPSULE Stefan Niemczyk No. Name Cl. Ht. Wt. “Both Terrance and Ryan made major Letters strides in the spring,” Landis noted, “but of the action at fullback this spring, with Sar- 11 Ryan Ahern So. 5-11 178 — both still have a way to go. Preseason camp nor coming off the knee injury in addition to 12 Ben Bouffard Fr. 6-2 185 — is going to be crucial, and we won’t be afraid nursing a slight hamstring pull. 7 Terrance Wilson So. 6-0 171 — to throw the freshmen into the mix. The sopho- DeStefano fi lled in wonderfully last year, mores hold the edge, but they are going to be in fact earning the team’s rookie of the year pushed, and we are going to play the best man award at year’s end. He ran for 243 yards in for the job regardless of age. We are inexperi- six games, averaging 4.6 yards per carry. He enced now, but given time I feel we are going also caught eight balls out of the backfi eld for to be very deep at quarterback.” 118 yards (14.8 yards per catch). Another potential contributor at fullback is RUNNING BACKS incoming freshman Chris Hayes, who Landis Along with the quarterback, the fullback is feels may not need long to push his way onto a critical element in the spread option system, the fi eld. and Bucknell is fortunate to have three out- Rising juniors Kenny Davis and Peter standing fullbacks in the mix this fall, making Kaufman are the projected starters at the it one of the team’s strengths. slotback positions, and both are game-tested. The key will be the healthy return of senior Kaufman started four games and appeared Blamah Sarnor, who nearly had a 1,000-yard in 10 last season, when he was the team’s season as a sophomore (928) and appeared third-leading rusher with 274 yards. He led the headed for that milestone again last season squad in yards per carry (9.1) and was sec- before suffering a broken kneecap in the third ond in rushing touchdowns (4), including an game of the season, an injury that cost him electrifying 61-yard scamper against eventual the rest of the year. Sarnor was cleared to play league champion Lafayette. in spring practice and should be back to 100 Davis was a welcome addition to the percent this fall. Bison backfield arsenal after transferring Sophomore Josh DeStefano saw the bulk in from St. Mary’s. He collected 190 ground yards and three TDs as a part-time starter. Peter Kaufman RUNNING BACK REGISTER Rising sophomores Greg Sutton and Corin No. Name Cl. Ht. Wt. Erby both remain key cogs in the team’s future Letters plans, although injuries have stunted both mores and two freshmen competing for the 31 Harrison Baker Fr. 5-9 170 — players’ progression thus far. opening-day assignment. 30 Kenny Davis Jr. 5-10 200 1 Freshmen Kadero Watson, Harrison Based on the number of snaps taken in 39 Josh DeStefano So. 5-11 202 1 Baker and Taylor Ray, along with returning 24 Corin Erby So.