This was one of the most exciting and most memorable games I’ve ever witnessed. The lead passed back and forth, there were any number of great plays by offense and defense, and the crowd was as noisy as I’ve seen in a long time. A large contingent of Bison fans had a nice tailgate and kept the players encouraged, and the Fordham fans were wild. The last two minutes of the game produced such drama that ESPN could run them in a highlight show. We’re not sure which calls by the officials were correct, and which weren’t but we know we saw a game all the players on both teams can be proud to have played. Fordham entered the game ranked 7th in the nation, and since they won, they deserve to retain that ranking. Bucknell entered the game unranked, and they now deserve to be ranked 8th.

Every pleyer on each team showed great desire, and great resolve. There was no quit, there was no holding back by anyone. Congratulations all around. I hope my pictures at this link, give you some feel for just how great this one was: http://photos.j-joel.com/p118969864

Bucknell’s 2013 football team carved another notch in the gunbelt when they manhandled the boys from Colgate 28-7. The score was 10-7 at halftime, but Colgate was already on the skids; they were running out of energy, and their quarterback was only able to throw a touchdown pass because of an overly-protective referee who gave him a roughing penalty bonus on a poorly thrown ball. The spectators may have been concerned, but the ballplayers obviously weren’t. They outscored the Raiders 18-0 in the final two periods, with a combination of the now-expected crunching run game and crisp and timely passes.. One interesting facet of the game as played at Andy Kerr Stadium is that the offensive statistics are displayed RIGHT ON THE SCOREBOARD, along with the score. When the home team is losing as convincingly as they did to the Bison, it must be rather disheartening to look up from the field of play to check the score or the clock. Those stats favored the Bison all day long. For those of us from Lewisburg, it was a delight to see.

To anyone who now thinks this is a mediocre team, a lucky team, or a Cinderella team, I think the message is clear. Not so; these guys are JUST PLAIN GOOD. And they get better each week, each practice, each game. They deserve all the praise and cheers they get (did I mention that there were as many Bison fans as Raider fans in attendance?). Everyone on  campus and in town, should come out to see them when they next play at home, against Georgetown.

Here is the usual link to the Zenfolio pages: www.zenfolio.com/jjoel/p353091487