The Bucknell Bisons (6-4) blanked the Fordham Rams (1-9), 21-0, on Saturday afternoon at Jack Coffey Field in the Bronx. The defeat was the eighth straight for the struggling Rams. The contest was one of two collegiate football games played in the Bronx on Saturday afternoon. Twenty-one minutes after the Fordham game ended, the Army-Rutgers game began at Yankee Stadium.
Fordham’s return home after three road losses was marred early as Bucknell took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. A two yard run by Tyler Smith put the first points on the board at 6:20 of the first quarter. The touchdown was set up by the Bucknell junior as he had runs of 21 and 36 yards during the drive. Thus, he gained 59 of Bucknell’s 71 yards on the drive.
The second touchdown of the quarter was set up by the Bucknell recovery of a Fordham fumble. The touchdown was made by Jeremiah Young on a 1 yard run with 1:22 left in the quarter.
Both teams were scoreless for the next 46 minutes. Drew Orth of Bucknell missed a 40 yard field goal in the first quarter and Michael Marrando missed two field goals for Fordham, one from 30 yards at 7:19 of the second quarter and one from 28 yards in the third.
Bucknell’s star of the game, Tyler Smith, scored the final touchdown of the game on a two yard run with 5:49 remaining in the contest. He was major force in the offensive drive as he carried the ball three times for a gain of 63 yards. His contribution was 65 of the 85 yards gained by Bucknell in the final scoring series of downs.
Tyler Smith had his second of two games in which he gained more than 200 yards on the ground (204) and all-purpose yards (234). He has gained 786 rushing yards this season with one game remaining.
Bryce Robertson broke the Bison and Patriot League mark by intercepting his 11th pass of 2011. He leads the FCS interception per game average.
Although Fordham was held to only 51 yards gained rushing, quarterback Ryan Higgins completed 19 of 24 passes for 185 yards.
Fordham will return to Jack Coffey field for its final game of the season on Saturday, November 19 at 1 pm against Holy Cross. Senior day will be celebrated in the Bronx.
Good News—There was good news for Fordham football fans on Sunday as John Skelton, 2010 Fordham grad, led the Arizona Cardinals to a 21-17 upset victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. The winning touchdown was scored on a five yard touchdown pass by Skelton in the final minute of the contest. Last year’s NFL rookie achieved his second game-winning drive and his first victory on the road. Skelton completed 21 of 40 passes for a total of 315 yards. Three of his passes were for touchdowns. He also carried the ball four times for 15 yards.