Bryant Football Travels to American International Saturday For 1 p.m. Kickoff

BRYANT FOOTBALL HITS THE ROAD TO FACE AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SATURDAY AT 1 PM
 
Game Notes (pdf)

Date:  Saturday, September 9, 2006
Time: 1:00 p.m. kickoff
Location: Springfield, Mass.
Stadium: John Homer Miller Field (5,000)
Radio: www.BryantBulldogs.com  (John McCarthy calls the action)
TV: www.NE10.tv
Series: AIC leads 6-1
Last Meeting: Bryant 21-0, Sept. 3, 2005 @ Smithfield, R.I.
Coaches:  Bryant - Marty Fine, 3rd year (12-8)
 AIC - Art Wilkins, 13th year (74-51)

THE GAME:
The Bryant University football team hits the road this Saturday when the Bulldogs (1-0) travel to Springfield, Mass. to face American International College for a 1 p.m. kickoff.  Bryant is coming off an impressive 49-20 win over Southern Connecticut in the season-opener last Saturday before 3,852 fans at Bulldog Stadium.  Senior running back Lorenzo Perry (Providence, R.I.) rushed for 190 yards on 33 carries and set a new school record with four rushing touchdowns in the game. For his efforts, Perry was named the Northeast-10 Offensive Player of the Week. This will be the eighth meeting all-time between Bryant and AIC with the Yellow Jackets owning a 6-1 series lead on the Bulldogs.  Bryant won last year's meeting, 21-0 in the season opener at Bulldog Stadium.   AIC defeated Saint Anselm 34-10 behind Marlon Beckles 189 yards rushing. 

LAST WEEK'S RECAP:
Lorenzo Perry rushed for 190 yards and a school record four touchdowns in leading Bryant to a 49-20 win over Southern Connecticut in the season opener at Bulldog Stadium last Saturday.  The win snapped a four-game losing skid to the Owls and avenged last year's 77-35 drubbing by the Owls in the 2005 season finale.  The win moved Bryant to 5-3 all-time in season-opening games and 5-0 when those openers take place at Bulldog Stadium.   The Bulldogs led 7-6 after one quarter and took a 28-12 lead into the locker room at the break, thanks to a 3-yard touchdown pass from Charles Granatell to Kevin Anderson with 10 seconds left.  The score was set up by a key interception by Bryant's Bryce Martins (Uncasville, CT)  who picked off a Steve Armstrong pass in Bryant territory and returned it 35 yards.  The Bulldogs added two more scores, both coming on touchdown runs of 1 and 7 yards by Perry to lead 42-12 heading into the fourth.  Southern would open the quarter with a touchdown by Armstrong to pull to within 42-20 but Bryant closed in the waning minutes as junior safety Chris Wohlheter (Newark, Ohio) intecepted Armstrong and returned it a school record 75 yards for a touchdown.  Bryant had 412 yards of total offense in the game and didn't allow a single sack.  Quarterback Charles Granatell (Franklin Lakes, NJ) completed an efficient 15 of 22 passes for 205 yards.  Justin Kix (Shoreham, NY) had four catches for 92 yards.

WEEK TWO
Bryant is 1-6 all-time during games in Week 2 of the season, including five-straight defeats.  Last season, Bryant opened with a 21-0 win over AIC at home only to fall the following week, 41-40 in overtime at Merrimack College.  In that game, Bryant missed two extra-point attempts in the fourth quarter, including one as time expired in regulation that would have given the Bulldogs the win. 
 
THE BRYANT - AIC MATCHUP
The Bulldogs finally got over the hump last season, defeating American International 21-0 for the program's first win over the Yellow Jackets.  AIC had entered the game winners of the previous six meetings with Bryant.  Last year's win marked the third shutout in Bryant's history and the second all-time at home.  Lorenzo Perry, in his debut with the Bulldogs, rushed for 87 yards while Chris Peaks added 44 yards before leaving the game with an injury.  The game was played before 4,310 fans, the
  Head coach Art Wilkins is the winningest coach in school history with a 74-51 record in 12 seasons, including last Saturday's 34-10 win at Saint Anselm. Marlon Beckles had 189 yards rushing on 24 carries while quarterback Shane Murphy was 12 for 22 passing for 198 yards and two TDs.  Beckles moved into third all-time in AIC history with 2,909 career rushing yards.

Series History
Year Result Bryant SCSU Location
1999 L 20 60 Springfield, Mass.
2000 L 36 44 (4 ot) Smithfield, R.I.
2001 L 14 23 Springfield, Mass.
2002 L 33 40 (2 ot) Smithfield, R.I.
2003 L 22 33  Smithfield, R.I.
2004 L 7 15 Springfield, Mass.
2005 W 21 0 Smithfield, RI
 

This Week's Games In The Northeast-10

 Friday, Sept.8
 Southern Connecticut at Bentley, 7 pm
 Assumption at Stonehill, 7 pm

 Saturday,Sept. 9
 Bryant at AIC
 Pace at CW Post
 Merrimack at Rhode Island
 Saint Anselm at Edinboro
 

2006 Northeast-10 Preseason Coaches Poll
     Team  Points  Rec., NE-10
1.    LIU / C.W. Post (6) 96  10-3, 8-1
2.   Southern Conn. (2) 88  8-3, 7-2
3.    Bentley (1)   79  7-3, 7-2
4.    Bryant  71  7-3, 6-3
5.    American Int'l  58  5-4, 5-4
6.    Merrimack 43  4-6, 3-6
7.    Pace (1)                  37   3-7, 2-7
8.    Stonehill  35  4-6, 4-5
9.    Assumption 30  4-6, 3-6
10.  Saint Anselm 13  1-9, 0-9

NOTABLES
 *Bryant allowed the fewest sacks in the Northeast-10 Conference last season with 8 allowed. This year's veteran line is off to another solid start as the Bulldogs didn't allow a sack against Southern Connecticut in the opener.
* After scoring 73.3 percent of the time the Bulldogs reached the red zone last year, Bryant found similar success by scoring all six times when inside the Southern Connecticut 20 yard line Saturday.  Last year, Bryant's red-zone defense was third-best in the conference, holding opponents scoreless 11 times when in the red-zone (26 for 37). Much like the Bulldogs, the Owls also scored on all three trips inside the Bryant red zone. 
  * Lorenzo Perry trails all-time school rushing leader Andre McLeod (3,521) with 1,525 yards after 190 vs. Southern Connecticut Saturday ... Perry rushed for 1,335 yards in ‘05.  .... Perry needs 1 rushing touchdown to pass McLeod's career rushing TD record of 20 (he is currently tied) ... Senior Justin Kix (7 career) needs seven touchdown receptions to pass Adam Ewing  for the alltime record.  Ewing had 13 from 1999-03. 
* Junior defensive end Mark Gunther (8 sacks in ‘05) needs 10.5 sacks to tie the career record of 19.5 held by Ben Wellington ‘03. 
* The win Saturday was Bryant's sixth-straight at home dating back to last season (5-0 in 2005)
 
BULLDOGS DRAW A CROWD: Bryant has led the Northeast-10 Conference in attendance in five of the last six seasons including 2005. In five games last season (all wins), Bryant averaged 2,799 fans.  The Bulldogs drew 2,571 for the Bentley game, despite the cold weather.  The Bulldogs had 4,310 for the AIC game and 4,820 for the Pace game.

2005 NE-10 rankings by average attendance:  
 1. BRYANT  2,799      
 2. Bentley 2,361
 3. CW Post 1,895
 4. Merrimack 1,885
 5. So. Conn. 1,794
 6. Stonehill 1,494
 7. Assumption 1,438
 8. Pace 1,202
 9. St. Anselm 1,028
10. AIC 772