September 25, 2007
BRYANT FOOTBALL GAME NOTES
Download PDF Version
3-0 BULLDOGS HOST 1-3 PACE FOR HOMECOMING SATURDAY
Game 4 - Bryant University (3-0, 3-0 NE-10) hosts Pace
University (1-3, 1-2 NE-10)
Saturday, September 29, 2007, Bulldog Stadium (3,400) -
HOMECOMING
Radio/TV: www.bryantbulldogs.com John McCarthy, Pat
Sullivan), www.ne10.tv
|
| Marcus Lindsey (above) was named to the NE-10 Weekly Honor Roll. www.dspics.com |
UPDATE:
The defending co-champions of the Northeast-10, Bryant University
is off to its best start in school history at 3-0 on the
year. The Bulldogs, with just two offensive starters
returning, were picked to finish fourth in the conference
standings, but heading into week four of the season, Bryant finds
itself tied with surprising Stonehill (3-0, 3-0 NE-10) atop the
Northeast-10 Conference standings. This week, the Bulldogs
return home on Saturday to host Pace University (1-3, 1-2 NE-10)
for Homecoming & Reunion Weekend. Kickoff at Bulldog
Stadium is at 1 pm. Bryant has won six straight against Pace and
own a 6-1 all-time record against the Setters of Pleasantville,
NY. Following this week's game, Bryant will travel to C.W.
Post on Oct. 6 to face a Pioneer team that fell at home to
Stonehill on Saturday in one of the season's biggest upsets.
The Bulldogs will host Stonehill on Oct. 13 for what could be a
battle for first place. From there, Bryant will have tough
dates with Stony Brook (non-conference), Southern Connecticut, and
Bentley.
MORE TIDBITS
* Saturday's game will be the 83rd game for Bryant since becoming a
varsity program in 1999.
* Bryant owns a 43-39 all-time record covering eight seasons.
* Last Saturday's win at Assumption was Marty Fine's 22nd at
Bryant, breaking Jim Miceli's coaching victories of 21.
Miceli coached Bryant from 1999 to 2003 (5 seasons), going 21-28
during that span. Fine owns a record of 22-11 in his fourth
year.
* Bryant is 18-5 in its last 23 regular season games, not including
last year's postseason loss. The Bulldogs were 7-3 in 2005
and were 8-3 last year including a loss to West Chester in the
NCAA's.
* Under coach Fine, Bryant is 12-4 in games played in September
since 2004.
SERIES:
This will be the eighth meeting all-time between Bryant and
Pace. The Bulldogs lead the series 6-1 and have won the last
six since falling in the team's first meeting, 13-7 back in
1999. Last year, Bryant won 31-17 in Pleasantville, NY thanks
to 200 yards rushing from Lorenzo Perry and Charlie Granatell's
efficient 10 of 14 passing for 178 yards. Bryant did fumble
the ball away three times in the game. The Bulldogs are 4-0
in games played at Bulldog Stadium, including a 20-19 win on
Homecoming the last time these two teams met in Smithfield back in
2005.
A GLANCE AT PACE UNIVERSITY:
Under the direction of third year coach Mike Iezzi, the Setters are
1-3 on the season (1-2 in the Northeast-10) after falling to
Husson, Iona, and C.W. Post to start the season. Last week,
the Setters defeated Saint Anselm, 20-9 at Pace Field. Ricky
McCollum had a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown to start
the game and the Setters never looked back. The two teams
combined for just 331 yards of total offense (on 137 plays!).
This year, Pace is averaging 55 yards rushing per game and 111
yards passing while giving up 128 yards rushing and 183 yards
through the air. Quarterback Ray Gregg has completed 28 of 54
passes for 266 yards on the season.
BULLDOGS IN THE NE-10
Rushing Lindsey Gamble, 1st, 136.0
Passing Charlie Granatell, 6th, 173.7
Receptions Sean Bergin, 9th, 4.00
Receiving yards Sean Bergin, 6th,68.3
Kick Returns Jerell Smith, 2nd, 29.0 yards per
return
All Purpose Lindsey Gamble, 3rd, 140.0
Punting Brian Donnelly, 1st, 39.7
Scoring Lindsey Gamble, 1st, 12.0 points /gm
PAT Kicking Chris Bird, tied for 1st, 10-for-10 PAT
TALE OF THE TAPE - BRYANT AND PACE WITH NE-10 RANK OUT
OF 10 TEAMS
Bryant PACE
Scoring Offense 29.3 (4th) 8.2 (10th)
Scoring Defense 22.7 (3rd) 24.5 (4th)
Rushing Offense 176.3 (3rd) 55.5 (10th)
Rushing Defense 200.7 (7th) 128.5 (5th)
Passing Offense 181.5 (5th) 111.2 (9th)
Passing Defense 146.7 (1st) 183.8 (4th)
Total Offense 357.7 (5th) 166.8 (10th)
Total Defense 347.3 (5th) 312.2 (2nd)
THE COACHES:
Bryant coach Marty Fine enters his fourth season coaching the
Bulldogs. Since his first year in Smithfield in 2004, Fine
owns a coaching record of 22-11. Pace coach Mike Iezzi is in his
third season where he is 7-17.
GAMBLE PAYS OFF:
Bryant has been going with a three-back rotation in the
backfield with Chris Peaks (29 yards vs. Merrimack), Howard
University transfer Jerell Smith (52 yards on 20 carries this
year), and Lindsey Gamble, sophomore who had just 27 yards on 9
carries in 2006 behind the Lorenzo Perry Show. But after
three games, it's been the Lindsey Gamble Show. After rushing
for 49 yards on 14 carries in the opener vs. AIC, Gamble ran for
177 yards on 26 rushes against Merrimack in Week Two and followed
with a career-best 182 yards and school record-tying 4 touchdowns
in the win over Assumption last week. So far this season, Gamble
leads the Northeast-10 in rushing with a 136.0 yards per game
average and has six touchdowns.
NE-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For his efforts against Assumption, sophomore Lindsey Gamble has
been named the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Week for
Monday, September 24. Gamble rushed for 182 yards on 26
carries and equaled a school record with four touchdowns.
WINNING WAYS:
Bryant has put together two consecutive winning seasons since a 4-5
slate in Fine's first year as coach in 2004. In 2005, Bryant
went 7-3 overall followed with an 8-3 campaign in 2006. The
only other winning season was in 1999 when the team went 5-4.
Bryant is 18-5 in its last 23 regular season games, not including
last year's NCAA playoff loss.
MILESTONES:
Senior WR Sean Bergin (New Windsor, NY/ Newburgh Free) is
currently second all-time with 63 receptions and second with 1,024
career receiving yards, going over the 1,000 yard mark with 59
yards vs. Assumption on Saturday. Bergin trails all-time
leader Justin Kix in both categories (112 receptions, 1650
receiving yards).
RECORD BOOK UPDATES:
* Chris Peaks (5th all-time with 1,265 yards) needs 8 rushing yards
to move into fourth all-time, passing Tony Granieri's
1,272.
* Peaks (10 TDs) needs five touchdowns to move into third all-time
for career TDs
* Charlie Granatell moved into first all-time with 910 career total
plays of offense vs. Merrimack.
* Chris Wohlheter (2nd, 8) needs four interceptions to become
all-time career INT leader (11).
* Wohlheter is currently 6th with 150 career tackles.
GRANATELL ON THE MARK:
Senior quarterback Charlie Granatell (Franklin Lakes, NJ / Ramapo)
has started every game (33) since coming to campus as a freshman in
2004. Granatell's junior year was his best yet, passing for a
career-best 1,975 yards and 21 touchdowns. Granatell finished the
season ranked second nationally with a 167.5 efficiency
rating.
GRANATELL ON THE SEASON
Granatell enters this week's game with 5,548 yards and 48
touchdowns. He is the holder of 15 school records. On
the season, Granatell has completed 45 of 78 passes (57.7 percent)
for 521 yards and 5 TDs. He has thrown just 2
interceptions.
GUNTHER SETS SEASON AND CAREER SACK RECORD:
Senior defensive end Mark Gunther (Clarksburg, NJ / Notre Dame) set
a school single season record with 11.5 sacks, giving him the
school career sack record with 20.5. Gunther had three sacks
in two different games last year (vs. Saint Anselm and Assumption).
THE ASSUMPTION GAME:
Bryant 38, Assumption 28, Sept. 22 @ Worcester, MA
A week after running for a career best 177 yards in a win over
Merrimack, Bryant sophomore running back Lindsey Gamble (Roxbury,
Mass.) turned in another career performance a week later, rushing
for a career-best 182 yards on 26 carries and four touchdowns as
the Bryant football team defeated Assumption 38-28. Win
improves the Bulldogs to 3-0 (3-0 NE-10) on the year, Bryant's best
start to a season in school history. The Bulldogs trailed 7-0 after
one quarter of play but came back with 17 unanswered points in the
second quarter to take a 17-7 lead at the half. A Chris Bird 23
yard field goal helped get the Bulldogs on the board, early in the
second quarter. Gamble would score from five yards out to
make it 10-7. Assumption (1-3, 1-2 NE-10) would move the ball
to the Bryant 35 yard line, but Bryant's Michael Morgan intercepted
a Taylor Humphrey pass in the end zone and returned it back to the
Bryant 17 with 42 seconds left in the half. On the first play of
Bryant's ensuing possession, Gamble broke through for a 73 yard run
down the left sideline, setting up a first and goal from the
Assumption 10. Charlie Granatell hit Bryan Wood for a 9 yard
pickup down to the Assumption 1 yard line with 11 seconds
left. The Bulldogs would use two time outs before Granatell
hit Doug Emerzian with a one yard touchdown pass in the back of the
end zone to put Bryant up 17-7 at the break. The four rushing
touchdowns by Gambles equals a school record held by Lorenzo Perry
who had four last year against Southern Connecticut. Granatell
finished the day with 218 yards passing, completing 18 of 30
attempts and one touchdown. Jarett Solimando and Wood each
had four receptions for the Bulldogs. Assumption tailback
Herb Woodward had 126 yards on 23 carries for the Greyhounds.
THE MERRIMACK GAME:
Bryant 37, Merrimack 34 OT, Sept. 14 @ North Andover,
MA
Sophomore tailback Lindsey Gamble rushed for a career-high 177
yards on 26 carries (6.8 ave.) and two touchdowns including a
12-yard scamper in overtime which proved to be the game winner as
Bryant stormed back from down 31-17 to defeat Merrimack 34-31 in
overtime. The Warriors, picked to finish third in the conference
after returning 22 starters from its NCAA playoff run to the second
round, led 24-10 at the half and stretched its largest lead of the
night early in the fourth, only to see Bryant score a pair of
touchdowns to tie it to force overtime. The Bulldogs had a chance
to win it in regulation but Chris Bird's 40-yard field goal attempt
with six seconds left was wide. The Warriors struck first in
the first OT, connecting on a 40-yard field goal to go up
34-31. But on Bryant's ensuing possession, the Bulldogs moved
the ball to the 12 yard line and Gamble rambled in with the
winner. Charlie Granatell completed 16 of 31 passes for 199
yards and had three touchdowns. Sean Bergin had five
receptions for 71 yards.
THE AIC GAME:
Bryant 13, AIC 7, Sept. 8 @ Smithfield, RI
Charlie Granatell (Franklin Lakes, NJ) completed 11 of 17 passes
for 104 yards and sophomore linebacker Paul Polomski (Franklin,
Mass.) intercepted two passes (one returned 44 yards for a
touchdown) and had a fumble recovery to help lead Bryant to a 13-6
win before 2,242 at Bulldog Stadium in the opener Sept. 8.
Bryant had just 181 yards of offense but the defense came through,
forcing four Yellow Jacket turnovers in the game. Sophomore
transfer Jerell Smith (Brooklyn, NY / Howard University) rushed for
49 yards on 19 carries while Sean Bergin (New Windsor, NY) caught a
team-best four passes for 75 yards.
NE-10 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore LB Paul Polomski (Franklin, Mass.) was named the
Northeast-10 Conference Defensive Player of the Week after
recording six tackles, a fumble recovery, and intercepting two
passes, one of which was returned 44 yards for a touchdown in the
fourth in the team's season-opening win over American International
on Sept. 8. Polomski earned his first start at
linebacker last year as a freshman in Week 2, playing against of
all teams AIC. Incidentally, Polomski had a goal-line
interception in the first half of that game as well.
NEW ON THE STAFF:
Bryant returns all but one coach from last year's coaching
staff. Marc Klaiman, defensive coordinator for the past three
seasons, left last spring for an assistant position at Merrimack
College. In his place steps first-year coach Ben Morie who
will coach the team's quarterbacks and receivers. Morie, a 2000
graduate of Bemidji State in Minnesota, comes to Bryant from Upper
Iowa University where he was recently the team's offensive
coordinator. Also joining the staff this year is first year
coach Art Bell (Rhode Island '85). Bell, who will coach the
Bulldogs' defensive line, is a native of Newport and graduate of
Rogers HS. He played one year at Bridgewater State and played
three years at URI where he was a member of the Rams' 1981 Yankee
Conference Championship team. Prior to coming to Bryant, Bell
coached at Salve Regina and Middletown HS.
RHODE ISLAND ASSISTANCE
In addition to newcomer Art Bell to Fine's coaching staff, other
assistant coaches with Rhode Island ties include outside
linebackers coach Jay Monteiro (Rhode Island '89) who was an
assistant for 16 years at East Providence HS before coming to
Bryant three years ago. Also back is running backs coach Jay Jones
(Rhode Island College '94) who previously was an assistant at
Cranston West and is currently the wrestling coach at
RIC.
ROOKIE RHODE ISLANDERS:
Bryant has five local freshman on this season's roster
heading into opening week: Fullback Kyle Bell (Middletown, RI
/ Middletown); linebacker Joe Heiberger (Westerly, RI / Westerly);
tight end Matthew Kelly (Lincoln, RI / Bishop Feehan); wide
receiver Brendan Rice (Providence / La Salle); and kicker Karl
Turner (Woodriver Junction, RI / Chariho).
