Bryant Football Opens Fall Camp Saturday

August 8, 2008

BRYANT FOOTBALL OPENS CAMP SATURDAY
Bulldogs Begin First Season Competing At Division I

Junior linebacker Paul Polomski. www.dspics.com

SMITHFIELD, RI -  Bryant University football players report to campus Friday, Aug. 8 to begin preparations for the 2008 season opener August 30 at Central Connecticut (5 pm).  Following position meetings, lifting and team meetings, the first official practice will take place on Saturday, Aug. 9 starting at 3:15 p.m. at the team practice field located next to Bulldog Stadium.

Bryant will be making the jump to Division I this fall, competing in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) in 2008.  The Bulldogs will join the Northeast Conference (NEC) upon successful completion of the four-year transition to Division I starting in the fall of 2012.  Football members of the conference include: Albany, Central Connecticut, Duquesne, Wagner, Monmouth, Robert Morris, Saint Francis (PA) and Sacred Heart; all but two (Albany and Sacred Heart) will line up with the Bulldogs this season.

A total of 112 players are expected to report to camp for fifth-year coach Marty Fine including 36 letterwinners and 12 starters from last year's squad which finished 8-3 and captured the program's second-straight conference championship and berth in the NCAA playoffs.  Among those returning are running backs Lindsey Gamble (Roxbury, MA) and Jerell Smith (Brooklyn, NY).  Gamble rushed for 941 yards and 14 touchdowns as a sophomore while Smith helped provide Bryant with a solid one-two punch out of the backfield.  The Howard University transfer had 619 yards rushing in his first season including 125 yards in the team's win over C.W. Post. 

Bryant will need to replace the arm of graduated quarterback Charlie Granatell who started every game since 2004 and the owner of all of Bryant's passing records.  Hofstra transfer Jay Graber (Clarksburg, NJ) was a backup last year and will open camp as the favorite to replace Granatell.  He'll have competition from junior Kurt Spear (Green, NY), Nick Scardelli (Manalapan, NJ), and Jake Pates (Columbus, NJ).  

Bryant will open the season on Saturday, August 30 at Central Connecticut State before returning home September 6 to host Southern Connecticut for the first of five home games this fall at Bulldog Stadium. Other home games include Merrimack (Sept. 13) for Homecoming & Reunion Weekend, Monmouth (Sept. 20), Robert Morris (Oct. 18), and Duquesne (Nov. 1). 

Highlighting six road games this year will be an Oct. 25 trip to UMass-Amherst.  A perennial Colonial Athletic Conference contender and NCAA tournament participant, the Minutemen were 10-3 last season and finished the year No. 7 in the final Sports Network poll. UMass reached the NCAA championship game in 2006.