• Sat, 11/19 | Football vs. Central Connecticut L, 42-21 (Final) BX | RC | PH
  • Sat, 11/12 | Football vs. Saint Francis (PA) W, 45-34 (Final) BX | RC | PH
  • Sat, 11/05 | Football at Albany W, 31-17 (Final) BX | RC
  • Sat, 10/22 | Football at Robert Morris W, 34-27 (Final) BX | RC
  • Sat, 10/15 | Football vs. Monmouth L, 40-35 (Final) BX | RC | PH
  • Sat, 10/08 | Football vs. Stonehill W, 42-7 (Final) BX | RC | PH
  • Sat, 10/01 | Football at Duquesne L, 31-28 (Final) BX | BX | RC
  • Sat, 09/24 | Football vs. Wagner W, 30-28 (Final) BX | RC | PH
  • Fri, 09/16 | Football at Sacred Heart W, 26-6 (Final) BX | RC
  • Sat, 09/10 | Football vs. American Int'l W, 27-16 (Final) BX | RC | PH
 

September 3, 2009

FOOTBALL READY TO OPEN 2009 SEASON SATURDAY

August 31, 2009

2009 BRYANT UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA NOTES

GAME NOTES / LIVE WEB STREAM / RADIO BROADCAST / LIVE STATS

BRYANT FOOTBALL HOSTS SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT ON SATURDAY AT 3 PM
Bulldogs Begin Year No. 2 of Competing at the Division I Level

STORY LINE
Bryant opens its second year of Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) play on Saturday, Sept. 5 when the Bulldogs host former Northeast-10 Conference rival Southern Connecticut at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WOON 1240 AM and online at www.bryantbulldogs.com.  John McCarthy returns to the broadcast booth to call the live action. He'll be joined by Patrick Sullivan who will provide analysis.  Last year, in the school's first year competing against DI competition, the Bulldogs posted an impressive 7-4 record overall (5-4 against DI opponents).

BRYANT 5-0 OPENING AT HOME 
Bryant defeated Southern Connecticut 39-36 in last year's home opener.  The Bulldogs fell on the road at Central Connecticut, 42-35 the week before. Bryant is a perfect 5-0 when opening the season at home at Bulldog Stadium.  All-time, Bryant is 7-3 in season openers and 3-2 in openers under coach Marty Fine since 2004.  Both losses came on the road (at AIC in 2004 and at Central Connecticut in 2008).  Bryant has opened the season twice against Southern Connecticut, winning both times (2001 and 2006). The Bulldogs have also opened the home schedule against the Owls three times, winning all three (2001, 2006, 2008).

Season Openers

1999 - at Assumption, 20-13 W

2000 - at Sacred Heart, 15-19 L

2001 - Southern Connecticut, 17-7 W

2002 - at Rhode Island, 0-28 L

2003 - Pace, 32-24 W

2004 - at AIC, 7-15 L

2005 - AIC , 21-0 W

2006 - Southern Connecticut, 49-20 W

2007 - AIC, 13-6 W

2008 - at Central Connecticut, 35-42 L

 

Home Openers (Attendance)

1999 - Mount Ida, 31-20 W (4,817)

2000 - Pace, 34-21 W, (1,231)

2001 - Southern Connecticut, 17-7 W (3,305) *

2002 - CW Post, 3-14 L (1,537)

2003 - Pace, 32-24 W (1,731) *

+2004 - Merrimack, 7-20 L (1,684)

+2005 - AIC, 21-0 W (4,310) *

+2006 - Southern Connecticut, 49-20 W (3,852) *

+2007 - AIC , 13-6 W (2,242) *

+2008 - Southern Connecticut, 39-36 W (2,417)

* season-opener

+ under coach Marty Fine

THE OWLS OF SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT
Southern Connecticut fell to Indiana (PA) 28-21 last Saturday at New Haven.  Quarterback Chris Roberts completed 17 of 30 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns, but threw a pair of interceptions and was sacked four times in the game. Senior running back Jarom Freeman had 69 yards on 16 carries. The Owls led 14-0 early on but three straight scores put the visitors up 21-14 early in the fourth quarter.  Southern Connecticut would tie the game as Roberts connected with Peter DiGangi for an 11-yard touchdown pass with just under seven minutes left, but IUP would follow with the eventual game-winner with a 42-yard touchdown play three plays later and would hold on.

The Owls, preseason favorites to win the Northeast-10 Conference Championship, posted an 8-3 record in 2008 and qualified for the NCAA Division II playoffs for the fourth year in a row.  Three SCSU???players received preseason All-America honors including Freeman, who rushed for 746 yards in eight games.  SCSU averaged 258.4 yards passing as quarterback Chris Roberts completed 148 of 240 passes for 2,125 yards and 20 touchdowns.

THE COACHES
Bryant coach Marty Fine is now in his sixth season at Bryant.  Since his first year in Smithfield in 2004, Fine owns a coaching record of 34-18.  Southern Connecticut coach???Rich Cavanaugh enters his 25th season at SCSU and brings a 145-105-1 career coaching record into today's game.  

TALKING POINTS

*???This will be the 10th meeting all-time between Bryant and Southern???Connecticut

* The Owls lead the all-time series 6 to 3 but Bryant won last year's meeting, 39-36

*???Bryant is 46-40 all-time against Division II teams, defeating Southern Connecticut and Merrimack last year in the school's first year since moving up a level

* Bryant has posted four consecutive winning seasons dating back to 2005, Marty Fine's second year at Bryant

* Jerell Smith (1,873) and Lindsey Gamble (1,760) have a combined 3,633 rushing yards

* Bryant is 3-1 against Southern Connecticut at home

* Saturday's game is the fourth meeting between Bryant and Southern Connecticut in the last three seasons.

BRYANT AGAINST DIVISION I OPPONENTS
Bryant is currently 5-7 all-time vs. Division I-AA teams, earning the school's first win over a Division I opponent back on Sept. 27 at Wagner. Bryant is in its first season competing in Division I.  The Bulldogs are independent during their four-year transition year and will join the Northeast Conference (NEC) once the transition is complete in the fall of 2012.

HOME SWEET HOME
The Bulldogs are 18-2 at home in regular season games in the past four seasons and posted a 4-1 record at home in 2008.  The Bulldogs were 4-0 last season and 5-1 in 2006. Before the loss to Monmouth, the previous loss was a 24-21 defeat to C.W. Post in 2006.  The Bulldogs fell to West???Chester in the NCAA Playoffs that same year.  

NEW LOCKER ROOMS FOR THE BULLDOGS
During this past summer, Bulldog Stadium underwent a locker room expansion project that included a new expansive football locker room.  The locker room includes new wood lockers, common area, coaches locker room, and LCD televisions.  In addition, a new men's lacrosse locker room was built.  The previous locker rooms were remodeled during the project, providing new locker rooms for Bryant's field hockey, women's lacrosse and women's soccer. The field hockey locker room will serve as lockers for visiting teams. 

GLORIA GEMMA BREAST CANCER AWARENESS SEPT. 12 
Bryant will be supporting the worthy Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation during its home game against Hofstra in Week 2 on Sept. 12.  Coaches will be wearing pink shirts in support of the Foundation.  Raffle tickets will be sold and a donation table to will be set up.  A special coin toss and national anthem performance is planned. 

NORTHEAST CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL 2009  
Eligible for the first time in the Northeast Conference standings, the Bryant University football team has been tabbed to finish seventh in 2009 following the announcement of the preseason coaches' poll.  Defending champion Albany is the preseason favorite for the fourth year in a row.  The Danes, an associate member of the league in football, won their fourth conference championship going a perfect 7-0 (9-3 overall) in NEC play.  Bryant will travel to Albany on Oct. 17.  Monmouth, last year's runners up, were picked to finish second followed by Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart.  

 

1. Albany

2. Monmouth

3. Central Connecticut

4. Sacred Heart

5. Robert Morris

6. Duquesne

7. BRYANT

8. Wagner

9. Saint Francis (PA)

 

 

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