LEWISBURG — Bucknell seeks a second consecutive victory when it hosts Merrimack at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium on Saturday. The home opener kicks off Bucknell’s season-long celebration of the stadium’s 100th anniversary season. The Bison and the Warriors are meeting for the first time.
The Bison have shown flashes of excellence over their first two games, including a dominant second half at VMI where the offense scored 21 unanswered points and totaled over 400 yards of offense in the game to secure a 35-28 victory. The defense has come up with three takeaways this season, and Bucknell added a special teams touchdown last weekend.
Bucknell currently ranks 23rd among FCS teams in total offense and 13th in passing offense, thanks in large part to quarterback Ralph Rucker IV and his deep receiving corps. Rucker piled up 340 passing yards last weekend, which were top 10 in program history. His number one target through two games has been sophomore TJ Cadden, who has totaled the second-most all-purpose yards among all FCS players with 184 receiving yards and 130 return yards through the first two weeks.
One of the newest Division I football programs in the country, Merrimack is under the direction of first-year head coach Mike Gennetti. The Warriors are two years removed from an 8-3 season.