Big First Half Propels Bucknell Football to 48-42 Win Over Duquesne

Marcello Trigg was completed his first 14 pass attempts and finished with a career-high 290 yards in Bucknell's 48-42 victory over Duquesne.

Bison Explode for 42 First-Half Points, Pile Up 537 Yards of Total Offense

Sept. 6, 2008

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LEWISBURG, Pa. - Junior quarterback Marcello Trigg completed his first 14 passes and finished 14 of 16 for a career-high 290 yards, and Bucknell parlayed 42 first-half points into a 48-42 victory over Duquesne in its season opener Saturday night at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Bison piled up 537 yards of total offense in the victory, while the two teams combined for more than 1,000 total yards.

The high-scoring game featured the highest combined score in a season opener for Bucknell, while the 48 points were the most it had tallied in a season opener since 1926.

Trigg was trying to become the first Bucknell quarterback since Rob Glus in 1994 to record 300 passing yards in a game, but came up 10 yards short. He had 290 yards late in the third quarter, then he attempted only two more the rest of the way.

The Bison used a number of big plays in the first half to jump out to a 42-7 halftime advantage. Josh Lee was a key in the first half as he had a 34-yard run to the 2-yard line that set up a touchdown run by Trigg to put Bucknell up 7-0. He later caught a 44-yard pass from Trigg that made the score 21-0 early in the second quarter. That reception was the third of his career, all for touchdowns. That streak ended later in the quarter when he caught a 29-yard pass from Trigg to open the final drive of the half, which ended with a 1-yard A.J. Kizekai score. All told, Lee had career highs in rushing yards (64), rushing touchdowns (1), receptions (2), and receiving yards (73).

Ryan Smith was also key to the first-half explosion as he posted a 48-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and later scored on a short 2-yard run. He finished the game with a career-high 69 yards rushing and equaled Trigg for the team lead with two rushing touchdowns.

Lee and Smith were important cogs in the offense new offensive coordinator Harold Nichols was directing, but Trigg and sophomore wide receiver Shaun Pasternak really shined. The two hooked up seven times for a career-high 166 yards and one touchdown. Among the receptions for Pasternak was a 57-yard catch and a 42-yard touchdown. Bucknell finished with five plays of at least 30 yards and four of at least 40 in the contest.

While the Bucknell offense shined in the first half, Duquesne was strong in the second half, tallying 28 points in the final quarter. Michigan State transfer Connor Dixon was 30-for-47 for 429 yards and a school-record six touchdowns at quarterback for the Dukes, while Alex Roberson caught 11 balls for 154 yards. Of Duquesne's 485 total yards, 357 came after halftime. The Dukes did not even have a first down until the opening minutes of the second quarter after punting on their first five possessions of the night.

Roberson's 18-yard touchdown catch with 15 seconds remaining in the game made it 48-42, but Casey Williams recovered an onside kick to seal the win.

It appeared as though the Bison offense was going to continue to click in the second half as they marched down the field on an 11-play drive that ended in a four-yard Trigg touchdown run to make the score 48-7. Will Carney, who had made a school-record 64 consecutive extra points, hit the left upright on the extra-point attempt after a high snap threw off his timing.

Bucknell finished the game with 290 yards passing and 274 yards rushing, marking the second time in the last four games it has thrown for more yards than it has on the ground. Kizekai led the Bison ground attack with 98 yards on 13 carries. He also had three kickoff returns for 39 yards as the Dukes tried to kick the ball away from him.

In his first game back after missing last season with a shoulder injury, Sam Nana-Sinkam led Bucknell with eight tackles, including seven in the first half. One of the two players named team captain for the game, Todd Manjuck, added seven tackles.

Both Bucknell and Duquesne had troubles with fumbles as they combined to fumble seven times, losing possession each time. The Bison fumbled twice inside the Dukes 10-yard line in the second half, stunting what might have been an even higher scoring output. Duquesne backup quarterback Kevin Rombach, on his only snap of the game, coughed up the ball at the Bison 1-yard line and Todd Manjuck recovered in the end zone, capping an impressive fourth-quarter goal-line stand for Bucknell.

The victory over Duquesne helped Bucknell head coach Tim Landis improve to 5-0 all-time against the Dukes. The Bison have defeated the Dukes in three consecutive season openers.

The 42 points Bucknell allowed were the second-most it had allowed in a victory in program history. The only other team to score more points in a Bison victory was Lehigh in a 48-46 game in 1954.

Bucknell will take to the road for the first time next Saturday when it travels to Robert Morris for a 1 p.m. game.