Bucknell Football hosted the Fordham Rams (1-9, 1-4) this past Saturday, Nov. 9, in a must-win contest for the Bison. With a victory, the Bison keep hopes alive of winning the Patriot League, which they will do if they win out the rest of the season.
Offense was hard to come by early in this game, but it was the Bison defense that put Bucknell on the board first.
After the Rams took the ball downfield across over a five-minute drive, it was looking like they were going to find the end zone. Then, a fumble was forced and eventually, Gavin Willis ’27 was able to recover the ball and take it back 79 yards to the house to make the score 7-0.
The first quarter ended with that score and offense remained stagnant from both sides for much of the second quarter. It wasn’t until about eight minutes into the second quarter that Fordham was able to tie the game up 7-7.
The Orange and Blue were forced to punt on each of its offensive drives of the second quarter until their last, which gave the Bison a lead heading into the half. After quarterback Ralph Rucker IV ’25 found Josh Gary ’26 for a 12-yard completion with time ticking down, Rucker then found Nate Anderson ’26 for a 44-yard touchdown to put the Bison up 14-7 with under 30 seconds left to go in the half.
This was a huge momentum builder for the Bison as they headed into the locker room.
Fordham got on the board quickly in the third to bring the game to a 14-14 tie, but it didn’t take long for the Orange and Blue to regain the lead as they did so on the next possession. It was another deep completion, as Rucker found Paul Neel ’25 for another 44-yard touchdown.
Bucknell seemed to have found some rhythm offensively and looked like they could keep up with Fordham’s responses, but the Rams then went on to score 12 unanswered points over the end of the third quarter and the first half of the fourth to take the life out of Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. It started after the Rams forced a Bison safety to make the score 21-16, then tallied a field goal after Bucknell held them short of the end zone on their next possession to make the score 21-19.
Bucknell found a drought on the offensive side of the ball, keeping the door open for Fordham to take the lead. And they eventually did with just over four minutes to go, getting into the end zone to make the score 27-21 in favor of the Rams.
The Bison had one more shot to keep their Patriot League title hopes alive, and they took advantage.
Rucker found Gary and then Eric Weatherly ’26 in the air for 23 yards and 19 yards on back-to-back plays to set the Bison up for a score.
The drive was capped off by Anderson’s second touchdown catch of the day as Rucker found him for a 15-yard score and put the Bison up 28-27, giving them the victory.
Rucker finished his stellar day with 322 passing yards and three touchdowns to no turnovers. Gary led the Bison with seven receptions for 97 yards.
Now 5-5 overall and 3-1 in conference play, the Bison travel to Worcester, Mass., to take on Holy Cross this coming Saturday, Nov. 16.
