Beloit College Buccaneers (2-2, 1-1 MWC)
at Lawrence University Vikings (1-2, 0-1 MWC)
Saturday, October 1, 2016, 1:00 p.m.
Banta Bowl, Appleton, Wis.
The Buccaneers look to rebound from a tough Homecoming Game loss as they head back to the road to play the Vikings of Lawrence University…
The Series: The Buccaneers and Vikings are meeting for the 101st time - the second-most played series on the Beloit books - in a series LU leads 58-37 with five ties. BC has won five of the last eight meetings. The teams have protected their home turf, with the last time the road team won being 2008 in Beloit's 21-6 win at the Banta Bowl. The programs first met in the middle of the 1899 season, an 11-0 BC win. The Bucs won the first two meetings by shutout before LU went on a 13-1-3 tear from 1902-22 that included 10 shutout victories and two scoreless ties……
Bucs Most Recent Game: Beloit College ran out of big plays at the end of a tough 46-41 loss to Cornell College in the annual Homecoming Game at Strong Stadium last Saturday. Both teams came up with a number of big plays in an action-filled second half that saw the Rams score the winning points with just 1:26 remaining. The Bucs had control in the opening half, scoring three unanswered TD's to lead 21-0 midway through the second quarter. Mason Dixon plunged in from one yard out for the first score before Mike Nolden caught an 11-yard scoring pass from Danny May to make it 14-0 after one. Nolden caught a five-yard pass from May at 8:25 of the second quarter for the 21-0 lead before Cornell got on the board with a seven-yard run. Dixon got that touchdown back three minutes later on a six-yard run, giving Beloit a 28-7 lead at the break. CC came out firing in the third quarter, scoring three TD's to get back into the game. But the point-after was missed on the third score, making it 28-27, Buccaneers, after three. Ethan Conley caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from May five seconds into the fourth quarter but the Rams scored back-to-back TD's on 63-yard and 44-yard pass plays to take their first lead of the game at 40-35 with 11:12 left. Beloit regained the lead three minutes later on Dixon third TD run, this one from 13 yards away, to make it 41-40, setting the stage for Cornell's 70-yard scoring pass with 1:26 left. The Buccaneers moved to Cornell's 44 as the clock moved inside 1:00 left but gave up the ball on downs with four seconds remaining. The teams combined for 1,135 yards, 673 by the Rams. Dixon finished with 103 hard rushing yards on 27 carries. May passed for 239 yards and ran for for 94 while Nolden caught eight passes for 110 yards. On defense Riley Pearson had 10 tackles with two-and-a-half sacks while Caleb Wachel made nine tackles and George Jacobsen and Qua Williams eight each, Williams also with two pass breakups…
Bucs' Last Time vs. the Vikings: The Buccaneers made sure a big crowd of some 2,500 Homecoming Game fans liked what they saw, which was a 49-34 win over Lawrence University in the 100th meeting between the two programs on September 19, 2015. The Buccaneers raced to a 21-0 lead in the first nine minutes of the game. Mason Dixon hit paydirt from 38 yards away just over two minutes in to start the scoring before Danny May hit Mike Nolden with a 49-yard scoring pass at the 8:33 mark. Dixon capped the big opening quarter with a 77-yard TD run at 6:17 to complete the outburst. Nolden made it a four-touchdown lead at 6:38 of the second quarter on a six-yard pass from May before the Vikings dented the scoreboard two minutes later on a short two-yard run. Ryan Sughroue caught a 25-yard scoring toss from May with 3:03 remaining in the half and Nolden grabbed his third TD pass of the first 30 minutes from May with 19 seconds left, making it 42-7 at the break. Dixon had 187 yards rushing, May 215 passing yards and Nolden six catches for 116 yards in the first half as the Buccaneers piled up 408 yards of offense. Dixon scored his third touchdown from 12 yards away at 9:32 of the third for the only score of the quarter, making it 49-7. LU got going in the fourth, scoring four TDs while shutting down the Buccaneer back-ups for the final score. The Bucs finished with 524 total yards, 284 on the ground. Dixon finished with 218 yards, his second straight 200-plus yard game, the first Buccaneer to hit the 200-yard rushing mark four times in his career. May had 233 yards passing and Nolden had 134 yards receiving on seven catches. Defensively, Danny Quijas had seven tackles and also recovered a fumble. Riley Pearson had six tackles. Antonio Jones intercepted his third pass of the season and Quin Dixon had a sack, a forced fumble and and a fumble recovery. Jack Sommer had the team's other sack…
Notes & Notables: Mike Nolden has moved into the fourth spot for career receptions (158) and receiving yards (2,113) after Saturday's nine catches for 129 yards vs. Cornell…Riley Pearson hit double figures in career sacks with 2.5 Saturday, pushing his four-season total to 11…Saturday's Homecoming Game loss snapped a three-game winning streak in the annual event. The most recent loss had been on September 22, 2012, a 13-7 setback to Grinnell College…
Up Ahead for the Bucs: Beloit returns to Strong Stadium to face St. Norbert College on October 8 in a 1:00 p.m. kickoff before traveling to Ripon College on October 15…