Football | 9/28/2018 3:38:00 PM

BLOOMSBURG (2-2, 1-0 PSAC East) at KUTZTOWN (3-0, 0-0 PSAC East)
Saturday, September 29, 2017 - 6:05 PM
University Field at Andre Reed Stadium - Kutztown, Pa.

BLOOMSBURG GAME NOTES

GAME COVERAGE
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Live Video: Kutztown University
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Live Stats: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @GoBUHuskies

RELATED LINKS
Bloomsburg - Schedule | Roster | Statistics
Kutztown - Schedule | Roster | Statistics

SERIES HISTORY
Bloomsburg leads the all-time series, 47-23-1
Streak: Kutztown 2W

Last Meeting: October 7, 2017 at Bloomsburg (Kutztown 23, Bloomsburg 7)
First Meeting: October 1, 1927 at Bloomsburg (Bloomsburg 30, Kutztown 0)
Largest Bloomsburg Win: November 6, 1965 at Kutztown (47-0)
Largest Kutztown Win: October 5, 1991 at Kutztown (67-19)

LAST WEEK
Bloomsburg got a career-high three touchdown passes from redshirt sophomore Erik Benjamin (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) and took advantage of three Shippensburg University turnovers and four missed point-after conversions as the Huskies snapped a two-game losing streak on Saturday night with a 28-24 victory over the visiting Red Raiders. Benjamin completed 10-of-21 for just 109 yards on the night but connected with redshirt junior Michael Allen (Oley, Pa./Fleetwood) on a pair of scores while finding junior Kieron Smethers (Wellsboro, Pa./Wellsboro Area) for the other en route to his career-high three touchdown passes. Meanwhile, the ground game rushed for 196 yards against a Shippensburg defense that had allowed an average of 102 rushing yards through the first three weeks. Redshirt sophomore Jack Gaugler (Mount Pleasant Mills, Pa./Selinsgrove) accounted for the other Bloomsburg points when he powered his way into the endzone from 20 yards out for his first collegiate touchdown in the third quarter. On the other side, Brycen Mussina completed 26-of-46 for 312 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. The Red Raiders, however, could muster only 39 rushing yards on 20 attempts as they played from behind for much of the night. Redshirt junior Qmac Quiteh (Tobyhanna, Pa./Pocono Mountain West) led the Huskies on the ground with 13 carries for 89 yards. He was Bloomsburg's workhorse down the stretch as he carried the ball seven times for 62 yards in the fourth quarter alone. Redshirt junior Alex Gooden (Parkesburg, Pa./Octorara) added 51 yards on 14 carries. Allen was Benjamin's favorite target as he caught four passes for 53 yards and two scores. All told, Shippensburg outgained Bloomsburg, 351-305. Bloomsburg held the edge on the ground, 196-39, but the Red Raiders turned the tide through the air, 312-109. The teams also combined for 24 penalties for 260 yards with 11 of the team's 41 combined first downs coming via penalty. Defensively, redshirt senior Josh Salak (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) had a big night for the Huskies as he finished with seven total tackles, one fumble recovery, and the lone interception of the night. It was his first career interception and his first career fumble recovery. Senior Nate Monroe (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) led the way with ten total tackles. Senior Jake Klinger (Berwick, Pa./Central Columbia) finished with six tackles and 1.5 tackles for a loss while senior Chris Gary (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Wood) had the lone Huskies' sack on the night.

Kutztown, meanwhile, had a bye last week but most recently played at Gannon on September 15. The Golden Bears overcame deficits of 17 and 11 points and scored 26 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to earn a 48-33 road victory at Gannon University. In his first career start, Eric Nickel completed 28-of-40 passes, had five passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. He threw for 394 yards and became the ninth player in school history to throw for five touchdowns in a game. Nickel completed passes to an astounding 12 receivers. Running back Craig Reynolds hauled in a career-high 148 yards on nine catches and two touchdowns in the win. His longest was a 71-yard catch-and-run in the first half to account for nearly half of his yardage. Reynolds also ran for a 60-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to seal KU's victory. He ran for 80 yards on seven carries and has eight touchdowns on the year. Reynolds jumped four spots to ninth in school history with 2,099 career rushing yards. Senior receiver Conor Sullivan caught a career-high three touchdowns on four catches, Kutztown's first three-TD game from a receiver since Anthony Kelly's record-tying four in 2014. Sullivan is the ninth player in school history with three touchdown catches in a game. As a team, Kutztown posted a season-high 579 yards of offense. Gannon led 23-6 early before Kutztown scored the last 16 points of the first half to pull within one at 23-22 at halftime. Defensively, Shawn Turber-Ortiz had 10-plus tackles for the second-straight game. He had 14 tackles with 10 solo stops. Senior Tajier Jefferson followed with 12 tackles, eclipsing 250 tackles for his career and moving into 11th in school history with 261. 

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH
- Saturday's contest with Kutztown is the 72nd in the series, with Bloomsburg's record in the first 71 games standing at 47-23-1: 27-8-1 at home and 20-15 on the road, since the first game in 1927. The Huskies have lost two straight to the Golden Bears for the first time since 1991-92. They have not lost three consecutive games in the series since 1979-81, years when Bloomsburg posted a combined record of 3-26.

- The Huskies closed out the 2017 season with a 7-4 record - Bloomsburg's 19th consecutive winning season dating back to 1999. It is the third-longest streak in PSAC history, behind West Chester's 31 (1940-42, 1945-72) and Clarion's 22 (1964-85). The 19 straight seasons with at least six victories, however, continues a PSAC record. Bloomsburg has now posted a winning record in 23 of the last 24 years.

- This season marks the fifth time since the consecutive winning season streak began that the Huskies have started the season with a 1-2 record and, in each case, Bloomsburg went on to win at least seven games. In 2000, the Huskies actually started 0-2 before advancing to the NCAA Division II National Championship game against Delta State where it ultimately fell, 63-34. Bloomsburg also started 1-2 in 2003 (finished 7-4), 2007 (finished 7-3), and 2015 (finished 7-4). Bloomsburg has not started 2-3 since 2007 but that squad went on to win the final five games of the year to finish 7-3.

- Bloomsburg has scored at least one point in 177 consecutive games dating back to a 21-0 home loss against Shippensburg on September 13, 2003. The Huskies have rattled off 115 consecutive road games with at least a point dating back to a 30-0 loss at Millersville on October 10, 1998.

- The Huskies are ranked second in the PSAC in total defense as they allow only 300.8 yards per game. However, the Golden Bears are tops in the league by averaging 508.0 yards per contest on offense. Meanwhile, Bloomsburg enters dead last in passing offense (136.5) while Kutztown is dead last in passing defense (295.3).

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