Posted: Oct 13, 2016

Bulldogs, Red Flash meet Saturday in Loretto

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University football team returns to the gridiron this weekend when it travels to Loretto, Pa., to take on Saint Francis U. in a Northeast Conference showdown. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.

The Particulars

Opponent: Saint Francis U. (website)

Kickoff: 12:00 p.m.

Watch Live: NECFrontRow.com

Listen Live: WOON 1240 or onworldwide.com

Live State: SFUAthletics.com

Series History

Saturday will be the ninth all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and the Red Flash. Bryant leads the series 6-2 and has won each of the last two meetings. Last season, the Black and Gold jumped out to a 26-3 lead but had to hold off a fourth-quarter rally from SFU, defending a game-tying two-point conversion in the final two minutes to survive. Bryant is 3-1 against the Red Flash in Loretto.

Notes and Notables for Week 7

Bryant enjoyed its only bye week of the season last Saturday. The Bulldogs are 9-0 following a bye week in the last eight years. Last season, Bryant defeated Brown, 20-16, following its bye week.

Saturday's game pits the NEC's top passing offense and passing defense against one another. Bryant leads the league with 291 passing yards per game, while SFU has allowed a league-low 187 passing yards per game.

The Bulldogs enter Saturday tied with Duquesne and Wagner for the most NEC wins since the start of the 2009 season (28). Bryant is a combined 28-23 since playing a full league schedule starting in the fall of 2009.

Senior QB Dalton Easton (Miami, Fla.) heads into Saturday needing one passing TD to surpass Charlie Granatell for the most in program history. Both are tied with 56 right now.

Senior Taylor Barthelette (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and junior Matt Sewall (Portsmouth, R.I.) have played a big part of Bryant's offense this year. The duo has combined for 10 of Bryant's 21 touchdowns on the year. Barthelette has five TD grabs, while Sewall has four TD receptions and a rushing TD.

Freshman LB Jesse Nemerowicz (Hudson, Mass.) set a Bryant freshmen record for the most tackles in a single game in program history in week 5 at Maine. He had 14 tackles in the game, the most for any player since Max Machado made 14 stops at Saint Francis U. in 2012.

A bit about the Red Flash

SFU was picked to finish third in the NEC this season and is coming off the program's first winning season since 1992. The Red Flash opened the year with four-straight road games, dropping close contests to No. 11 Montana (41-31) and No. 22 Albany (20-9). SFU is led by All-American safety Lorenzo Jerome who leads all of Division I with six interceptions in six games. He also ranks fifth nationally in kick return average (30.6) and is the active career leader in interceptions in the FCS. The Red Flash average 26 points per game, 156 yards per game on the ground and surrenders just 300 yards of total offense per game.