Bulldogs begin key stretch at rival Wagner on ESPN3

FULL GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University football team returns to Northeast Conference play this weekend as it visits Staten Island, N.Y., to take on rival Wagner Saturday at 12:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN3.

GAME INFORMATION:
Date: Saturday, Nov. 7
Time: 12:04 p.m.
Listen: WOON 1240 (onworldwide.com)
Watch: ESPN3
Stats: Live Stats

With just three league games remaining, the Bulldogs (4-4, 2-1 NEC) have a chance to earn at least a share of their first-ever NEC Regular-Season title and it starts against a Seahawks (0-8, 0-3) team that dashed their playoff hopes a year ago.

On the final day of the regular season in 2014, Wagner jumped out to a 16-7 lead but Bryant took the lead with hook-and-ladder touchdown from Ricardo McCray (Middletown, R.I.) in the fourth quarter. The Seahawks, however, produced a touchdown with just 44 seconds left to defeat the Black and Gold. Wagner shared the regular season title with Sacred Heart with the victory and ended Bryant's hopes of an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.

Once again, Bryant's hopes for an NCAA bid will have to go through Wagner on Saturday. The Bulldogs enter the weekend with one of the top offenses in the conference. Bryant is second in the league in total offense (393.5), second in passing offense (252.0) and third in scoring (27.2). Junior Dalton Easton (Miami, Fla.) threw for 270 yards and four TDs last week at Holy Cross to continue what could be the greatest season for a QB in program history. He has thrown for 1,973 yards and 16 TDs in eight games and needs just 18 yards to become the fourth QB in school history to throw for over 4,000 yards.

After rushing for just 57 yards in last year's finale against the Seahawks, the Black and Gold will look for a better performance on Saturday. McCray has enjoyed a fabulous senior season and currently leads the league in rushing yards (865) and rushing yards per game (108.1). He rushed for a season-high 175 yards on a career-high 29 carries last weekend and now has five 100-yard games this season and 12 in his career. McCray currently ranks 12th in the country in rushing and 15th in the country in all-purpose yards per game.

Bryant will also enter Saturday's game with a defense that is getting better as the season goes on. The Bulldogs welcomed back Marquise Watson (Hillside, N.J.) and Charles Wingate (Englewood, N.J.) three weeks ago and the two have made an immediate impact. Watson has posted 28 tackles over the last three games and Wingate returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown last week at Holy Cross.

Wagner, on the other hand, has had its struggles this season. The Seahawks enter the game winless but are also one of the only FCS programs to play two FBS teams this season. Wagner has played at Rice and at BYU this year, losing a combined 126-22. Take away those two games and the Seahawks are right in the middle of the pack statistically-wise. They feature two of the top running backs in the league in Matthias McKinnon and Otis Wright. Wright rushed for a career-high 136 yards last week at Duquesne but the Seahawks played a majority of the game without either of their top two QBs.

Alex Thomson and Chris Andrews have split the duties this year but both have been injured in the past two weeks leaving their availability up in the air for Saturday. Thomson has completed 51 percent of his passes for 690 yards and six touchdowns in eight games. Andrews has thrown the ball just 50 times but is extremely dangerous when he gets out of the pocket. In last year's game, Andrews led the Seahawks with 72 rushing yards including three huge runs on Wagner's game-winning drive.

Defensively, the Seahawks have played the whole season without preseason All-American DL Al Page. Without him, Wagner is allowing nearly 40 points per game and over 450 yards of total offense per game. Stephon Font-Toomer leads the team with 47 tackles and defensive back Deangelo James is one of four Seahawks that intercepted Easton last season. Wagner's defense has picked up 18 sacks this year.