Bucs Welcome Carroll for First Game on New Turf Field

Beloit College Buccaneers (0-2, 0-1 MWC)
vs. Carroll University Pioneers (1-1, 0-1 MWC)
Saturday, September 17, 2011, 6:00 p.m.
Strong Stadium, Beloit, Wisconsin

Game Notes

Home Openers: Since 1977, the Buccaneers are 18-16 in home openers, including a 5-5 split over the last ten.  Beloit has won four of the last six Strong Stadium debuts.  This is the third time in the last five seasons that Carroll has been the visitor for the first home game.  The Bucs won in 2009 while CU won in 2007.

Notes from St. Norbert:  WR Derek Carrier tied the single-game mark for receptions with 15 last Saturday, a record that has stood alone since 1965.  Larry Guzik first did against Carleton College 47 seasons ago…With his 15 catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns, Carrier became the all-time leader in career receiving TDs (20), moved up to second in career receiving yards (2,201), and slid into third in career receptions (137)…QB Brian Maughn was the first Buccaneer single-caller to surpass 5,000 yards passing and his 290 yards thru the air Saturday made him the first over 6,000 yards.  He now has 6,057…Maughn also added career completions to his list.  He now has 426 to move into the top spot in that category…DB Vince Salucci's ninth career interception Saturday puts him in the top five all-time for Beloit.  Four players are tied for fourth with ten…

The Series: The Buccaneers and Pioneers are meeting for the 38th time in a series Beloit leads 19-17 with one tie.  CU has won six of the last seven in the series, with the Beloit win in that stretch coming in 2009, a 25-7 victory at Strong Stadium.  Over the last ten seasons Carroll holds a 7-3 advantage.  The teams first met near the end of the 1907 season, a 12-11 Beloit victory.

Buccaneers Last Time Out: The Bucs put up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter but it wasn't enough as they fell at St. Norbert College 30-14 last Saturday in the Midwest Conference opener for both squads.  The defending MWC Champion Green Knights got a 42-yard field goal five minutes into the opening quarter from Sam Mason and added a 54-yard scoring pass seven minutes later from Mike Fabrizio to Brian Fliess to lead 10-0 thru one.  They tacked on a 43-yard TD run by Adam Nitsche at the 3:39 mark of the second quarter to head to the locker room up 17-0 at the break.  A 40-yard scoring run by Adam Gruett and 32-yard TD pass from Fabrizio to Logan Krueger was the only scoring in the third quarter as SNC made it 30-0 heading to the fourth.  The Buccaneers got their offense going in the final stanza, with Brian Maughn hitting Derek Carrier from six yards out to cap an 11-play drive.  The point-after was missed to make it 30-6 at the 13:17 mark.  Maughn and Carrier hooked up again with 5:33 left, this time from 14 yards away.  A Maughn to Ken Andejeski two-point conversion made it 30-14 to close out the scoring.  The drive started on Beloit's own 18- yard line after Zach Bock sacked the St. Norbert QB and caused a fumble, which was picked up by Hakim Pinklyn.  Maughn finished 26-40 with an interception and the two TDs for 290 yards.  But he was sacked seven times for 54 yards lost.  Fabrizio was 8-22 with two interceptions for 156 yards.  Carrier caught 15 passes for 180 yards while three Green Knights had 50-plus yards receiving, led by Joe Green with four catches for 56.  Terence Steward led the Beloit rushing attack with 50 yards on 19 carries but, because of the seven sacks, the Bucs finished with a net -16 yards on the ground.  Gruett had 151 yards rushing on 19 carries.  For the Bucs on defense, Bock had nine tackles, three for loss, and two sacks while also forcing two fumbles.  Matt Floyd added six tackles.  Kenny Williams picked off his second pass in as many games while Vince Salucci grabbed the ninth interception of his career.  Besides Pinklyn, Austin Warnock also recovered a fumble.  Pete Bohacek had ten tackles for SNC with 3.5 sacks totaling 31 yards.  Ben Nantell had two sacks for 13 yards and Austin Prusha one for 11 yards.  Dan Sjoquist had St. Norbert's interception, returning it 19 yards.

Last Time vs. the Pioneers: The Buccaneers looked to rally in the final quarter but couldn't catch Carroll University on September 18, 2010, in a 33-21 defeat in Waukesha.  The Pioneers jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the opening quarter on one-yard and four-yard scoring runs by Joe Beckstrand before the Bucs got on the board four minutes into the second quarter on a Brian Maughn to Derek Carrier 37-yard TD pass.  CU answered with a Chris Casper to Nate Soddy six-yard TD pass at the 3:03 mark but the Buccaneers pulled to within 20-14 at the break when Maughn connected with Andrew Christensen from 36 yards away with 57 seconds left.  Carroll pushed their lead to 27-14 at the 4:10 mark of the third quarter on Casper's five-yard pass to Matt Cain, the only score in the quarter, and then made it 33-14 at 9:28 of the fourth on a Drew Volkmann two-yard run.  Beloit closed out the scoring with 7:15 left when Christensen caught his second TD pass of the game from Maughn, this one from 26 yards away.  Maughn finished with 214 yards passing and the three touchdowns on 13-31 passing with an interception.  Carrier had 85 yards receiving on six catches while Christensen had 80 on three catches.  Julian Ross had four catches for 49 yards to take over the top spot on the Beloit career receiving yardage chart, passing Mike Meteyard (1993-96).  Beckstrand rushed for 134 yards on 29 carries while Casper threw for 245 yards on 26-37 passing.  Cain caught 13 passes for 100 yards.  Defensively, Buccaneer Tony Baratti had his third straight double-figure tackle game, getting 11, while Michael Underwood had ten.  Valde Raizys had a pair of sacks.  Mike Dziewit, Brian Gajeski, David Paczkowski and Evan Konetzke each had five tackles for CU.  Paczkowski had the only interception of the game.

Up Ahead for the Bucs: It's back on the road as the Buccaneers travel to Galesburg, Illinois, to take on Knox College on September 24.  Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m.  They then return to Strong Stadium for back-to-back games, hosting Grinnell College in the Homecoming Game on October 1 and Lake Forest College for "Take a Kid to the Game" day on October 8.