Beloit College Buccaneers (0-0)
at Concordia University Chicago Cougars (0-0)
Saturday, September 5, 2015, 2:00 p.m.
Concordia Stadium, River Forest, Ill.
The Bucs open the 2015 season, the 124th in their long history, on the road as Seth Duerr begins his second season as head coach…
The Series: The Buccaneers and Cougars are meeting for just the 3rd time in a series CUC leads 2-0. The programs met in back-to-back season openers on September 14, 1974, at Strong Stadium and September 13, 1975, at Concordia. CUC won the first game 24-14 and the second 35-13…
Season Openers: The Buccaneers are 68-50-6 in season openers, dating back to 1889…BC has dropped five straight lid-lifters, with their most recent season-opening victory at 39-22 decision at MacMurray on September 5, 2009…They are 6-9 since the 2000 season…Notable season openers include the University of Wisconsin (lost 34-0 in 1917), Northwestern University (three straight seasons from 1891-93, 0-2-1), and a 77-0 loss to Knute Rockne's Notre Dame squad in 1926…The longest season-opening winning streak is 10 (1895-1904) while their longest losing streak is 12 (1967-78)…
The Bucs Most Recent Game: The Beloit College Football team was smiling as they headed to the off-season after a 28-21 season-ending win at Knox College on November 15, 2014, as part of Midwest Conference Championship Saturday. The Prairie Fire scored first in what became a back and forth battle on a one-yard run at 5:04 of the opening quarter. The Buccaneers evened it up at 7-all early in the second quarter on Evan Phillips' nine-yard run and then took the lead when Phillips hit Michael Nolden with a 21-yard scoring pass to send them to the break up 14-7. KC tied it up at 14 five-plus minutes into the third quarter on a two-yard run before Beloit retook the lead at 3:59 on Nolden's second TD catch from Phillips, this one from 17 yards away. But Knox set up a winner-take-all fourth quarter when they scored on an 11-yard run one second before the end of the third quarter. Alan Ham, one of four seniors playing their final game for the Bucs, and a regular starter on the defensive line, sealed the win at the 9:18 mark of the quarter on a one-yard pass from Kam Sallee to complete a 12-play drive. Beloit then stopped the Prairie Fire on a fourth down run at the BC 24 before running out the final 5:20 with an 11-play drive, most of the plays coming from Mason Dixon rushes. Dixon finished with 192 yards on 30 carries, finishing the season with 1,199 yards. Phillips threw for 74 yards and Sallee 61 while Nolden had six catches for 86 yards. On defense Dewight Walker and David Lafayette both had eight tackles while Riley Pearson and Antonio Jones had seven each. In addition to Ham, who finished with two tackles, Tyler Coleman (six tackles), Derell Carter (six tackles) and Jake Fisher (two tackles), all played their final game for the Bucs…
Bucs' Last Time vs. the Cougars: Beloit kicked off the 1975 season with a 35-13 loss to Concordia in River Forest, Illinois. The Cougars led 14-0 at halftime and 35-0 thru three quarters before the Bucs got their two scores. Doug Young returned an interception 38 yards for a TD for the first Beloit score of the season. Elmo Ruffin completed the scoring with a one-yard run.
Notes & Notables: Mason Dixon finished with 1,199 yards in 2014, scoring nine touchdowns, and now has 2,525 yards over two seasons, good for sixth all time in Beloit history, with 19 rushing TDs. His two-year average of 1,263 yards per season is first all-time while his 5.2 yards per rush is fourth… The top three tacklers from 2014 return in Antonio Jones (83), Riley Pearson (82), and Dewight Walker (76)… During the 2014 season, Kam Sallee caught 40 passes for 356 yards and a TD, passed for 71 yards (6-11) with one TD (the game-winner at Knox), punted 58 times for a 37.1 average, and booted 6-10 field goals, the longest a 44-yarder that ranks as the fourth-longest in Beloit history. He has also been good on 45 straight point-after kicks in his two seasons and holds the top two spots for best punting average in a season…The Buccaneers three wins in 2014 marked their best season since 2010, when they went 5-5…
Up Ahead for the Bucs: Beloit stays on the road as they travel to Grinnell College on Saturday, September 12, for a 1:00 pm kickoff. They make their Strong Stadium debut on Saturday, September 19, in the Homecoming Game vs. Lawrence University, the Midwest Conference North Division opener.