Beloit College Buccaneers (0-1)
at Grinnell College Pioneers (0-0)
Saturday, September 12, 2015, 1:00 p.m.
Rosenbloom Field, Grinnell, Iowa
The Buccaneers stay on the road as they travel to Iowa to take on the MWC South Division's Pioneers, who will be playing their season-opener…
The Series: The Buccaneers and Pioneers are meeting for the 55th time in a series that's all knotted up at 27 wins apiece. Beloit won last season at Strong Stadium 27-23, the first win for new head coach Seth Duerr, to snap a four-game winning streak by Grinnell in the series. GC has still won four of the last five meetings and seven of the last 12. The teams first met during the 1915 season, a 23-0 Pioneer win. GC shut out Beloit again in 1916 (28-0) before a 23-season break in the series. It resumed in 1939 with a 26-19 Buccaneer win, the first win in a four victories in five meetings streak for Beloit, stretching from 1939 to 1959.
The Bucs Most Recent Game: The Beloit College Football team just kept putting up points in their season opener at Concordia University Chicago last Saturday. But the Cougars were doing the same thing and, in a crazy last four minutes, managed one more point for a 51-50 win. The Buccaneers struck first two minutes into the game on a 26-yard scoring pass from Danny May to Kam Sallee. CUC tied it at 7-all less than three minutes later on a five-yard run to complete a six-play, 64-yard drive. The Cougars then took a 14-7 lead after one quarter when they connected on a 10-yard pass with 4:12 left. Sallee kicked a 31-yard field goal three minutes into the second quarter to pull Beloit back within 14-10 before a one-yard Concordia scoring run made it 21-10 at the 6:19 mark. Mike Nolden caught a 15-yard TD pass from May with two minutes left in the half to make 21-17 but CUC countered with a 40-yard scoring pass on the very next play to re-establish their 11-point advantage. But the Bucs weren't done and made it 28-24 at the break on May's one-yard run with 25 seconds left. The Cougars scored on a 33-yard pass play to increase their lead to 35-24 before Sallee kicked his second field goal of the game, this one from 30 yards out, to make it 35-27 heading to the fourth. Mason Dixon got in on the scoring with a 25-yard run just over a minute into the fourth quarter and May's conversion pass to Sallee tied it up at 35-all. The Buccaneers then grabbed their first lead since the opening minutes on Sallee's 26-yard run at 6:24, making it 42-35. Then the craziness began. Concordia regained the lead with an 11-yard scoring pass and a two-point conversion to make it 43-42, CUC, with 4:13 remaining. But Beloit answered with a 53-yard TD pass from May to Sallee at the 1:59 mark. With May's conversion pass to Nolden the Bucs led 50-43. The Cougars had the last word though, getting a 10-yard scoring pass and then a two-point conversion pass to make it 51-50 with 14 seconds left. A 59-yard field goal attempt by Beloit went wide right as the clock hit 00:00 for the final. Sallee finished with 238 total yards, 194 receiving, and three TDs. In total he accounted for 30 of the 50 points. Nolden had 11 catches for 94 yards; May threw for 367; and Dixon rushed 38 times for 158 yards. The teams combined for 1,095 yards in offense, just under 700 through the air, and had 57 first downs. Defensively, Danny Quijas made 13 tackles, seven solo, while Dewight Walker had seven. Antonio Jones had an interception and David Lafayette a fumble recovery. Kevin Cesario recorded Beloit's lone sack.
Bucs' Last Time vs. the Pioneers: The Beloit College Football team gave first-year head coach Seth Duerr a great gift in the September 13, 2014, home opener - a 27-23 win over Grinnell College for his first win as a head coach. The Bucs made things happen on both sides of the ball and were spurred by a big 17-point second quarter. Mason Dixon got Beloit on the board after a penalty put the ball on the Grinnell two-yard line early in the opening quarter, scoring on a two-yard run on the very next play. But GC responded with a nine-play, 91-yard drive, tying it up less than four minutes later when Sam Poulos hit Jacob Meixler with a 22-yard scoring pass to tie it 7-7 after one. Dixon cashed in again from two yards out one minute into the second quarter to make it 14-7 but the Pioneers answered again with their own two-yard scoring run by Jacob Bernholtz with under two minutes left in the half. Michael Nolden gave the Bucs the lead back when he caught a 47-yard scoring toss from Evan Phillips with 49 seconds left and then, after an interception by Juan Guerrero with 36 seconds left, Beloit got a 44-yard field goal by Kam Sallee, the fourth-longest in Beloit history, with two seconds remaining to put the Buccaneers up 24-14 at the break. Grinnell got back within a touchdown at 24-17 with the only score of the third quarter, a 35-yard field goal by Graham Fisher, with 50 seconds left. Sallee hit a 20-yard field goal early in the fourth to rebuild the 10-point advantage but the Pioneers scored on a six-yard pass play from Poulos to Zach McGriff with 1:11 remaining in regulation to pull within four. The extra-point hit the upright, forcing GC to score a TD for the lead. But the ensuing onside kick was covered by Riley Holt and the Buccaneers ran out the clock with a pair of kneel downs. Dixon finished with 102 yards on the ground on 28 carries while Phillips was 22 of 25 passing for 226 yards. Nolden caught eight passes for 91 yards while Sallee also had eight catches (36 yards) to go with his 21 yards rushing. Poulos threw for 267 yards for GC, 84 on five catches by Aamir Walton and 81 on five catches by Meixler. Bernholtz rushed for 66 yards. The Buccaneer defense was relentless, recording nine sacks and 11 tackles for loss on the day. Jake Fisher had 2.5 sacks to go with seven tackles while Derell Carter had two sacks and a team-high 10 tackles. Alan Ham also had a pair of sacks and nine tackles. David Ternes had 10 tackles for the Pioneers while Richard Renteria had nine tackles, eight solo, and Daniel Munger eight…
Notes & Notables: Kam Sallee, named to the d3Football.com Team of the Week on Monday, had a career day against Concordia Chicago, with 238 all-purpose yards, three touchdowns, two field goals, four point-afters, and a two-point conversion reception. His 194 receiving yards, on nine catches, are the second-most receiving yards in a game in program history, just four short of the all-time record…Mike Nolden had a good day too, catching 11 passes for 94 yards and a touchdown. The 11 receptions, tied for fourth-most in school history, marked the fifth time a Beloit receiver caught that many in a game…The 50 points the Bucs scored Saturday was their most in a game since their scored 55 on November 12, 2005, the season finale at Grinnell. It was the most in a season opener since they scored 58 at Macalester on September 4, 2004…Danny May's 367 yards passing in his first appearance for the Buccaneers are the fifth-most yards through the air in a game in the team's history, supplanting co-Offensive Coordinator Jeremy Warren's 362 yard-effort against Coe College in 1994…
Up Ahead for the Bucs: Beloit hosts Lawrence University in the 100th meeting between the programs as the Buccaneers celebrate Homecoming on Saturday, September 19, in the home and MWC North opener. They head back to the road on September 26, playing at Lake Forest College.