DANBURY, CT – The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) released its 2018 Division III Football bowl slate, naming Alfred University (6-4, Empire 8 4-2) to the Asa S. Bushnell Bowl vs. Salisbury University on Saturday, November 17, 2018. Kickoff is a 1PM.
 
DATE – TIME:  November 17, 2018 – 12PM
LOCATION: Salisbury, MD – Sea Gull Stadium
LINKS: Video | Live Stats | Game Notes (PDF)
TICKET PRICES: General Admission - $7 | Non-Salisbury Students - $5 | Children 5 and under - $3 
 
Series History

- This is the 7th meeting between the Saxons and the Sea Gulls
- First time the two have met since Salisbury left the Empire 8 in 2014
- The series is tied 3-3 with AU taking the final two matchups
 

Last Time We Met

- The Saxons won 23-21 in Sea Gull Stadium in 2014
- Salisbury opened the scoring in the second quarter on a 2-yd run
- Rodney Etienne '18 knotted the game up on a 10-yd pass
- Sea Gulls closed the half with a score, taking the lead 14-7
- Tyler Johnson '17 tied the game on a 1-yd run in the third
- Salibury scored again to start the 4th, taking the lead 21-14
- Brendan Buisch '17 scored on a 76-yd pass from Johnson, tying the game, but the PAT was blocked, keeping the game at 21-20
- Trevor Monk '18 kicked a 22-yd FG to win the game as time expired
 

No Love Lost Between the Saxons and Sea Gulls

- The thought of the 2011 matchup is still fresh in the minds of Saxon fans
- Salisbury upset the Empire 8 defending champs 69-0 in Alfred, NY
- Was the largest loss for the Saxons since 1936 when they lost 74-0 to Cornell
- Salisbury went on to win the Empire 8 Championship in both 2011 and 2012
 

A Look at the Sea Gulls

- Salisbury is coming off a 38-35 OT loss to #6 Frostburg State on the road
- Frostburg earned the NJAC berth to the NCAA DIII Football Championships with the win
- The Sea Gulls are the #1 rushing offense in the nation (366.2 YPG)
- 20 different players have a carry on the SU roster
- Three Sea Gull ball carriers have more than 500 yards rushing in 2018 (2 have 10 TD's)
- SU has only attempted 42 passes in 2018, completing 15 (35.7%) passes
- SU also had the #3 rush defense in the nation (42.9 YPG)
- SU defense allows only 12.4 PPG, ranking 17th in the nation

Winningest Class in Program History
With the win against the University of Rochester, the class of 2018 became the winningest class in AU football program history. The Saxons won eight games in 2015, 12 in 2016, eight in 2017 and six in 2018. The seniors currently have won 34 games while wearing the Purple & Gold, and look to make it 35 in this week.
 

Last Time Out for the Saxons

- The Saxons defeated UofR 41-13 on the road in Fauver Stadium
- Nas Smith rushed for 269 yds (4th in a single-game in AU history) and three TD's
- Aaron Griffin rushed for 94 yds and two TD's
- Robert Smith Jr. had one rushing TD - his second of the year
- Griffin opened the scoring in AU's first drive, finding the endzone from 10-yds out
- Smith increased the score to 14-0, scoring a 4-yd TD in the second quarter
- Smith opened the third quarter with a 69-yd TD, his longest TD rush of the season
- Griffin scored his second TD of the day from 13 yds out less than four minutes later
- Smith added yet another 69-yd touchdown to his tally, increasing the AU lead 34-0
- Smith Jr. closed out AU's scoring on a 6-yd rush at the end of the third quarter
- Rochester scored 13 unanswered points to close out the game
- Leo Pamphile and Cole Reed led the Saxons with nine and eight tackles, respectively
- Sean Cameron had a career-high two sacks in the game
- Eric Graham had AU's lone interception on the day
- The Saxons rushed for a season-high 465 yds while holding the YellowJackets to only 35 yds - AU only attempted 10 passes, hitting on four (40%) for 47 yds
- Salisbury fell in the defacto NJAC Championship to #6 Frostburg 38-35 in OT on the road - Both teams had two scores in the opening quarter
- Salisbury took over the lead 20-14 early in the 2nd quarter when Frank Pipich scored his first passing TD in 2018 from 8 yds out
 

Last Time Out for the Sea Gulls

- Frostburg scored with 58 ticks left in the opening half, taking the lead 21-20
- Neither team found paydirt in the third quarter
- SU scored in the opening minutes of the 4th quarter and converted the 2-point conversion, taking the lead back 28-21
- Frostburg knotted the game up again midway through the 4th before SU answered back with an 80-yd rushing TD by Frank Pipich
- Frostburg forced overtime, scoring with 1:37 to go in the game and won on a 37-yd field goal in OT
- Salisbury rushed for 375 yds in the game
- Pipich (189 yds; 2 TD's) and Kedarrius Campbell (134 yds; 1 TD) led the way for SU
- Patrick Benardo and Devinne Greene led SU on defense with 14 and 9 tackles, respectively
- Isaac Johnson had two sacks in the game
- Felix Fomedig had one fumble recovery
 

Nas Smith in the AU Football Record Books

- Smith currently has 15 rushing touchdowns in 2018, ranking second all-time -Tyler Johnson '17 holds the record with 22 rush TD's in 2016
- Smith currently has 1,163 yards rushing in 2018, only 21 yards short of Jesse Raynor '03 who ranks 10th all-time in single-season rush yards at AU
- Austin Dwyer '13 holds the record with 1,412 rush yards in 2010
- Smith's performance of 269 yards against Rochester ranks 4th all-time in AU history
- Maleke Fuentes '18 set the record (295 yards) in 2017 against Hartwick
 

Cole Reed Tackling History

- Reed currently has 117 tackles in 2018, only three short from making his way into the top-10
- He is only three tackles behind #10 Corry Wallace '15 & Curt Cristini '91
- John Hoosock '90 holds the school record with 154 tackles in 1990
- Entering 2018 Reed had 119 tackles in his career - now stands at 236