FULL GAME NOTES
 
No. 17/23 Muhlenberg (3-0, 0-0) vs. Ursinus (3-0, 0-0
When: Friday, September 29th
Where: Collegeville, Pa.
Stadium: Patterson Field (1,700)
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m.
Live Video: VIDEO
Live Stats: STATS
 
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
All-Time Series: Muhlenberg leads 52-26-7
First Meeting: 1900 – Ursinus won 41-0
Last Meeting: Sept. 17, 2022 @ Ursinus – Ursinus won 35-28
Streak: Ursinus +2
 
 
The Ursinus Bears Football Team hosts No. 17/23 Muhlenberg in their Centennial Conference opener on Friday night.
 
The matchup has become one of the premier games of the season in the Centennial as both teams have been battling it out for the conference title over the past few seasons.
 

LAST GAME: The Bears used an all-around effort to take down Rowan 44-21 during their first road game of the season. Ursinus worked their way up to a 14-0 lead in the second quarter before overcoming a Profs touchdown that was set up by a turnover to score in the final minute before half and go up 21-7. The second half was all Bears as they built their lead up to as many as 30 points on two-straight occasions at 37-7 and 44-14 as they pulled away for the win. Ursinus racked up 562 yards of offense in the win behind a balanced attack and never trailed in the contest. The Bears forced three Prof turnovers in the win.
 

LAST MEETING: The Bears downed the Mules 35-28 in a back and forth contest last season at Patterson Field. It was the second-straight win over the Mules when they were a nationally-ranked opponent. Following a scoreless first quarter, the Bears scored back-to-back touchdowns through the air in the second quarter to gain the early 14-0 advantage. Ursinus added one last score before the half following a Mules touchdown to make it 21-7. Muhlenberg cut the deficit to 21-14, but the Bears had an answer all day for all Mules touchdowns as they never trailed in the contest. Muhlenberg scored with just over a minute left in regulation and the Bears closed out the game by gaining a first down after a failed onside kick attempt.
 

ALL OVER THE FIELD: Senior linebacker Brett Gross had a monster night defensively for the Bears against Rowan. He matched his career-high with 14 tackles (four solo) and posted 1.0 tackles for loss. He added to his big night by returning a fumble 39 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter off a sack from junior Marc Clayton. It was the first double-digit tackle outing of the season for Gross, who is now up to 216 career tackles which is currently the 14th-most in program history. His performance earned him Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second time in his career, and garnered one of the three linebacker spots on the weekly D3football.com Team of the Week.  
 

BRICK BY BRICK: Junior quarterback Jalen Bradford is continuing to build off each game in his first full season as the starter for the Bears. Bradford blitzed his one-week old career-high in passing yards as he posted 349 yards through the air on 19-of-25 passing with three touchdowns and one interception. Bradford has thrown three touchdown passes in all three games this season while adding 45 yards on the ground off eight carries. He has also topped his career-high in passing yards in each game this season. Bradford is up to 833 yards and nine touchdown passes which ranks second in the Centennial in both categories.
 
 

MORE RECOGNITION: Senior tight end/punter Billy Cook added to his season accolades by being named Centennial Conference Special Teams Player of the Week following the Rowan game. Cook got the job done once again punting the ball for the Bears as he averaged 42 yards in his three punts against the Profs with his longest being 49 yards. He also landed two of his three punts inside the 20 yard line for the second-straight week and paces the Centennial Conference with five punts pinned inside the 20. This comes off landing a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week at punter following the Kean game and he ranks second in the Centennial at 41.7 yards per punt. Cook also snatched a season-long 41-yard pass against Rowan as well.  
 

YOU GOT MOSSED: Junior wide receiver Cameron Dennis only had three catches against Rowan, but he made the most of them on each of the receptions. Dennis hauled in his first collegiate touchdown in the second quarter on a 48-yard reception down the left sideline. He then wowed fans in the fourth quarter with a dazzling 43-yard grab over two Prof defenders to set the Bears up for their final score of the night. Dennis ranks second on the team with 198 receiving yards and is tied for second with eight receptions.  
 
 
MR. CONSISTENCY: Sophomore wide receiver Cody House was on point for the Bears once again versus Rowan. House paced the team for the third-straight game with six receptions and totaled 56 yards. House also snatched at least one touchdown for the third-straight game which brought his total to five which has him in a three-way tie for the Centennial Conference lead. House is tied for third in the Centennial Conference with 17 receptions after making at least five receptions in all three games this season.
 
 
 
GOAL LINE BRUISER: Senior fullback Dawson Fresses added two more touchdowns to his name against Rowan on the ground. Fresses is now up to four touchdowns on the season behind a pair of multi-touchdown games against the Profs along with Alvernia. He also had a pair of multi-touchdown games last season as well. Fresses has rushed for 170 yards this season and is averaging a solid 5.0 yards per carry. The senior's strong 2022 campaign started with his performance against Muhlenberg where he helped close out the win and rushed for 64 yards on just nine carries.
 
 
 
SCOUTING THE MULES: The Mules cruised to a 38-10 win on the road over TCNJ two weeks ago. Muhlenberg raced out to a 21-0 lead at the half before continuing to pull away in the second half. The Mules have been on fire on offense to start the season in their undefeated start. Muhlenberg paces the Centennial Conference with 40 points per game which is slightly just ahead of the Bears at 37.3. The Mules pace the Centennial by averaging 492.0 yards per game and in passing yards at 316.7 per game. Junior quarterback Joe Repetti has been a major reason for the success on offense with a conference-leading 873 passing yards per game and 10 touchdowns that is just ahead of Bradford. He opened the season with five touchdown passes against Moravian and tallied his first 300+ yard game of the season against TCNJ. Eight of those touchdown passes have gone to a pair of tight ends with senior Matt McKenna snatching five of them and the other three going to senior James Nye. Senior wide receiver Christopher Ardito paces the team with 223 yards. Muhlenberg also features a potent running attack led by sophomore Matthew Manning and senior Ian Csicsek.
               On defense, the Mules are equally as talented as they rank second just ahead of the Bears by allowing just 13 points per game so far this season. Senior linebacker Tyler Ekstrom leads the team with 19 tackles (14 solo) and has 2.5 TFL. Junior linebacker Derek Graichen leads the team with 3.5 TFL and is tied with 1.5 sacks. Four different players have interceptions for the Mules and senior safety John Lohrer leads the team with three pass break-ups.