COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – As expected after a two-year layoff, it took the Ursinus College football team's offense a bit to find its groove. When the Bears finally hit their stride, they never slowed down.
Jack Psenicska tied the program record with five touchdown passes, three of them to Octavious Carter, and Samuel Ragland surpassed another major milestone in his storied career as Ursinus left visiting Alvernia well behind in a 42-6 lid-lifting rout on Patterson Field.
In the Bears' first Friday Night Lights affair since 2013, Ragland terrorized the visiting Golden Wolves to the tune of 184 yards and a touchdown on the ground. His first three carries went for 68 yards, and the second put him over 2,000 rushing yards for his career, becoming just the fifth player in school history to eclipse that mark.
Psenicska was surgical in his debut as the full-time starter at quarterback, throwing a pair of scoring strikes to Carter in the first half before tacking on three more in the second. The five touchdown passes match the record shared by five former Bears and accomplished most recently by Justin DeCristofaro in 2010. The sophomore finished 19-of-32 for 255 yards and did not throw an interception.
Billy Cook and Nick Schnaars each hauled in their first career touchdown receptions in the second half.
Ragland's long bursts ignited an impressive opening drive for Ursinus, which jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a 6-yard pass from Psenicska to Carter on 3rd-and-goal.
Alvernia, in its third year of intercollegiate football, came right back with a 97-yard drive following a punt by Cook that the hosts downed at the 3. Malcolm Carey's 7-yard run off the left edge made it 7-6, but Ursinus retained the upper hand thanks to a missed extra point.
The sides traded empty drives until Psenicska found his rhythm on the Bears' last march of the first half, completing pinpoint pitches to Zachary Throne (23 yards), and Kevin DePrince (21) before lofting a pass towards the left pylon for Carter, who used all of his leaping ability to come down with a contested catch and cross the goal line for his second score of the night at the 1:06 mark of the second quarter.
Alvernia lost its starting quarterback in the first half, and the post-intermission proceedings were lopsided. Schnaars came down with a remarkable catch to make it 21-6, somehow snagging the ball away from a diving defender in the back of the end zone and hanging on for his first career catch.
An illegal motion penalty negated a fourth-down red-zone pickup by the Golden Wolves at the end of the third, and Ursinus took full advantage with a 10-play, 75-yard march that culminated in an 11-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Cook.
Cooking with gas, the Bears forced a three-and-out and cashed in a short field with Ragland going in from eight yards out for his lone touchdown of the evening to make it 35-6 with 7:49 to go. Psenicska capped the onslaught with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Carter down the right sideline with 5:27 left.
Ursinus wound up with 473 yards of offense and averaged over 7 yards per play, picking up 27 first downs and turning the ball over just once.
After Alvernia's long scoring drive, the defense locked in and pitched a shutout the rest of the way. Captain Jon Klee piled up 14 tackles and a sack, with Brendan Shadle adding nine and Ethan Belville six, including 2.5 for loss.
William Tatlonghari notched his first career interception in the fourth quarter.
The Bears enter conference play and begin a scheduling gauntlet at Johns Hopkins next Saturday before heading to Muhlenberg the following week.
Notes
- Head coach Pete Gallagher is now one win away from 100 for his career
- DePrince finished with 5 catches for 68 yards in his first significant action at receiver
- Ragland had a 15-yard reception to end on 199 all-purpose yards
- Psenicska's five TD passes matched his total from all of last season
- Carter came into the night with two receiving touchdowns