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Syracuse, NY – The Wagner College football team will travel to #25 Syracuse on Saturday, with kickoff set for 5:00 pm on ACC Network Extra and ESPN+.
Wagner will also offer a radio broadcast for Saturday's game, with John Fanta calling the action for the Seahawks.
Wagner vs the FBS
Wagner has played 14 games against FBS teams and faced off against at least one opponent from college football's highest division in each of the last ten fall seasons.
Wagner will play two FBS opponents for the fifth time in program history in 2022. In 2015, the Seahawks played at Rice and at BYU while in 2016 the Green & White traveled to UMass and Boston College. In 2019, Wagner faced UConn and Florida Atlantic. During the 2021 fall season, Wagner took on Buffalo and Temple. Earlier this year, the Seahawks traveled to Rutgers.
The Seahawks nearly pulled off their first upset of an FBS opponent in the 2019 opener against UConn, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Huskies before falling 24-21. Thanks to an interception return for a touchdown by defensive back
Myron Morris and two rushing touchdowns by
Dymitri McKenzie, the Seahawks were within striking distance late in the fourth quarter but fell short in the final minutes.
In their first-ever meeting against an 85-scholarship opponent, the 2012 Seahawks dropped a hard-fought 7-3 contest at FAU in Boca Raton. That 2012 Wagner team opened the season 0-3, before reeling off nine straight wins en route to the program's first-ever Northeast Conference (NEC) championship and an ensuing NCAA FCS first-round playoff win over Colgate.
Saturday marks the third all-time meeting with Syracuse and fourth overall meeting between Wagner and an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opponent. Wagner traveled to Syracuse in 2013 and 2018, while facing off with Boston College in 2016.
Staying Disciplined
With 15 penalties on the season, the Seahawks rank 14
th in the country and first in the Northeast Conference (NEC) for the fewest penalties in the FCS. With only 101 yards in penalties in three games, the Seahawks rank seventh in the country.
Ball Security
Wagner is one of 16 teams in the FCS without a fumble lost on the season. Overall, the Seahawks rank 22
nd in the nation in turnovers lost, which is also good for first in the NEC.
Leo Continues To Impress
Graduate student
Titus Leo continues to impress. The All-American defensive end ranks first in the NEC and 15
th in the country in tackles for loss with 1.8 stops behind the line of scrimmage per game.
Leo has been the recipient of numerous preseason awards, taking home HERO Sports First Team Preseason All-America, STATS Perform Second Team Preseason All-America, and Preseason All-NEC honors. Leo also earned a spot on the Buck Buchanan Award Watch List, which Stats Perform presents to the national defensive player of the year in college football's Division I subdivision. Most recently, Leo was named to the watch list for the 2023 Reese's Senior Bowl. Leo joins an elite list comprised of the best seniors and graduate students across all of college football.
Following the 2021 season, Leo was named a Stats Perform FCS Third All-American, First Team FCS All-American by HERO Sports, and Third Team All-American by Phil Steele.
After earning his Bachelor's Degree in Sociology in May, Leo has re-enrolled at Wagner, where he is pursuing a Master's Degree in Business Administration.
Leo was also named the Northeast Conference (NEC) Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. No player has ever won the NEC Defensive Player of the Year award three times.
This marked the fourth straight season a Seahawk has won the highest honor for a defensive player in the NEC, as Leo follows Super Bowl LV Champion and former All-American
Cam Gill, who won the award in 2018 and 2019 and was a HERO Sports FCS Second Team All-American in 2019.
Wagner is the first school in NEC history to win four consecutive NEC Defensive Player of the Year awards. Leo, Gill and defensive lineman Bill Sommers, who earned the distinction in 1996, are the only Wagner players to earn NEC Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Dynamic Duo
Naiem Simmons and
Jayvin Little have proven to be a dynamic duo on the outside. With 18.08 yards per reception, Simmons ranks first in the NEC and is among the top-50 in the country.
Little and Simmons share the team lead with two touchdowns apiece, which is tied for third in the conference.
Robb And Lia Trophy Winners
Following the game against Saint Francis U,
Naiem Simmons and
Titus Leo received the Seahawks' homecoming game trophies. Simmons was the recipient of the James Robb Memorial Trophy, which is annually presented to the outstanding offensive player at Homecoming while Leo earned the Nick Lia Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the Seahawks' outstanding defensive player.
Simmons hauled in two catches for 18 yards on the day, while Leo was tied for the team lead with eight tackles along with one tackle for loss.
Established in 1949, the Robb Trophy was named in memory of James Robb, a Seahawk gridiron star who was killed in action during World War II. It was presented to Wagner's outstanding individual player in the annual homecoming game until 1969. In that season, the Lia Trophy was introduced in honor of another Wagner football player, Nick Lia, who was killed in the Vietnam War. An outstanding defensive player and team captain, the Staten Island native was a graduate of Curtis High School.
Scouting Syracuse
The Orange are ranked 25
th in the country in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll. Syracuse is 4-0 on the season after a 22-20 win over Virginia last Friday night. Following Saturday's game, the Orange will play five of their next six games against ranked opponents.
The Schedule
The final non-conference game of the season will take place on October 8, when the Seahawks travel across New York City to take on Ivy League member Columbia.
Six conference games will round out the 2022 schedule, with home contests against LIU (October 21) and Sacred Heart (November 12) and road games at Merrimack (October 15), Central Connecticut (October 29), Stonehill (November 5), and Duquesne (November 19).
