WATCH | Live Stats | Game Notes
Piscataway, NJ - The Wagner College football team will travel to FBS member Rutgers on Saturday, with kickoff set for 3:30 pm on CBSSportsNetwork.
Last Time Out
Wagner earned a last-second 30-27 victory over Merrimack on Saturday afternoon at rainy Hameline Field.
After a goal line stand by the Wagner defense with 34 seconds to play, Merrimack lined up at the Wagner 2-yard line to attempt a game-tying field goal, but a botched snap led to a game-sealing tackle by senior
Jalin Justice, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Wily, Bonelli, And Krajewski Earn Weekly Honors
Junior Wily,
Jaylen Bonelli, and
Steven Krajewski received Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Week honors, the league announced on Monday.
Wily earned NEC Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second consecutive week, while Krajewski was named the league's Offensive Player of the Week. Freshman
Jaylen Bonelli earned NEC Rookie of the Week honors. This marks the second week in a row Wagner has received at least two NEC Player of the Week honors, with Wily and freshman
Ryan Liszner earning weekly honors last week.
Krajewski Leads The Way
Krajewski enjoyed his best day in a Wagner uniform against Merrimack, scoring four touchdowns on the day to lead the Seahawks to their second consecutive victory. The veteran signal caller threw for two touchdowns, while rushing for two scores on a difficult day for football on the East Coast. In a gritty performance, Krajewski finished the day with 118 yards through the air on 14-26 accuracy while adding 42 yards on the ground in Wagner's second consecutive victory.
Krajewski is nationally ranked in multiple statistical categories. The graduate student ranks first in the NEC and 39
th in the country with five passing touchdowns on the season and leads the conference with 42 points responsible for, good for 41
st nationally.
Riverboat Tom
Head coach
Tom Masella took risks against Merrimack, going for it on fourth down three times, with the offense converting all three times and scoring two of the Seahawks' four touchdowns on fourth down.
On the season, the Seahawks are 5-9 (55.56%) on fourth down.
The Cookie Jar
With another interception on Saturday against Merrimack, Wagner now has four picks on the season, which ranks first in the NEC and 24
th in the nation. With interceptions in consecutive weeks,
Junior Wily ranks 12
th in the country in interceptions per game.
The Magic Formula
Wagner's two wins this season and three wins under
Tom Masella all have multiple things in common. Both wins this year and last year's victory over LIU included a
Junior Wily interception and earned Wily NEC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Red Zone Efficiency
The Seahawks were perfect in the red zone on Saturday against Merrimack, scoring on all four red zone opportunities. On the season, Wagner is 8-11 with seven touchdowns in the red zone.
Winning Streak By The Numbers
With Saturday's win against the Warriors, Wagner has started 2-0 in NEC play for the first time since 2016, when the Seahawks earned a 45-20 win over Sacred Heart and a 25-21 victory at Central Connecticut.
The win also gave Wagner its first win streak since 2018, when the Green and White earned wins over Bryant and Robert Morris to conclude the season.
Playing Ahead of the Chains
Wagner remains one of the best teams in the country in tackles for loss allowed. The Seahawks lead the NEC and are 40
th nationally with 4.75 TFLs allowed per game.
Wide Receivers Continue To Impress
The Seahawks' receivers continue to put up numbers. Junior
Trevor Shorter is ninth in the FCS with 22 yards per reception. Shorter caught his second touchdown of the season against Merrimack on Saturday.
Junior
Mark Didio paces the Seahawks with 19 catches on the season. At 4.8 catches per contest, Didio leads the NEC and is 51
st in the country.
Freshman
Jaylen Bonelli, the NEC Rookie of the Week, is quickly becoming a popular target in the passing game as well. Against Merrimack, Bonelli hauled in five catches for 48 yards and his first collegiate touchdown. The first-year Seahawk was on the receiving end of a clutch fourth quarter touchdown on fourth down, which re-established the Wagner lead.
Gioia Leads The Way
Graduate student captain
John Gioia paces Wagner with 37 tackles on the season. Gioia is second in the NEC and 29
th in the country with 9.2 tackles per game.
Liszner Sets Consecutive Career Highs
For the second straight week, freshman kicker
Ryan Liszner hit a new career-long field goal. After connecting on a 42-yard field goal against Sacred Heart, Liszner hit a 43-yarder against Merrimack. Liszner is 3-3 in field goals on the season.
The Series
Saturday's matchup marks the second meeting between the Scarlet Knights and Seahawks, with the two teams meeting for the second consecutive season. In last year's meeting, Rutgers earned a 66-7 victory.
Scouting The Scarlet Knights
Rutgers enters Saturday's matchup with a 3-1 overall record and has impressed in all four games this season. The Scarlet Knights' lone loss of the season came this past Saturday at #2 Michigan after earning victories over Northwestern, Temple, and Virginia Tech to start the season.
Robb And Lia Trophy Winners
At the conclusion of Saturday's game, Krajewski and Wily were the recipients of the Robb and Lia trophies, given out to Wagner's offensive and defensive MVPs in the homecoming game. The James Robb Memorial Trophy is annually presented to the outstanding offensive player at Homecoming while the Nick Lia Memorial Trophy is awarded to the Seahawks' outstanding defensive player. 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. Today, the Robb Trophy goes to the offensive MVP, with the game's defensive MVP taking home the Lia Trophy.
Wagner vs the FBS
Wagner has played 16 games against FBS teams and faced off against at least one opponent from college football's highest division in each of the last 11 fall seasons.
Wagner will play two FBS opponents for the sixth time in program history in 2023 after facing off against Navy earlier this season. 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. Last season, Wagner faced off against Rutgers and Syracuse.
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.
The Ping Pong Effect
In his commencement speech at Wagner College's 2023 graduation, Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo '90 pointed out the importance of the Ping Pong table in Cincinnati's locker room. Thanks to a donation by Wagner College employee Gloria Malchiodi, the Seahawks received a Ping Pong table for their new locker room last week. Not only did Wagner's win over Merrimack mark the first home victory since the opening of the new facility, but also moved the Seahawks to 1-0 with the Ping Pong table.
The Schedule
Following a bye week, the Seahawks will play five straight conference games. After a road contest at Saint Francis U, Wagner will host three straight home games against CCSU (10/21), Stonehill (10/28), and Duquesne (11/4), before traveling to LIU on November 11 for the final conference contest of the season.
The Seahawks will round out the 2023 season against Post University on November 18 at Hameline Field.
Wagner On National TV
Wagner's matchup at Saint Francis U will air on CBS Sports Network as part of the NEC's tv package.
The Seahawks and Red Flash will now play on Thursday, October 12, with kickoff set for 7:00 pm.
This marks the NEC's first-ever nationally televised linear football game.
