The William Paterson Pioneers will head to Ewing, New Jersey, to face off against The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). William Paterson is following up on a commanding victory over Vermont State Castleton Spartans in their Homecoming game.
While TCNJ is looking to bounce back after getting crushed this past Saturday against Salisbury University.
Coming off of a dominant 32-7 victory over the Spartans, in the process breaking a three-year streak of Homecoming losses, the Pioneers enter this contest with a ton of momentum.
During this game they showcased their offensive capabilities despite sophomore quarterback JC Landicini making his first start of the season. While defensively again showing they can turn turnovers into points.
Against Vermont State, the Pioneers’ defense forced Spartans quarterback Jhai Vellon to throw four interceptions. With two being pick-sixes, making it the second consecutive game William Paterson has accomplished this.
The first pick six in particular swung the game completely in the direction of William Paterson. Giving the Pioneers a 15-7 lead with four minutes left in the second quarter. And giving energy back to the team when, in the play before, running back Nazir Dale committed a fumble.
It seemed senior defensive back Knasir Alston knew exactly where Vellon wanted to go. Alston remarked on why that appeared to be the case: “Well, I seen he was staring me down the whole time, so he was staring me down a previous play, but the receiver had slipped. So when he stared me down the second time, I knew something was coming, so I anticipated it and made a play.”
Joseph Pressley put on an incredible showing, earning himself his second NJAC Defensive Player of the Week award of this season. The sophomore defensive lineman had an impact that was hard to miss, finishing with a stat line of 4 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, a forced fumble, and a safety.
Alston commented, “Joseph Presley is a dog, you know; he comes in and works his butt off in practice. So I’m not surprised he does it every game.”
Offensively, despite William Paterson not being able to get the run going, only producing 96 yards on 35 carries. Their passing attack was successful, with quarterback JC Landicini having a solid starting debut, completing 12 of his 23 passes for 181 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Highlighted by completing a jump ball to Brion Dorsey for a 22-yard touchdown and a 17-yard touchdown pass to Hassan Moore on an RPO.
TCNJ enters this contest with a 3-1 record and looking to avenge their 55-10 loss to Salisbury University. During their past game, the Lions achieved 110 rushing yards, but after that there wasn’t too much to write home about.
They only had 56 passing yards with zero touchdowns and interceptions. Their defense gave up 469 total yards, conceding an average of 8.8 yards per play.
TCNJ is a run-first team with a bend-but-don’t-break defense. Which is clear in the respect of rushing attempts and yards per game with 61.75 attempts per game and 240.5 yards per game.
Compared to their passing attempts and passing yards per game, with 8.97 attempts and 65 yards per game.
While their defense has allowed 20.5 points per game along with a 40.8% 3rd down conversion rate. They’ve shown they are good for at least one turnover a game. On the season they’ve forced 7 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles.
In order for the Pioneers to come out on top defensively, their number one priority needs to be loading the box and stifling the Lions’ run game. Setting up the offense in third and long makes TCNJ throw the ball more than they want to.
TCNJ uses two quarterbacks in particular; senior quarterback Dean Licari has shown to have accuracy problems and is prone to throwing interceptions. Having a 47% completion percentage and 2 interceptions, getting the Lions into 3rd and 8+, can lead to more opportunities for the defense to capitalize on a Licari bad pass.
William Paterson offensively needs to get the run game going early. To maintain a lead over the opposition and ease Landicini’s workload through the air, William Paterson needs to initiate the run game early. This game will mark only his second start of the season.
They need to get into the red zone and finish off those situations with touchdowns. On the season the Pioneers have only 4 touchdowns on 11 red zone trips. Finishing off red zone attempts with touchdowns early will allow them to build a double-digit lead.
In turn, forcing TCNJ to depend on their aerial attack more. William Patterson ruining the Lions’ homecoming weekend is more than in reach. If they manage to suppress the TCNJ run game and force them into clear passing situations, they have a significant advantage.
While offensively establishing their ground attack, stay away from obvious passing downs, and get a two-possession lead early. They could achieve their first three-game win streak since 2022.
