ERIE, Pa. – If fans didn't know who Eric Nickel (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) was before Saturday, they do now. Nickel started at quarterback and led the Kutztown University offense to the tune of nearly 400 yards and six touchdowns. KU overcame deficits of 17 and 11 points and scored 26 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to earn a 48-33 road victory at Gannon University Saturday afternoon and improve to 3-0 on the season heading into its bye week.
 
In his first career start, Nickel completed 28-of-40 passes, had five passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. He threw for 394 yards and despite trailing early, led the KU offense up and down the field time-and-time again in the comeback win. Nickel is the ninth player in school history to throw for five touchdowns in a game.
 
The 3-0 start is KU's best since it started 4-0 in 2011.
 
Nickel completed passes to an astounding 12 receivers. Running back Craig Reynolds (Willow Grove, Pa./Abington) hauled in a career-high 148 yards on nine catches and two touchdowns in the win. His longest was a 71-yard catch-and-run in the first half to account for nearly half of his yardage. Reynolds also ran for a 60-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to seal KU's victory. He ran for 80 yards on seven carries and has eight touchdowns on the year.
 
Reynolds jumped four spots to ninth in school history with 2,099 career rushing yards.
 
Senior receiver Conor Sullivan (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) caught a career-high three touchdowns on four catches, Kutztown's first 3TD game from a receiver since Anthony Kelly's record-tying four in 2014. Sullivan is the ninth player in school history with three touchdown catches in a game.
 
As a team, Kutztown posted a season-high 579 yards of offense.
 
Gannon led 23-6 in a first half that included a 71-yard touchdown run by Kutztown, and a 98-yard PAT return and a 20-yard pick-six for Gannon. Kutztown scored the last 16 points of the first half to pull within one at 23-22 at halftime.
 
Once again, Gannon started strong to open the half. It scored 10-straight points to pull ahead 33-22 early in the fourth quarter. The momentum changed at that point, however, as Kutztown scored touchdowns on 4-of-5 drives in the fourth quarter. KU drove 60+ yards on three touchdown drives in the fourth and pulled away late with the game's final 26 points.
 
Kutztown has now won its last five games against PSAC West opponents and moves to 18-4 in its last 22 games. Head Coach Jim Clements won career game No. 97 and defeated Gannon for the first time of his career Saturday, leaving KU's Week 11 opponent Edinboro as the only PSAC program he has yet to win against.
 
Defensively, Shawn Turber-Ortiz (Northumberland, Pa./Shikellamy) had 10+ tackles for the second-straight game. He had 14 tackles Saturday with 10 solo stops. Senior Tajier Jefferson (East Orange, N.J./Queen of Peace) followed with 12 tackles, eclipsing 250 tackles for his career and moving into 11th in school history with 261.
 
Notably, cornerback Ahkee Cox-Cowan (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) notched his 27th career pass breakup, moving into third in school history.
 
Kutztown looks ahead to a bye week and next returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 29, at home against Bloomsburg University. Kickoff at Andre Reed Stadium for Family Day is set for 6:05 p.m.