If you want to see why Bryant University president Ronald K. Machtley started a football program 10 years ago, make your way to Smithfield on Saturday for the 1 o’clock kickoff between the Bulldogs (2-1, 1-0 Northeast Conference) and Wagner (2-2, 1-0 NEC).

Unless inclement weather keeps the crowd down, more than 5,000 students, parents, friends and alumni will pack Bulldog Stadium and the nearby parking lots for Homecoming & Reunion Weekend. They will fire up their tailgate grills before the game, cheer the Bulldogs for 60 minutes and celebrate old friends and, they hope, another Bryant victory well into the evening.

This is the atmosphere Machtley found lacking when he became president in 1996. A star athlete in high school and quarterback of the lightweight football team at the U.S. Naval Academy in the late 1960s, Machtley knew what a well-run football program could do for a college. He knew that football energizes students and draws alumni back to campus in ways that soccer and field hockey never will. He knew that football makes headlines and highlight shows. And he knew that football would attract 100 young men to Bryant and fill dorm rooms that were empty in 1996.

The results have been impressive. Coach Jim Miceli got the program off the ground in 1999, and a crowd of 4,817 attended the first home game. For the next three years, at least one home game drew a crowd of more than 4,000. It wasn’t unusual for Bryant to outdraw the University of Rhode Island.

Bryant football has been even better in the six seasons that coach Marty Fine has prowled the sidelines. The Bulldogs have strung together four consecutive winning seasons, won two Northeast 10 championships, played in two NCAA Division II Tournaments and moved up to Division I last year.

And the crowds keep coming: 5,434 for Stonehill and 4,748 for Bentley in 2007, 5,530 for the Homecoming & Reunion Weekend game against Merrimack, and 5,630 for Robert Morris in 2008.

The 2009 Bulldogs are playing in the Northeast Conference for the first time, although they will not become eligible for the championship until 2012, when they have completed their four-year transition to Division I. They have exciting players in running backs Jerell Smith, who has 2,153 career yards, and Lindsey Gamble, who has run for 1,873 yards; an emerging quarterback in Mike Croce, who is completing 50.6 percent of his passes and has thrown only one interception in 86 attempts; a record-breaking kicker in Chris Bird, the career leader with 59 PATs; and stalwart defensive linemen, twins Patrick and Peter Gauthier of Woonsocket.

Bryant will be going for its sixth consecutive Homecoming victory Saturday, an accomplishment even the optimistic Machtley might have found difficult to envision 10 years ago.

Salve vs. Curry

After stumbling against WPI and Hartwick in the first two games of the season, the surging Salve Regina Seahawks (2-2, 1-0 NEFC) appear to have hit their stride. Quarterback Jeff St. Onge, wide receiver Michael Dargan and kicker Brendan Deasy had record-breaking games in SRU’s 43-20 victory over Endicott last week. They’ll need impressive performances again Saturday when the Seahawks play at Curry (2-2, 1-0 NEFC).

St. Onge passed for 320 yards and four touchdowns, tying his school and NEFC record for TD passes in a game. His completion percentage of 76.9 (20-26) broke the NEFC record. He shared the NEFC offensive player of the week award.

Dargan, substituting for injured all-conference wide receiver Ben Hall, caught seven passes for 224 yards, a school record, and two touchdowns. His touchdown plays covered 75 yards and 68 yards.

Deasy kicked four PATs and field goals of 27, 26 and 17 yards for 13 points, the school record for a kicker.

Salve Regina won the first eight games of this series but has lost seven of the last eight.

UMD vs. MIT

In years past, UMass-Dartmouth could count on beating MIT. Not this season. The Corsairs (0-4, 0-1 NEFC) cannot put the ball in the end zone or kick it over the goal post. They have scored a grand total of 19 points in their four games while opponents have rolled up 134. UMD is averaging only 221.6 yards on offense, 96.5 through the air.

MIT (0-3, 0-1) is averaging 20.7 points per game with its new spread offense, and running back DeRon Brown has averaged 118.7 rushing yards per game.

“They’ve been struggling a little bit defensively, and hopefully we can take advantage of that,” says UMD coach Mark Robichaud.

The Engineers average 362 yards on offense and 445.7 on defense.

mszostak@projo.com