SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
Cortland (5-2, 5-2 NJAC) vs. The College of New Jersey (4-3, 3-3 NJAC)
Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009; 1 p.m.; SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex
Game broadcast live on WXHC, Homer (101.5 FM and www.wxhc.com)
TICKETS: $6 adults, $5 students with ID (SUNY Cortland students free with ID), Children 12 and under Free

THE MATCHUP: Cortland plays its final regular-season home game as it hosts The College of New Jersey in a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) contest. The Red Dragons have won their last two games, including a 12-10 victory at William Paterson last Saturday. The Lions are looking to snap a two-game losing streak after starting the season 4-1.

THE SERIES: Cortland leads the overall series 11-7. Last year, the Red Dragons clinched the NJAC title with a 24-18 victory over the Lions in New Jersey. Cortland trailed 18-16 before Andrew Giuliano scored on a 10-yard touchdown run with 4:55 remaining. Bryan Wiley's two sacks stopped TCNJ's final drive to seal the win.

Giuliano rushed for 160 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries and Ray Miles completed 12-of-23 passes for 193 yards. Jim Smith made a game-high 14 tackles, Chris Hanlon added 12 tackles and Wiley finished with 10 stops. Bill Picatagi led TCNJ's offense by completing 24-of-31 passes for 192 yards and rushing for 51 yards on 18 carries. Picatagi scored on a 5-yard TD run and threw an 8-yard TD pass to Colin Weber.

In 2007, Cortland also had a chance to clinch the NJAC title at TCNJ but lost 30-0 to the eventual league champions. Cortland had won the previous two meetings, 26-14 at home in 2006 and 30-14 in New Jersey in 2005. TCNJ won four straight in the series from 2001-04, including a 41-38 overtime thriller in Cortland in 2002. Cortland's 25-14 home win at Davis Field in 2000 was the Red Dragons' first game as a member of the NJAC. TCNJ won at home in 1998 and 34-30 in the 1997 NCAA first round at Cortland. Earlier in 1997, Cortland defeated the Lions 43-22, also in Cortland.

Prior to 1997, the teams had not met since 1967. Cortland won games in 1933 and 1934 versus then-New Jersey State Teachers College and State Normal School and four straight games from 1964-67 against then-Trenton State College.

CORTLAND CAPSULE: Anthony Giuliano's 54-yard touchdown pass to Eric Hajnos with 3:17 left in the first half proved to be the game-winning score as Cortland defeated William Paterson University, 12-10, last Saturday. Cortland trailed 10-3 with 1:05 left in the first quarter, but did not allow a point the rest of the game. Marc Corrado made 35-yard and 22-yard field goals and Giuliano threw for the touchdown on his first collegiate pass attempt.

Dom Sair rushed 21 times for 104 yards and Alex Smith completed 15-of-27 passes for 174 yards. Hajnos made seven catches for 160 yards, the most by a Red Dragon receiver since Brian Babst had 160 receiving yards versus Kean in November of 2001. Wayne Wheeler added five catches for 35 yards.

Evan Wyler paced the defense with 13 tackles, 10 solo, along with four quarterback hurries, and Will Schroeder made seven tackles. Chris Hanlon intercepted a pass in the end zone late in the first half to preserve the 12-10 lead. Cortland did not allow the Pioneers into Red Dragon territory the entire second half.

Sair has rushed for more than 100 yards in each of the last two games since he moved from fullback to tailback. He ran for a career-high 163 yards, including two touchdowns, in a 35-6 win over visiting Western Connecticut State two weeks ago. Hajnos leads the squad with 27 catches for 403 yards and three touchdowns. He ranks third in Cortland history with 16 career TD catches and 10th with 107 career receptions.

Bryan Wiley paces the Cortland defense with 54 tackles, including eight sacks and 14 total tackles for losses. Schroeder and Wyler have 46 tackles each and D.J. Romano leads the team with four interceptions. Cortland is limiting teams to 14.3 points and 235.4 yards per game.

Head coach Dan MacNeill is in his 13th season with the Red Dragons. His overall record of 85-48 (.639) ranks first at Cortland in winning percentage and second in victories. Carl “Chugger” Davis is the school's victory leader with a 105-67-17 mark between 1932-62 (no games from 1943-45 due to World War II). MacNeill has led Cortland to seven postseason berths – NCAA showings in 1997, 2005 and 2008 and ECAC appearances in 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2007. His 2008 squad won two NCAA tournament games before losing to eventual champion Mount Union in the quarterfinals, and was honored with the Lambert Meadowlands Trophy and the ECAC Div. III Team of the Year awards.

MacNeill is a 1979 Cortland alumnus and played linebacker and defensive tackle from 1975-78. An assistant coach at Division I-AA Villanova University from 1984-1996, MacNeill is Cortland's 11th head coach since the school's modern era of football began in 1924. MacNeill served as linebackers coach at Villanova and was the team's defensive coordinator from 1988-96.

A LOOK AT...THE COLLEGE of NEW JERSEY: The College of New Jersey is coming off a 16-13 Homecoming Day loss to NJAC co-leader Montclair State last Saturday. The Lions trailed 13-0 but rallied to within three points before missing a potential game-tying field goal with less than a minute remaining.

Chris James completed 20-of-34 passes for 176 yards. Chase Misiura caught four passes for 32 yards, including a 5-yard TD late in the first half, and rushed for 45 yards on 13 carries. Colin Weber made five catches for 67 yards. James Kleen and Matthew Kreider recorded 10 tackles each.

The Lions are averaging 38.3 points per game, but have allowed 30.6 points per contest. James has completed 124-of-203 passes (61.1 percent) for 1,702 yards and 14 touchdowns. Weber is the top receiver with 33 catches for 558 yards and six touchdowns. Mark Gardner has 18 catches for 366 yards and four scores. Justin Doniloski averages 71 yards per game rushing with six touchdowns, while Misiura averages 49.6 yards per game with five touchdowns.

Kreider has recorded a team-high 63 tackles and Shawn Brown has 49 tackles. Marc Zucconi has one of the league's strongest legs as the Lions' punter and kicker. He averages 43.1 yards per punt, and 13 of his 48 kickoffs have been touchbacks. He is 4-of-8 on field goal attempts, with three of the misses coming from 44 yards or longer, and he has made 32-of-36 point-after kicks.

Eric Hamilton is in his 33rd season as the Lions' head coach. When he started in 1977 he was the youngest collegiate head coach in the country at 23 years old. Hamilton has been NJAC Coach of the Year six times and his teams have made seven postseason appearances, including NCAA showings in 1990, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2007. His overall win-loss record is 196-127-6 (.605), including a 7-5 record against Cortland.

NOTEBOOK:

* Senior defensive end Evan Wyler was selected to the D3football.com national “Team of the Week” after making a team-high and career-high 13 tackles, including 10 solo stops, in Cortland's 12-10 victory at William Paterson last Saturday. He also recorded four quarterback hurries. The Red Dragon defense prevented the Pioneers from entering Cortland territory the entire second half to preserve the win.

* Through seven games, Cortland's offense has successfully recorded first downs on just under 50 percent (54-of-109) of its third-down situations. Since third down conversions were first tracked as cumulative statistics at Cortland in 1984, the best success rate by a Red Dragon offense has been 48 percent in 1990. On the other side of the ball, Cortland's defense this fall is holding opponents to just 24 percent success (24-of-98) on third down conversions, the best rate since the 1990 squad limited opponents to 22 percent.

* Since joining the NJAC as a football-only member in 2000, Cortland has a combined record of 48-17 (.738) in league play. The Red Dragons are 31-5 (.861) versus NJAC teams since the start of the 2005 season. Brockport and Morrisville joined the NJAC in 2008, Buffalo State became a member in 2006 and Western Connecticut joined in 2004.

* Cortland and TCNJ rank in the top 50 nationally in Div. III in the following team and individual statistics:

CORTLAND:

Kickoff Returns, 7th, 25.3 yards/return
Total Defense, 11th, 235.4 yards/game
Tackles for Losses, 16th, 8.6/game
Sacks, 23rd, 3.0/game
Scoring Defense, 23rd, 14.3 points/game
Rushing Defense, 25th, 87.1 yards/game
Passing Defense, 25th, 148.3 yards/game
Pass Efficiency Defense, 38th, 102.3 opponent rating

Bryan Wiley, tied 10th, sacks, 1.1/game
Bryan Wiley, tied 10th, tackles for losses, 2.0/game
Evan Wyler, tied 25th, sacks, 0.9/game
D.J. Romano, tied 30th, interceptions, 0.6/game
Justin Autera, tied 33rd, punt returns, 11.0 yards/return
Kyle Peterson, 34th, punting, 38.4 yards/punt
Evan Wyler, tied 45th, tackles for losses, 1.6/game

TCNJ:

Scoring Offense, 16th, 38.3 points/game
Total Offense, 24th, 434.9 yards/game
Pass Efficiency, 36th, 146.2 rating
Rushing Offense, 45th, 190.1 yards/game

Chris James, 31st, Pass Efficiency, 147.4 rating
Scotty Mathurin, 38th, Kickoff Returns, 24.7 yards/return
Chris James, tied 44th, Total Offense, 263.0 yards/game
(NOTE: Marc Zucconi's 43.1 yards/punt average would rank 4th nationally, but he is five punts shy of meeting the minimum to qualify.)

* The eight newest members of the SUNY Cortland C-Club Hall of Fame will be recognized at halftime of Saturday's game and will be officially inducted at a ceremony Saturday evening. The 2009 honorees are: Donald J. Hartley '58, Kay Shanks Barton '66, Fran Kalafer '73, Jodi Schmeelk '73, Perry Nizzi '77, Rick Suddaby '79, and honorary inductees Katherine “Tyke” Ley (posthumous) and Buff Wang. Barton's son, Dallas, was a quarterback for the Red Dragons in the mid-1990s.



Cortland's Weekly Award Winners (game date/opponent in parentheses)

Justin Autera, Fr., Kick Returner
NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week (Oct. 17 vs. Western Conn. St.)
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Oct. 17 vs. Western Conn. St.)

Phil Bossman, Fr., Safety
NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week (Oct. 10 at Montclair St.)

Steven Lenhart, Fr., Safety
NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week (Sept. 19 vs. Rowan)

Kyle Peterson, Sr., Punter
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Sept. 26 vs. Kean)

Dan Pitcher, Jr., Quarterback
NJAC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 12 vs. Morrisville)
ECAC Southeast Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 12 vs. Morrisville)

Bobby Somerville, Jr., Linebacker
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Oct. 3 at Buffalo St.)

Bryan Wiley, Sr., Defensive End
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Sept. 19 vs. Rowan)
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Oct. 17 vs. Western Conn. St.)

Evan Wyler, Sr., Defensive End
NJAC Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 12 vs. Morrisville)
ECAC Southeast Co-Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 12 vs. Morrisville)
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Oct. 24 at William Paterson)


SCHEDULES/RESULTS:

CORTLAND (5-2, 5-2 NJAC)

Sept. 12  * MORRISVILLE ST.           W 26-17
Sept. 19  * ROWAN (NJ)                   W 24-14
Sept. 26  * KEAN (NJ)                       L 10-24
Oct. 3      * at Buffalo St.                  W 42-13
Oct. 10    * at Montclair St. (NJ)         L 7-16
Oct. 17    * WESTERN CONN. ST.        W 35-6
Oct. 24    * at William Paterson (NJ)    W 12-10
Oct. 31    * THE COLLEGE of N.J.         1:00
Nov. 7     * at Brockport                     1:00
Nov. 14    at Ithaca                            12:00

* NJAC game (HOME GAMES IN CAPS)


THE COLLEGE of NEW JERSEY (4-3, 3-3 NJAC)

Sept. 5     * BUFFALO ST.                   W 47-31
Sept. 18     FDU-FLORHAM (NJ)           W 58-28
Sept. 26   * MORRISVILLE ST.            W 67-34
Oct. 2       * at Kean (NJ)                     L 7-28
Oct. 10     * BROCKPORT                    W 48-34
Oct. 17     * at William Paterson (NJ)    L 28-43
Oct. 24     * MONTCLAIR ST. (NJ)         L 13-16
Oct. 31      * at Cortland                      1:00
Nov. 7        * WESTERN CONN. ST.      12:00
Nov. 14      * at Rowan (NJ)                 1:00

* NJAC game (HOME GAMES IN CAPS)


CORTLAND vs. THE COLLEGE of NEW JERSEY – SERIES RECORD
(Cortland leads 11-7)

Year    Winner    Score          Site
1933    Cortland    54-0          ???
1934    Cortland    29-0          ???
1964    Cortland    27-6          Cortland
1965    Cortland    7-6            TCNJ
1966    Cortland    27-10        TCNJ
1967    Cortland    40-0          Cortland
1997    Cortland    43-22        Cortland
1997    TCNJ        34-30         Cortland (NCAA 1st round)
1998    TCNJ        23-32         TCNJ
2000    Cortland    25-14        Cortland
2001    TCNJ        14-28          TCNJ
2002    TCNJ        41-38 (OT)  Cortland
2003    TCNJ        21-14         TCNJ
2004    TCNJ        17-14         Cortland
2005    Cortland    30-14        TCNJ
2006    Cortland    26-14        Cortland
2007    TCNJ        30-0           TCNJ
2008    Cortland    24-18         TCNJ

(NOTE: TCNJ was knows as “New Jersey State Teachers College and State Normal School” when the teams played in 1933 and 1934. The school was Trenton State College from 1958 until changing its name to The College of New Jersey in 1996.)