SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
Cortland (7-3) vs. St. John Fisher College (6-3)
ECAC Div. III Northwest Bowl
Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009; 1 p.m.; Growney Stadium; Rochester, N.Y.
Game broadcast live on WXHC, Homer (101.5 FM and www.wxhc.com)
TICKETS: $7 reserved seating, $5 adult general admission, $3 student and children under 12 general admission (children under 5 are free)

Read Steve Cuce's weekly interview with Head Coach Dan MacNeill

THE MATCHUP: Cortland travels to St. John Fisher College for the 2009 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Northwest Bowl Game. The Red Dragons are making their seventh postseason appearance in eight years (two NCAA, five ECAC) and 15th overall (six NCAA, nine ECAC). The host Cardinals are in the postseason for the seventh time, all since 2003 (three NCAA, four ECAC), and will be facing Cortland in an ECAC bowl game for the second time (Fisher won 47-37 in the 2003 ECAC Northwest game in Rochester).

THE SERIES: Cortland leads the overall series 4-1. The Red Dragons defeated the Cardinals four straight years from 1988-91. Cortland completed a 10-0 regular season in 1988 with a 48-10 road win, followed by three straight shutouts (37-0 at home in 1989, 61-0 at Fisher in 1990 and 71-0 in the 1991 season opener at Cortland). The teams did not play again until the Cardinals' 47-37 home win in the 2003 ECAC Northwest Bowl.

CORTLAND CAPSULE: Cortland completed the regular season at 7-3 after falling 23-20 at Ithaca in the annual Cortaca Jug game last Saturday. The Red Dragons trailed 16-6 with less than seven minutes left before twice rallying to within a score. Alex Smith completed 18-of-29 passes for 208 yards and three touchdowns – two to Wayne Wheeler and one to Eric Hajnos, who finished with seven catches for 86 yards. Cody Allen made 10 tackles and recorded four quarterback hurries and Evan Wyler had nine tackles. Cortland turned the ball over four times compared to just one Ithaca giveaway.

Smith started the season as a graduate assistant coach but returned to the playing roster after receiving an NCAA waiver to use his final year of eligibility despite being in his 11th full-time semester, one more than the normal Division III limit. In six games, five as a starter, Smith has completed 68-of-116 passes (58.6 percent) for 843 yards and 10 touchdowns. Hajnos leads the Red Dragons with 51 receptions for 748 yards and eight touchdowns. Dom Sair, who converted from fullback to tailback in mid-season, has rushed for 709 yards and 13 touchdowns on 134 carries over 10 games.

Cortland ranks 21st nationally in total defense, allowing 259.8 yards per game. Linebackers Allen and Will Schroeder lead the team with 78 and 73 tackles, respectively. Defensive ends Bryan Wiley and Evan Wyler are among the national leaders in sacks and tackles for losses. Wiley has 69 total tackles, including 10 sacks and 17 total tackles for losses, while Wyler has made 67 tackles, including 18 for losses and 10 sacks. Wiley and Wyler are tied for 12th nationally in sacks per game and are both in the top 25 in tackles for losses per game.

Kyle Peterson averages 38.7 yards per punt. Of his 47 punts, 17 have pinned teams inside the 20-yard line and only three have resulted in touchbacks. Marc Corrado is 5-of-7 on field goals and 29-of-32 on point-after kicks. Corrado's streak of 27 straight successful PAT kicks ended with a blocked kick at Ithaca last week.

Head coach Dan MacNeill is in his 13th season with the Red Dragons. His overall record of 87-49 (.640) 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 eight postseason berths – NCAA showings in 1997, 2005 and 2008 and ECAC appearances in 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2009. 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...ST. JOHN FISHER COLLEGE: St. John Fisher finished 6-3 overall and 4-1 in the Empire 8 conference during the 2009 regular season. The Cardinals were league co-champions with Alfred, marking their fourth league title in six years, but the Saxons earned the conference's NCAA automatic berth by virtue of a 31-28 win at Fisher in October. St. John Fisher and Cortland had two common opponents this fall. The Cardinals beat both Buffalo State (55-7) and Ithaca (40-17), while the Red Dragons beat Buffalo State (42-13) but lost to Ithaca (23-20).

Tim Bailey has enjoyed a highly successful season as Fisher's starting quarterback. He has completed 173-of-274 passes (63.1 percent) for 2,290 yards and 18 touchdowns with only five interceptions. Christian Zemaitis and Brad Carlton are the team's top two rushers. Zemaitis has run 92 times for 502 yards and 12 touchdowns, but did not play in the last two games versus Springfield and Hartwick. Brad Carlton has carried 112 times for 492 yards and 11 touchdowns, and is also the team's top receiver with 38 catches for 369 yards and two touchdowns. Paul Deckard has 34 catches for 441 yards and four scores.

Andy Episcopo leads the St. John Fisher defense with 87 tackles, including 46 solo stops, and is second with 10 tackles for losses. Joel Vickers has team-highs of five sacks and 11 total tackles for lost yardage and John Sheridan has four of the team's 13 interceptions.

Paul Vosburgh is in his 19th season as head coach at St. John Fisher. He took over a program in 1991 that was only a few years removed from being a club program. Vosburgh won his 100th game last week at Hartwick and is 100-94 (.515) overall, including a 62-19 (.765) record since the beginning of the 2003 season. He has led the Cardinals to NCAA tournament showings in 2004, 2006 and 2007, with the 2006 team advancing to the national semifinals, and is 2-1 in ECAC bowl games (wins in 2003 and 2008).

NOTEBOOK:

* Eric Hajnos enters Saturday's game with eight touchdown catches this season and 21 in his Cortland career. He needs one TD catch to tie the school single-season record, which is held by four players (including Hajnos last season), and he is two TD grabs away from tying the school career record of 23 set by Neal Heaton Jr. from 2001-04. Hajnos ranks third at Cortland with 131 career receptions (behind Steve Ellis (170 from 1991-94) and Heaton (154) and is second in career receiving yards with 2,111 (Ellis leads with 2,375).

* Alex Smith is currently tied for second at Cortland with 45 career TD passes. Ray Miles threw 48 TD passes from 2005-08 and J.J. Tutwiler had 45 TD passes from 2000-03. Smith also rankes second at Cortland with 770 pass attempts (Tutwiler is first with 784) and is second with 5,913 yards of total offense (passing plus rushing) (Tutwiler is first with 6,598). Smith's 423 career completions are third behind Dick Puccio (451 from 1988-91) and Tutwiler (447), and his 5,263 career passing yards are fourth-best at Cortland (Tutwiler – 6,007; Miles – 5,683; Puccio – 5,366).

* Cortland finished 7-2 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference this fall and is a combined 33-5 (.868) in NJAC games since the start of the 2005 season. Overall, since joining the league as an affiliate member in 2000, the Red Dragons are a combined 50-17 (.746) in league play.

* Cortland and St. John Fisher rank in the top 40 nationally in Div. III in the following team and individual statistics:

CORTLAND:

Sacks, 13th, 3.2/game
Kickoff Returns, 15th, 23.2 yards/return
Total Defense, 21st, 259.8 yards/game
Tackles for Losses, 22nd, 7.9/game
Rushing Defense, 31st, 94.2 yards/game
Pass Efficiency Defense, 38th, 103.3 opponent rating

Bryan Wiley, Tied 12th, Sacks, 1.0/game
Evan Wyler, Tied 12th, Sacks, 1.0/game
Justin Autera, 13th, Punt Returns, 13.2 yards/return
Joe Aston, 17th, Kickoff Returns, 27.3 yards/return
Evan Wyler, Tied 17th, Tackles for Losses, 1.8/game
Bryan Wiley, Tied 21st, Tackles for Losses, 1.7/game
Kyle Peterson, Punting, 33rd, 38.7 yards/punt

ST. JOHN FISHER:

Pass Efficiency Rating, 31st, 149.1
Scoring Offense, 35th, 34.7 points/game
Passing Offense, 36th, 267.3 yards/game
Total Offense, 38th, 419.1 yards/game

Christian Zemaitis, Scoring, 10.3 points/game
Tim Bailey, 26th, Passing Efficiency, 151.4 rating


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

Justin Autera, Fr., Running Back/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.)
NJAC Offensive Rookie of the Week (Oct. 31 vs. The College of New Jersey)

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)
NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week (Nov. 7 at Brockport)

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)

Alex Smith, Gr., Quarterback
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Nov. 7 at Brockport)

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)
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Oct. 31 vs. The College of New Jersey)


SCHEDULES/RESULTS:

CORTLAND (7-3)

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.        W 30-7
Nov. 7     * at Brockport                     W 56-42
Nov. 14    at Ithaca                            L 20-23
Nov. 21   # at St. John Fisher             1:00

* NJAC game (7-2) # ECAC Div. III Northwest Bowl (HOME GAMES IN CAPS)


ST. JOHN FISHER (6-3)

Sept. 5      MOUNT UNION (OH)        L 10-52
Sept. 12    BUFFALO ST.                   W 55-7
Sept. 19    ROCHESTER                    W 35-33
Sept. 26    at Salisbury (MD)             L 20-38
Oct. 10     * at Ithaca                       W 40-17
Oct. 17     * UTICA                           W 34-17
Oct. 24     * ALFRED                         L 28-31
Nov. 7      * at Springfield (MA)         W 34-7
Nov. 14    * at Hartwick                    W 56-13
Nov. 21    # CORTLAND                    1:00

* Empire 8 game (4-1) # ECAC Div. III Northwest Bowl (HOME GAMES IN CAPS)


CORTLAND vs. ST. JOHN FISHER – SERIES RECORD
(Cortland leads 4-1)


Year   Winner                   Score    Site
1988  Cortland                 48-10    St. John Fisher
1989  Cortland                 37-0      Cortland
1990  Cortland                 61-0      St. John Fisher
1991  Cortland                 71-0      Cortland
2003  St. John Fisher       47-37     St. John Fisher (ECAC Northwest Bowl)


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