SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
Cortland (5-1, 5-1 NJAC) vs. Morrisville St. College (1-5, 1-4 NJAC)
Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010; 1 p.m.; Drake Field; Morrisville, N.Y.
Game broadcast live on WXHC, Homer (101.5 FM and www.wxhc.com)

Follow the game online:

WXHC Radio Broadcast
Live Stats
Morrisville Video (pay-per-view)


THE MATCHUP: Cortland looks to bounce back from its first loss of the season as it faces Morrisville State in a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) contest. The Red Dragons make the approximately 45-mile trip for their fifth road game in seven matchups this fall – Cortland's final three games of the regular season are at home (Oct. 30 – Montclair St., Nov. 6 – William Paterson, Nov. 13 – Ithaca). Morrisville, conversely, is playing its sixth of seven home games this fall at its newly-renovated Drake Field. The Mustangs played only three “home” games last season (all at nearby Colgate University) during the Drake Field renovation.

THE SERIES: Cortland leads the series 5-0, although the first two games occurred 76 years apart. Cortland won 12-0 in what was believed to be the first game between the schools in 1930 and won 52-14 at Morrisville in 2006. In a wild game in 2007, Cortland defeated the Mustangs, 71-7, in the Red Dragons' first-ever home night game. The game was delayed twice by lightning – once at the start and again in the second quarter, for a combined three hours and 13 minutes – and didn't end until 12:46 a.m. Sunday morning.

In 2008, Andrew Giuliano rushed for a school single-game record 281 yards and four touchdowns (40, 70, 89 and six yards) in a 51-37 win at Morrisville. The Mustangs' 37 points were the most the Red Dragons gave up that season until their 41-14 NCAA quarterfinal loss at Mount Union.

Last year, Cortland opened the season at home with a 26-17 win over the Mustangs. Dan Pitcher ran for a 68-yard touchdown and threw TD passes to Anthony Giuliano and Eric Hajnos. Giuliano also scored on a 7-yard run. Pitcher finished 19-of-27 passing for 233 yards and rushed for 98 yards on eight carries. Evan Wyler made 12 tackles, 2.5 for losses, and forced a fumble and James Lenhart recorded 10 tackles, including two sacks.

Morrisville closed to within 26-17 with 5:43 left on a Peter Enriquez TD run, but Cortland was able to run out the rest of the clock with a 13-play drive. Morrisville's other points came on a Jamieson Crast TD pass to Sean Barrett in the first quarter and a Cliff Hanratty 37-yard field goal in the final minute of the first half. Crast was 21-of-30 passing for 197 yards and Maurice Mitchelson ran for 64 yards on 16 rushes. Anthony Brown led the team with nine tackles.

CORTLAND CAPSULE: Cortland let a 14-0 first-quarter lead slip away and suffered its first loss of the season last week at Rowan University, 20-17. Cortland took the lead just 30 seconds into the contest on Justin Autera's 43-yard TD run and scored again with 3:45 left in the first quarter on Dan Pitcher's 36-yard TD pass to Kadeem Miller. The Red Dragons' lead was 17-7 with 9:14 left in the third after a Marc Corrado 26-yard field goal, but Rowan ran for a TD with 7:31 remaining in the third and scored the winning TD on a 4th-down, 17-yard pass with 6:40 left in the game.

Autera ran for 83 yards on 23 carries and Pitcher was 15-of-33 for 138 yards passing but was intercepted three times. Autera and Anthony Giuliano each caught four passes. Cortland's offensive unit suffered a blow as starting right tackle Matt Pitcher, Dan's brother, suffered a season-ending injury. Defensively, Evan Wyler made 10 tackles, 2.5 for losses. Cody Allen, Lou Crispo and Bill Smith each finished with nine tackles. Joe Lopez intercepted his team-best fourth pass of the season and also totaled seven tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Autera averages 102.5 rushing yards per game (107 carries, 615 yards, 5.7 yards/carry). He has scored 14 touchdowns in six games – 11 rushing, two receiving and one on his lone kickoff return of the season. Dan Pitcher has been successful on 56.4 percent of his passes (75-of-133) for 963 yards and nine touchdowns versus six interceptions. Giuliano paces the team with 25 receptions for 461 yards and five touchdowns, plus one rushing score.

Allen is the team leader with 54 tackles, 27 solo, followed by Smith's 43 tackles. Matt Kaufmann has 5.5 of Cortland's 23 sacks. The Red Dragons have blocked six kicks this season, including two by Crispo. Corrado is 23-of-25 on PAT kicks and 4-of-8 on field goal attempts, and Pete Furey averages 35.5 yards per punt. Furey has pinned teams inside the 20-yard line on nine of his 25 punts.

Head coach Dan MacNeill is in his 14th season with the Red Dragons. His overall record of 92-51 (.643) ranks him second at Cortland in career victories and first in winning percentage. He was the NJAC Coach of the Year and a finalist for Liberty Mutual National Div. III Coach of the Year honors in 2008 after leading the Red Dragons to the league title (9-0 league mark) and the NCAA quarterfinals.

MacNeill has guided 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 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...MORRISVILLE ST. COLLEGE: Morrisville lost at home to The College of New Jersey last Saturday, 30-6. The Mustangs' score came on a 19-yard TD pass from Lemar Johnson to Kyle Gordon in the third quarter. Starting QB Joe Shue and Johnson were intercepted a combined six times by the Lions. Shue was 7-of-17 for 54 yards and four interceptions and Johnson was 4-of-9 for 37 yards and two picks.

Gordon finished with six catches for 41 yards and Sean Barrett ran for 57 yards. Tommy Moyon recorded 12 tackles and intercepted a pass, while Anthony Brown made nine tackles.

Barrett averages 60.3 rushing yards per game with four touchdowns and has also scored once receiving. Gordon has 40 receptions for 449 yards and four scores. Brown is the Mustangs' leader with 62 tackles and three forced fumbles. Enrique Robinson has 48 tackles, five for losses, and Moyon has 44 tackles and a team-best four interceptions.

Morrisville's lone victory this fall is a 48-41 home win over Brockport on Oct. 2 in Morrisville's first-ever home night game. The Mustangs pulled out the victory with two touchdowns in the final nine minutes – an 8-yard pass from Shue to AJ Latta with 8:57 left and a Barrett 30-yard run with 3:54 on the clock. Barrett rushed for 143 yards and Shue passed for 206 yards and three touchdowns in that victory.

Head coach Terry Dow is in his 14th season as Morrisville's head coach. His overall record of 65-73 (.471) includes a 57-36 record, three conference and two regional titles in nine junior college seasons. The Mustangs have faced Division III varsity competition since 2006 and joined the NJAC in 2008. Morrisville became an active NCAA Div. III member in 2009.

NOTEBOOK:

* Cortland's streak of three consecutive shutouts, one shy of the school record, ended in last week's 20-17 loss at Rowan. The Profs broke the streak with a touchdown late in the first half, ending the Red Dragons' scoreless streak at 232 minutes, 18 seconds (final 23:45 vs. Buffalo State, three 60-minute shutouts and the first 28:33 vs. Rowan).

* Dan Pitcher has thrown at least one TD pass in eight consecutive games – all six games this season and the two games he played in last year (Morrisville and Rowan). Since the mid 1960s, only two other players have enjoyed a streak of at least eight games with a TD pass. J.J. Tutwiler threw TD passes in nine straight games in 2001 and current assistant coach Alex Smith tossed TD passes in eight straight games in 2005.

* Justin Autera has scored 14 touchdowns through Cortland's first six games. Only seven players in school history have scored 15 or more touchdowns in a season, led by Andrew Giuliano's 22 touchdowns in 2008.

Most TDs scored in a season by a Cortland player:
22, Andrew Giuliano, 2008
18, Omar Darling, 1998
# 17, Omar Darling, 1997
# 17, Scott Berent, 1991
16, Dave Cook, 1984
15, Lyle Schuler, 1976
# 15, Gareth Grayson, 1988
14, Justin Autera, 2010

# Totals for Darling (1997), Berent (1991) and Grayson (1988) do not include one TD scored by each in postseason play. Postseason games were included in school records starting in 2002, per NCAA rule change. Giuliano's 22 TDs in 2008 include one in the postseason.

* Cortland is ranked in the top 25 nationally in the following team and individual categories, through games of Oct. 16:

TEAM:
1st, Kickoff Returns, 30.8 yds./return
2nd, Scoring Defense, 6.5 pts./game (leader is Wis.-Whitewater at 6.3 pts./game)
4th, Total Defense, 202.0 yds/game
6th, Sacks, 3.8 sacks/game
11th, Rushing Defense, 66.2 yds./game
20th, Pass Defense, 135.8 yds./game
Tied 21st, Turnover Margin, +1.3/game

INDIVIDUAL:
Justin Autera, 2nd, Scoring, 14.0 pts./game (leader is Shea Dwyer, Wesleyan (CT), 15.0 pts./game)
Justin Autera, 18th, Punt Returns, 14.7 yds./return
Joe Lopez, tied 19th, Interceptions, 0.7/game
Justin Autera, 22nd, All-Purpose Running, 164.7 yds./game

* Morrisville is ranked 18th nationally in fewest sacks allowed (0.7/game). Individually, Tommy Moyon is tied for 19th nationally (along with Lopez and many others) with 0.7 interceptions per game.

* Cortland is in its 11th season as a football-only member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC). The Red Dragons compete in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) in most other sports. Cortland was the first non-New Jersey school to join the NJAC, starting in 2000, and has been joined by Western Connecticut St., Buffalo St., Brockport and Morrisville. Cortland is 38-6 (.864) in NJAC play since 2005 and 55-18 (.753) overall.

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

Justin Autera, So., Running Back/Kick Returner
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Sept. 11 at Kean) (KR)
NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week (Sept. 11 at Kean)
ECAC South Honorable Mention (Sept. 11 at Kean)
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Sept. 18 vs. Buffalo St.) (RB)
NJAC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 18 vs. Buffalo St.)

Anthony Giuliano, Sr., Wide Receiver
NJAC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 25 at Western Conn. St.)

Joe Lopez, Sr., Cornerback
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Sept. 11 at Kean)
NJAC Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 11 at Kean)
ECAC South Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 11 at Kean)

Connor Tompkins, Jr., Defensive End
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Sept. 18 vs. Buffalo St.)

Evan Wyler, Sr., Defensive End
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Oct. 16 at Rowan)

SCHEDULES/RESULTS:

CORTLAND (5-1, 5-1 NJAC)

Sept. 11   * at Kean (NJ)                           W 24-12
Sept. 18   * BUFFALO ST.                           W 35-7
Sept. 25   * at Western Connecticut St.       W 45-0
Oct. 2       * at The College of New Jersey   W 37-0
Oct. 9       * BROCKPORT                           W 35-0
Oct. 16     * at Rowan (NJ)                         L 17-20
Oct. 23     * at Morrisville St.                      1:00
Oct. 30     * MONTCLAIR ST. (NJ)                1:00
Nov. 6      * WILLIAM PATERSON (NJ)          1:00
Nov. 13        ITHACA                                 12:00

* NJAC game (HOME GAMES IN CAPS)

MORRISVILLE ST. (1-5, 1-4 NJAC)

Sept. 4      HARTWICK                                 L 20-31
Sept. 18    * KEAN (NJ)                               L 9-27
Sept. 25    * MONTCLAIR ST. (NJ)                 L 6-42
Oct. 2        * BROCKPORT                            W 48-41
Oct. 9        * at William Paterson (NJ)           L 28-31
Oct. 16      * THE COLLEGE of NEW JERSEY   L 6-30
Oct. 23      * CORTLAND                              1:00
Oct. 30      * at Rowan (NJ)                          1:30
Nov. 6       * at Buffalo St.                            1:00
Nov. 13      * WESTERN CONNECTICUT ST.    12:00

* NJAC game (HOME GAMES IN CAPS)

CORTLAND vs. MORRISVILLE – SERIES RECORD
(Cortland leads 5-0)

Year Winner      Score    Site
1930 Cortland   12-0      ???
2006 Cortland   52-14    Morrisville
2007 Cortland   71-7      Cortland
2008 Cortland   51-37    Morrisville
2009 Cortland   26-17    Cortland