SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
2010 Cortaca Jug Game
Cortland (8-1) vs. Ithaca College (6-3)
Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010; 12 p.m.; SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex; Cortland, N.Y.
Game broadcast live on WXHC, Homer (101.5 FM and www.wxhc.com)
Game televised live by Time Warner Cable Sports (Central New York Region)
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THE MATCHUP: Cortland hosts Ithaca College in the annual Cortaca Jug rivalry game to conclude the regular season. The Red Dragons, ranked 20th nationally in Div. III by the American Football Coaches Association and 22nd by D3football.com, finished their New Jersey Athletic Conference schedule with an 8-1 record. Cortland is guaranteed at least a share of the NJAC title, but won't know if it has earned the league's NCAA berth until the results of this week's games. Ithaca enters with a 6-3 record – the program's 40th consecutive winning season.

THE SERIES: This is the 52nd time that Cortland and Ithaca are playing for the Cortaca Jug. The schools actually started playing in 1930 and have met every year since 1948. Ithaca leads the overall series 39-26-3. In 1959, however, Cortland captain Tom Decker and Ithaca captain Dick Carmean originated the Cortaca Jug as the prize for the winner of the game between the school slocated about 20 miles apart on Route 13. Each year, the game's result is printed on the Jug. The first Jug ran out of room for scores in the mid-1980's, necessitating a second Jug that sports the most recent results.

Ithaca leads the Jug series 34-17, which does not include the Bombers' 1988 NCAA playoff win over the Red Dragons. Ithaca has won the last three games, and the teams are 7-7 in the series since 1996.

Last year in Ithaca, the Bombers held off a late Cortland push to retain the Jug, 23-20, before 9,700 fans. Dan Ruggiero rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns and Andrew Rogowski kicked three field goals. Cortland scored on a three Alex Smith touchdown passes – two to Wayne Wheeler and one to Eric Hajnos. Two of the Red Dragons' touchdowns came in the final seven minutes to cut a 10-point deficit to three. Ryan Clarke made 16 tackles for Ithaca, while Cody Allen finished with 10 tackles for Cortland.

In 2008, Ithaca's 35-13 win in Cortland denied the Red Dragons a perfect 10-0 regular-season record. Ithaca won 40-17 at home in 2007, while the Red Dragons won in overtime both in 2006 (23-20 in Cortland) and 2005 (37-30 at Ithaca). Cortland also edged the Bombers in 2003 (16-15 at Ithaca) and 2002 (16-12 in Cortland). Of the last 13 games, 10 have come down to the final two minutes with the outcome in doubt.

CORTLAND CAPSULE: Senior wide receiver Anthony Giuliano played a role in three Cortland touchdowns, all in different ways, as the Red Dragons defeated visiting William Paterson last Saturday, 38-7. With Cortland leading 10-7 late in the first half, Lou Crispo blocked a field goal that Giuliano returned 82 yards for a score. In the fourth quarter, Giuliano threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to Jake Burgess on his first passing attempt of the season. He also caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Dan Pitcher to complete the scoring. Giuliano was named the NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week.

Senior cornerback Joe Lopez opened the scoring with a 26-yard interception return for a touchdown. Marc Corrado's 29-yard field goal gave the Red Dragons a 10-7 lead late in the first quarter. Cortland's other score was a 4-yard TD run by Justin Autera in the third quarter. Autera finished with 122 rushing yards on 20 carries.

Cortland, the national leader in scoring defense at 6.8 points per game, held an opponent to less than 10 points for the seventh time in nine outings. Junior linebacker Cody Allen recorded 14 tackles, senior defensive end Evan Wyler made 11 stops and junior linebacker Bill Smith recorded eight tackles. Lopez, sophomore safety Phil Bossman and senior cornerback Mason Ellis each intercepted a pass.

Autera has rushed for exactly 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns this fall and has scored 18 total touchdowns. Pitcher is 107-of-197 passing (54.3 percent) for 1,288 yards with 13 touchdowns versus seven interceptions. Giuliano's 37 receptions, six for touchdowns, lead the squad. Allen paces the team with 87 tackles, followed by Smith's 64 stops. Crispo has 49 tackles and four blocked kicks, and Lopez is the team leader with seven interceptions.

Head coach Dan MacNeill is in his 14th season with the Red Dragons. His overall record of 95-51 (.651) 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...ITHACA COLLEGE: Ithaca fell behind 17-0 less than nine minutes into the game and lost at Alfred, 31-17, in the Bombers' final Empire 8 game of the season. Rob Zappia threw two touchdown passes to Dan Ruffrage and finished 25-of-45 passing for 287 yards.

Thomas Vossler caught seven passes and Ruffrage made six catches. Andrew Rogowski made a 34-yard field goal and averaged 38.2 yards per punt. Linebacker Eric Toporoff led the defense with 11 tackles and linebacker Ryan Clarke recorded 10 tackles and a forced fumble.

Zappia has passed for 2,232 yards and 18 touchdowns with only six interceptions. He has completed 190-of-325 of his attempts (58.5 percent). Ruffrage is the team leader with 47 catches for 638 yards and eight scores, followed by Vossler's 44 receptions for 448 yards and four touchdowns. Ithaca averages 253.6 passing yards compared to just 65.9 rushing yards per game.

Linebacker Will Carter has made a team-best 69 tackles and Toporoff is close behind with 66 tackles. Defensive end Matt Dibble paces the squad with 7.5 sacks and cornerback Mike Conti has intercepted five passes. Rogowski is 8-of-13 on field goal attempts, including a 44-yard kick versus Springfield and a 40-yard field goal at Lycoming. He also averages 35.5 yards per punt with 20 “inside the 20” compared to seven touchbacks.

Head Coach Mike Welch is participating in his 30th Cortaca Jug game as head coach, assistant coach or player. He took over as Ithaca's head coach in 1994 and has an overall record of 134-49 (.732) in 17 seasons, including a 9-7 record against Cortland. As a player, Welch earned two letters as a running back after missing most of his sophomore season due to injury. Also a lacrosse player for the Bombers, he graduated from Ithaca in 1974 and returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach in 1984.

NOTEBOOK:

* Dan Pitcher has currently thrown at least one TD pass in a school-record 11 consecutive games. He surpassed the previous school mark of nine straight games set by J.J. Tutwiler in 2001.

* Joe Lopez has set a new school record with an interception in each of his last five games. The previous school record for most consecutive games with a pick was four by Steve Daly in 1975. Lopez's seven interceptions this fall are the second-best single-season total in school history and one shy of Daly's eight interceptions, also in 1975. As a team, Cortland has 19 interceptions – the school record is 24 in 1981.

* Cortland blocked two kicks versus William Paterson last weekend (one FG, one punt) and has tied a school record with nine blocks this season. The 2005 team also blocked nine kicks. Individually, Lou Crispo leads the team with four blocks, including one each of the last two weeks. Josh Jablonski blocked a school-record six kicks in 2005.

* Cortland is ranked first nationally in Div. III in scoring defense. The Red Dragons have allowed only 6.8 points per game. In all, Cortland ranks in the top 25 nationally in the following team and individual categories, through games of Nov. 6:

TEAM:
1st, Scoring Defense, 6.8 points/game
6th, Total Defense, 218.3 yards/game
7th, Pass Efficiency Defense, 86.4 opponent rating
12th, Kickoff Returns, 23.7 yards/return
12th, Turnover Margin, +1.4/game
15th, Sacks, 3.1/game
17th, Pass Defense, 130.7 yards/game
20th, Rushing Defense, 87.7 yards/game

INDIVIDUAL:
Justin Autera, tied 5th, Scoring, 12.0 points/game
Joe Lopez, tied 9th, Interceptions, 0.8/game
Justin Autera, 15th, Punt Returns, 14.6 yards/return
Justin Autera, 18th, All-Purpose Running, 165.9 yards/game

* Ithaca is ranked 25th nationally in Div. III in both punt returns (13.7 yards/return) and turnover margin (+1.0/game). Individually, Dan Ruffrage is ranked 18th in punt returns (13.9 yards/return), while Andre Jamison is ranked 20th in punt returns (13.5 yards/return).

* Justin Autera has rushed for exactly 1,000 net yards through nine games this season. He is the eighth player in school history to rush for 1,000 or more yards in a season. Andrew Giuliano ran for a school-best 1,480 yards in 2008. Gareth Grayson is second on the list with 1,378 yards in 1988, although his total doesn't include two NCAA playoff games in which he rushed for more than 200 yards each. Postseason games were included in school records starting in 2002, per NCAA rules.

* Justin Autera's 18 touchdowns this season (15 rushing, two receiving, one by kickoff return) are tied for the second-highest total in school history. Omar Darling scored 18 touchdowns in 1998, while Andrew Giuliano holds the record with 22 touchdowns scored in 2008.

* Cortland has recorded 28 sacks through nine games. The Red Dragons have recorded at least 30 sacks each of the last nine seasons (2001-09), including 33 last year and 50 or more in both 2005 and 2006. Cortland's 50 sacks in 2006 were the best nationally in Division III. The Red Dragons set a school record with 52 sacks in 2005 (sacks have been officially tracked at Cortland since 1982).

* 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 41-6 (.872) in NJAC play since 2005 and 58-18 (.763) overall. The Red Dragons won the league title with a 9-0 record in 2008, and tied for first in the league standings in 2005, 2006 and 2007 (losing the league tiebreaker for an NCAA berth in each of those three years). Cortland is guaranteed to finish in at least a tie for first this season with an 8-1 record.

* Cortland shut out three straight opponents earlier this season (Western Conn. St., The College of New Jersey and Brockport), one game shy of the school record. The streak ended late in the first half of a 20-17 loss at Rowan, ending the Red Dragons' scoreless streak at 232 minutes, 18 seconds.

* Senior wide receiver Anthony Giuliano has thrown four passes in his collegiate career, and three have resulted in touchdowns. Last week, Giuliano threw a 72-yard TD pass versus William Paterson on his first attempt of the season. Last year, he went 2-of-3 with two TD passes. The Giuliano family is now a combined 4-of-5 passing at Cortland with four TDs. Anthony's brother, Andrew, threw one pass in his four-year career as a Red Dragon running back from 2005-08 – a 6-yard TD toss versus Montclair State in 2007.

* Junior Bill Smith is one of the only players in recent Cortland history to start on both offense and defense. Smith is a starting inside linebacker who ranks second on the team with 64 tackles. He is also Cortland's starting fullback with six carries for 79 yards. Smith has scored a touchdown on both sides of the ball this season. He returned a fumble one yard for a TD in a win over Buffalo State and ran for a 16-yard TD in a victory versus Brockport, both at home.

* SUNY Cortland has served as the summer training camp location for the New York Jets in 2009 and 2010, and the Jets are contracted to train at Cortland for at least two more years. Three current Cortland players – Dan Pitcher, Lou Crispo and James Lenhart – worked as interns this past summer with the Jets' strength and conditioning staff.

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.)

Marc Corrado, Jr., Kicker
NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week (Oct. 30 vs. Montclair St.)

Anthony Giuliano, Sr., Wide Receiver
NJAC Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 25 at Western Conn. St.)
NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week (Nov. 6 vs. William Paterson)
D3football.com National Team of the Week (Nov. 6 vs. William Paterson)

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 (8-1)

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.                      W 42-6
Oct. 30     * MONTCLAIR ST. (NJ)                W 10-9
Nov. 6      * WILLIAM PATERSON (NJ)          W 38-7
Nov. 13        ITHACA                                 12:00

* NJAC game   (HOME GAMES IN CAPS)

ITHACA (6-3)

Sept. 4        ST. LAWRENCE                       W 33-3
Sept. 11      UNION                                   W 28-20
Sept. 18     at Widener (PA)                       W 31-7
Sept. 25     at Lycoming (PA)                      L 24-26
Oct. 2      * HARTWICK                              W 29-17
Oct. 9      * at St. John Fisher                     L 10-34
Oct. 23    * SPRINGFIELD (MA)                  W 23-14
Oct. 30    * UTICA                                     W 30-6
Nov. 6     * at Alfred                                   L 17-31
Nov. 13      at Cortland                               12:00

* Empire 8 game (3-2)    (HOME GAMES IN CAPS)


CORTLAND vs. ITHACA – SERIES RECORD
(Ithaca leads overall series 39-26-3 and Cortaca Jug series 34-17)

Year    Winner       Score          Site
1930    Cortland    12-0           Cortland   
1931    Ithaca       12-6           Ithaca
1932    Tie             0-0            Ithaca
1933    Tie             6-6            Cortland   
1934    Ithaca        7-0            Ithaca

1948    Cortland    19-0           Cortland
1949    Cortland    32-7           Ithaca

1950    Ithaca        7-6            Cortland
1951    Ithaca        13-6          Ithaca
1952    Cortland    39-6           Cortland
1953    Cortland    32-0           Ithaca
1954    Tie             13-13        Cortland
1955    Cortland    28-0           Ithaca
1956    Cortland    37-0           Cortland
1957    Cortland    32-13         Ithaca
1958    Cortland    16-6          Cortland
1959    Cortland    13-7           Ithaca

1960    Ithaca        12-6           Cortland
1961    Ithaca        34-0           Ithaca
1962    Ithaca        24-12         Cortland
1963    Ithaca        22-7           Ithaca
1964    Cortland    16-0           Cortland
1965    Ithaca        13-12         Ithaca
1966    Cortland    24-11          Cortland
1967    Cortland    11-7            Ithaca
1968    Cortland    34-13          Cortland
1969    Ithaca        36-28         Ithaca

1970    Cortland    7-0             Cortland
1971    Ithaca        21-13         Ithaca
1972    Cortland    21-16          Cortland
1973    Ithaca        41-33         Ithaca
1974    Ithaca        34-33         Cortland
1975    Ithaca        21-6           Ithaca
1976    Ithaca        28-12         Cortland
1977    Ithaca       38-17          Ithaca
1978    Ithaca        27-13         Cortland
1979    Ithaca       42-7            Ithaca

1980    Ithaca        24-7           Cortland
1981    Ithaca        42-0           Ithaca
1982    Cortland    21-17          Cortland
1983    Ithaca       49-26          Ithaca
1984    Ithaca       42-6            Cortland
1985    Ithaca       41-0            Ithaca
1986    Ithaca       40-12          Cortland
1987    Ithaca       37-15          Ithaca
1988    Cortland    21-20          Cortland
1988    # Ithaca    24-17          Ithaca
1989    Ithaca       28-0            Ithaca

1990    Ithaca       28-14          Cortland
1991    Ithaca       23-14          Ithaca
1992    Cortland   22-20           Cortland
1993    Ithaca       32-14          Ithaca
1994    Ithaca       15-13          Cortland
1995    Ithaca        35-19         Ithaca
1996    Cortland    41-13          Cortland
1997    Cortland    33-28          Ithaca
1998    Ithaca       37-29          Cortland
1999    Cortland    26-21          Ithaca

2000    Ithaca        19-14         Cortland
2001    Ithaca        21-14         Ithaca
2002    Cortland    16-12          Cortland
2003    Cortland    16-15          Ithaca
2004    Ithaca        47-22         Cortland
2005    Cortland    37-30 (OT)  Ithaca
2006    Cortland    23-20 (OT)  Cortland
2007    Ithaca       40-17          Ithaca
2008    Ithaca       35-13          Cortland
2009    Ithaca       23-20          Ithaca

# NCAA quarterfinals