SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
Cortland (1-0, 1-0 NJAC) vs. Buffalo St. (0-1, 0-0 NJAC)
Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010; 1 p.m.; SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex; Cortland, N.Y.
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

Follow the game online:
WXHC Radio Broadcast
Live Stats
CSTV Video Broadcast (Cortland campus TV)


THE MATCHUP: Cortland plays its first home game of the season as it hosts the Buffalo State Bengals in a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) contest. The Red Dragons are coming off a 24-12 league victory at Kean University last weekend, while the Bengals dropped a non-league decision at home to St. John Fisher, 54-26, last Saturday.

THE SERIES: Cortland and Buffalo State have played every year since 1984, with Cortland holding a 17-9 edge. The Red Dragons have won eight of the last nine meetings between the schools. Buffalo State's lone win in the series since 2001 was a 27-20 triumph in Cortland in 2005 – one of only two regular-season losses for the Red Dragons that year. Cortland won seven of the first eight games in the series from 1984-91, but the Bengals won five straight from 1992-96, as well as games in both 1999 and 2000.

Last season in Buffalo, Dom Sair rushed for four touchdowns in Cortland's 42-13 win over the Bengals. He scored on short runs in each quarter and finished with 64 yards rushing. Bobby Somerville forced a fumble that he returned nine yards for a score early in the second quarter and Anthony Giuliano ran for a 15-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.

Hudson Woodward completed 9-of-16 passes for 122 yards, Somerville finished with nine tackles and D.J. Romano had eight tackles, an interception and a forced fumble. Buffalo State scored on a 68-yard run by Oraine Allen after a broken punt play late in the first half and on a Willie Hordge 2-yard TD run in the third quarter.

CORTLAND CAPSULE: Sophomore Justin Autera scored three touchdowns as Cortland won its season opener at Kean, 24-12, last Saturday. Autera returned the game's opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown, then caught an 18-yard TD pass from Dan Pitcher on the Red Dragons' next possession. The lead grew to 17-0 later in the first quarter on a Marc Corrado 33-yard field goal.

Kean closed to within 17-12, but Cortland's defense preserved the lead. Senior quarterback Joe Lopez picked off two passes in the fourth quarter. His first pick gave Cortland the ball on the Kean 37-yard line and eventually led to an Autera 12-yard TD run. Lopez intercepted another pass on Kean's next possession and junior linebacker Bill Smith recorded an interception to end the Cougars' final drive.

Senior tailback Dom Sair rushed for 77 yards and Autera finished with 10 rushes for 47 yards and three receptions for 36 yards. Autera also returned a punt 55 yards that came up only five yards shy of the end zone. Pitcher completed 11-of-20 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions. Junior linebacker Cody Allen registered a team-high 10 tackles along with a pass breakup. Smith finished with eight stops and senior defensive lineman Evan Wyler made seven tackles, two for losses.

Cortland enjoyed a strong special teams effort in the victory. In addition to Autera's kickoff and punt returns, Corrado finished 3-for-3 on point-after kicks and made his only field goal attempt. Sophomore Pete Furey, in his first game as Cortland's starting punter, averaged 40.2 yards per punt on five kicks and pinned Kean inside its 20-yard line twice. Senior Matt Kaufmann also blocked a Kean field goal late in the first half.

Head coach Dan MacNeill is in his 14th season with the Red Dragons. His overall record of 88-50 (.638) 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...BUFFALO STATE: Buffalo State dropped its season opener to visiting St. John Fisher, 54-26, last Saturday. The Bengals scored on the game's opening drive when Ryan Lehotsky tossed a 2-yard TD pass to Blake Malizia, but the Cardinals scored the next 47 points. Buffalo State got back on the board on a Gibran Johnson 4-yard TD run in the third quarter, and Lehotsky threw 60-yard and 69-yard TD passes to Jarrett Smith in the fourth quarter to conclude the scoring.

Lehotsky finished 12-of-20 passing for 277 yards and three touchdowns. Jarrett Smith caught four passes for 152 yards and two scores and Rob Smith made four catches for 85 yards. Junior safety Brandon Hodgins paced the defense with 12 tackles, six solo, and a pass breakup. Junior safety Kevin Healy recorded eight tackles and a pass breakup, while sophomore safety Kam Johnson and junior linebacker Matthew Krumm finished with seven tackles each.

Lehotsky played in eight games last season and completed 50-of-114 passes (43.9 percent) for 634 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson is the team's leading returning tackler from last season with 57 stops and Hodgins recorded 55 tackles last fall.

Jerry Boyes returned to the sidelines as Buffalo State's head coach in 2009 while maintaining his role as athletic director, a position he has held since 1999. Boyes has compiled a 91-70 overall record (.565) in 16 seasons as the Bengals' head coach (1986-2000, 2009). He led the program to seven NCAA playoff appearances and three ECAC titles, and was a three-time ECAC Upstate New York Coach of the Year selection. Boyes was a two-time All-America quarterback at Ithaca College and earned a free agent tryout with the Cleveland Browns. He also played basketball and baseball for the Bombers before graduating in 1976. Before coming to Buffalo State, he was the offensive coordinator for Ithaca squads that were a combined 72-18 with three appearances in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the NCAA Div. III title game. The team won the 1979 national title.

NOTEBOOK:

* Justin Autera and Joe Lopez were both named to the D3football.com National Team of the Week for their performances at Kean last weekend. In addition, Autera was chosen as the NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week and Lopez was tabbed as the NJAC Defensive Player of the Week. Lopez was also chosen as the ECAC South Defensive Player of the Week and Autera was an ECAC weekly honorable mention selection.

* Justin Autera's 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the game was the first time a Cortland player returned the game's opening kickoff for a score since Theon Mims registered an 89-yard return in a win at Albany on Oct. 13, 1990.

* 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 of their other sports. Cortland was the first non-New Jersey school to join the NJAC for football, starting in the 2000 season, and has since been joined by Western Connecticut State, Buffalo State, Brockport and Morrisville. Cortland is 34-5 (.872) in NJAC play since 2005 and 51-17 (.750) overall.

* The Red Dragons have recorded at least 30 sacks each of the last nine seasons, 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'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)
NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week (Sept. 11 at Kean)
ECAC South Honorable Mention (Sept. 11 at Kean)

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)


SCHEDULES/RESULTS:


CORTLAND (1-0, 1-0 NJAC)

Sept. 11   * at Kean (NJ)                           W 24-12
Sept. 18   * BUFFALO ST.                           1:00
Sept. 25   * at Western Connecticut St.       12:00
Oct. 2       * at The College of New Jersey   1:00
Oct. 9       * BROCKPORT                           1:00
Oct. 16     * at Rowan (NJ)                         12:00
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)


BUFFALO ST. (0-1, 0-0 NJAC)

Sept. 11       ST. JOHN FISHER                      L 26-54
Sept. 18     * at Cortland                              1:00
Sept. 25     * KEAN (NJ)                               12:00
Oct. 2         * ROWAN (NJ)                           12:00
Oct. 9         * at Western Connecticut St.       12:00
Oct. 16       * at Montclair St. (NJ)                 1:00
Oct. 23       * THE COLLEGE of NEW JERSEY   12:00
Oct. 30       * at William Paterson (NJ)           1:00
Nov. 6        * MORRISVILLE ST.                     1:00
Nov. 13      * at Brockport                             1:00

* NJAC game (HOME GAMES IN CAPS)


CORTLAND vs. BUFFALO ST. – SERIES RECORD
(Cortland leads 17-9)

Year                   Winner                   Score                    Site
1984                  Cortland                  30-17                  Buffalo St.
1985                  Cortland                  22-20                  Cortland
1986                  Buffalo St.               18-14                  Buffalo St.
1987                  Cortland                  37-17                  Cortland
1988                  Cortland                  30-7                    Buffalo St.
1989                  Cortland                  25-0                    Cortland
1990                  Cortland                  21-12                  Buffalo St.
1991                  Cortland                  35-0                    Cortland
1992                  Buffalo St.               30-21                  Buffalo St.
1993                  Buffalo St.               45-0                    Cortland
1994                  Buffalo St.               17-10                  Buffalo St.
1995                  Buffalo St.               36-33                  Cortland
1996                  Buffalo St.               15-12                  Buffalo (UB)
1997                  Cortland                  38-9                    Cortland
1998                  Cortland                  58-31                  Buffalo St.
1999                  Buffalo St.               20-17                  Cortland
2000                  Buffalo St.               26-10                  Buffalo St.
2001                  Cortland                  36-7                    Cortland
2002                  Cortland                  28-0                    Buffalo St.
2003                  Cortland                  36-14                  Cortland
2004                  Cortland                  28-14                  Buffalo St.
2005                  Buffalo St.               27-20                  Cortland
2006                  Cortland                  38-20                  Buffalo St.
2007                  Cortland                  30-27                  Cortland
2008                  Cortland                  35-14                  Cortland
2009                  Cortland                  42-13                  Buffalo St.