SUNY CORTLAND FOOTBALL NOTES
Cortland (2-0, 2-0 NJAC) vs. Western Connecticut St. (0-2, 0-1 NJAC)
Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010; 12 p.m.; Westside Athletic Complex; Danbury, Conn.
Game broadcast live on WXHC, Homer (101.5 FM and www.wxhc.com)

Follow the game online:
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THE MATCHUP: Cortland, tied for 22nd nationally in the American Football Coaches Association Div. III poll (and among the “others receiving votes” in the D3football.com poll), bring a 2-0 record into its New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) matchup at Western Connecticut State. The Colonials are 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the NJAC after losing at Brockport last Saturday.

THE SERIES: Cortland is 9-0 versus Western Connecticut, including wins each of the last six seasons since the Colonials joined the NJAC as a football affiliate member. Cortland's 26-10 win in Danbury in 2004 was the first-ever NJAC game to not include a New Jersey school. The closest game in the recent series came in 2007 when Cortland rallied at home for a 27-26 win over the Colonials on a Ray Miles to Eric Hajnos touchdown pass with 12 seconds remaining. The teams also played three straight years from 1988 to 1990.

Last season in Cortland, the Red Dragons scored the final 35 points in a 35-6 victory. Justin Autera scored on both a 79-yard kickoff return and a 59-yard punt return in the second half. Dom Sair ran for 163 yards and two touchdowns and Anthony Giuliano caught a 13-yard TD pass from Alex Smith. Defensive end Bryan Wiley made nine tackles and forced a fumble and Cody Allen recorded eight tackles as Cortland held the Colonials to nine yards of net rushing and 157 yards of total offense.

Western Connecticut opened the scoring on a 10-yard TD pass from James Williams to Steve Griffin, but failed on the extra point. Griffin finished with five catches for 45 yards. Greg Galasso made 13 tackles and Brian Makles finished with eight stops.

CORTLAND CAPSULE: Sophomore Justin Autera rushed for 134 yards and three touchdowns as Cortland won its home opener last Saturday versus Buffalo State, 35-7. Autera posted 12-yard and 5-yard TD runs in the first half to give the Red Dragons a 14-0 lead and scored from 20 yards out late in the third quarter. He also had a 65-yard punt return for a TD called back by a penalty.

Dan Pitcher completed 17-of-28 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown – a 25-yard scoring throw to Mike Humphrey with 33 seconds left in the first half. Cortland's final score came on a Bill Smith 1-yard fumble recovery after a sack and forced fumble by freshman linebacker Chris Corvino.

Cortland's defense recorded six sacks and limited the Bengals to 15 yards net rushing. Linebacker Cody Allen finished with 10 tackles, including 1.5 sacks, and Corvino also registered 1.5 sacks. Corvino and defensive lineman Connor Tompkins each forced a fumble and recovered a fumble in the contest. Tompkins made 3.5 tackles for losses, including a sack, The Red Dragons' other sacks were by defensive linemen Matt Kaufmann and Naylor Robinson.

Autera has scored six touchdowns in two games – four rushing, one receiving and one on a kickoff return. He's averaging 90.5 rushing yards per game and 6.5 yards per carry. Pitcher has completed 28-of-48 passes (58.3 percent) for 341 yards and two scores. Anthony Giuliano and Autera lead the team with seven receptions each. Marc Corrado is 8-of-8 on point-after kicks and Pete Furey is averaging 39.0 yards per punt, with three of his eight kicks pinning the opponent inside the 20-yard line.

Allen has recorded 10 tackles in each of his first two games. Smith, who is also Cortland's starting fullback, is second on the team with 14 tackles.

Head coach Dan MacNeill is in his 14th season with the Red Dragons. His overall record of 89-50 (.640) 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...WESTERN CONNECTICUT ST.: Western Connecticut nearly rallied from a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit before losing at Brockport, 35-23, last weekend. Trailing 28-9, the Colonials got back into the game on Kevin Smolensky TD passes to Dave Plaskon and Chris Sloat to cut the lead to 28-23 with 7:21 left. West Conn got the ball back on its own 20-yard line with 4:13 left but went three-and-out, and Brockport scored on its next drive to finish the scoring.

Sophomore linebacker Mike Lacaria earned NJAC Defensive Player of the Week honors. He registered 14 tackles versus the Golden Eagles, two for losses. One of his tackles resulted in a safety, and he also returned an interception 55 yards. Smolensky completed 11-of-28 passes for 144 yards, with Sloat on the receiving end five times for 48 yards. Sloat also averaged 42.7 yards per punt on seven kicks, including a 53-yarder.

Tyler DeRosa is averaging 137.5 rushing yards per game through two contests. He ran for 205 yards and a touchdown in a season-opening 41-28 home loss to SUNY Maritime on Sept. 10. Lacaria is the team leader with 19 tackles, followed by Matt Pakulski's 15 tackles, three for losses. Sloat is ranked 16th nationally in Div. III at 40.8 yards per punt. Four of his 13 punts have pinned teams inside the 20-yard line.

John Burrell is in his ninth season as WCSU's head coach. He has a combined record of 37-45 (.451). The 1992 Middlebury College graduate served as an assistant coach for the Colonials for six seasons, including four as defensive coordinator, before taking over the head coaching reins in 2002.

NOTEBOOK:

* Both Cortland and Western Connecticut State's coaching staffs will participate for the third year in a row in the American Football Coaches Association's (AFCA) “Coach to Cure MD” charitable project. Both teams' coaches will be wearing “Coach to Cure MD” logo patches during the game to show their support for the program, which looks to fight Duchenne (pronounced Doo-SHEEN) Muscular Dystrophy. Fans can donate to muscular dystrophy research either online at www.CoachToCureMD.org or by texting the word “CURE” to 90999 to automatically donate $5 from their mobile phones (standard text message rates apply).

* Justin Autera was named the NJAC Offensive Player of the Week for his play versus Buffalo State last week. Autera ran for 134 yards and three touchdowns. Autera has been honored twice already by the league – he was the NJAC Special Teams Player of the Week for his game at Kean on Sept. 11. In that contest, he returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown and returned a punt 55 yards to the 5-yard line, in addition to two offensive touchdowns. Autera is currently tied for second nationally in Div. III in scoring with 18 points per game and is third in all-purpose runnng with 224.5 yards per game. All-purpose running, per the NCAA, includes rushing, receiving, kickoff returns and punt returns.

* Autera and junior defensive lineman Connor Tompkins were both named to the D3football.com National Team of the Week for their efforts versus Buffalo State. Autera has earned a spot on the team two straight weeks – he was a kick returner on the team for his game versus Kean Sept. 11. Tompkins finished with five tackles, three and a half for losses, versus Buffalo State. One of his tackles was a sack that forced a fumble, which he recovered.

* As a team, Cortland is ranked second nationally in Div. III in kickoff returns (41.3 yards/return), 20th in sacks (3.5/game), 21st in scoring defense (9.5 points/game), 23rd in rushing defense (71.5 yards/game) and 24th in punt returns (16.9 yards/return).

* 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 35-5 (.875) in NJAC play since 2005 and 52-17 (.754) 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.)

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.)


SCHEDULES/RESULTS:


CORTLAND (2-0, 2-0 NJAC)

Sept. 11   * at Kean (NJ)                           W 24-12
Sept. 18   * BUFFALO ST.                           W 35-7
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)

WESTERN CONNECTICUT ST (0-2, 0-1 NJAC)

Sept. 10       SUNY MARITIME                     L 28-41
Sept. 18     * at Brockport                          L 23-25
Sept. 25     * CORTLAND                            12:00
Oct. 2         * at William Paterson (NJ)         1:00
Oct. 9         * BUFFALO ST.                         12:00
Oct. 16       * at Kean (NJ)                          1:00
Oct. 23       * MONTCLAIR ST. (NJ)              12:00
Oct. 30       * COLLEGE of NEW JERSEY        12:00
Nov. 6         * at Rowan (NJ)                        12:00
Nov. 13       * at Morrisville St.                    12:00

* NJAC game (HOME GAMES IN CAPS)



CORTLAND vs. WESTERN CONN. ST. – SERIES RECORD
(Cortland leads 9-0)

Year    Winner    Score     Site
1988    Cortland    24-21    Cortland
1989    Cortland    21-0      West Conn
1990    Cortland    45-14    Cortland
2004    Cortland    26-10    West Conn
2005    Cortland    26-7      Cortland
2006    Cortland    49-21    West Conn
2007    Cortland    27-26    Cortland
2008    Cortland    41-14    West Conn
2009    Cortland    35-6      Cortland